THE STAGES OF PURCHASE
1. First Step
Your first step is to ask yourself why you want to purchase a home: is it to stop paying rent? Build equity? Upsize? Downsize? To gain rental income? Next, create a list of “needs” vs “wants.” Be specific. This list is crucial when trying to narrow down which homes are appropriate and which homes should be overlooked.
Location – Consider which parts of the city you’d be interested in living in: communities (North, South, East, or the Westside); neighbourhoods (brand new or settled with mature landscaping); a particular school zone; recreational facilities; and other community services such as transportation, day care, church, stores, entertainment, etc. Ask yourself how many minutes are you willing to commute to work. It’s important to remember that you’re not only buying a home, but you’re also buying a lifestyle.
Layout and Timeline – Come up with a 3year+ plan before purchasing a home. Anticipating future needs and adding them to your list of criteria now will save you a lot of time and money in the future. For example, are you newly married and thinking of starting a family in the next couple years? If so, extra bedrooms, bathrooms, and yard space would be in your best interest. Are you recently retired and thinking of downsizing? If so, perhaps a bungalow with a low maintenance yard would be preferred.
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2. Financial Readiness
Once you’ve addressed the above needs, your next step is to get pre-qualified through either your bank or a mortgage broker. This can be done in minutes over the phone, online, or through a face-to-face meeting.
Contact me and I will refer you to a mortgage professional who has an excellent reputation and track record for successfully acquiring loan approval for my clients.
3. Finding the Right Home
Once you’ve been pre-qualified and know what price range you want to stay in, I can help determine which properties fit your needs. There is so much inventory out there that the process of searching can easily be overwhelming. I have access to the best resources and can determine which properties fit your needs.
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4. Placing an Offer
Price is KEY, don't overpay! After determining the market value of the property you're interested in, I'll develop a strategy on how best to approach the negotiations. Once we agree on the negotiation strategy, possession date, conditions, terms, etc, I'll send you the purchase agreement to sign and initial. I will be handling the negotiations process while keeping you informed every step of the way. Once we come to an agreement between seller and buyer, we will have an accepted offer!
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5. Pending Period
Once we have an accepted offer, you will then have to obtain final mortgage approval. This can be long and tedious but the rewards are infinite! Once we have satisfied all conditions, you can remove conditions and the property will be deemed as "SOLD." Time to celebrate!
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6. Pre-Moving
Setting up home insurance, utilities, and meeting with your lawyer are the main parts of the pre-moving phase. You'll also want to consider how to move your furniture and plan ahead if you're buying new furniture because it can take several months for delivery.
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7. Moving
On possession day, we will meet at the home to do a final walk-thru to make sure the property is in the same condition as before. I'll hand the keys off to you and you'll take it from there! The house is yours to keep and to make into a home.
(Caution: It's good to plan ahead but I advise not to have your furniture delivered until the next day in case of any closing delays)