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My first account and post. Hopefully I am in the right place. I am in a typical millennial situation I guess. I used to rent and moved back with my family in early 2021. I have never owned a property before and only know the basics of how one should go about looking into ownership opportunities. I make a little over $70K annually and am not attached to Toronto/GTA. I have explored properties in BC and AB both as well. My question is… can someone walk me through like a 5-year old on how to successfully initiate the process of purchasing a place and anything to expect during, too?
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Nick's Response
There are some good answers in this thread, so I’ll add an overview and back it up with some resources for you. There may be slight variations by province, but generally speaking your process will be the same throughout Canada.
Process
Prepare
Choose a lender and get a mortgage preapproval
Arrange a rate hold
Write your needs, wants and dealbreakers lists
Interview and hire a Realtor, if you’re planning on working with one
Set up an MLS alert with your Realtor and/or on Realtor.ca
Showings and Offers
Search via process of elimination
Focus on area (city, in your case) first and narrow down so that things aren’t overwhelming
Negotiation and Due Diligence
Reach a conditional agreement
Secure firm financing and perform due diligence (inspection, etc)
Renegotiate as necessary
Close smoothly
Book your mover early
Check off items for your move
Processes
CMHC’s Homebuying Guides – They have a great free pdf, articles and checklists for you
Buying a home in Ottawa – This is the buyer guide (series of videos) that my team created for our clients. We also have explanations of all of the forms on our YouTube
Interview Questions for a Buyer’s Agent – Lots of these available online, including in this subreddit. I’ve always thought this was a pretty good one, though.
Good luck in the search!
Don’t skip these steps!
1
Your needs, wants and dealbreakers list – Get clear on what you need and want, right at the start. It will give you something to refer back to when the process gets busy or stressful.
2
The Inspection – Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t have an inspection if you want the house. Even if your offer is going to be unconditional, it can be a wise investment to pay for an inspection before you make your offer.
3
A good lawyer – In a smooth transaction, any decent lawyer can get you to the finish line. The problem? You never know when something is going to go sideways: a tenant that won’t leave, a Seller without the funds to close their mortgage, a sudden job loss. If this happens you’ll be glad that you spent the extra few hundred bucks on the right lawyer instead of some discount Saul from the internet.
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