Home Purchase Expenses
There are many costs that homebuyers incur, especially upon purchasing your first home. Some of the expenses related to buying a home are one-time costs, while others are continuing costs.
Your largest outlay is the down payment. As a first time buyer, this would likely represent only 5 - 10% of the purchase price. Be prepared to pay for additional costs, such as:
Additionally, once you have purchased your home, you will incur regular expenses on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. Some of these costs include:
How to Make an Offer
When you have found a home you are interested in buying, we will walk you through the process of drafting an offer to purchase. And then we will communicate the offer to the seller or the seller's real estate agent for you. Some properties are in demand and you will not be the only interested party making an offer. Nandha Ramasamy will assist you in generating an offer that is reasonable and protects your interests using specified terms and conditions.
An offer can be drafted with or without conditions; an offer without conditions is known as a firm offer and one with conditions is known as a conditional offer. A conditional offer represents the party with the placement of certain conditions on the purchase. Some of these conditions could be "subject to financing approval", "subject to the strata council allowing pets", "subject to the buyer's house selling", "subject to an approved home inspection", among many others.
The seller may accept your initial offer, reject your offer or present a counter-offer. The counter-offer may differ from your original offer in respect to price, conditions, the closing date or any other items. Offers can be countered back and forth between the parties until one of you accepts or rejects, ending the negotiations.
There are many components of an offer that you should be aware of and understand. We will answer your questions and explain the entire process to you so that you are comfortable with the steps involved.
Terms
An offer includes certain "terms", which specify the total price offered and how the financing will be arranged, such as if you will arrange your own with a financial institution or mortgage broker or if you wish to take over the seller's mortgage (assumability).
Inclusions and Exclusions
These are specifications within the offer that detail the items to be included or excluded from the purchase of the property. Typical inclusions are appliances, window coverings, fixtures and decorative pieces.
Deposit
A deposit is provided from the buyer to the seller as a token of the buyer's assurance and intention to buy the property involved. The deposit is applied against the purchase price of the home once the sale has closed. We can assist you in proposing a certain and appropriate amount for the deposit.
Conditions
Items that are usually put in place to protect a party's interests upon selling or buying the property and refer to things that must occur or be in place before the sale closes.
Possession Date
When the buyer takes possession as specified in contract of purchase sale.
Closing Date
This is usually the date that the legal ownership of the property transfers from the seller to the buyer and, unless otherwise noted, when the funds for the purchase are concluded.