GUIDE TO BUYING A HOME

Purchasing a home will be one of the biggest and most important financial decisions you will make. Allow us to provide you expert advice to guide you through the entire process!

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DECIDE WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IN A HOME

Ask yourself why you want to buy a home: To stop paying rent? To start building equity? To have a place of your own? To raise a family? To move up to a bigger house? Decide where you want to live, what type of home you are looking for and what features are “must have’s” or “would be nice to have’s” in a home. Invariably, there will be trade-offs, but rest assured I am here to help sort through the options to find you the best house, at the best price and with as many of your wants and needs as possible.

Where should you live?

We have provided a full comprehensive Guide to Winnipeg to help you decide.

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FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER?

CHECK OUT OUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO BEING A FIRST TIME HOMEBUYER IN MANITOBA.

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GET PRE-APPROVED FOR A MORTGAGE

Once you have addressed the above needs, your next step in the purchasing process is to get pre-qualified with a mortgage company. This can be done over the phone or even online in a matter of minutes. Call us and we will refer you to a mortgage professional that has an excellent reputation and track record for successfully acquiring loan approval for their clients.

MORTGAGE CALCULATOR

Fixed or variable rate?

A fixed rate mortgage offers you stability over the term of the loan, but a variable rate mortgage offers you much more flexibility when it comes to selling quickly and is typically less expensive right off the bat.

ENTER INTO A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR REALTOR

When you engage the services of your own personal agent—someone who is under contract to work solely in your best interest—you get the following dedicated services:

Confidential assistance that addresses your needs first

Honest, loyal, and diligent care, free from any conflict of interest

Access to all listings on the market, even those that are hidden from typical channels

Expert advice on useful clauses such as inspection and financing

Expert negotiation, to ensure best possible price and terms

Expert advice on market value, inclusions, location, and when to walk away

Discovery and disclosure on all information about the property

Relationship Focused Real Estate

At The BAM Group, we take a relationship focused approach to real estate, choosing to put personal connections above transactions.

Bryan Alan Masse: 204.817.1849
Travis Milton:204.8081456

FIND YOUR DREAM HOME!

Take it from us–there's nothing like closing the deal and getting the keys to your brand new house. Here are four good rules to follow when viewing homes.

Explore different styles and types of homes to see what's out there.

Drive by the home and area for your first impression.

Select a maximum of 5 homes to visit in one day (3 to 4 is best).

Schedule time after the showings to sit down and discuss the homes merits.

MAKE AN OFFER!

You've found the one–fantastic! Here's what happens next. I will consult with you using a detailed list of recent sales, current listings, and historical data to determine the best number to offer, and write in any conditions (home inspection, financing, etc.) that are important to you. Then, we present the offer and I negotiate on your behalf.

How long will the negotiations take?

This is perhaps the most shocking part of things for many people. Commonly, negotiations are wrapped up within 12-24 hours. In other words, if we were to write an offer at noon, it would not be unusual to receive a response (typically a counter offer) by the evening. If we didn’t get it to an acceptance that evening, it wouldn’t be unusual to have an accepted offer by the next evening.

What if there are other offers? Will I know what they are offering?

When an offer is received, the listing agent has a duty to have the offer presented “without delay." Furthermore, offers have an expiry clause – meaning that if the seller does not respond before a certain time, the offer ceases to exist. Despite this, there are occasions when homes attract multiple offers. When you submit an offer knowing that there is another offer, you will likely only get one chance to offer. In other words, it is rare to see counter offers made at this point – it is assumed that buyers are offering their best terms and the seller will typically just choose an offer. In order to make your offer as competitive as possible, we will want to ensure that we have as few conditions as are necessary to properly protect you, we are offering as high a price as you are comfortable with and we are offering the completion/possession dates that most closely match what the seller is looking for. The terms of an offer are almost always confidential until subjects are removed. The seller will typically not disclose the price they have accepted (for fear that it will jeopardize future negotiations should this offer collapse).

How many counter offers should you make?

As many as you’d like! However, our experience has proven that once we get past 3 counter offers from either side (i.e. 5 - 6 total counter offers), our chances of reaching mutually acceptable terms start to diminish. Remember, the goal of a negotiation is to find mutually acceptable terms. Our goal is to find the bottom end of their acceptable price range and we will never do so if they feel like we are trying to take advantage of them.

CLOSING THE DEAL

The offer has been accepted. Now we need to satisfy the conditions. This usually involves performing a home inspection, getting the rest of your personal information and the property information to your mortgage broker or bank and arranging for the other information that might be necessary, like surveys, water tests and condo documents. I will help you make the necessary arrangements to ensure that the entire process runs smoothly.

Next, you will need to add some people to your team. These people will guide you through closing the deal and moving to a new place!