Deposit schedules are published as percentages and instalment dates, which makes two builders’ offers awkward to compare: the schedules sit on different prices, so the dollars never line up. The fix is to run both schedules against the same price. This post does that with two real schedules from this catalogue — NOMI Urban Towns in Kitchener and Vista Hills in Waterloo — normalized to a $600,000 purchase. Neither project is being quoted at $600,000 here; their actual recorded from-prices are $449,990 and $569,900 respectively. The $600,000 is a common yardstick, chosen so the arithmetic of the schedules — and only the schedules — is what differs.
The two schedules, as recorded
NOMI Urban Towns (standard track): $5,000 on reservation; balance to 5% in 30 days; $5,000 at 60, 90, 120 and 150 days; balance to 10% at 180 days. Total: 10%.
Vista Hills: $5,000 on signing; balance to 5% at firming (less the signing cheque); 5% at 30 days; 5% at 90 days. Total: 15%.
Both schedules at $600,000
| Step | NOMI cheque | NOMI running total | Vista Hills cheque | Vista Hills running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signing / reservation | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Firming (Vista) / 30 days (NOMI) | $25,000 (balance to 5%) | $30,000 | $25,000 (balance to 5%) | $30,000 |
| 30 days | — | $30,000 | $30,000 (5%) | $60,000 |
| 60 days | $5,000 | $35,000 | — | $60,000 |
| 90 days | $5,000 | $40,000 | $30,000 (5%) | $90,000 |
| 120 days | $5,000 | $45,000 | — | $90,000 |
| 150 days | $5,000 | $50,000 | — | $90,000 |
| 180 days | $10,000 (balance to 10%) | $60,000 | — | $90,000 |
What the comparison actually shows
The totals differ by $30,000 — 10% against 15% of the same price. That is the number most buyers extract, and it is the smaller of the two differences.
The timing differs more. By day 90, the Vista Hills schedule has collected its full $90,000; the NOMI schedule has collected $40,000. A buyer choosing between these two structures at the same price needs $50,000 more cash inside the first ninety days on one than on the other — a liquidity difference that the totals alone ($90,000 vs $60,000, eventually) completely hide. NOMI’s ladder is deliberately back-weighted: four flat $5,000 steps and a final balance-to at day 180. Vista Hills’ is three percentage steps and done.
The shapes scale differently. NOMI’s middle steps are flat dollars ($5,000 each), so at a higher price they shrink as a share and the day-180 balance grows; Vista Hills’ steps are pure percentages, so every cheque scales with price. Normalizing is what exposes this: run the same exercise at $800,000 and NOMI still asks $5,000 at day 60, while Vista Hills asks $40,000 at day 30.
Rules for running this comparison yourself
- Normalize before you compare. Pick one price — the unit you are actually considering — and run every candidate schedule against it.
- Compare cumulative cash at fixed days (30 / 90 / 180), not just the final percentage. When the money leaves is a separate fact from how much leaves.
- Use the same track. NOMI’s record also carries a first-time-buyer track capped at 5% total — $30,000 at this yardstick price. Comparing one builder’s standard track against another’s buyer-program track manufactures a difference that is not there.
- “Balance to X%” is cumulative. Each step tops the running total up to X%; it is not an additional X% on top.
- Schedules are release-specific and dated. Both records here close with the builder’s own caution to confirm current terms; the schedule you sign is the one in your agreement, and this comparison is a method, not a quote.
Every figure above is arithmetic on the two records’ published schedules — the schedules themselves are printed in full, with their verification dates, on the project pages linked from this post.