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BUYING A HOME
Make the right choice the right way.

TO BUY OR TO RENT?

KNOW YOUR TERMS Agent: An individual who represents either the buyer or seller in a real estate transaction. Broker: An individual, sometimes an owner of an agency, who has met real estate licensing standards and is authorized to conduct real estate transactions. Multiple Listing Service (MLS): Under this marketing system, agents from real estate companies other than the listing office will also show your house to prospective clients. Realtor: A broker or agent who belongs to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), 37 percent of Canadian renters could afford to buy a home. But when it comes to buying or renting, age, lifestyle, whether or not you’re a parent, even where you live, all play a role. This was among findings of a late 1990s study by the CMHC, which wanted to know why, in Quebec, so many 25- to 34-year-olds -- the so-called Generation X -- were tenants rather than homeowners. At the time, 56 percent of this age group outside Quebec owned their homes, a figure that dropped to 34 percent in Montreal. CMHC’s Kim-Anh Lam explained: “When we asked about their priorities, Gen Xers placed housing fifth -- after recreational activities, retirement planning, consolidating their jobs, and repaying their debt.” However, home ownership became a priority once a couple became serious, or the first child arrived.

Most experts agree that renting makes sense if you’re highly mobile and don’t want to be burdened with the slow pace of the buying and selling process, or if you can’t or don’t want to take on the long-term financial commitments of a mortgage and home maintenance. Renting may be necessary in order to save for the 10- to 20-percent down payment needed to buy a home.

Whether you buy or rent your home, you should use no more than 35 percent of your income on housing, including rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, and repair. Most banks recommend that no more than 30 percent of your income should support a mortgage, and no more than 40 percent should go to a mortgage and other debt.

OFFER TO PURCHASE
Home buyers sometimes get stung because they or their representatives fail to include important conditions in the Offer to Purchase, or, as it is sometimes called, the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Your offer can be conditional -- it is good only on condition that you obtain mortgage financing, or the house passes a home inspection or a termite check. In Homebuying Step by Step: a consumer guide and workbook, the CMHC recommends your offer also include:

• Basic details such as your legal name, the name of the vendor, and the legal and civic address of the property.
• The purchase price and all financial details. Included in this should be the amount of the deposit and any interest to be paid on it. You may also want to spell out the specific amount of penalty should you wish to back out of the deal.
• The chattel or items in the home that are included in the purchase price. This may include window coverings, appliances, a satellite dish, carpeting, bookcases, or a backyard swing. Enumerate all of them, and stipulate that everything in the house -- all appliances and systems -- be in working order at the time of closing of title.
• Date of closing and taking possession -- usually 30 to 60 days from the date of the agreement, but it can be longer.
• Request for a current land survey of the property.
• Date and time at which the offer becomes null and void. A 48-hour limit on the seller’s response time to your offer is reasonable.

FOR BUYERS ONLY

SMART MOVES Ask the following kinds of questions before choosing an agent. The answers will help you determine how buyer-focused he or she is: How long have you represented buyers as a buyer’s agent? Do you or your company take real estate listings? Do you prefer exclusive or Multiple Listing Service listings? What percentage of your personal business and your company’s business comes from representing buyers? What percentage from representing sellers? Will you try to sell me one of your listed properties before showing me listings from other sources? Do you have information about For Sale by Owner properties? Can I have the names and phone numbers of three to six of your most recent buyer clients? What training have you had in being a buyer’s agent? How will you protect my interests as a buyer?

A typical real estate transaction often begins when prospective buyers drive by a house that looks appealing, take down the name of the real estate agent listed on the sign in the yard, and call that person for an appointment. The only problem? That agent -- usually the listing agent -- works for a commission paid by the seller, and the agent’s legal responsibility is to get the best price possible for the current homeowners, not the prospective buyers.

Common sense calls for buyers to be honest about their priorities, preferences, and price range. But since the agent’s commission comes from the vendor, and since this money is a percentage of the sale price, it is entirely possible that any information the buyers reveal to the agent -- their finances, the top price they’ll pay, their reactions to the house -- could be used to sweeten the pot for the sellers.

Keep in mind, too, that the agent-vendor relationship doesn’t change just because you ask an agent to help you find your dream house. The agent’s services will be free to you since his or her fees will be paid by the vendor whose property you eventually buy. Commissions are divided between the listing agent and the agent who brings about the sale.

What can buyers do in these situations? They can be aware that agents will be motivated to get the highest price and the best terms from the seller’s point of view. Also, the higher the price, the bigger the agent’s commission. Accordingly, buyers should not expect any agent to volunteer information on a house’s defects. If an agent says it’s a “fixer-upper,” find out exactly what needs fixing up. Buyers should ask specific questions and expect factual answers. But, unless you ask, don’t expect the agent to tell you the roof is 25 years old or the fireplaces don’t work.

BUYING A NEW HOME
When buying a home that’s been around for a while, you’re getting a known quantity that’s proven how it reacts to winter, summer, rain, wind, and other circumstances. When buying a newly built home, you’re getting something that “hasn’t been road-tested,” says Alan Fields, co-author of Your New Home: The Alert Consumer’s Guide to Buying and Building a Quality Home. So it’s important to be careful.

He points out the three biggest mistakes people make when buying a new house:

• Forgetting to get the “window sticker” for the house -- the written list, similar to that on a new car, of specifications and materials used by the builder. “Deal with a builder who’s willing to give you specifics about the construction process,” advises Fields.
• Failing to check out the neighborhood. “People fall in love with how pretty the new home is, and don’t ask enough questions about what’s going on around them with respect to schools, parks, zoning, traffic flow, and other details.”
• Not hiring an independent inspector or engineer to help evaluate the construction. “People think because it’s new it’s not necessary to inspect the home,” says Fields, “or that the city or county housing inspector will check to ensure quality. Those inspectors are checking to ensure that the home meets the minimum standards -- not the highest standards -- for health and safety codes in the area. Just because a home passes a city inspection doesn’t mean you got what you paid for, or what your family deserves.”