Steps for Buying

Step 1

Start your research early.

As soon as you can, start researching listings. Make note of particular homes you like and see how long they stay on the market. Find out what they sold for. This will give you a sense of house trends in your neighborhoods of interest.

Step 2

Get pre-approved for a mortgage. 

Before you start looking for a home, you will need to know how much you can afford.

Step 3

Contact Chris!

His knowledge of the home buying process, mortgage rules and regulations and familiarity with the Halifax area is extremely valuable. He’s here to help. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use him. Realtors are paid sales commissions by the seller.

Step 4

Shop for your home.

Chris will help you view as many homes as you would like. He is here to help keep track of the details and answer questions.

Step 5

Make an offer.

Chris will work to write, present and negotiate an offer based on the values of comparable homes in the area.  Once you and the seller have reached an agreement on price and terms, the offer will be accepted and “under agreement.”

Step 6

Satisfy Conditions.

Homes that are “under agreement” are contingent upon conditions, like mortgage financing approval, legal review of contracts, property insurance approval, payment of deposit and applicable inspections. Throughout this process, Chris is your single point of contact from start to finish, and will take care of everything for you.  After all conditions have been satisfied, your accepted offer becomes “firm.”

Step 7

Prepare for closing.

Chris informs your lawyer, mortgage lender and home insurance provider that the agreement is now firm. He provides instruction for them to contact you to begin closing preparations.

Step 8

Paperwork.

You will meet with your lawyer to sign all legal paperwork, your mortgage lender to sign all financial paperwork and your home insurance provider to sign all insurance paperwork. Chris is happy to help answer any questions you may have.

Step 9

Closing Date.

Chris will contact you one week prior to your closing date to schedule a pre-closing walk-through of the property to ensure that the property is in the same condition as it was when your offer was accepted. This is typically done the morning of the closing date. Once the pre-closing walk-through is complete, you will instruct your lawyer to release the funds.  And once they have, you will receive the keys to your new home.

Congratulations!