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| FOUR EASY STEPS TO FINDING A HOME |
I. Discuss your housing and lifestyle needs with one of our realtors.
2. Identify the community or communities that suit your needs.
3. We will provide vital market information and arrange for you to view the right houses
in the right neighborhoods quickly and efficiently. Or, if you are considering building, we
will introduce you to builders.
4. Determine what kind of a price range you should be looking in. It is wise to discuss
your potential home purchase plans with your banker, or one of our realtors can connect
you with a mortgage broker who can "pre-qualify" you, basically letting you know how
expensive a home you can afford, and how large a mortgage the lender would be willing
to lend to you.
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| THE COSTS OF BUYING A HOME |
In addition to the
actual cost of the house itself, and the down payment that you
would need to make, there are additional costs involved in buying
a home. These
"closing costs", as they are often referred to, will
vary with each purchase, but a
good "rule of thumb" would be approximately 1.5% of the
purchase price, with,
$1,200.00 being a minimum amount you should count on. These costs
include the
following: |
| LEGAL FEES |
When all the conditions
(financing etc.) have been met, and the deal is considered a final
sale, the paperwork is sent to your lawyer, who will attend to
such matters as title transfer etc. If you do not have a lawyer
that you prefer to use, your realtor can assist you in finding one
to represent you in the purchase. The legal fees will also include
disbursement costs, such as fees to Land Titles for registering
the property in your name, and for registering any mortgages on
your title etc. |
| TAX ADJUSTMENT |
The sellers of the
property are responsible for the taxes on the property until the
date the property becomes legally yours, but there may be an
adjustment that you will need to pay to the sellers, if they have
already paid the taxes for the current year . |
| MORTGAGE |
Some lenders will charge
an initial mortgage application fee to process your mortgage
application. If your lender requires an appraisal of the property , discuss with them who will
be paying for the appraisal. Some lenders will
also charge the borrower for credit reports. |
You should also consider some other costs like moving costs, truck rental, utility
hook up fees and deposits, home owner's insurance (your lender will require you to
have it), appliance purchases, lawn maintenance equipment, and also the GST if you
are buying a brand new home.
As a note, the cost of the Real Property Report, according to the standard residential
purchase contracts that most realtors use, is the responsibility of the seller. Be sure
to discuss with your realtor as to who will be responsible for the Real Property Report.
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THE COSTS OF OWNING A HOME
There are of course, costs that are ongoing, related to owning a home.
Some of these costs are:
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Mortgage Payments |
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Property Taxes |
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Property Insurance |
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Utility Payments |
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Repairs and Maintenance
( interior and exterior) |
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Landscaping |
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Upgrading and
Renovations
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| THE PROCESS OF FINDING THE RlGHT HOUSE |
THE NEIGHBORHOOD
There are many ways to go about looking for your new home but remember, location
is one of the most important components of real estate value. Whether it be
financial
or personal reasons, families who regret a purchase decision most often indicate
that
they had picked the "wrong" community or neighborhood.
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| THE HOUSE |
When you are ready to
look at specific houses for sale in the neighborhoods of
interest to you, we suggest the following: |
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1.
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View several houses before you consider making an offer.
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2.
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Communicate honestly with your realtor the impressions of the houses as
you see them. Your realtor can be more effective when they know what you
like and don't like.
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3.
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Have your realtor review with you the selling prices of similar houses that
have recently sold in the neighborhood. Review these sales and current
listings and compare them with the house you wish to buy
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| 1.
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Is the house located on
a very busy street?
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| 2.
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Is the property
close to an obstacle or negative influence?
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| 3.
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Are there any plans for
the neighborhood that you may be unaware of? |
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Does this neighborhood,
for any reason, have a poor reputation?
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| 5.
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Is the house sitting on
a comer lot so that there is little useable backyard,
sideyard, or excessive traffic noise?
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| 6.
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Is there any
indication of water seepage or damage in the house?
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| 7.
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Is the house far
superior or inferior to other houses in the neighborhood?
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Does the builder of the
house have a poor reputation?
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Does the floor plan of
the house present problems?
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| 10.
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Will you have to
renovate or add to the house to the point where your costs
far exceed the market value?
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It is in your best
interest to consider having a home inspection done by a qualified
PROPERTY INSPECTOR, as a condition of you completing a deal. The
home
inspector would do a thorough inspection of the property , and
advise you of any
defects that the property has. They should also be able to advise
you as to how to
rectify any problems, and advise you as to the potential costs
involved in doing the
repairs. |
| NEGOTIATING THE
PURCHASE OF YOUR NEW HOME |
When you have found the right house and are ready to make the purchase, it is time
to meet with your realtor to initiate the process by completing a REAL ESTATE
PURCHASE CONTRACT. It is a good idea for you to already have received a copy
of this contract for you to read so that you are somewhat familiar with the document
that you will be signing. This contract, when accepted and signed by both the seller
and the buyer, becomes a legally binding contract. This contract becomes the interim
agreement until either
a) the transaction is closed and the final documents are signed
b) the agreement is ended by mutual agreement of both parties
Usually, your realtor writes up the contract on your behalf, and submits it to the seller
for their consideration. The seller is then at liberty to do one of the following:
a) reject the offer outright
b) accept the offer outright, without alteration
c) counter-offer, by changing some term and sending it back to you,
the buyer, for approval
If the seller counters the offer, your realtor will bring the offer back to you for your
consideration, and you may at that time accept, reject, or counter the offer back to
the seller again. This process continues until there is an acceptance between the
buyer and seller, or both parties decide that an agreement will not be reached, and
they discontinue the negotiating.
The offer usually is accompanied by a deposit, from you, the buyer. The deposit
forms part of the total purchase price and forms part of your down payment, and is
usually held by the seller's real estate brokerage, in their trust account. The seller
is entitled to keep the deposit if the buyer is at fault for not completing the
transaction.
The deposits are returned to you, the buyer, if there are some buyer's or seller's
conditions that are not able to be met. ( eg. If you had a condition in your contract
that you be approved for a mortgage, and you are unable to be approved for that
mortgage, you would get your deposit back. )
In the offer to purchase, you also negotiate such items as
a) possession date...the date you can move into the property
b) items included...appliances, window coverings etc.
c) items excluded...attached items that will not stay with the property
d) condition dates...this is the date by which you must satisfy the
buyers' condition (financing, home inspection etc.)
e) mortgage assumption...some sellers have a mortgage that they
will allow you, the buyer, to assume
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| FIRMING UP THE SALE |
When the offer has been accepted by both parties, then it is time to work at getting
the conditions of the sale met, before the condition date. This may include:
a) taking the offer to purchase, or having your realtor take the real
estate purchase contract to your lender, so that they can work on
getting the mortgage approved, you should contact your lender
a.s.a.p. after the acceptance of the offer
b) contacting the home inspector, and having him arrange with the
sellers a time to do the home inspection, you may want to be
present with the home inspector for at least a part of the inspection,
so that you can take the opportunity to learn a lot about the property
c ) you should also be making decisions as to which lawyer you will
use as this decision needs to be made by the time all the conditions
are waived
When any of the conditions have been approved, you need to meet with your realtor
and sign further documents, a notice which will waive and release the conditions.
When you have signed notices removing any the buyer's conditions, the contract
becomes a firm sale, and the listing real estate brokerage is responsible for sending
all of the documents to your lawyer .
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| WHEN THE DEAL IS FIRM |
At this point you will want to start packing and arranging for the move, and also
contacting people with your change of address. Do not forget your friends and
family, utility companies, doctor, dentist, banks, Revenue Canada, schools,
and , anyone who you deal with through the mail. Get change of address cards
from the post office and start sending them out. Also contact the utility companies
and arrange to have your utilities disconnected at your current address, and re-connected
at your new home.
You should expect to meet with your lawyer approximately one week prior to
possession date. Your lawyer will call you, and when you meet with him or her to
sign the final documents, he will expect you to bring with you a certified cheque or
money order for any money that is still outstanding. This amount will include the
lawyers fees.
On possession day, you should meet with your realtor at the property to do a
walkthrough. The purpose of the walkthrough is to verify that the property is in
similar condition as it was when the offer was accepted, and to verify that all
items that were included in the sale are on the property .If the seller's lawyer
has received all the outstanding money for the sale, and they authorize the
release of the keys, you can at this point take possession of the property
and move into the house.
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