No one likes to waste time, but many purchasers end up doing it.  Their Realtor® didn’t take the time to sit down with them to teach them about the home-buying process and to find out, in specific detail, about what their ideal home looks like.  That’s what a Buyer Consultation is all about!

Let’s Have A Chat

1.  I will get to know about your previous experience you’ve had purchasing homes and your knowledge of the home-buying process.

2.  An overall review of the home-buying process (as a refresher if you’ve purchased before).

3.  Various facets of mortgage financing such as:

• Your personal cost of living and how much you can afford each month.
• The various types of mortgages that can be arranged (conventional, high-ratio, CMHC, second mortgages), what they mean, specific terms and conditions within those mortgages and methods of paying a CMHC high-ratio premium.

• The amount of down payment required from various lenders and various sources of down payment
• Assorted rates and terms currently available in the mortgage market, i.e. long-term vs. short-term mortgages.
• Prepare a custom GDS/TDS chart for you (Gross Debt Service / Total Debt Service) to determine exactly what rate and mortgage amount you will qualify for and when applying for a mortgage.
• During the consultation, we should prepare a Cash Flow Comparison spreadsheet for a range of purchase prices using your down payment and the principal amount of mortgage we have just calculated for you.  This will tell you what our total monthly payments would be with approximations for realty taxes, utility bills and condo fees (if applicable).

At this point, I will ask the question… “Can you afford this large a payment monthly or should we be looking for a house in a lower price range?”

Next, we’ll do a walk-through of the complete home-buying process.  Generally this will cover:

DEPOSITS

Discussing the size of deposit required with your offer and when the balance of the actual “cash” will be needed.

CONTINGENCIES

Reviewing some of the special clauses and conditions that should be included in your offer, these can range from home inspections and financing to anything that is of personal concern of the purchase.

PRESENTATION

Discussing how offers are presented and counter-signed (called a “sign back”).

CLOSING

Reviewing what lawyers do between the date the offer is accepted and closing day.

INSURANCE

Talking about what insurance is required for your new home and for your mortgage.

It’s Your Decision

Perhaps you can afford more than you think… Perhaps the neighbourhood where you would like to live is not affordable for you and you must ‘downscale’ a bit to fit your comfort-zone budget.  We’ll use our Cash Flow spreadsheet here to demonstrate how much it will actually cost you monthly (including mortgage, taxes & utilities) to live in a home.

Buying a home is always making a series of compromises and this is where you may have to decide what features (from your Wish List) you are willing to compromise on in order to achieve your dream home.  Even those lucky few with a “sky is the limit” budget may still have a problem finding that absolutely perfect house that meets all of their needs.

The last thing we’ll discuss is Buyer Agency.  I’ll explain what it is, why it came into effect and what the advantages are to you, the buyer, of having a consultant working exclusively on your behalf and representing your interests at the negotiating table… All this is absolutely no cost to you, I might add!