A rule of thumb that buyers and Realtors should treat more as the first golden rule of Real Estate purchasing is shop for your mortgage before you begin to shop for a home. Yes do some online research, check the weekend listings in the paper and even visit a couple open houses to establish what it is you want from a home and what price range your preferred home is going to fall within.
Beyond that, home hunting without first obtaining mortgage approval is akin to going bear hunting without checking first to see if you bothered to bring any bullets. Once face to face, “pretty sure” is the wrong answer.
Pre approved and pre qualified are not the same thing. Again using the bear analogy the pre qualified hunter has been told by a third party that he is most likely carrying bullets because he is in the woods and he has a gun. The pre approved hunter has had the gun tested, bullets counted and both barrels loaded.
A written pre approval for a home mortgage gives you concise knowledge of the price range of homes you should be looking within whereas the pre qualification is handed out without verification of your credit or income and is of no real worth. No sense in falling in love with the perfect home only to learn you are a few thousand dollars shy of putting your name on the mail box. (Visit http://www.OntarioMortgageTeam.com for some sound mortgage advice)
A pre approval from a certified lender will typically be valid for a 60 to 90 day period during which time you should consider that any credit purchases you make will change these results. (Resist the urge to go out and buy the new car or 60” Plasma TV until after your closing date)
Consider as well that should you come into competition with another buyer when making an offer on a home, the offer that is less likely to be conditional upon the buyer arranging a mortgage can carry added weight.
The next course of action is to team up with a Realtor who has given you good reason to believe they know the market you are interested in and find out if they position themselves as a buyers agent or as a sellers agent.
The agent with a full catalogue of listings in the papers each weekend is less likely to have or be willing to invest their own time to go out and view 30 homes over three consecutive weekends with potential buyers whereas the agent who focuses their efforts on buyers is more likely to adapt to your schedule rather than burden your efforts with their tight schedule.
Listing agents are paid a fee (commission) and in turn pay the buyers agent who brings a purchaser for their listing. The loyalty of the listing agent is to the vendor and their first order of business is to get the house sold and get the highest possible price in doing so.
The buyer is not required to pay added fees to the buyers agent and it is the job of the buyer's agent to negotiate the terms and price their buyer expects or move on to the next home that meets with the buyer's needs.
Visit www.hotbarrielistings.com to begin your home hunting journey
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