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Buying Tips
Buying a home can be a stressful event due in part to the magnitude of the
commitments, as well as the seemingly complexity of the total exercise. It is
my goal to make the whole process an organized one that does not overwhelm you,
but rather follows a logical plan, leading up to the successful purchase of a
new home for you.
I have listed the main stages that occur when purchasing a property.
#1 - DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT
When you get to the serious stage of wanting to move and purchase a new home,
you are faced with a multitude of decisions all at the same time. This may
include whether to sell your house or apartment first, or buy first, plus other
personal considerations that should be taken into account.
I suggest the first step is to decide your priorities. Develop a list
with "must haves" and "would like to haves". List the areas, size of
lot and type of property you would prefer. Once you have developed this list,
it makes the search process more efficient and sets a benchmark to compare to.
#2 - PRE-APPROVAL FOR MORTGAGE LOAN
Pre-approval for a mortgage allows you to know exactly how much you qualify for
based on your income and other fixed debt payments. You don't want just an
estimate of what you may qualify for, but rather a specific pre-approval based
on income and debt. This approval fixes your agreed upon rate you have
negotiated, for a period up to approximately 120 days and allows you to shop
within your budget.
I suggest you speak to a mortgage broker as well as your own bank, so
you obtain the best terms and conditions for such an important investment. I
would be pleased to refer you to professional mortgage brokers who have
excellent reputations and track records.
Click here to visit a website of a respected mortgage broker, with many
tips and explanations for you to view. It also includes a mortgage calculator
for you to do your own calculations, to give you an idea of potential payments.
#3 - HOME SEARCH
Once you have been pre-qualified, we then will sit down and discuss your
priority list and see how it fits into your approved price range, using the
Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.
I will provide you with a detailed group of listings that are within
your price range and preferred areas. From these listings, you choose the
properties you would like to view and we go from there until we find a property
that fulfills most or all of your wishes.
#4 - MAKING AN OFFER
Once you have decided on a home you wish to make an offer on, I prepare a
detailed Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for the home, to substantiate its
market value in today’s market. My objective in the offer/negotiation stage is
to offer with the goal to purchase the home for below market value. I customize
your offer with clauses and phrases as safeguards to protect you in the
purchase process. These safeguard clauses are called ‘subjects’. Once the
seller and you come to agreement on all terms, you have an accepted offer.
Your offer is made conditional to your satisfaction of financing,
detailed inspection from a professional home inspector, title search, Property
Condition Disclosure Statement etc. For condo purchases, the following are also
included as ‘subjects’- reviewing 2 years of all meetings, bylaws, strata plan,
financial statements, any engineering reports etc. You usually have 7 to 10
days to do your due diligence before the subjects removal date expires. Once
satisfied with all the information you have obtained on the property, you
remove the subjects and this makes your accepted offer a firm deal.
#5 - CONVEYANCING (processing the sale transaction)
The next step is to engage a lawyer or notary public to represent you at the
agreed completion time, which is the day you pay for your property and you
receive title for your new home. The respective real estate companies handle
the conveyancing and forwarding of all paper work pertaining to the sale, to
the respective legal representatives. I also keep in touch with all parties
throughout the process to make sure the transaction goes smoothly.
#6 - POSSESSION
The possession date (as agreed in your contract) of your new home usually is 1
or 2 days after the completion date at 12 noon. This allows the seller time to
move out and a final clean up of the property before you move in.
Please call (604-263-1144) or email me for any
further information required, as the above buying steps from start to finish,
are an overview only of the plan I recommend for successfully purchasing a
property.
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