From buyer beware...to buyer prepare. Our Home Buyers Guide will help you get ready for every step of the home-buying process.
Congratulations! You’ve decided to buy a home.
Maybe this is your first home, maybe you have a growing family and are moving into something bigger, or maybe you’re about to retire and become an empty-nester. Regardless of your stage in life, buying a home is a significant financial commitment. This Guide will help you get ready for every step of the home-buying process.
Are you Financially Ready to Buy a Home?
Are you financially ready to buy a home? Get a sense of your current monthly expenses and think about the following: More...
Finding Professionals to Work With
If you believe you’re financially ready to buy a home, your likely next step is to find the professionals to assist you. In many cases, this will be a mortgage professional (a bank employee or a licensed mortgage broker) and a licensed real estate professional. More...
Working with a Mortgage Broker
Most buyers need at least some financing (a mortgage) to purchase a home. The two most common sources of a mortgage are directly through a bank or through a mortgage broker. Typically, banks only offer their own mortgage products while mortgage brokers can source mortgage products from different lenders. More...
Understanding and Securing Financing
Your mortgage broker has tools to help you in your home search. Before you go house shopping, you want to know how much of a mortgage your income will support, and what affect your current debt load will have on a possible mortgage amount. You can find this out by getting a mortgage prequalification. More...
Working with a Real Estate Professional
It’s always a good idea to use a licensed real estate professional in your home search. When you interview real estate professionals you’re considering hiring, these are the kind of questions you should ask them: More...
Conflicts of Interest
In rare situations, you may run into a conflict of interest. It arises when there is a real or apparent incompatibility between a real estate professional’s interests and your interests. Some examples of common conflicts that may arise in a real estate transaction: More...
Finding the Right Place
Now the fun part begins. It’s time to find the perfect home. More...
Making an Offer
You’ve found the perfect home, you have your deposit, and you’re ready to make an offer. There are a few things you can do to prepare: More...
Negotiations
There will likely be some negotiation between you and the seller after you submit an Offer to Purchase. Sellers can outright accept or reject your offer, make a counter offer, or ignore your offer completely. More...
Satisfying and Waiving Conditions
If your accepted offer was conditional, you need to try to satisfy your conditions. More...
Preparing for Possession
You will need to find and meet with a real estate lawyer. Your lawyer will go over the legal documents with you, including the RPR and the title. They will also highlight any possible restrictions or caveats registered against the property, discuss closing costs and disbursements, and have you sign the documents to transfer the property’s title to you after your lawyer advances the purchase funds to the seller. More...
What to Expect on Possession Day
Typically, possession occurs – and you’ll get the keys – around noon on possession day. If you included a pre-possession inspection as a term in your Offer to Purchase, your real estate professional will arrange that through the seller’s representative. More...
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