First-Time Home Buyer's Guide
Are you a first-time homebuyer? Let our experience be your guide to starting off your Real Estate venture. Buying your first home can seem like a daunting task but luckily we have done this a million times.
Need to Know Terms:
- Buyer vs listing agent: The buyer agent represents the buyer while the listing agent represents the seller and sometimes the agent can be both.
- Deposit: An upfront payment that is made by the buyer to the seller at the time the offer is accepted.
- Down payment: The down payment is the amount of money paid upfront for a home, in order to secure a mortgage. In Canada, the minimum down payment is 5% of the home’s total purchase price. Down payments, less than 20% of a home’s purchase price require mortgage loan insurance. The selling price, minus the deposit and down payment, is the amount of the mortgage loan.
- Mortgage Pre-approval: Helped buyers understand how much they can borrow before going through the mortgage process.
- Offer: A legal agreement to purchase a home. An offer can be conditional on a number of factors such as financing and a home inspection.
"Hidden” Expenses Include:
-
Insurance: fire, home, content, title, life, and mortgage insurance.
-
Home Inspection: very important to have an inspection done and you should consider this cost when planning the budget.
-
GST/HST: purchasing a new construction property, make sure you ask about sales tax payable.
-
Legal fees: vary depending on the purchase price and often include ordering a title search and registering a title.
Contact the Agent on Duty for more information on First-Time home buying
