Purchasing a Home

Owning a home is the ultimate Canadian dream. For years people have been driven to own a piece of this great land. If you have made the decision to buy a home whether it be for the first or fifth time, our buyers guide is designed to help you. Even though, owning a home is still as attractive as ever, it needs to be right for you. You will need to understand that there are many advantages of home ownership but there are also drawbacks.

Financially, you need to be in a position to buy a home and get a mortgage. People generally are out of touch with their financial health and buying a home allows them to understand where they are financially. Topics such as learning what your credit rating means and how this affects your ability to get a mortgage for your dream home purchase are covered in this guide. How much can I afford? How much are the closing costs going to be? How much down payment can I afford? These are other important questions that need to be answered up front when looking into buying a home.

A) Before you Buy

Congratulations, you’ve made the big decision to buy a home. Now What? There are many questions you will need to ask yourself before moving ahead. The biggest question is: Where do I want to live?

Everyone has different likes and dislikes. The needs of one person may be of little importance to another person. If you are moving to a new community your questions may be different from somebody who is moving within the community. If you are single, your needs will be much different compare to a married couple with kids or the needs of a retired couple. As you see you really need to think about where you want to move and live.

You may be drawn to some neighborhoods and homes more than others and are unable to clearly explain why. You may be fortunate and drawn to a home or neighborhood that meets your needs. A suggestion here is to bring with you a list of things you would like to have in your new neighborhood and home and decide on the ones you must have and the ones of lesser importance.

Tips Things to think about before deciding to buy a Home:

• What are the schools like and are they nearby?
  If you are single, this may need little consideration, but if you are married or single and have kids, this most probably will be top on your list of needs. You may want to check out how good these schools are. There are many ways to do this. You can contact the schools district directly and talk with the principal or you can generally find this information on the internet.
• Does the home have resale value and how important is it to you?
  Even though we usually think that a home is an investment that will grow in value over the years, this is not always a guarantee. A mansion in a neighborhood of small houses will have a lower resale value than a small house bundled amongst larger and more lavished houses. You need to first ask yourself how long you plan to live in this house. If you plan on staying to bring up a family, resale value may not be of importance. But, if you are single and plan to move in a couple of years, this is something you will need to think about. Generally we live in our homes for about 5 to 7 years.
• What's nearby and what do you need to be nearby?
  Depending on your situation you may need to be near a hospital or need to have stores within walking or at least within short commuting distance. You may have hobbies and need to have an easy access to facilities such as a gym or live near a park. A single person may want to be near or in an area with an active nightlife, whereas a family may not need or like this at all. You may like to be nearby good restaurants and the theater. Is your job within easy commute distance or can you get to the highway quickly and with ease?
  Remember the old but true mantra, which is "location, location , location". It's very important to think about this beforehand.
• Taxes- One of the certainties in life is that we all have to pay taxes. The money collected through property tax is used to help pay for public schools, city streets, county roads, police, fire protection and many other needed services.
  Property taxes are assessed every couple of years so check with Adil to find out when they were last assessed in the area you are planning to move or relocate. Based on taxes, you can decide that the area is too expensive to move to because the taxes generally form part of your monthly mortgage to the bank.