Buyers
The home buying process can often be overwhelming and frustrating, particularly for first-time buyers or those unfamiliar with the intricacies of the process. However, much of this stress and confusion can be alleviated by having a clear understanding of the expectations and responsibilities involved. To that end, we have created a comprehensive home buyers guide that explains the entire buying process, from start to finish. Our goal is to empower our clients to approach the home buying process with confidence, understanding that it can be an enjoyable and exciting experience when undertaken with the right support and guidance. Whether you are a first-time home buyer, seeking more space for your family, downsizing, looking for an investment property, or simply tired of renting, we are here to assist you.
Allow us to provide a crash course on the buying process, so you can navigate it with ease, and remove the fear while experiencing the joy and excitement of buying a home.
A very simple and necessary step in the home buying process,, meeting with a mortgage broker or bank who can inform you of exactly how much you can comfortably spend, mortgage payment details and answer any mortgage questions you may have. They will provide you with the confidence you need when planning your purchase. This is important because you don’t want to waste time, you have to be ready so that when we show you your dream home you are ready to pounce.
New Era Real Estate will qualify your needs and make sure we do not waste anytime looking at properties that do not fit the parameters of what exactly you are looking for. This is where we really get to learn what you appreciate when it comes to your future home, your property turn ons and turn offs. Everything will be taken into account, the area you love, the amenities that are crucial to you, distance to schools, commute to work, highway accessibility etc. We scour your desired area daily searching for properties that meet your requirements, every time there is a hit you will receive an email right away.
When you are ready to get out there we will set up private showings and give you any extra details you may have been unaware of about the property or surrounding area.
Listing prices are just that a list price, just because a property is listed at a certain price doesn’t mean that is what it’s worth or what you will pay. We do extensive research and produce a comparative market analysis (CMA) as if we were to list the property of interest to come up with an idea of what the property should sell for.
You have fallen in love and would like to make an offer. We will draw up all the necessary documents and explain to you all the aspects of the offer that you can include or drop to help your chances of the offer being accepted. Besides price which is usually the most important there are other factors that can affect whether or not the offer is accepted, these are the conditions.
To name a few you can make your offer conditional on obtaining financing, an inspection and having your lawyer review the status certificate (if buying a condo) etc.
Your offer may be the only one or their could be multiple offers in which case there are a few things you can do to make you offer more attractive which we will walk you through. The seller will have 3 options when presented with an offer:
- The seller can accept the offer as is.
- The seller can reject the offer.
- The seller can counter the offer.
Most common is the third choice and this is where years of negotiating experience takes centre stage. Our experienced real estate agents will go back and forth with the seller’s agent until you are comfortable with the price and the other terms of the agreement of purchase and sale.
The terms of the agreement have been accepted by both parties at which point you, the buyer will provide a certified cheque or bank draft for the deposit amount that will be held in the selling brokerage’s trust account. If for whatever reason you cannot fulfill a condition or you are unwilling to accept a deficiency found the deal will become null and void and the deposit will be returned back to you, the buyer in full.
If there are no issues, once the conditions are fulfilled the deal will firm up and the deposit will be held by the selling brokerage in trust until closing.
The condition of financing is usually quick to fulfill as most buyers have already seen a mortgage broker and have been pre-approved. You will just need to visit your mortgage broker and they will begin the final approval process. The common range of time for this condition is 5-7 business days.
The inspection will take place on a pre-agreed upon date by both parties and will run roughly 2-3 hours. We will accompany you and the inspector to the home while he conducts his/her inspection. Following the inspection you will be handed a summary of the findings, at which point 4 things can happen:
- All will be good and you will sign the waiver.
- There might be issues you would like the seller to fix.
- You will ask for money back which has a few variables to consider and we will walk you through all of them at that time.
- There is an issue that you are unwilling to accept and are unwilling to move forward with the sale, in which case the deposit will be returned to you in full.
In the case of a condo, The Status Certificate will be ordered by the seller at their own expense ($100) and usually takes between 6-10 business day to receive. The document will then be reviewed by the buyer’s lawyer which can take 1-3 business days. This condition is for the benefit of the buyer and if everything in the document is satisfactory to you, you can go ahead and sign the waiver.
Once all the conditions have been met and the waiver/waivers have been signed the deal becomes firm and you have officially bought a home!
The majority of offers will allow for the buyer to revisit the property one or two more times before closing. This will allow you to measure certain areas so you can begin planning what you are going to do with the space, bring family through and also give you the chance to check if everything is in good working order.
This day can be stressful and exhausting so a good idea might be to hire professional movers. They do come at a price but in our experience for the larger moves it’s worth it. Just a reminder if you are moving into a condo you will to have to book the elevator in advance.
Upon your final visit to your mortgage broker they will go over the details of your mortgage agreement, be sure to ask lots of questions until you fully understand what will be required of you. Once you are comfortable with the terms you will sign off on the mortgage.
You will need to meet with your lawyer to hand over a cheque for the balance of the purchase price deducting the mortgage amount and deposit but including your land transfer tax amount (LTT) and any other adjustments which your lawyer will inform you of. An example of these other adjustments could be reimbursing the seller for maintenance fees paid past the date of closing.
The cheque has cleared and the funds transferred now all you need to do is meet with your lawyer one final time to pick up the keys to your new home!
Congratulations you bought a home!
