Durham Region Real Estate Blog

Typically, new home sales are done through a builder’s model home. You stop by one of their open houses, meet the builder’s sales representatives, and proceed to obtain all your information and prepare an offer with them.  Where is your representation in all of this? The builder has an entire arsenal of people representing his interests, but who is looking out for you?

It is a good idea to enlist the services of your own Buyer’s Agent. Someone who you feel comfortable with, who will look after your best interests and work on your behalf. Choose an Agent who is familiar with new home contracts and the clauses that are unique to them.

Prior to viewing any model homes, meet and discuss your thoughts about buying a home with your chosen Buyer’s Agent. Then the two of you can discuss which new home builders to visit. Who is building a style of home that appeals to you? Which neighbourhoods are attractive to you? Is one Builder offering features that are of particular interest to you?

Your Buyer’s Agent should accompany you through the model homes to point out things you may not notice and to discuss layouts and potential locations for your new place. New home builders often install many highly upgraded items in their model homes, so you won’t get what you see unless you are prepared to pay thousands of dollars for the upgrades. Your agent can negotiate on your behalf and lead you through the offer process.

In most cases, your Buyer’s Agent will be paid by the builder, but don’t hesitate to ask where their fee will be coming from.

Overall, in the GTA, new homeowner satisfaction is down. (On a 1000 point scale, 674 points in 2009, down from 710 in 2008.)  This has to do with home readiness and service/warranty staff factors. Currently, Brookfield homes ranks highest with an overall satisfaction score of 861. Mattamy Homes (834) comes in second and Tribute Communities (811) rounds out the top three.  It’s a good idea for you to find an agent who is familiar with the new home market. Someone able to assist you in finding you the new home that fits your dream.

It’s no unusual for parents to buy a home for their child to live in when they enter college. Many see it as a better investment than paying rent for four years. But being a landlord is not for everyone.

You must ensure to buy a home close to the campus, consider your tenant’s parking needs, laundry facilities and internet access. Blair and I are familiar with investment properties and can make you aware of the electrical safety standards and bylaws.

It is advisable to purchase the home in your own name and not that of a company. This ensures you will be protected if there is a dispute and one roommate needs to be removed from the home without going through a formal eviction.

All roommates should sign a written tenancy agreement. Have a separate agreement for each student, that doesn’t specify a fixed term, and indicates that the roommates will share living accommodations, including the bathroom and kitchen facilities with the owner or with a child of the owner.

Because the kitchen and baths are shared with the owner’s child, the termination provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) do not apply. This exemption means roommates could find themselves out on the street with little or no notice. It works to the benefit of the owner and to the detriment of the prospective roommate.

They need to know, coming in, that if there is a breach of the agreement they can be tossed out with basically no notice. You should outline the consequences in the tenancy agreement along with the time lines involved.

It is prudent for the owner to request a guarantor in case a roommate defaulted on the rent and because the RTA doesn’t apply here, you can also ask for a security deposit.

All roommates should sign a roommate agreement that outlines house rules and roommates’ responsibilities, as well as rules that concern guest, laundry, smoking and pets. Usually the child of the owner takes care of the house. Putting rules down on paper sets some of the guidelines of how people are going to live together. This way the roommates don’t think they are paying the owner’s child to do all the work!

If you have more questions about  buying a college dorm, call or email me. I’d love to answer of your questions.

I can’t stress this enough…..get the help of a good mortgage broker. One who is well versed in financing a second home.  Go to someone who works on commission only, someone who makes their living from getting people mortgages. They will be able to tell you, without wasting your time, whether or not you can afford a second home and if it makes sense for you financially.

Think about cost, suitability, lifestyle and risks. You will have to pay insurance, property taxes, ongoing maintenance costs, utilities and the mortgage payment. Can you afford the added expense? Will you be stressing about the money that is due? Do you have the time to go to a vacation property enough to make the costs worthwhile? You could offset the costs by renting out your place during some of the the best vacation times of the year. You won’t be able to enjoy your place, but the financial gain can be substantial so you might want to consider it for the first few years at least!  I can suggest ways to help you find good, reliable tenants.

Do you know how much the upkeep will be?  Especially if you don’t keep an eye on it year round? This is where suitability and lifestyle come into play. How much time will you spend at your vacation property? It is a good idea to have a property manager look at the property – another cost, but a wise investment.

If this vacation spot is going to be a retreat for a short amount of time each year, maybe a condo is better for you. There are extra fees involved but the outside maintenance is covered.

Varying risks arise if you buy in another province. In British Columbia there are aboriginal claims on a lot of land, so you can only lease the land, even if you own the property. Leases are usually for 99 years, but they are not always renewed. If the place you want to buy only has a 20 year lease remaining, you may only be able to amortize your mortgage over 20 years so the payments may be larger than you were originally thinking. Banff and Jasper, Alberta have a lot of Crown Land and the government can reclaim this land at any time without much warning, regardless of what structures are on the property. So be careful.  Work with a real estate agent familiar with the area in which you want to buy a home.

Your primary residence is a great option for financing a second property. If you have equity, you can use it to purchase a vacation property with a refinance or home equity line of credit (HELOC). HELOC’s are good as they have little or no set up fees and you pay interest only on the portion of the HELOC that is used.  If you refinance then you may get lower interest rates, but check to see if you will pay any penalties to pay out your existing mortgage.

Once you’ve checked into your financing and considered your expenses you’re ready to start the fun part – finding a great vacation place to call your home!

When you take possession of your new home, it’s a good idea to change the locks on all your exterior doors. It is the only way to ensure there aren’t any “spare” keys floating around. You want to be safe, so a deadbolt lock is perfect. Flipping the lever on the lock sets a powerful mechanism that coud block anyone wanting to force their way into your home. But how safe is this locking system? The problem is what happens when the metal deadbolt extends out the side of your door as you flip the key or lever. The lock generally interlocks with a metal plate anchored to a small section of soft-wood door jam. One or two bumps from an average shoulder will blow that little bit of wood apart, allowing the door to swing wide open! And in the unlikely event that the weak door jamb doesn’t tear apart, the edge of an average wooden door certainly will! Or the hinge screws could get torn out.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

You could install an all-steel door model that is hinged into an all-steel jamb, eliminating the weak jamb problem once and for all. But don’t confuse an all-steel door with a steel-clad, residential door as these doors are usually just a thin, steel covering over a frame of wood or foam. These doors offer no significant security benefits because they’re still set into a wooden door jamb.

Instead of a new door, you could reinforce your door jamb. Try Door Jamb Armor or Strikemaster II Pro.  They are systems of retrofit steel parts designed to reinforce the door jambs; the area around the door edge where the deadbolt extends, as well as the opposite edge of the door where the hinges fasten. When you install all the reinforcing components, it makes an ordinary door virtually kick-proof.

Some people say we live in a safer world, while others think we aren’t as safe as we used to be. Regardless of how you feel, if you’re going to lock your home, doesn’t it make sense to have doors that actually deliver a serious obstacle to potential intruders?

When you buy a home, you are constantly hit with location, location, location. So, o.k., you get that where the house is located should play an important part in your home search, but aren’t there other factors to think about? Sure there are. Here is where everyone asks you how much you want to spend, how many bedrooms the home must have.  Does the house need a garage, family room, separate dining room, fireplace, hardwood floors, etc.? The list could go on and on, but eventually we all need to prioritize our list. How do we go about doing that?

Take this short quiz. There are no right or wrong answers and don’t think about it too much!

Read the following questions, in order, and visualize the scenes in your mind. There are only 4 scenes – easy to remember. No looking ahead – keep your answers true and uninfluenced.

Read an imagine the following scenes in your mind.

1.  You are walking in the woods – who are you walking with? 

2.  You walk deeper into the woods. You enter a clearing and before you is your dream home. Describe its size. 

3.  Is your dream house surrounded by a fence?

4.  You enter the house. You walk to the dining area and see the dining room table. Describe what you wee on and around the table.   

 What does it mean?

 The questions above show the relationship to our values and ideals. It is important to honour ourselves when we purchase a home.  Read below to see how your answers relate to your home buying experience. 

1.  The person you are walking with is the most important person in your life. You should get their opinion and have them be a part of your home buying decisions.  

2.  The size of your dream home is representative of the size of your ambition for the home. For example, if it is a small cottage, you may want to consider a home that is move in ready. The bigger the home, the more projects you are willing to take on.

3.  No fence is indicative of an open home. People are welcome at all times. You would want to have a home that allows for visitors and company. The presence of a fence is more indicative of a private home. You would prefer people to not drop by unannounced. This matters for your home buying decision. Either way, pay close attention to location, size and amenities. Make sure they tie in with your desire for company vs. your private palace.

4. If your answer did not include food, people or flowers then you are a homebody. Your home is just for you and no one else. If your answer did include any of the above then other people, factors, situations influence your decision and the type of home that would make you feel comfortable.   

Now we are at the second part of the quiz.

This quiz takes a look at how we prioritize our lives.  Our priorities influence our decisions, and how we decide to live our lives.  Read the list of actions below.  Imagine they are all happening at the same time.  Prioritize what  you would do first, second, third, etc.  There are no wrong answers.  No peeking – it works better if you are uninfluenced by the results.

Place the following situations in the order you would complete them.

• The phone is ringing.
• The doorbell is ringing.
• The clothes are hanging outside and it has started to rain.
• The baby is crying.
• The water is running from the tap.

Think about what you will do first, then second and so on.  Scroll down to see the explanation. Each action reflects the priorities that you have set in your life. Take a look at the following table to see which priority corresponds to which action.

What does this have to do with your home? 

Check your priorities below for an explanation.

1.    Career and Job: Your room is the Den/Home Office. You need that home office. A home that has a close proximity to where you work is a definite. 

2.    Friends and Relatives: Your room is the Dining Room. It is important to have a place in the home for family to come and visit.  A place for a large table for meals.  A place for your Christmas tree and seating.  A house with a nice layout for entertaining.

3.    Love: Its all about the bedroom and master bath.  A place for you to have your personal haven.  Most likely including a walk in closet.

4.    Family: The Kitchen is your room – it has to function and work as hard as you do. It is important to have enough space for the family, a yard, close to schools and parks. 

5.    Wealth: Your room is the Family Room with the latest flat screen TV, and the components that go with it, and a large comfy sofa to enjoy your spoils.  You want a house with some panache-a home that shows how hard you work.  A prestigious location would be a selling point for you. 

Maybe these interpretations of your answers are not 100% accurate, but they should help you organize your own thoughts on what to really look for in your new home!