Contact a Real Estate Professional to assist you in your search for the
property that will most suit your needs. A Real Estate Professional is
qualified and equipped to find you a property, acquire details on the
property, as well as draw up an Agreement of Purchase and Sale, negotiate a
price and assist you in fulfilling any conditions there might be in your
offer to purchase.
REALTORS can also provide knowledge and guidance in legal, mortgage
financing, house construction and many other areas relating to real
property. But, remember, they can only provide guidance, they are not
professionals in every field. However, they can direct you to professionals
such as, lawyers, mortgage financing and lending institutions, as well as
home inspectors if you need more information and expertise. Click on
Working With a REALTOR
for information on Purchaser Agency.
It is not necessary, but it is preferred if you are pre-approved for a mortgage
from a lending institution. This lets you determine what size of mortgage
you can afford. Pre-approval also lets you know, as well as your REALTOR,
what price range of property you should be looking for. Click on
Mortgage Calculator
to determine approximately what size of a mortgage you might be
qualified for. (The Mortgage Calculator is only a guide; banks and other lending
institutions may use slightly different calculations to determine
qualification).
Once you have been pre-approved, your REALTOR and you can confidently look
for properties that might suit you. When you are comfortable with your
REALTOR and the service they provide, or when you have found a property you
would like to make an offer on, your REALTOR may ask you to sign a
Purchaser's Agency Agreement.
This form should always be signed prior to
signing an offer. It lets you know, as well as your REALTOR, who is working
for whom and it establishes a commitment by you to your REALTOR as well as a
commitment by your REALTOR to you. This form also outlines who pays for your
REALTOR's time (usually the Vendor will pay Purchaser's agents).
Once a contract has been established between you and your REALTOR, your
REALTOR will negotiate the best possible price they can for the desired
property. If no contract exists, your REALTOR may be working for the best
interests of the Vendor. However, you will always know in writing who is
working for whom.
When an agreement has been reached between the Purchaser and Vendor, usually
conditional on financing, the offer is accepted and you will now go to your
lending institution for a mortgage commitment guaranteeing funds to buy the
property when you take possession. Other costs at time of closing are
outlined in
Approximate Closing Costs.
