1. Choose a Realtor that’s right for you.

As you can see from my earlier posts, I have a relational approach to real estate and it’s based on trust. People will have different opinions with their approach and not everyone will be the right match for you. Qualifying your real estate agent to see if they have the same views as you is an essential part when purchasing a home. You want to make sure you’re able to work with your real estate agent throughout the transaction and hopefully longer! Taking the time to choose the agent that best suits you is essential.

2. Get Pre-Qualified for your mortgage

Knowing what you qualify for is imperative before shopping around for homes. Price will be a key factor to narrowing down your search. One of the most disappointing situations is when a buyer finds a home they absolutely love and then realize they can’t qualify for that amount of mortgage. Pre-qualifying will help you narrow down your search, but it will also help you avoid over extending yourself. Just because you qualify for a certain amount of mortgage doesn’t mean you have to buy the maximum. Being “house poor” is not a great situation, so discussing this with a mortgage broker or bank is an important part in this process.

3. Set Up your MLX Search

Many people use MLS to search for properties on their own by entering the criteria on the website. Although this is a good start, there are many advantages to getting a real estate agent to set that up for you:

• By allowing us to set up your search, we will be able to note all of your criteria that you would like in your new home and enter it into MLX (Realtor version of MLS). After set up, this will email you an initial inventory of houses and then every time a house becomes available within your search criteria, it will immediately send you an email with that property. This way no homes will be able to “fall between the cracks” and allow you to miss your potential dream home.
• This search allows you to view properties 24-72 hours in advance of the general public. This is important because sometimes homes are only on the market for a few days before an offer is accepted, so being the first one to view it is a major advantage.
• Every client I set up on a search has access to their own personal contact website that allows them to manage their properties that get sent to them. They can save properties in their “favourite” section, “possibility” section, or delete one’s they don’t like. This helps manage your search and be more organized when trying to find the home that’s right for you.

4. BONUS: Always Use A Home Inspector

This will be one of the biggest financial decisions of your life, so spend that extra few hundred dollars to ensure everything is what it seems!