| Buying Procedure
After you have browsed the Buyer FAQs, follow these steps for a rewarding buying experience. Arrange Your FinancingThe first thing you need to know before shopping is what you can afford. You need to determine the upper limit of your budget, then work within that limit. Your maximum mortgage + your equity - any additional closing costs = your maximum budget. Most buyers fall into one of three categories with respect to financing: More...The first thing you need to know before shopping is what you can afford. You need to determine the upper limit of your budget, then work within that limit. Your maximum mortgage + your equity - any additional closing costs = your maximum budget.
Most buyers fall into one of three categories with respect to financing:
Don't need financing - you have the cash or are confident you can get it.
Some buyers are in the pleasant position of having the funds available to buy, so they don't need to worry about a mortgage loan and may make a subject-free offer. From a seller's standpoint, the fewer conditions there are on an offer, the better. Ideally, an offer has no subjects, and the seller knows that if the offer is accepted, the house is sold.
Other buyers may need a mortgage, but know they can get it at agreeable terms and perhaps they are prequalified to a certain amount by their bank or mortgage broker. In this case, they may make an offer without a financing subject in order to make the offer more attractive.
Desirable properties often attract many buyers, and sometimes many offers. If you are in competition, the best way to make your offer more attractive than the others is by having fewer conditions, all else being equal.
Have a place to sell - you have equity in your current home to apply to your purchase.
If you own a home currently and want to buy and move to another home, there is good news and bad news. First, the good news: you have equity in your home, and you may own it outright with no mortgage. You may have your finances all sorted out so you are ready to buy the next place with no worries about selling your current home. The bad news: if you need the money from the sale of your current home in order to buy your next home, there can be a problem with timing. Do you sell first or buy first? If you sell first, you know how much cash you have for your purchase, but what if you can't find what you want and you are out on the street? If you buy first, what if you can't sell your home, or the prices drop? This is a very common situation which I run into frequently. Rest assured, there are solutions to this, but this is a very important matter which I prefer to discuss personally - please contact me.
Need a mortgage - you need financing in order to purchase your new home.
If you need a mortgage, you may decide to talk to your banker. You may have dealt with your bank for years, and you should expect to be treated well when you apply for your mortgage. If not, you might consider using a mortgage broker.
A mortgage broker does all the leg work for you, to suit your schedule, and treats you with respect. The broker has access to all the institutional lenders such as banks, credit unions, and trust companies, as well as other lenders for unusual loans. The broker will determine who has the best rates, the best terms, and the best overall loan proposal for your particular circumstances. The broker has expertise in the loan application process, taking your financial details and processing the application through the lender and the loan insurer to a successful conclusion. You will receive a loan commitment, confirming the amount you are qualified to borrow, as well as the interest rate, payment amount, and all other terms of the loan. This is your pre-approval.
Once you are pre-approved, your interest rate is secured, typically for two to three months. If rates go up, you get the quoted rate. If rates go down, you get the lower rate. The mortgage broker is typically paid by the lender, so there is no cost to you. You save time and aggravation, and get the best possible rate and terms. Many buyers today use a broker and are glad they did! Prepare Your Wish ListWhen you are ready to start the search for your home, we need to fill out your "wish list". It then becomes my job to turn your wishes into reality. More...
When you are ready to start the search for your home, we need to fill out your "wish list".
It then becomes my job to turn your wishes into reality. I always arrange an initial meeting, as I want to spend some time together, find out what you want, and answer your questions.
If I think I can help you, my next step is to fill out a detailed checklist (your wish list), prioritizing all your wants and needs for your next home. After our initial meeting, I will search the market to produce a list of homes that might suit you, and I will continue searching until we find the right home. Rest assured that I will find any and all homes that meet your requirements within your budget. Tour HomesWhen I have prepared a list of all homes currently for sale that meet your requirements, I would like you to pick out any that interest you and drive by them to get a feel for the neighbourhood and location. More...When I have prepared a list of all homes currently for sale that meet your requirements, I would like you to pick out any that interest you and drive by them to get a feel for the neighbourhood and location.
Once you have your short list of possibilities, contact me to let me know which listings are of interest, and I will set up a suitable time for us to see these homes. Plan on spending about two hours and looking at no more than 4 to 6 homes. I find that if we try to see any more than this, you will have trouble remembering what you have seen. Again, I will be showing you all listings that fit your needs, whether listed with my company or any other real estate company.
The objective in our tours is not to memorize all details of every property, but to remember the ones you like, put those on our short list, and plan on looking at them again in more detail. We will repeat these tours until we have exhausted the current listings or until you have found the home you want to buy. If we don't find it among the current listings, I will keep searching the new listings.
This approach gives you an excellent education in current market values. You are not only looking for the right home, but also determining what it is worth. Some of the homes we look at will sell and I will tell you the selling prices. This first hand knowledge will very quickly make you aware of values, so when you find the right place, you will know if it is fairly priced.
So now you have found the perfect place and you want to buy it! You are excited and nervous, you are worried about another buyer beating you out, but you don't want to pay too much. The next step is preparing and negotiating your offer. Negotiate Your OfferYou will already have a good idea of values after looking at homes for sale and learning the selling prices of some of these homes. More...You will already have a good idea of values after looking at homes for sale and learning the selling prices of some of these homes.
I can also provide you with details on recent sales of similar homes in the area. As a result, we will determine what fair market value should be, and negotiate our offer with that in mind. By the way, the homes I will be showing you will only make it onto our tour list if they are reasonably priced. There is no point in looking at overpriced listings, as the sellers usually are not ready to deal with realistic offers. When you are thinking of selling, this is an important point to keep in mind.
There are many terms and conditions that may be used in an offer. I prepare offers using standard legal terms tailored to your specific situation. These terms are designed to protect your interests. It is common for offers to include such conditions as financing, inspection, approval of strata documents and the like. Offers also include such terms as purchase price, items to be included with the sale, deposit amount, dates to pay deposit and pay for the house, and possession date.
If our negotiation with the seller is successful, then we have an accepted offer. If you have conditions on your offer and you later remove the conditions, the house is sold. During this conditional period, the seller can accept another offer, but only as a backup offer, subject to collapse of your offer. In other words, if you decide not to buy, the other buyer gets it. This is true even if the other offer is a higher price or a subject-free offer.
Offers require a deposit to be legally binding. Our industry recommendation is 5% to 10% of the purchase price. Offers may provide a small initial deposit upon acceptance to be increased upon subject removal, or the total amount upon subject removal with no initial deposit, or if the offer is unconditional, deposit upon acceptance or by a given date. This deposit is held in trust and forms part of the purchase price upon completion of the sale.
On occasion, offers are made with no conditions. These so-called "cash offers" usually occur during hot markets with high demand and low supply, where multiple offers are common. Buyers look for ways to make their offers more attractive and "all cash" is hard to beat.
Now that we have an accepted offer, what happens next? Finalize Your PurchaseNow we have an accepted offer, but my job is far from being over. I will attend to all the details along the way, including confirming your financing, monitoring any property inspection, reviewing documents such as the PDS, title search, and strata papers, and following the conveyancing procedure with your lawyer or notary public. More...Now we have an accepted offer, but my job is far from being over. I will attend to all the details along the way, including confirming your financing, monitoring any property inspection, reviewing documents such as the PDS, title search, and strata papers, and following the conveyancing procedure with your lawyer or notary public.
I will make sure that the Land Title Office registration has concluded successfully on completion date - at this point your name officially goes on title as the new owner. I will be there with the keys on your possession date and make sure you are moved in and that all is well.
I want you to feel free to call me any time with any real estate questions, no matter what they are. Think of me as your real estate resource. If ever you, your family, or your friends need help buying or selling real estate, I want you to think of me! |
