a grassroots mortgage alternative · est. 2026

Spare a loonie,
buy me
a condo house.

Look I just want a house. A real one. Not a condo. Not an apartment. Not one of those new builds where the bedroom is also basically the kitchen. Lend me a buck and I'll pay you back $1.10 over the next 25 years as I'm able. That works out to like 0.38% APR which is way better than what my bank quoted me so honestly you should feel kinda taken advantage of.

See how the math works →
$1.00minimum loan
0.38%APR I'll pay you back at
25 yrsrepayment window (paid as able)
Raised so far
$247 / $1,000,000
Goal
a real house
0.034% of the way there 247 backers · only 999,753 more to go
§ 01 · how this actually works

From your phone to my future kitchen.

It's e-Transfer. That's it. No Stripe, no credit cards, no signup. Free for you, free for me, every cent makes it through.

i.

You fill out the form.

Pick an amount, repayment preference, drop your email. You get a code like SAL-0247.

INSTANT
ii.

Send the e-Transfer.

To loonie@sparealoonie.com, with the code in the message. Auto-deposit's on so no security question.

~30 SEC
iii.

The bot matches it.

A little script on my end watches the inbox, matches your code to your form entry, flips you from pending to confirmed. Then your message hits the wall.

~5 MIN
iv.

I start paying you back.

As money comes in over the next 25 years, I send repayments out via e-Transfer in the order you all picked. Every payment shows up on the ledger.

ONGOING

Why e-Transfer?

Stripe takes 2.9% + 30¢ on every dollar. On a $1 donation, that's a thirty-percent haircut before I even see the money. Interac is free.

Not collecting credit card numbers. Not collecting addresses. Just matching emails to a code, like a coat check. The only thing I keep is your email so I can find you in 25 years and pay you back.

Send e-Transfer to
loonie@sparealoonie.com
Amount
$1.00 CAD
Message (required)
SAL-0247
auto-deposit · no question ● SECURE
§ 02 · about me

A short note from the borrower.

I just want to afford a house. A normal one. With a yard. Where the upstairs neighbour isn't doing CrossFit at 6am and where my kitchen and bedroom aren't technically the same room.

I've done the math like four times in three different spreadsheets and a notebook and the answer keeps coming out the same. I can't get there alone and the bank thinks I'm hilarious.

So yeah. Asking the internet for help one buck at a time. I'll pay you back, I swear, at a rate that's so generous to me it's almost rude. To you. Not literally. Probably.

- yours, kinda desperately
§ 03 · the math, sort of

My rate is, statistically, unbeatable.

Here's what my bank quoted me last week vs what I'm quoting you. side by side.

The Bank's Offer

5-year fixed · to me
5.49%
APR. they laughed when i asked for less
Principal$1,000,000
Term25 yrs
Total interest paid~$613,000
mooddefeated
a bad deal, honestly.

My Counter-Offer

to you · the donor
0.38%
APR. worked this out on a napkin
Principal$1.00
Term25 yrs
Total interest paid$0.10
repaymentinstallments. as i can
moodcautiously hopeful
a better deal, all things equal.
fine print: a high-yield savings account at 4% turns your $1 into roughly $2.67 over 25 years. so yeah, mathematically, this is the worst investment you'll ever knowingly make. but a savings account doesn't get to live in the house.
§ 05 · the wall

People who already spared a loonie.

Pulled live from confirmed e-Transfers. Names used with permission.

§ 04 · the ledger

Every loonie, accounted for.

Public record of who lent what, what's been paid back, what's still owing. Updates as e-Transfers come in and repayments go out. Anonymous lenders are masked but their entries still show up.

Total received
$247.00
across 234 confirmed loans
Total owed (principal + 10%)
$229.90
to 0 lenders
Already repaid
$3.30
repaid so far
Forgiven (gifts)
$41.50
0 generous people
Code
Lender
Amount
Repayment progress
Preference
Status
§ 06 · questions you're probably about to ask

Things you're about to ask me.

Yeah. I mean, in the way calling your dentist on a Sunday is a real call. I plan to pay back in installments over the next 25 years as I'm able and every payment shows up on the public ledger so you can see it happening. If you want, you can also forgive the debt at checkout. A bunch of people have which is suspiciously kind of them.
Nope. No credit cards. Stripe takes like 30% off a $1 donation in fees so that's a non-starter. I use Interac e-Transfer instead (it's free in Canada). You fill out the form, get a code, send an e-Transfer to loonie@sparealoonie.com with that code in the message. A little script on my end watches the inbox and matches your deposit to your form within ~5 minutes. Until it matches, your status is pending and your message stays hidden. Once it lands you flip to confirmed and the message hits the wall. Repayments work the same way going the other direction.
The public ledger shows every loan, repayment progress, and status. Anonymous lenders are masked but their entries still show up.
Pick "pay me back first" at checkout. The order's set by the ledger. First-position loans get repaid in the order they came in, then last-position. Repayments happen as I have the money, over 25 years. Every transfer out gets logged.
Absolutely, and you will receive proportionally more dignity in return. The interest rate (0.38% APR) does not scale up; the gesture is meant to be symbolic, not lucrative. If you're feeling reckless, the "more than $1" option lets you specify any amount.
i'd love a normal mortgage. the bank reviewed my income, my debts, and my general vibe and came to a different conclusion. this is what i'm doing instead.
no. i'm not a registered charity, just a regular guy with a dream and a spreadsheet. talk to your accountant. they will look very tired when you mention this.
a real, detached one. like the one i grew up in. not a condo. not an apartment. not one of those new-build townhouses where every room is technically a hallway. two stories, a yard, a basement that smells faintly of basement. nothing fancy.
then i keep renting and you keep your $1.10 IOU, which i'll honour out of pure stubbornness. your loonie still goes to something good. probably groceries.