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Recommendations
Get Informed
Get a good Mortgage Broker
Get a good Real Estate Agent
Get good Home Inspector
Get a good Lawyer
The more you understand about the process of
buying a home, the better your experience will
be.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)
has some excellent information for first time
home buyers called "10
steps to buying a home". I highly
recommend it.
It provides a simple, understandable overview of
the process of buying a home, along with helpful
checklists, a glossary of terms that you may not
be familiar with, a simple explanation of the
agreement of purchase and sale and mortgages, a
mortgage calculator, and other helpful
information.
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Get a Good
Mortgage Broker |
A good mortgage broker will help you find a
mortgage that works best for you by "shopping"
your financial information to a number of
lenders to get the best rates and terms, without
any cost to you.
They can also help "pre-qualify" you with a
Lender so that you will know, before you submit
an offer to buy a house, how big a mortgage you
can get. This will help you to set realistic
goals about the price of a new home. It may also
be very helpful if you find yourself in a
competition to buy a particular house because
you will know what you can afford and you may be
able to avoid using a condition for financing in
your offer, which may make your offer more
attractive.
Some mortgage brokers are better than others
about looking after their client's best
interest. We deal with a number of respectable
mortgage brokers whom we would be pleased to
refer. Just use our
feedback form to request a referral.
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Get a Good
Real Estate Agent |
A good realtor will take much of the work out of
finding the right house in the right location
for the right price and in
the right neighborhood for you.
They combine their knowledge of, and experience
in, the local market with their understanding of
your finances, and wants and needs, and examine
properties listed in the local multiple listing
service (MLS) to produce lists of properties for
inspection by you.
It is important to understand who the realtor is
working for (you, the Vendor or both) because a
realtor's loyalty is to the person that is
paying him. Ask your realtor about the different
arrangements that are possible, and ensure that
you have a relationship with a realtor who is
loyal to you.
Some realtors are better than others about
looking after the best interests of their
customers. We deal with a number of respectable
realtors whom we would be pleased to refer. Just
use our feedback form
to request a referral.
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Get a Good
Home Inspector |
A good home inspector will perform a full
inspection (with you present, if you wish) of
the home that you propose to purchase, and
provide you with a full written report of any
deficiencies, defects or problems that he or she
observes.
The home inspector does not inspect, or provide
any opinion about portions of the property, that
cannot be inspected easily such as piping or
wiring behind walls. He will inspect and
provide his opinion about things like foundation
cracks, roof, insulation, water leakage,
electrical, water, plumbing, heating, and air
conditioning systems.
We highly recommend that your offer contain a
condition that you be satisfied in all respects
with a home inspection to be conducted within a
reasonable time following acceptance of your
offer by the Vendor.
As with mortgage brokers and realtors, the
standards of service and care vary with the home
inspector. We deal with a number of respectable
home inspectors whom we would be pleased to
refer. Just use our feedback form
to request a referral.
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A good lawyer will attend to all matters,
enquiries and documentation to transfer title to
the property that you have agreed to buy to you
in accordance with the written agreement.
A good lawyer will also provide you with
assurance of good title (by way of his opinion,
title insurance or titlePLUS). A good lawyer
checks for problems with the title and the
property, and promptly deals with them.
A good lawyer also works well with the other
members of your real estate "team" to coordinate
the smooth closing of your purchase.
If asked to do so, a good lawyer will draft an
offer to purchase a property and include clauses
designed to protect the purchaser such as
conditions for financing, home inspection or
use. This is not a common practice in the
Mississauga area since most offers are drafted
by realtors who are trained to do so. It
is recommended however that you have a lawyer
review your offer before signing. The cost is
nil to minimal and is well worth it.
As with other professionals in real estate, some
lawyers are better than others at looking after
their clients best interest. See legal fees and
disbursements for a review of our fees and
disbursements.
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