My Home buying experience in Canada
Happy New Year everyone! Although we are not able to get past this pandemic yet which has changed this world upside down, a new year brings new home, new beginnings and new challenge to work together and win over this disease. I have started this New Year with great excitement because as all of you already know I got my new house end of last year. It has been a magical experience as I settle down in my new home which I am going to talk about in this post. I am also going to share with you all the challenges I faced while getting this home and share some tips and tricks from my own experience on how to overcome it in your home buying process. So without further adieu, let’s jump in!
My New home
Getting your first home in North America is a memorable moment in life and something for which I will be always grateful. I feel lucky to have accomplished it as the present real estate market condition in Canada is highly challenging. It has been a rough road getting the house of my dreams so I want to help all of you as much as possible in your home buying process so that you do not face the same difficulties I did. I have divided the house buying journey into 3 main stages and will guide you with al tips and tools
1st Step: Mortgage
The first and the most crucial step of home buying is obviously getting approved for a mortgage. Before going to a mortgage agent or bank, you need to do your calculations at home for which I suggest you to use a mortgage calculator. I have tried multiple calculators online but my favorite are the ones mentioned below from mortgagecalculators.info:
Home Loan Limit Calculator
First you need to understand clearly the amount of home loan you can get from the bank based on your family income, debts and other expenses as per provincial rules. Use this calculator to quickly know the same and get ready to set your budget for the new home
https://www.mortgagecalculators.info/calc-affordborrow.php
Minimum Income Requirement
The loan amount you are eligible to get from the above calculator might be lower than what you are looking for. This calculator will tell you how much you need to bump your income in order to get the desired loan.
https://www.mortgagecalculators.info/calc-earnhome.php
Monthly payment Calculator
Getting a home is equally proportionate to your affordability. Use this calculator to know beforehand the monthly payment you need to make for the desired loan. Calculate your monthly expenses and make sure you can afford the home payment from your income easily. Keep a buffer in hand as you never know where expenses can pop up unexpectedly.
https://www.mortgagecalculators.info/calc-monthlypayment.php
All these calculators are really amazing and helped me a lot in my mortgage process. The best thing I like is they give a lot of options to optimize and play around to know exactly what you want. Plus they are free to use, what else do you need?
2nd Step: Winning a bid
Once you know your mortgage limit and get approved from the bank, the next step is house hunting. Finding the home you want is the easiest part in this step; the hardest part is winning a bidding war. As per CNBC in their post below, the current situation of the real estate market after covid is so volatile; it is hard to predict anything!
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/01/home-prices-suddenly-see-biggest-gains-in-2-years.html
The house prices are on rise everyday plus the shortage of houses on the market has forced people bid insanely on houses. As per Freddie Mac in the report below the housing market is still strong and lot of buyers are in the market due to low mortgage rates for the pandemic.
http://www.freddiemac.com/research/forecast/20210114_quarterly_economic_forecast.page?
Due to these issues, the bids are going 100K-200K above the asking price! My suggestion to win a bid in this market is to play aggressively. Once you know how much you can go up to, bid the highest possible amount you are eligible on every house you like. See the prospect of the house in the market based on age, location and other features and bid accordingly. Remember some houses are not worth going too high, so do not blindly bid too!
3rd Step: Closing and set up
After this rigorous battle if you win a house the last step is to prepare for closing! There is a lot of documentation and signatures required in phases so start getting ready as soon as possible. Make sure you do all the inspections carefully or hire a professional. Give time to plan the décor of your new home as a good looking home will give you the mental peace you need and justify the price you paid for the house.
I am writing a new blog post now all my home décor inspirations and how I came up with the ideas as you see from these pictures of my new home which will guide you more on the 3rd step. So stay tuned and I wish all you best of luck in your house hunting journey. Please comment or reach out to me if you have any questions or need any guidance and I would love to help you out.
XOXO
That Neon Girl
