Home Buying Blogs – Edmonton

Buying a home in an age-restricted community is much different from buying a normal single-family home. Knowing what to expect can help you prepare for the purchase process and what comes after. If you're a home buyer, here's what you need to know.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a licensed real estate professional before proceeding with any real estate transaction.

Buyers Must Budget for HOA Fees

Most age-restricted communities have homeowner's associations (HOA). Buyers who are looking to buy in one of these communities must budget for the HOA fees, which can go up depending on the property amenities and the kind of work that needs to be done.

There is Likely an Application Process

The HOA may have an application

Home insurance helps protect homeowners from financial liability when their property is damaged. While home insurance policies may vary, many insurance policies cover disasters like fire, lightning strike, vandalism and theft, and home buyers who are about to purchase a home often spend time exploring their home insurance options to get the best deal for their money. Understanding the need for home insurance and the different kinds of home insurance can help home buyers decide what type of insurance is right for them.

Mortgage Lenders Require Home Insurance

Many home buyers will begin their search for home insurance by asking whether or not it's a requirement. Homeowners are not required by law to have home insurance, but mortgage lenders require

Anybody running his or her own business knows obtaining financing for anything is a bit more of a hassle compared to someone with a job. It's difficult to get a mortgage for just about anybody, but the self-employed have to go through quite a bit more.

The Face of Self-Employment in Calgary

After the economic downturn, more people started their own businesses and decided this was better than returning to the workforce and collecting a regular paycheck. The only issue, these same people are ready to upgrade their homes or finally purchase a home. They are quickly discovering how hard it can be to obtain a mortgage when you work for yourself.

With so many self-employed individuals applying for mortgages, lenders have been forced to take a second

The average Canadian homebuyer will need to apply for financing for their home purchase. Such a route makes homeownership accessible, but some may be worried about high interest rates as part of the loan agreement. As borrowers will be making payments involving the loan principal and interest, it is useful to understand more about how interest rates work.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a licensed mortgage professional before proceeding with any real estate transaction.

Why Are Interest Rates Important?

It is not enough for a borrower to be approved for a loan and pay back only the principal. Lenders take on a certain amount of risk as some individuals may default on a home loan. Interest rates are intended as an incentive

Purchasing an Edmonton home represents a significant financial investment. For most families, it is the largest investment of their lifetime. Buying a home is often charged with a number of heavy emotions, including fear, excitement and even guilt.

The guilt associated with purchasing a home is sometimes referred to as "buyer's remorse." Rather than falling for such a trap, you can use the following tips to overcome the difficulty before it becomes an issue for you.

Top Tips for Avoiding Buyer's Remorse

Understand the Buying Process – Going to the closing table with your eyes open is one of the most important things to do for overcoming buyer's remorse. Talk to others who have already purchased a home as well as real estate specialists, who

A vacation home not only gives an owner a beautiful place to visit whenever they want a break from the norm, it also opens the door to secondary income if the owner chooses to rent out the home during parts of the year. The rules of Canadian real estate change from primary residences to secondary vacation homes though, so keep the following in mind before contacting a real estate agent to buy a home.

Practical Concerns

Before deciding on a location, a buyer should thoroughly know the area, be it in the Magrath real estate market or elsewhere. Rental rules change from place to place, and they may directly interfere with when and how you can rent the property out. In addition to local ordinances, building and zoning laws can make it difficult to

Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) is a way for lenders to mitigate their risk if a homebuyer should default on their mortgage, but not every homeowner is required to have it in Canada. Learn more about when you need to worry about LMI and how it affects your monthly payments on your Bonnie Doon home.

Down Payments

The standard down payment on a home was always meant to be at least 20 percent of the final offer. So if you buy a $100,000 home, you should have at least $20,000 in cash to give to the seller. The more the homeowner puts down, the more equity they'll have in the home and the lower their monthly payment will be. Banks can be reasonably certain that the mortgage will be paid every month because the homeowner has a major stake in the

Buying a home usually involves a certain number of rules that buyers and sellers intend to follow, and contingencies are an important part. With a better understanding of the types of contingencies they might need, and how contingencies work for a home sale, buyers can be more prepared to make an offer.

What Are Home Buying Contingencies?

As a complicated and costly purchase, buying a home requires a great deal of careful consideration. Buyers may not always know if a home is going to be a good investment for them when they first see it. They may have other limitations that could slow down the buying process. Buyers often need some basic protections while they make sure that everything is in order with the home and the way they plan to pay for

After you buy your new house in Edmonton, it's time to set up a plan to pay the mortgage every month. Sometimes you need a little help with the best plan of attack. Here are a few tips for better mortgage repayment.

Pre-Approval

If you have not started shopping for a home yet, you want to receive a pre-approval first. The last thing you want to do is start shopping for a home, find one you love and find out you can't get the mortgage you need to purchase the home. Pre-approval will help you understand what you can afford and make it much easier to start shopping.

Bi-Weekly Payments

Most mortgages are set up with monthly a payment, which means you will pay 12 times per year. However, if you pay half your mortgage payment on a bi-weekly

There are several things a lender will look at when a potential home buyer is trying to get a mortgage to buy a home. Pne of those is the tdebt-to-income (DTI) ratio. This refers to how much debt a homeowner has in relation to their total income. The equation takes into account far more than just the purchase price of the home and the buyer's monthly wages though. Once a lender has this number, they'll factor it into their decision of whether to approve a loan application. See how to calculate DTI to get a better idea of the odds of approval.

For informational purposes only. Always consult with a licensed mortgage professional before proceeding with any real estate transaction.

How to Calculate DTI Ratio

Hopeful homebuyers need to first list