How to Help Your Realtor® Find You the Right Home

Despite their years of industry experience and their vast number of connections, Realtors® aren’t wizards. They cannot help you find the right home if you do not supply them with the right information. This often means your agent has to show you several types of homes to help you gauge what kind of home you are looking for.

Obviously, touring the different neighbourhoods in Vancouver can be a rather time-consuming process. Help your Realtor® help you by supplying these tidbits ahead of time:

Your Lifestyle

Vancouver has more than a handful of fantastic communities. If you do not have a particular community preference, help your Realtor® by mentioning your lifestyle. Are you the type who likes to party all night or the type who loves spending your weekends at a local park? Answering this helps your Realtor® determine which neighbourhoods you should be looking at.

Your Floor Plan

Go over the floor plan of your current home with your Realtor®. Note down which features you love and which ones you don’t. This helps your Realtor® narrow down your options by looking for homes that accentuate the features you love.

By keeping a clear line of communication with your Realtor®, he or she can help you find your dream home faster. Keep these two tips in mind the next time you go house hunting in Vancouver.

Stepping off into the Unknown

A house or flat can be one of the best investments you’ll ever make. In some respects, buying one, particularly with the help of real-estate agents with quality MLS listings in their hands, is a sign that you are moving onto bigger responsibilities in your life. The real estate market, however, is as tough as they come, and not knowing the ins and outs of buying your dream home may not end well for you or your finances. Here are some steps to ensure your dream home will be a reality.

Many property listings are acquired using the financing route, hence requiring you to have a high credit rating in order to take out a good mortgage for the property. Your agent can assist in the pre-approval. Plan ahead by budgeting extra money for moving costs, utility hookups, and closing costs.

Although the listed property may be presentable on the outside, it can be a mark of prudence if you have a home inspector looking it over. If the inspection found no lingering issues, you can then close the deal. Whenever possible, put in a modestly large downpayment to help add equity to the house while reducing the mortgage payments down the road.

Your first house or apartment is a badge of honour if you’ve worked hard to make it happen. Doing your homework will keep you from turning the place into a money pit.