Buying A Home

It is important to consider your needs by listing requirements before looking for your new home; from number of bedrooms to schools and other facilities. It is as important to set a price range and down payment that you can afford. As an experienced real estate professional, I can walk you through the process and advise you. 

Most offers carry some kind of conditions, which have to be met before the sale is complete. Some common types of conditions are:

• you getting a suitable mortgage (include the amount, interest rates and any other figures you feel important)
• you selling your current home (the seller may continue to look for a buyer, but will give you the right of first refusal)
• the seller providing a current survey, or a "real property report," showing the location of the house on the property owned by the seller and that there are no encroachments
• the seller having title to the property (your lawyer will check this out when he or she conducts a title search to see if there are any liens on the property, easements, rights of way or height restrictions)
• if there is a septic system, the seller should have a health inspection certificate, stating the system meets local standards

 The seller may counter your offer, by changing the conditions, price or both. 

Once you find the home you want to purchase, you proceed to making an offer. In an offer, you are stating how much you're willing to pay, stating when the offer expires, suggesting a closing date and proposing a set of conditions. Because it is often time consuming and complicated, it would be ideal to find a realtor.

Before the house can formally change hands, there are still a few things to do. Here’s what to expect on or before closing day:

• your lawyer and the seller’s lawyer will arrange to transfer title of the property from the seller to you
• the mortgage money will be transferred to your lawyer’s trust account, and then to the seller
• your lawyer will bill you all additional expenses -- land transfer taxes and any outstanding legal fees

At this time, be sure to:

• check with your lawyer that everything is as stated in the offer-to-purchase
• make a pre-possession walk-through with the agent. Is everything in good condition? Is everything you wanted there?

A quick way to see how much you can afford is to use the gross debt-service formula (GDS). Here, the Principal, Interest and Taxes (PIT) on your mortgage loan should not exceed 30 per cent of your gross income. Increasingly, financial institutions will factor energy costs into the PIT formula, moving the rule of thumb GDS from 30 to 32 per cent. You can work it out in reverse: multiply the monthly payment on principal, interest and taxes (include any condominium maintenance fees) by 40. So if your monthly payment for these items is $1,000, you’ll need a gross annual income of at least $40,000. Discuss your mortgage limit and different types of mortgages with your salesperson before you begin seriously looking for a new home.

​For more information on different types of mortgages, click here