Discussions

Hi I am hoping to soon be a first time home owner! What is the process behind buying a home? Any tips/ helpful suggestions are appreciated!  
 
Is it as simple as browsing ebrandon, realtor websites, or the papers for listings? How do you know how much of a mortgage you would be approved for? I'd assume that one would need to meet with your bank for that? How much of a deposit is needed? At least 10%? How are the monthly mortgage payments decided? Do you need a realtor to buy a house? What do you look for when choosing a realtor? What are extra costs/ fees that come up when buying a home?  
 
Thanks for any help for all these questions!!

I bought my first house this past November, and ill suggest what i was told to do, and did. Go see a mortgage broker, i used Centium. This was the best decision i ever made, they are paid by the bank to find you the best mortgage deal they can.

You can also have less than 10% down payment but you'll need insurance, even 10% might require that for some reason I think it's 20% before you don't need to use someone like CMHC, the bank will do all of that for you, you'll also need a lawyer to do the transfer and other legal things, like what was said before, speak to a mortgage broker they'll help you through everything

thank you for your help!  
 
i'll definitely talk to a mortgage broker. i also found some good information when googling the people suggested.  
 
http://www.realestateinbrandon.ca/neighbourhood-guide-signup/ this pdf contains really good information for what to expect/ do when looking to make that big decision of buying a house!

Broker is solid advice.  
 
You can find out how much home you can afford as long as you are being honest with yourself. Just use one of the major banks (RBC does for sure) websites, they should all have calculators to give you an idea.  
 
We like using Realtors for showings and the access. MLS.ca and the BREB site will highlight the majority of houses, just look at everything. For your first house I would honestly shy away from private sales unless you feel really comfortable with the process. Nothing inherently wrong with people selling their houses privately, but it doesn't do a buyer any good. It's not like the sellers are passing on the Realtor savings to you.  
 
The better you can do at projecting your future needs, and wants, the better off you will be. Was kinda hard for our first place to project them all as we didn't know what we liked. Ie 3+1 or 2+2, is 1 + 1/2 baths enough? Central air didn't matter on that house, but now it would be a must have: there will be little things like that to decide on.

I believe its 5% down payment for first time home owner thats what i paid but like powwow said you might need cmhc depends on the lender. you will have to talk to your bank have your previous taxes and pay stubs usually. There is usually allot of stress involved back and forth to the bank and calling realtors etc. But its all worth it in the long run. I highly recommend bi weekly payments as it lets you pay off your house faster!

Of course it depends on what you are looking for, a little starter home is pretty easy to find yourself but the mid range and higher end homes can disappear before they even come on the market. A realtor can get you in on those homes. Best of luck in your search.  

When you get the survey done have them put the pins in even if you have to pay for it.  
 
If you don't know anything about construction get a home inspection done. I hope they can tell you if you are buying junk.

Make sure to get a home inspection I know someone who did on one house and good thing they did because it was in bad condition and would have financially ruined them but didn't on the second house cause they thought it "looked" good so they bought it and had nothing but problems! We got one done by Crocus home inspections he was the most recommend on ebrandon and he was great! He let us know what needed to be fixed and was a real nice guy and we haven't had any issues with our home! You get a cd full of pictures that he goes over with you so you can see where and what needs to be done if anything.

Chris from Centrum is the best mortgage broker you won be disappoint he is so helpful we likely wouldn't have gotten our house without him!!!

thanks again for the info! i will make an appt with a mortgage broker. it's nice to know a little of what to expect. it seems a little overwhelming!