Historic homes are beautiful, romantic and fun to own. However, if you're thinking about buying a historic home and you've never owned one before, preparing yourself can help make the experience a good one. Here's what you need to know about buying a home with historic value.
Budget for Maintenance
Historic homes may have a lot of deferred maintenance. Original features in particular tend to need extra love and care to ensure that they can continue to function. Homeowners are encouraged to budget at least 1% of their home's value for home maintenance every year. Homeowners with historic properties may need to set aside more to ensure they can keep their home functioning.
One of the factors that affects the cost of maintenance is whether
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A different floor plan can help homeowners meet their unique objectives. Buyers may have to ask themselves what they hope to accomplish before choosing among popular floor plans when buying a new home. Times have changed and so have the options available to today's home buyer. Learn more about the open floor plan and traditional floor plan to get real value from a future home purchase.
Downsizing is a great option for many home buyers, but right now some people are taking downsizing to the extreme by building or buying tiny homes. Tiny homes are exactly what they sound like, but in order for a tiny home to truly be tiny, it should fall between 400-600 square feet, though some can be as small as just 160 square feet. They cost anywhere from $10,000-100,000 depending on how it’s made, which can make them sound appealing, but tiny homes come with a lot of risks and variables that need to be accounted for. Here is what every buyer needs to know before investing in a tiny home.
Buying a home in Canada is governed by many anti-discrimination laws and regulations. According to Canadian lawm there cannot be housing discrimination based on a persons age. However, there is an exception for senior housing. Age-restricted communities go by a number of names such as independent living, 55-plus, active adult living and others. In fact, these types of communities are the only exception to fair housing laws that prevent age discrimination. While they aren't necessary designed to ‘discriminate,' these housing communities are often geared towards seniors.
Many Canadians look forward to being in the position to buy a new home. The ability to make renovations on a property and build equity in a home with each mortgage payment are only a few reasons many decide to purchase property. The majority of first-time home buyers cannot afford to buy property without working with a mortgage lender, and there may be mistakes made before applying for a mortgage that reduces the likelihood of approval.
Along with credit score and total assets, the debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is an important component for lenders. Even people with perfect credit scores can be turned down from their dream mortgage if their debt is too high in proportion to their income. It is important to not only understand what the DTI ratio is, but also discuss other aspects of the sometimes confusing mortgage process with a mortgage lender prior to searching for a new home to purchase. How can potential home buyers become a more attractive candidate for a loan?
When a home buyer has finally found a home that they love and want to buy it, it comes time to make an offer. But what many buyers don’t realize is that there’s more to making an offer than just naming a price. Offering on a home requires extra pieces that all work in tandem to convince the homeowner to accept it. Here is what all home buyers need to include in their offers to make them the best they can be.
There is no such thing as perfection when it comes to customer service in real estate. Some agents may have mastered their skills more than others, but it's always going to be a never-ending quest to get right. Yet those agents that take the time to learn from their mistakes are usually the same ones who end up with a very long and fruitful career.
Although for the past several years foreign investment has fueled the real estate market and driven prices to new heights in select Canadian cities, those days may be ending. The frenzied buying habits of wealthy investors has been a mixed blessing for many cities, notably West Coast markets above and below the Canada/US border. Asian investment in cities including New York, Boston, Houston and Miami, is also well documented, but has not led to the unparalleled price increases experienced in Vancouver, B.C.
The escrow period usually refers to the time between a seller accepting an official offer to buy a home to the time the house key transfers hands. Deposits will be held by either the real estate brokerage or the lawyer handling the sale. The seller will receive the money when all previously agreed upon obligations have been met. Some escrows are smooth sailing, but most have at least a few obstacles along the way. Use this guide to understand the rules, set expectations, and think a few steps ahead.
