How
do I prepare to buy a home?
This section offers detailed information to help you as
you prepare to buy a home. You’ll find helpful tips and
details on everything from talking to your potential Royal LePage
REALTOR® to getting your finances
organized.
The more prepared you are as you start looking for a new home, the easier and more enjoyable the process will be. Thanks to the wide variety of services offered by Royal LePage, we've got you covered every step of the way.
There are a lot of homes out there. How do you figure out which one is right for you? Start by getting familiar with the market. Drive around the areas you’re interested in and get an idea of what's available. Talk to friends, use the Internet, check out community newspapers and catalogs from local real estate companies – and don't forget your REALTOR®. That's why you have one.
Your Royal LePage REALTOR® will work with you to expand your choices, making you fully aware of what your home-buying dollar will buy in various communities. Then she or he will help you separate good options from those that are less-than-optimal, educating you on the features and benefits of specific homes and their neighbourhoods.
Once you’ve found the home you’re interested in, it's time to make an offer. Deciding what to offer is one of the most difficult decisions to make. Offer too little and you stand a chance of losing the house (particularly in a seller's market). On the other hand, nobody wants to pay more for something than it's worth.
Your Realtor can help you enormously by showing you what comparable houses are selling for, helping you assess the condition of the house, and judging the type of competition you may face. Once you have decided on the price you are prepared to offer, the Realtor will draft the offer and explain the details to you.
Your Royal LePage Realtor will communicate the offer, sometimes known as an Offer to Purchase (a legal document specifying the offers terms and conditions) to the seller, or the seller's representative, on your behalf.
The offer can be firm or conditional.
Firm Offer to Purchase: usually preferable to the seller, because it means that you are prepared to purchase the home without any conditions. If the offer is accepted, the home is yours.
Conditional Offer to Purchase: means that you have placed one or more conditions on the purchase, such as subject to home inspection, subject to financing, or subject to the sale of the buyer's existing home. The home is not sold until all the conditions have been met.