Cosigner on refinance / ADU build

[Miles Thompson]

Hello,

Looking for general advice.

I'm looking to have a ADU built (laneway house) in Nelson, BC, Canada, where I own a rental propertly split into 2 rentals suites.

To get the financing, my income isn't quite high enough to satisfy the bank and they're asking if I can find a cosigner such as a parent. The cosigner would end up on the title until we are able to qualify for the entire mortgage myself, which may be right after it's built as I could then use the rental income.

My wife and I don't really want to ask her parents for a number of reasons. We already borrowed 25k about 18 months ago that we're paying back over 5 years, and there have been health issues.

We have a good friend how is actually also the property manager. He is familiar with rentals in the area and has helped us quite a lot over the past 10-12 years, arranging our wedding and always been very helpful, he's a super nice guy and has been like a 2nd father to us.

He offered to be a cosigner but after talking to my mortgage broker, she warned about having a non-family member fill this role. 

Does anyone have any advise how we can protect ourselves in this situation? Is it a bad idea?