Getting pre-approved for a mortgage should be your first step. This will let you know how much you can borrow, and knowing your spending power will greatly help in your search. This will also help give you an idea of how much will be required on your part for a down payment and closing costs.
Closing costs can range anywhere from 1.5-4% of your home's purchase price. This includes land transfer tax, mortgage insurance (required if your downpayment is less than 20% of the purchase price), appraisal fees, property taxes, and lawyers fees. Typical closing costs for a $500k home can be between $7,500-20,000.
A deposit shows the commitment of the buyer to the seller in order to complete the sale. While there is no set amount, a sizeable deposit shows you're serious. Typically, 5% or more is suggested but not required. Also, the deposit is considered part of your downpayment. For example, If your downpayment is $50,000 and you make a $10,000 deposit, the remaining amount owing is $40,000 + closing costs.
No, once your sales representative has submitted or presented your offer the seller will make a decision to either accept, counter, reject, or (sometimes) not respond.
If a seller is holding offers, it means they have elected a specific date or time - known as a presentation date - to review all offers. This is typical if they are expecting multiple offers.
While a seller has chosen to hold offers, they have also reserved the right to review any offers that may come forth prior to the presentation date. These are pre-emptive offers, also referred to as bully offers.
Multiple bidding occurs when there is more one than one offer on a particular property at the same time. In this case, all offers are presented to the seller and the seller has several options available to them.
The right answer to this question often depends on personal circumstances and lifestyle situations. Owning has advantages such as building equity, retaining capital gains, improving the property the way you want, and added stability, to name a few. Renting has benefits such as flexibility, less maintenance, and can sometimes be cheaper (in the short term). Contact our team to review your circumstances to find out which is right for you.
The simplest answer to this question is supply vs. demand. There is a shortage of supply in the market compared to consumer demand.