A Detailed Buying Process

source: Space Joy

1/
Before you move, ask yourself

  • What time frame do you have for your move?
  • What neighbourhood (community) attributes do you look for?
  • Must-haves features vs. nice-to-have?
  • What is your motivation to move?

2/
Setting up for Success

  • Know your purchase power
  • Finding a lender that suits your need
  • Shop around with lenders, every lender will have different rates, terms, and policy
  • Understand the market
  • Research the neighbourhood of interest, and know the market condition (Sold, For Sale, Terminated, etc.)

3/
Finding your home

  • Determine what characteristic you look for in a home
  • Communicating on & off the market homes
  • Viewing homes together

4/
Found the home, what’s next?

  • Discuss about objectives and strategies
  • Walk-though of the contacts
  • Discuss what happens in a multiple-offer scenario
  • Detail the offer and buyers strengths
  • Presentation and negotiation to optimize purchase price and terms
  • Results of the offer: acceptance, counter offer, or better the offer

5/
Offer accepted, there is more to do

  • Usually a 5% deposit (of purchase price), either is already delivered to the listing agent’s brokerage with the offer or it will be delivered after the acceptance
  • Any conditions within your offer, will be fulfilled or waived during this period
  • Accepted offer will be sent off to your lawyer and lender
  • Appraisal, inspection reports, documents, and reviewing all disclosures and documents will be walked-through thoroughly with you
  • Based on the findings of inspections, we can either fulfill the condition or negotiate repairs or request for credit

6/
Final step, prior to the closing date

  • Review and sign the final documents with a lawyer
  • Final walk-through of the property prior to closing, verify the condition of the property
  • On closing date, there will be a call from the lawyer confirming that the title is on record, the fund is transferred, and the deal is closed
  • The key will be available for pick-up from the lawyer’s office or the listing agent’s brokerage

7/
After receiving the key

  • If possible, it’s always a good to visit the property right away to inspect the condition of the property one more time
  • If there is any damage to the property or missing chattels and fixtures that are part of the purchase price, report your finding to your agent right away
  • Unresolvable findings need to be reported to your lawyer as soon as possible