Monday, February 2, 2015

A Short Guide to the Home Buying Process in Kitchener - Waterloo

Many people want to buy homes, but sometimes it does not work out due to time restraints.  Trying to time the home purchase with moving out of your apartment or house at the end of your lease, trying to relocate for work, or other life factors can make it difficult to get into a new home within a certain time frame.  I have had many clients face this very issue.  Sometimes things worked out due to early and constant communication, and other deals have fallen apart because their was not enough time to buy.  Some of the factors could not have been helped, but many could have been.

 If you are thinking about buying a home, select a qualified real estate professional and let them know all the details. There are many steps to finding the home you desire.  

Finding The Right Area


Finding the right area is critical to finding the right home.  Is driving time to work a factor?  Do you have family or friends in a certain area?  Are homes more affordable in certain areas?  These are a few things to consider when purchasing a home, and there are many other questions that need to be answered.  The right home in the wrong area can make home ownership a negative experience for people.  Narrowing down an area can take time.

What Are You Looking For In A Home


How many bedrooms do you want?  How many bathrooms?  What approximate square footage would you like the home to be?  Does it need a pool or how about a garage?  Do you want the home to be move in ready or would you like to be able to fix it up?  Each property is unique and there are tons of characteristics that can help find your ideal home.  You also need to decide how important some of these items are to you.  Would not having a kitchen pantry be a deal breaker for you?

One common issue I come across with buyers is many times what they say is important to them is not really what they are looking for.  For example, the client might say that they want a four bedroom home.  In reality, a three bedroom with a loft or a den might work, or maybe the extra bedroom puts the home out of their price range.  Many times people don't really know what they want until they start looking at homes.  This is all ok!  Just have open communication with your agent.  After all, they are there to serve you!

How Much Can You Afford or Want To Spend


This is always a big question in real estate, and many people, especially first time home buyers, don't know what they need to do.  I get calls from people that say they want to spend $200,000 on a home.  Maybe they can afford that or maybe they can't.  It is important for everyone to be on the same page.  This is where a pre-qualification comes into play.  A pre-qual is a letter that is received from the lender that states home much they are willing to loan the potential buyer.  A pre-qualification is extremely important for the real estate agent and the buyer!  Just because you can borrow $250,000 for a home, does not mean  you should or even want to.  However, it is the best place to start if you plan on financing the home purchase.  Getting a pre-qualification completed in many cases doesn't take a lot of time.

Possible Issues


The first issue that could come up could be that the sellers are not accepting your offers.  There are different reasons this could happen, and many times you can fix this issue, but it could cause a delay.  There are many things that could potentially cause a deal estate deal to fall apart once an offer is accepted.  Some of these issues could be your financing falls through, the home does not appraise, there are major issues found in the inspection, your current home does not get sold, and a number of others.  You should be prepared that one of these may happen in order to help project an accurate timeline.



No one wants complications or delays in a real estate transaction, but sometimes they do happen.  A solid real estate team consisting of a Lender, an Realtor, an Inspector and a Lawyer, and a number of other real estate resources can help make the transaction smooth.  It is important to understand how long it can take to get into your new home.

I'm hear to help.  Contact me for a free Home-Buyer's Toolkit or to chat about the current market.

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