{"id":2670,"date":"2010-11-23T11:04:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-23T16:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/ready-steady-buy\/"},"modified":"2020-02-17T20:39:54","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T01:39:54","slug":"be-financially-savvy-homeowner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/be-financially-savvy-homeowner\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready, Steady, Buy?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>by Robert Near<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><i><span>Buying a house is likely the biggest ticket item you\u2019ll ever buy. Choose wisely.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/blogger\/_85NEkLaQekk\/TOwaqOu13rI\/AAAAAAAAAyw\/g21bJF06EO0\/s1600\/real_estate.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.zoocasa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/blogger\/_85NEkLaQekk\/TOwaqOu13rI\/AAAAAAAAAyw\/g21bJF06EO0\/s320\/real_estate.jpg\" width=\"320\" height=\"307\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>So you\u2019ve settled up and think that the right thing to do is to buy a house. The first step is to see a mortgage broker and get pre-approved for a mortgage. They\u2019ll use time-honoured ratios to determine how much money you can borrow to put towards a house. (If you want to do these tests yourself, visit the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca\/en\/co\/buho\/hostst\/hostst_002.cfm\">CMCH\u2019s website<\/a>).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Now you have a budget. Next, you\u2019ll need to assemble a team: an agent, lawyer and home inspector. Meeting each professional and determining that you&#8217;re comfortable with working with each one of these people is of the utmost importance. The agent you use is particularly paramount, as he\/she is the one who\u2019ll hold your first-time buyer\u2019s hand through the process. Shuttling you around, negotiating on your behalf, etc. &#8211; you need to trust this person so get an agent that\u2019s right for you.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Know that you\u2019re going to want to see a lot of houses in the evenings, or weekends? Be upfront about it. At some point you\u2019ll have to sign a contract with this agent. Read it. Know what you\u2019re getting into.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>As for how to get deals, Lucas Smith, broker at Keller Williams Ottawa Realty, says that it largely depends on the seller. With luck, you\u2019ll find someone who\u2019s willing to negotiate. On your end, you\u2019ve got to remain detached. \u201cPut in an offer, and be prepared to walk away.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><i><b>About the Author <\/b><\/i><\/div>\n<div><i>Rob Near has lived and written internationally, including in Shanghai and Taipei and as a Toronto-based freelance editor has worked for enRoute, Toronto Life, Zoomer, Chatelaine and Canadian Business.<\/i><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Robert Near Buying a house is likely the biggest ticket item you\u2019ll ever buy. Choose wisely.\u00a0 So you\u2019ve settled up and think that the right thing to do is to buy a house. The first step is to see a mortgage broker and get pre-approved for a mortgage. They\u2019ll use time-honoured ratios to determine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buying-a-home"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ready, Steady, Buy? | Zoocasa Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"by Robert Near Buying a house is likely the biggest ticket item you\u2019ll ever buy. 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