At 10:30pm the sellers agent phoned back to tell us our offer had been accepted. This true story will give you an idea of how different the system of buying a house in Canada is from what you may be used to. I am a Realtor© which is totally different to an Estate Agent.
This transaction started when the family from England arrive two month ago. This is when I sat down to find out what they were looking for in a home and built up a picture of what to search for. For many people this process starts before they arrive in Canada. Based on the families criteria I can set up a search that automatically sends them the latest listing that come onto the market that matches their requirements. I have a number of people all over the world that make use of my service in this manner.
As a buyer's representative my services are free to my client as I am compensated from the commission the seller has agreed to pay to their agent. I work solely in the best interests of my clients and have obligations of keeping confidential everything I know about my client, while also being obligated to disclose to them everything I find out.
First I got my clients to drive around and check out areas to see where they would like to live. This involved them considering where they would be working and the travel time involved and checking out the schools for their children. In Canada the schools are mostly of a similar standard without the wide variations that are found in Europe, so it is less of a concern.
When we find properties on the internet that look like possibilities I get them to do a drive by to check that the immediate area is OK. Pictures on the web are at times very deceiving. Armed with our list of possibles I make appointments with the selling agent to get in and view. The owners are normally gone during the viewing. It is best to take notes as you go in houses as they will quickly blend one into another. At this stage I recommend you leave the children behind as they will be a distraction and need constant attention. Treat finding a home as your job. This is the casual part of house hunting when you are under no pressure and can be at ease. Viewings should be brief, around 15-20 minutes. If we find the house you want we will be back for a second viewing. Equally I don't research the property to find heating costs, taxes, how old everything in the property is. This is left to when we are discussing a property you wish to make an offer on.
After viewing a number of properties we decided on one and went back for the second viewing where we looked at the property more critically and considered if it would work. I found out all the information we would need to write an offer and we went back to my office. Based on the history of the property, the tax assessment and the condition of the property we decided it was over priced. Low ball offers don't work in Canada so don't waste your time and the sellers. They will blank you and you have discovered nothing about their negotiating position. We decided on a reasonable price and I contacted the selling agent to let him know an offer was coming in and the rationale behind our offer. The offer consists of the price, the closing date wanted, and a lot of get-out clauses to protect you. They countered with a very small reduction from the asking price. At this stage I would continue the discussion with my client to see if there was room to meet somewhere in the middle.
What happened next was a surprise. As I was just about to make the call to the agent to give him our revised offer, I received an email about a property that was going to hit the market the next day that appeared to be exactly what they were looking for and extremely good value. We had a day on the counter offer to respond, so I immediately made an appointment for the next day to viewing the new property.
This we did and it lived up to it's expectation. We knew it would sell quickly, so decided to write an offer, very close to the asking price but not before I let the agent covering the previous property know that we would not be responding and that that deal was dead.
The agent of the new property told me there had been two more viewings immediately after ours and that an offer was imminent. I faxed our offer over to him but he phoned straight back to tell me he had received another offer and did we want to reconsider before he presented them to his client. This does happen on occasions and the buyers have to think hard about how much they want that property. We discussed it at length and revised our offer to full asking. In our market we do not pay over asking which is good. A couple of phone calls went back and forth clarifying terms of the agreement. As it happens our offer won out as we had a closing date that was more acceptable to the sellers.
Now the work begins, we have ten days to get the conditions met that I wrote in the contract. We appoint a lawyer, house inspector, well/septic inspector and get letters of finance from the bank and offer of insurance from the insurers. I look after most of the arrangements and liaise with the professionals to keep the deal on time. I attend with the clients during the various inspections and discuss the results to make sure they understand the terminology.
Once all the conditions are deemed satisfactory the deal is firm and legally binding until the agreed closing date. At that time I will do a walk through with the clients to make sure everything is in the same condition and that all appliances, curtains and light fixtures written in the offer are in place.
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You can get more information at 101 Metro or call Mark Spindloe © 877 -1208