March 2010

Hi everyone

I will be starting a new weekly segment on my blog called the Brampton Real Estate Recap, where I will be summarizing some of the most common questions I received from my buyers, sellers, or readers from this blog.  Most of these questions are quite relevant to how the Brampton real estate market is doing and the common issues that clients are facing when buying or selling.

If any of you have any questions you’d like to have answered and possibly featured here in an upcoming article, I invite you to join my Brampton Real Estate Message Board.  It’s free to sign up, and you’re encouraged to post your thoughts, questions, or suggestions about anything.  I’ll post any helpful or interesting questions here every week.

And now, without further delay, here are my top real estate questions of the week:

What does “sold conditionally” mean?  Can I still see the house?

When an offer is accepted between a buyer and a seller, the offer is considered only sold conditional.  Typically, in the sale of a home, the buyers will have 5 business days to arrange financing with their bank and have a home inspector visit the home to ensure that there are no major defects with the house.  If the sale involves a condo apartment or townhouse, the buyers will have 5 business days to arrange financing with their bank and typically 2 business days to have their lawyers review the status certificate from the condo corporation.  Whether it’s a house or a condo, if both of these conditions are fulfilled, the deal is then able to go firm.

During the conditional period, sellers have the option of continuing to allow prospective buyers to view the property or suspending showings altogether.

What is a status certificate?

I’ve written a previous article about this here, but in summary, a status certificate is a report that is ordered by the seller upon acceptance of an offer and provided to the buyer for review.  This report outlines important information, such as the condo corporation by-laws, how much money is in the reserve fund, the current budget, how much maintenance fees are and whether they are predicted to increase or remain the same, potential claims against the corporation, and other financial information.  The buyer’s lawyer will review this status certificate and determine whether or not the condo corporation is healthy or not, and if it is, the buyer will be advised to proceed with the purchase.

What should I expect if I’m a buyer in this market?

Despite the fact that Brampton is one of the busiest real estate areas in the GTA, inventory of good homes are still low.  This has created a hot sellers market, and buyers who eventually find a suitable home find themselves competing in a multiple offer scenario with other buyers.  Many homes are selling close to listing price, and a handful are selling above listing price.  If you are in the market of buying a home, be prepared to submit an offer on the same day you find the right home, provided the sellers are accepting offers.  If you wait even a day or two, it may be too late.

I heard I’ll need a 10% down payment after April.  Is this true?

If you’re purchasing a resale home to live in, you will still be able to purchase with just 5% down.  The only change in mortgage rules is for buyers who will be purchasing rental income properties that they won’t be occupying, and if that is the case, they’ll be required to put 20% down.

Will I have to pay HST on the purchase of my home?

If you’re buying a new home, read my article here.  If you’re buying a resale home, all taxes are already included in the purchase price!  You will, however, be paying HST on such services as your legal fees, home inspection, and other real estate related services.

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