To all the first time home buyers out there welcome! In this video I go over
some more common errors that people make when they buy their first home and by
the end of this video, you'll be armed with the knowledge that you need so that
you can avoid these mistakes. Stay tuned because I'll be releasing Part 3 of this
video very soon and you don't want to miss that. And in case you didn't catch
Part 1 you can take a look and click here, or in the link in the description
below. Don't worry, you don't need to watch these videos in any specific order.
Buying a home can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. In my experience
working with numerous first time home buyers, if you follow my advice
you'll have a fun, simple, and straightforward home buying experience.
So let's get right into it! Error number four is choosing the wrong realtor now.
We already have a great video on how to choose the right realtor, and you can
check it out here and I'll leave a link in the description below. Now this error
comes in two parts and the first is using the listing realtor to represent
you. As well, they may tell you that because they know the seller and know
what they want, and now that they know what you want that they can come up with
a really easy deal and they'll make sure that they're gonna get the best deal for
you. Or they might tell you that they represent your best interests but in
reality their loyalty is first and foremost to the seller. This is wrong
because you need a Realtor that's going to play on your team to properly represent
your end of the deal. So here's an example, we have two opposing soccer
teams and they're playing a game against each other. And the kicker is, is that the
same coach is coaching for both teams. If the coach's job is to lead and
guide the team to a win, then how can this coach lead both teams to win the
game? He just can't! So that's the difference between a client and a
customer, in this scenario the seller is the Realtor's client while you're a
customer, and for clients the realtor can give them advice but for a customer they
cannot. The second part of choosing the wrong Realtor is choosing the
Realtor solely based on your personal relationship with them. We all want to
help our family and friends by giving them business
to help them succeed, and of course I'm super grateful that I've helped my
family and friends buy or sell a home. But what I'm saying is take a step back
and consider if they're gonna be the best fit for you, as well as being able
to help you achieve the best outcome. If it happens to be your family and
friend, then that's great. So you have to ask yourself are they the experts in the
communities that you're looking in, or the type of property that you're looking
for? And you have to weigh business versus personal are you going to be able to keep
it separate and are they? Because keeping them separate are key to ensuring that
your real estate goals are priority. And how comfortable are you with your family
or friend knowing the inner workings of your financial situation? So choose the
Realtor based on their experience and the value that they bring, and not solely
on your personal relationship. Error number five is letting your emotions
guide your decisions. Although buying a home is highly personal and linked to
your emotions, don't let them cloud your judgment
because at the end of the day, it's a business decision and you should treat
it that way. This might be one of the biggest investments that you make in
your lifetime and with any big decision should you make it happy, sad, or even
angry? No. By keeping emotions out of it, you can make sound financial choices
and a good realtor is going to be there to help guide you throughout the process.
Error six is being closed-minded to all your options, and there's two things I
want to touch on. Number one never trust the photos online. I'm sure any of us can
think of at least one listing where the photos don't match the actual home.
There's kind of two scenarios, one is there are really bad photos online. Someone
took it off their phone you know has the wrong angles the wrong lens the
lighting's not good it just doesn't present the home well,
but when we go there it's a great home! Or on the other side, maybe the
photos are beautiful, it's professionally done, the home is staged, everything looks
great online, but when we go to the home someone did a horrible DIY renovation
and it's just not a great home. So the moral of the story is you have to see
homes in person. Looking online you see a listing and
it's a home that fits most of your criteria, and it hits your WHATs, WHYs,
and your vision, then maybe it might be worth taking a look at in person. So
don't immediately write off that listing that has bad photos, or get too excited
with the one that looks beautiful and perfect because the only way that you're
going to know is if you go and view it in person. The proof is in the pudding.
I've had a few clients before not even want to see a few homes that they ended
up actually buying, so don't just trust the photos online. Another reason that
you don't want to be closed-minded is being too narrow in your home search.
In part one of the series, I taught you the Vision Exercise and understanding
your WHY, and just a reminder the perfect home does not exist, but we can always
come very very close if we understand what we're looking for. Let me tell
you a story about a client of mine I helped to buy a home recently, who
almost had to learn a very hard lesson. And let's just call him Peter. So Peter
and I we met earlier on and we did the Vision Exercise. But he had a very narrow
vision and he came back with a list of ten items that he ranked number one that
he must have, and sometimes that's okay. But in Peter's case because of the
location we were looking in, we did end up finding three homes that match all
ten items, but guess what they were a hundred thousand to two hundred thousand
over his budget, so that's not going to work. Meanwhile two of the homes that we saw
that only met eight of the ten criteria that we initially passed on, ended up
selling. Peter calls me and he says "Jas, I really regret missing out on
these two homes for not being so open-minded." And what we did was I helped
him to revise his Vision Exercise to understand what was actually important,
and rank them properly. Luckily enough another home that met eight of
the ten criteria came onto the market and we made an offer right away and
that's the home he ended up buying. So the lesson here is
there are features of a home that you can't change or easily change, these are
things like location, layout, or how big your backyard. And there are things
that you can make improvements or renovate are things like buying new
appliances, or changing the colors of the wall. So you need to pick and choose what
your vision is like. And because a perfect home does not exist, sometimes
what you'll find is the homes that are within your budget are only 70, 80, 90
percent to your vision, and it might be up to you to make up that last little
bit to complete that vision. Error number seven is not knowing all the programs
there to help you. In Canada, we have a couple one is the first time home buyer
incentive, and we already have video on that so you can check it out here and
also in the link below. And the second program is the Home Buyers Plan and this
allows each participant to withdraw up to thirty five thousand dollars from
their Registered Retirement Savings Plan or RRSP towards a down payment for a home
and there are no penalties or taxes paid when you make it for a down payment for
a home. So who's eligible? First of all, you must be a resident of Canada and you
also must use the home as your primary residence. You can be a first time
home buyer and qualify for this. Also, if you have not lived in the home that you
owned within the last four years before you apply, then you are also eligible for
this. And if you have a related person that has a disability, you can help them
through the Home Buyers Plan to this program is great for two main reasons.
Number one, normally if you withdraw out of your RRSP and it's not for a down
payment through the homebuyers plan, you're going to pay a hefty penalty and
have to pay the back taxes. Because of that it's a great mechanism to help you
save for your down payment for your home, because it's in there and you can't take
it out without paying the penalties. And the second reason is normally when you
contribute into your RRSP, this amount is tax deductible so you don't actually
have to pay income tax on that portion for that year, because we already pay
enough taxes right? You have fifteen years to repay the amount you
withdrew for your down payment back into your RRSP account and repayment doesn't
start until two years after your home purchase, so it gives you a little bit of
time to do that. If you found this video helpful, please let us know by liking,
commenting, and sharing it and if you haven't done so already hit that
subscribe button and notification bell so you'll know when part three of
this videos released. We're coming out with more real estate and mortgage
tips for you my name is Jasben Lai with The LiveInnerCity Real Estate Team
helping you keep real estate simple see you next time!