BUYING
When you work with Claude and Geoff, expect a pressure-free and laid-back buying experience, but also someone who will work hard for your best interests when it comes time to negotiate the purchase of your home. Every home purchase is different, but there are a series of steps that you can expect to go through as part of your search.
Obtain Mortgage Pre-Approval
The first step in buying a home is determining what you can afford. This is done by obtaining mortgage pre-approval. You can do this by speaking to a bank, or by using a mortgage broker who will be able to offer you rates and terms from various mortgage providers. A pre-approval will protect you from interest rate increases for a set amount of time (usually 3-4 months), and give you a clear idea of what you can afford.
Typical one-time expenses
The largest one-time cost of purchasing a house is the down payment. This is required to be a minimum of 5% of the purchase cost of the home (on houses up to $500,000). Mortgage insurance will be required on any purchase with a downpayment of less than 20% of the purchase price.
In addition to the down payment there are also several one-time expenses that apply to home purchases. The most significant of these are land transfer tax, lawyer’s fees, and title insurance. Other typical expenses include property tax adjustments, utility adjustments, house inspection fees, and appraisal costs.
As a general rule, we advise that you budget 2.5% of the purchase price of the home for closing costs.
Searching for your home
The bulk of the work we do together will be viewing homes for sale. This process will help you to narrow down your options and determine what works best for you in a home.
We feel strongly that our role in this process is that of an advisor, not a salesperson. We are here to help you make the best decision for yourself, not to sell you on something.
We will set up all of the showings and accompany you during them. We will also advise on potential issues that we see in homes, as well as get you thinking about things like functionality, layout, location, and more.
Making an offer
When the time comes to offer on a home, we will provide current market information to help determine the value of the home, as well as advise on elements that make an offer attractive to sellers aside from just price.
In some cases there are more than one offer on a property, creating what is often referred to as a “bidding war” or “multiple offers.” We are experienced in navigating these situations and can advise you on how to best prepare your offer to increase your chances of success.
We will submit the offer on your behalf, and guide you through any subsequent negotiations.
The major elements of an offer
Price - the price on your offer may differ from the seller’s asking price in some cases, based on that opinion of market value that we arrive at together, the length of time the home has been on the market, and whether or not there are any other offers.
Deposit - this is an amount of money that you include with the offer as a show of good faith. It will be held in the trust account of the listing agent’s brokerage, and applied to your downpayment when the sale closes. Deposit amounts vary based on the price of the home and circumstances of the offer.
Terms - including the price you are offering, your financing details, the date of possession, and any representations the seller is making regarding the condition of the property on day of possession.
Conditions - these are items that must be completed for the buyer’s benefit before the purchase finalizes. The most common conditions are financing approval and home inspection. We write these into offers to protect you as the buyer; if you are unable to meet your conditions, your deposit is refunded and you have no further obligation to the seller. An offer with conditions in it is called a “conditional offer.” In some cases buyers are in a position to write offers with no conditions. There are often referred to “clean” or “firm” offers.
Inclusions and Exclusions - the most common inclusions with home purchases are appliances and other items such as garage door openers and window coverings. In some cases sellers may want to “exclude” items with sentimental value that are attached to the home such as light fixtures.
Hire a legal professional
Once you have an accepted offer and have satisfied any conditions, you will need to hire a lawyer to guide you through the final steps of the transaction. We have several that we work with and can recommend!