5 Tips To Get You Ready To Buy

You’ve decided you want to buy a home. You’ve been looking online for weeks and you find a couple of homes you’re interested in going to see.  You’ve looked at the 3D Tours and used Google Maps to look around the street and everything seems perfect. Now is the time to engage a realtor to arrange the appointments so you can take a look.

 

But what if one of the properties is THE property? Are you ready to act?

 

Here are some tips to help get you ready for when the right home comes along

 

1. Be ready to move quickly.

 

This assumes that you are certain of what you are looking for and that the property matches your criteria. When you make an offer to purchase a property, the document is legal and binding. There are no cooling off periods in resale real estate (there are in new condo sales). You have to be committed to the purchase before you sign an offer, otherwise you may have significant buyers remorse!

 

If you are sure that you have found the right home, you must be in a position to act quickly. In today’s market there are lots of buyers interested in the same types of properties. When a good one comes on the market, there is a good chance that it will have offers immediately. In order to be in a position to put in a bid, you’ll need to have your ducks in a row.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Be pre-approved for a mortgage

 

At this stage you should have already met with your bank or mortgage broker to find out what you qualify for. There is nothing worse that finding out you set your sights on a property beyond what you qualify for. If you wait to inquire about financing until after you find a home you’d like to buy, you will waste valuable time in placing your offer and may miss out if the place is sold quickly.

 

3. Have your deposit ready

 

Real estate deposits are either provided with the offer or upon acceptance of the offer. Either way, once you make an offer you will need immediate access to the deposit funds in order to provide a bank draft or e-transfer. Some sources of funds, such as making an RRSP withdrawal, can take a few days to arrange so this must be done in advance. 

 

4. Understand your risk tolerance

 

I always recommend that buyers have a home inspection done as a condition in the agreement of purchase and sale. Although a home inspection does not guarantee that there won’t be a latent problem that only presents itself after the sale closes, it is the best hope a buyer has to identify potential problem areas in the home.

 

That said, in highly competitive bidding situations, having any conditions in the offer can mean the difference between being considered or not. Often, in the case of multiple offers, the conditional ones are rejected outright and the seller takes the best of the “clean” offers.

 

In case you find yourself in this position when you find the home of your dreams, you should consider your risk tolerance in advance. Are you a handy person who can make minor repairs yourself? Do you have the financial wherewithal to make an unexpected repair? What if it’s a major repair like needing a new roof or replacing the HVAC? Knowing your own parameters when it comes to the question of home inspection will save having to decide that in the heat of the moment when you want to make an offer to purchase a home.

 

5. Sign a Buyers Representation Agreement

 

A Buyers Representation Agreement formalizes the agency relationship between homebuyer and realtor. Once signed, an agency relationship is created and the realtor owes you a fiduciary duty of loyalty, confidentiality, accountability and full disclosure. This means your realtor is looking out for your best interests as you negotiate the purchase of the home.