There’s a lot of lingo and jargon in any industry and the real estate industry is certainly no different. As an added bonus, there’s legal jargon and knowledge involved in every real estate transaction. Knowledge of contracts is crucial to the offer process. What you commit to and what the seller commits to in this process is legally binding.

There are more than 145 steps to complete a real estate transaction which I am happy to assist you with and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to tackle on your own.

An offer to purchase includes the price you are offering, a proposed possession date, any conditions that the purchase is subject to such as:

-          Financing

-          Home inspection

-          Sale of your own home

-          Appraisal (may also be included in the financing condition)

How do we offer at the right price? Knowing a property’s time on the market and neighborhood comparable prices is valuable when negotiating. I can assist you by making sure you have all this information at hand to make the right decisions. The end result? You will get the best purchase price for your new home.

Offers to purchase also commonly include any furnishings or appliances that are to remain in the home, carpet cleaning, whole home cleaning,

I will help you negotiate the purchase of your next home.

and how much of a deposit you will be making. But don’t worry; I will take you step by step through all your options when making an offer. Your initial offer is very important so I want you to be completely secure with what you are putting forward.

Once the offer is made to the sellers we wait for a response, they can reject it, accept it or counter offer. Rejection of an offer is not something that happens often and I will do my best to help you understand why an offer was rejected. Complete acceptance of a first offer is also equally uncommon – it could be as simple as a change of date or increased deposit amount, but first offers usually result in a counteroffer from the sellers. A counteroffer means that the sellers have reviewed your offer and have some changes, now the ball is in your court. You, as the buyer, have the choice of rejecting, accepting the counteroffer (as it now is) or countering the counteroffer (with your own changes). Each time a counteroffer is made the transaction could end, be accepted or be changed.

The art of negotiation is actually the part of the transaction that I love the most, hammering out a great deal that satisfies my clients is an adrenalin rush that to me means I’m helping someone with one of the biggest decisions of their life. Most people list their homes expecting to negotiate; with my assistance and knowledge of the market you will get the best home buying experience not to mention the best price!

*There is much more to the subject of real estate contracts, what I’ve covered is just a brief synopsis.

With the invention of the Internet you can access properties on-line at the same time real estate professionals do. Access to the MLS can be a great benefit when choosing a new home, but it can also make choosing a new home overwhelming!

I suggest browsing through homes on mls.ca that match your needs, then let’s chat because some of the homes may already be sold (or conditionally sold), may not be suitable due to criteria not listed on MLS or I might know of a new listing that we can add to the list of homes you’d like to view. I frequently get access to hot new listings through my extensive network of co-realtors that, if they are a match to your needs, can be the perfect opportunity for you.

One key to getting the home you want is to move fast; while the market might not be red hot (all the time) homes are sold quite frequently in Fort McMurray (right now the average listing is sold in just 51 days), all it takes is one right person to make an offer and a home can be unavailable to you. Let’s avoid this happening to you! Depending on your availability most sellers are quite accommodating to home viewings, so let’s go see your new home.

Finding the right home is important - to you and to me

When you are considering which homes to view you could take into your considerations:

1. The home’s location:

• Busy street
• Cul de sacs
• Corner lots
• On street parking
• Greenbelt
• Schools and parks

2. The type of home:

• Single story (bungalow)
• Multiple stories (most often two levels and a basement)
• Split level
• Apartment
• Townhouse
• Mobile home

3. Your needs list!

• Total square footage
• Number of bedrooms
• Number of bathrooms
• Finished or unfinished basement
• Garage (attached or detached)

4. Your wants list!

• Air conditioning
• Hardwood flooring
• Bonus room
• Heated garage
• Fenced yard
• Upgraded or updated bathrooms
• Wet bar
• Gas fireplace

You may think you can discover everything about a potential new home from the online listing (and you can certainly find out a lot) but there are some things that don’t make the MLS listing, such as:

• Neighbourhood comparables
• Latest community information
• Zoning changes
• History of the home or street
• Any ongoing legal issues

That’s where I can assist you, by doing the research, knowing the neighbourhoods, keeping a local network and handling the details associated with finding the right home.

I should also mention the feelings you get when you enter a home, when it’s the right one, truly you do know it. Picturing where you’ll put your furniture, what colour you might want to paint which room, envisioning family get-togethers, these feelings are all part of being inside your new home, which you can’t experience if you can’t get in…

It’s great that you have made a list of homes you might like to see, but it’s even better to get me involved as early in the process as possible.

Shopping for a home without pre-qualifying for a mortgage is setting yourself up for disappointment. I say this because you need to know how much you can spend on a home but lending rules change frequently, interest rates are constantly changing (with promotions and specials starting and ending all the time! Ask me about this) and just recently the CMHC announced it is limiting the amount of mortgages that it ensures, which may have an effect on your ability to obtain CMHC insurance on your mortgage (although there are other insurers).

For pre-qualification you can work with your own financial institution, any financial institution of your choosing or a mortgage broker. (If you would like me to suggest where to look for a mortgage broker, I’d be happy to do so as I work with a variety of lenders.) There are benefits to each of these lending options and you should carefully explore which one is the best for you. Some factors to consider when choosing:

-          Do you currently carry a mortgage?

-          Who is the mortgage with? What can they offer you?

Know how much money you are pre-qualified for before you shop for a home.

-          What is your relationship like with your banker?

-          Are you at the end of your mortgage term?

-          How much will be your penalty (if not at the end of your term)?

-          What are current interest rates? Who has the best published deal?

Once you have selected the lender you wish to work with they will require that you fill out an application, possibly online or in person. Additionally they will require financial information from you in order to determine your pre-qualification dollar amount. Be prepared to provide:

-          Income confirmation such as a T4 or letter of employment

-          Confirmation of down payment

-          General information such as your full name, address, social insurance number, etc.

This is especially true for a lender that you have not worked with before; your own bank will generally have access to this information but may still require some back up information from you in order to proceed with the application.

Now your lender can get to work crunching numbers in order to get you the most important number. When your lender contacts you with your pre-qualification dollar amount now the real fun can begin… house shopping!

You can take this dollar amount and use my website to access all the MLS listings in your price range. Now you might ask, what is my range? Your range includes prices that you are comfortable with, not everyone wants to or does spend the full pre-qualification amount. You may consider viewing homes that are slightly above your range with the knowledge that any home purchase is a negotiation. The current housing market is a give and take between buyers and sellers so you’ll be happy to know you may not have to pay full asking price – but be ready to negotiate.

You need 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a fenced yard, and a finished basement in a great neighborhood.

You want to buy a home with dark hardwood flooring, newer stainless steel appliances, tile back splash and a master en suite.

Or maybe your list of what you want and need looks a bit different, but the key to getting a great home is to identify what you need vs. what you

It's best to decide your wants vs. needs before you start searching for a home

want. Needs can be defined as ‘necessary for a healthy life’ whereas wants can be defined as ‘an emotional desire’.

If you need to have an extra bedroom for guests and there isn’t one or one can’t be added to the home that may take the home out of contention. If you view a home with most of your needs but it doesn’t have everything you want, it still may be worth a second look. Some things are deal breakers, those are usually needs, and some things are just nice to have, those are wants.

It is important to know before you get into the buying process exactly what your needs are and what your wants are, a bit of separation between head and heart at the start will save you along your home buying journey. I suggest sitting down (with your partner) and making an actual list with needs on one side of the page and wants on the other. You may even want to include your children in the discussion – you’d be surprised at what they might have to say!

Hopefully you can get everything on both your lists but be prepared to compromise on things you don’t really need. Keep in mind that finding the perfect home isn’t always possible simply because it doesn’t exist or doesn’t exist in your price range.

Another key to a smooth home buying process is to know your timeline.

• Do you need to move during a certain month? Are you flexible?
• Will you only move when your own home is sold?
• Maybe your mortgage coming up for renewal and that’s when you want to move?
• Are you waiting for one or more of your children to move out, graduate or change schools?
• What factors will affect your timeline?

The Fort McMurray home market can be considered unique when comparing to a traditional market. Traditionally the purchase/sale transaction would have a 60 or 90 day completion, in Fort McMurray many homes complete in under 30 days – with some as quick as 2-3 weeks!  I’m getting ahead in the process but I want to let you know there’s flexibility with moving dates.

A little pre-planning or thinking will help ensure that you are happy and satisfied with your new home.

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