What can you Afford?
Understanding the expenses that come along with owning a home and determining a comfortable level of affordability is the critical first step in the Home Buying process. Prior to getting out and looking at homes it is important for potential Home Buyers to complete a household budget of expenses and meet with a mortgage broker and/or financial advisor to determine what amount of mortgage is affordable.
Location
Once your house hunting budget has been identified, the next step is to determine an ideal location where you would like to Buy. Things to consider with location are; distance to work and amenities, school district, neighbourhood quality and density, urban, suburban, or rural. It is important to narrow your search to a couple different area’s which you are comfortable with.
Wishlist
The wish list for your home contains two aspects; the needs and wants. Every home purchaser has items that they really ‘want’ in a home, but also things they may ‘need’. Needs are things such as, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, large kitchen, size of yard etc. Wants are things such as type of flooring, specific layout, granite countertops, and other finishing options.
Viewing Properties
Combining your budget, location, and wish will allow the ability to identify properties that may be potential candidates for you to purchase. Your Real Estate Broker will schedule appointments at a convenient time and take you through the qualifying properties that meet your criteria. Through this process of viewing homes, you will hopefully identify a property that you want to purchase.
Making the Offer
When the ideal property has been identified your Broker will prepare the offer and discuss the terms with you. They will then work with the Seller and/or Seller’s Agent to negotiate a deal that you are happy with.
Conditions
After an agreement has been reached between Buyer and Seller, it is time to fulfill your purchase conditions. This includes financing approval, home inspection, insurance and depending on the property, may require water/pump tests, septic inspection and pumping, obtaining WETT Certificates and any other conditions which may be required to satisfy the Buyer they are making a knowledgeable purchase.
Closing the deal
Once the conditions have been met, the documentation will be handled by your lawyer to finalize the transaction. A final visit to the property prior to closing the deal will make sure everything is in order before you get the keys to compete your purchase!
A more in depth look at the home buying process can be found through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which offers a step by step look at the home buying process at
