Here are some steps to use as a guideline when preparing to buyhome. So when you are ready to buy a home in the Greater KingstonArea, give me a call and we’ll work through these steps together. I’dbe please to be your Kingston Real Estate Agent.
1. Get a pre-approval
In a hot real estate market, pre-approved home buyers get preferentialtreatment when negotiating home purchases. Why? Because pre-approvedbuyers are financially qualified to purchase the home and areconsidered more serious than buyers who are not. Nothing feels worsethan finding the ideal home in the perfect area, and then not beingable to get the financing to close the deal. A pre-approval willprovide as a reality check prior to mapping out your life in a homethat you cannot afford.
2. Meeting with your agents for a home buyer’s consultation
Also a very important step in the process, this is when you and youragents prepare each other for exactly what to expect along the way. Thefollowing points should be covered and fully understood during thismeeting:
- Exactly what your needs are (number of bedrooms, baths, etc.), inwhich areas you’re looking, what price range you are comfortable with,and what your time line is. It takes generally takes 30 to 45 days frompurchase to closing.
- How often you are available to look and what you expect from youragent in terms of availability and communication (e-mail, phone updateseither daily or weekly).
- Your agent should give you copies of all the paperwork you will beexpected to sign throughout the process and briefly explain what eachform is for.
- Your agent should explain buyer brokerage vs. seller’s representation, and you should sign a buyer broker agreement.
3. Look at homes
This is the fun part. It is important to limit the number of homesyou’re looking at in a day. If you look at too many homes, they beginto run together, and you can’t remember one from another. It’s a goodidea to use a checklist form to help you track the properties you haveseen. It is also helpful to actually begin to narrow down theproperties after each visit. For example, if house #3 was better thanhouse #2, immediately eliminate house #2. Remember, communication withyour agent is crucial. It’s important to let your agent know whichhouses you like and why, as well as which houses you don’t like andwhy. Sometimes it takes going out and looking one time before you andyour agent really have a good grip on exactly what you’re looking for.Call your me and I’ll do the research on any advertised properties thatlook interesting to you. That’s what I get paid for. If you shouldbecome interested in a for-sale-by- owner, ask your me to contact theseller before you do, to see if he/she will cooperate (pay acommission) with a buyers’ agent.
4. Select a home
Once you’ve narrowed your search down to one or two homes that youreally like, your agent will do whatever research necessary to help youmake your decision, but the decision will ultimately be yours. Andsurprisingly enough, it’s going to be a pretty easy decision to make.Buyers are welcome to call the local chambers of commerce for anystatistics in which they might be interested. Local zoning and planningoffices are a good source for future road plans, etc. Once you’veselected one home to focus on, your agents will do a comparative marketanalysis on that property. This involves determining “fair marketvalue” by looking at what other buyers were willing to pay forproperties similar to yours in the same neighborhood or area.
5. Making an offer & negotiation
When making an offer on a property, it is important to decide ahead oftime how much you are willing to pay at what terms for the house. Youalready know what fair market value is. Now you have to decide whatprice you will offer; how much deposit you will offer; what personalproperty you wish to have convey (everything is negotiable); when youplan to close; and what inspections you plan to have conducted.
When negotiating with any seller, it’s best to remember not to takeanything personally. Also, try to put yourself in the seller’s shoes.Figure out what’s not negotiable to you, and be willing to give alittle on the things that are negotiable. A good agent should be ableto give you tons of advice about how to structure your offer. Once youroffer has been presented, the seller will either accept your offeroutright, reject your offer outright, or counter your offer. Thecounter process can go back and forth many times. It’s important forall parties to keep their cool and focus on the goal.
6. Get inspections & remove conditions
If, as part of your offer, you asked for time to be allowed to haveinspections conducted on the property, you should have written what iscalled a conditional offer. Offers can be conditional upon financing,inspections, the receipt of acceptable condo estoppels certificates,the sale of property, and many other conditions. It is important thatall deadlines be met and that all conditions are removed exactly theway the contract describes. Your agents are responsible for making surethis is done correctly.
7. Select a Lawyer
If you do not have an attorney already then your agent or mortgagebroker can help you find one that specializes in real estatetransactions at a very reasonable price.
8. Walk-through
Most sales agreements will give the buyer the right to one pre-closinginspection. This is your last chance to find any problems and have theseller correct them. Read the contract carefully, but most contractsread that all electrical systems, plumbing, appliances, heating, andair conditioning need to be in working order at the time of closing.These are the items you checking for at walk-through.
You are also checking for any other items the seller previouslyagreed to fix or replace. If anything is found to be defective ormissing, you have several options: The seller can remedy the problemprior to closing; the seller can credit you the amount of money itwould take to hire someone to remedy the problem; or the seller canpromise to correct the problem and place into escrow with the attorneythe amount of money you will need to pay someone else if the sellerdoes not perform as promised.
On new-home purchases, the process is a little different. Thebuilder will generally do a walk-through with you approximately one totwo weeks prior to closing, resulting in a “punch-out list.” Hopefully,they will get everything on the punch-out list completed prior tosettlement. If not, most new-home contracts allow the builder tocomplete whatever minor items have been noted in a “reasonable” periodof time.
9. Closing on your home
This is the day you “sign your life away,” as most clients say. Notreally. You will be signing all of the mortgage documentation, whichcan seem never-ending. The lawyer conducting the settlement should beable to explain every document to you in a satisfactory manner. Do notever feel intimidated. If you don’t understand, don’t sign. Your lawyerwill help your understand everything. If you like, you can requestblank copies of the documents you will be signing in advance so thatyou can carefully review them. You will have to present whatever downpayment and closing-cost funds you were expected to pay. This checkmust be certified; personal cheques usually are not accepted.
10. Moving day
This is the last and probably the hardest step in the home-buyingprocess. A little bit of planning and forethought, though, will makefor a much smoother move. You will want to make arrangements with amoving company as soon as you can. Call at least two in order to getcompetitive quotes. They will usually ask to come to your home to getan idea of how much they will be moving and the distance they will needto travel. Be sure to change your address with the post office, yourbanks, and any creditors at least 30 days in advance. To avoid latepayments, it’s a good idea to actually call and verify receipt of theaddress change whenever possible. Call to order your utility hook-upsapproximately 10 days prior to your move. Be aware that some utilitycompanies will keep you on the phone for a long time.
Source: Century 21 Canada