Purchasing a home is a significant financial undertaking for anyone. Before you even look at a single property, there are things every new homebuyer needs to know. Whether you are a first time buyer or an experienced owner there are things you have to do before purchasing such a big investment.

1. Attend A First Time Home Buyers Seminar

Buying your first home is a big step, but attending a first timer’s seminar will make the process a lot smoother. It is important for home buyers to get as much information as possible to help you feel more confident when making such an important purchase. Many people skip first time home buyers seminars and is a huge mistake since this will be the biggest purchase of your life.

2. How Much Can You Afford

Determining how much you can afford its important before going house hunting. Before you begin shopping for a home you need to determine the amount you can afford. The loan is based on your income, savings, and monthly obligations. Also, as I always say, what the bank says you can afford and what you can really afford in order to keep your current lifestyle, aren’t necessarily the same thing. I can help you understand the costs of homeownership while ensuring that you’re not sacrificing everything else in your life in the process.

3. Prioritize Your Needs And Wants

It’s important to satisfy your needs before your wants so your budget remains balanced. Putting together an effective list of your needs and wants is a must when buying your first home. After you have listed out your needs and wants, prioritize this list starting with your need first from most important to least important.

4. Home Buyers’ Plan

A number of conditions have to be met in order to participate in the HBP. While some conditions have to be met before you can withdraw funds from your RRSPs, others apply when or after you receive the funds.

Generally, if you participate in the HBP, you have to meet all the HBP conditions yourself. However, depending on your situation, some conditions may apply to another person. For example, if you withdraw funds from your RRSPs to buy or build a qualifying home for a related person with a disability, or to help a related person with a disability buy or build a qualifying home, some conditions have to be met by that person.

Regardless of the situation, you are responsible for making sure that all applicable HBP conditions are met.

Click here for the link to the CRA website for the list of conditions.

6. Get Pre-approved For A Loan

Before you can get serious about buying a home, you need to get a pre-approval for a mortgage. Mortgage pre-approval can speed up the process of finding the perfect purchase. Not only do most Realtor’s require you to be pre-approved before they will start working with you but buyers are ofter eager to start looking at homes with out knowing if they can actually be approved for a loan.

7. Finding A Realtor

Real estate success or failure depends a lot on picking the right agent. Real estate agents have in depth and up to date knowledge of the entire process when purchasing your first home. A real estate agent will help you locate homes that meet your needs and wants.

I am lucky to get to work with a wide range of agents and can certainly make some recommendations based on your needs. Please do not hesitate to contact me for recommendations.

8. Understand The Offer Process

Making an offer on the home you want can be intimidating. A Realtor will help you with the process and for the most part do most of the hard work for you and a Mortgage Broker will ensure that you understand how that process fits into the loan approval process.

9. Get A Home Inspection

Before you buy a home, one of the things you should do is have a home inspection.  A home inspection will review the physical condition of the house you hope to buy. It’s crucial to conduct a home inspection to avoid a costly mistake by purchasing a property in need of major repairs. The home inspection gives the buyer more detailed information about the overall condition of the home.

10. Understand What You’re Signing

Always make sure to read any contract before you sign it. Inexperienced loan officers may not review the fine print with you but it’s important to make sure that you do and ensure you understand your payment terms, pre-payment terms, penalty calculations, creditor insurance etc.