Buying the Perfect Home

Secrets to Buying the Perfect Home!

It’s an often repeated cliché that a home purchase is one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll ever make – and yet, many buyers make their decision emotionally, after seeing the property for a mere 5-10 minutes! The guidance here,  Secrets to Buying the Perfect Home, will help you buy your perfect home and avoid buyer’s remorse!

Whether you’re a first-time buyer or looking for your dream upgrade, knowing the secrets to finding the right property can save you time, stress, and money. From understanding your budget to identifying must-have features and navigating the market, these tips will guide you toward making a smart, confident choice in your home-buying journey.

1. KNOW the neighbourhood.

Before you make an offer, really get a feel of the neighbourhood. Drive by during the morning, middle of the day and the evening to get a sense of the neighbourhood. Talk to your future neighbours and ask them what they like and dislike about the area! Check out the traffic, the commute to your workplace, the distance to shopping, the accessibility of public transit and any other lifestyle factors that are important to you.

2. WRITE AN OFFER with complete confidence.

The services of a competent Realtor® are an absolute must have, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Realtor®!! The competent Realtor® will really dive into the factors affecting pricing in the neighbourhood:

• History of sale prices – comparing the home under consideration with each sold home, and adjusting prices to take into account differences between the homes, the different market conditions, etc.
• Development plans – the city’s plans for the neighbourhood in the future will have significant impact on price. For example, a neighbourhood that the city would like to see re-zoned for highrises will have substantially greater land value;
• Geographic considerations – for example, a house that’s on the flood plain will not be permitted a basement, while one above the flood plain – and it may literally be next door – will, and that can affect the price significantly ($500K difference in a recent sale on the Vancouver West Side!);
• Macroeconomic factors – foreign buyers, interest rates, state of the economy all play a role in where the market is headed…

The competent Realtor® will consider all those factors and come up with the fair market value for the house. After that, the competent Realtor® will, hopefully, have received professional training in negotiation – which opens the door to getting A Good Deal…

3. INSPECT your future home

Home inspectors are licensed professionals, whose job is to point out deficiencies in the house. Costs vary, but are usually around $600-700, and it is money well spent! The report from the home inspector serves several purposes:

• Identify major defects that make you decide to not proceed with the purchase;
• Identify significant defects that your competent realtor can negotiate with the seller to either remedy the defect or compensate you so you can remedy the defect;
• Identify maintenance that you should perform to prevent future problems.

4. DECIDE RATIONALLY, not Emotionally!

I can’t stress this point enough.

Commercial real estate decisions are made rationally, dispassionately, based on calculations of return on investment. Unfortunately, many (if not most) home purchase decisions are made on emotion – how the home made you feel.

The problem with that is Realtor® and professional stagers are expert at eliciting an emotional response with furnishings and decoration. You have to look past that! The furniture isn’t coming with the house, and decorations are cheap. You need to look at the floor plan and suitability for your family, the condition of the property, the cost of required renovations and the cost of upkeep. The competent and professional Realtor®  that takes the time to understand YOUR needs will keep you on track, and not let you respond emotionally…

5. Is the Home AFFORDABLE?

In aviation, we have a saying: “it’s much better to be on the ground, wishing you were flying, than to be flying, wishing you were on the ground.” The same sentiment applies to real estate.

Make sure you can afford the property you buy. Not just the initial purchase cost, but the ongoing cost of taxes and maintenance. Can you afford a decent lifestyle, or will you be house poor? Can you afford sudden, unexpected expenses – they will always occur! Don’t make the mistake of buying a property that’s more expensive than you can afford.

6. Get PRE-APPROVED for your Mortgage!

This is really important, for a number of reasons. Banks tend to be conservative: they will look at what you can really afford (as long as you don’t mislead them). Being pre-approved for a mortgage means you are less likely to buy a home you can’t afford.

Sellers also look favourably on buyers who are pre-approved because it reduces the risk that the buyer will fail to complete the transaction. This gives you a competitive edge over non-approved buyers in a multiple offer situation as well!

7. Don’t try to TIME THE MARKET.

Timing the market doesn’t work. Really, it doesn’t. Financial analysts have convinced most investors that timing the stock markets doesn’t work. Unfortunately, those same investors are convinced that they CAN time the real estate market. Pro-tip based on careful observation: they can’t.

Real estate is cyclical – it goes up, and it goes down, and then it goes back up again. If you try to wait for the perfect time, you will almost certainly miss out. Instead, focus on finding your perfect house (that you can afford), and then negotiating the best deal you can on it.

8. FINANCIALLY SLOW AND STEADY is important…

If you’re planning to buy a home, don’t make any big purchases or move your money around in the three months prior! There are a couple of reasons for this. Your credit profile can take a major hit if you incur significant debt – such as a car. In Canada, FINTRAC, short for the Financial Tracking Authority, a branch of the Federal government, is charged with looking for money laundering of illicit funds. FINTRAC imposes invasive and extensive requirements on just about everybody: banks, Realtors® , lawyers…. But a side effect of all the regulation is that banks look much more closely at the pattern of money movements within your accounts. The best advice I can give you is to have the funds you need for a down payment on a property in your bank accounts at least 3 months prior to your purchase.

Check our other blogs under Real Estate 101 – that might give you answers about buying or selling a home.

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only.