Whether you are a first time Buyer or have bought property in the past, make sure that you know all of the facts. In this case knowledge really is the key to enjoying the entire process. It's my job to make sure that you are given as much information as possible to make an informed decision.

The process of looking and purchasing a home is not only exciting, it can also be a bit stressful. I can relieve some of this stress by making sure that you are given the facts....I have helped many  Clients find their ideal house, or condo and will walk you through the process in advance.

Unsure of closing costs? What does a Home Inspector do? How much should you put down for a deposit? What happens if someone else is also trying to buy the same property? There are all sorts of questions that need to be answered. I will make sure that you are pro-active, and know the answers...not re-active! Which can add to the stress level.

Purchasing a home involves one-time costs and monthly expenses. The largest one-time cost is the down payment. It ususally represents between 5 - 25% of the total price of the property.

In addition to the actual purchase price, there are a number of other expenses that you might be expected to pay for. Some of these are as follows:

Mortgage Application and Appraisal Fee
Property Inspection (Optional)
Legal Fees
Legal Disbursements
Property Survey (sometimes provided be Seller)
Land Transfer Tax
City of Toronto Tax
Adjustments for Fuel, Taxes etc.
Mortgage Insurance (and Application fee if applicable)
Home and Property Insurance
Moving Expenses

It's important to keep these additional expenses in mind when first starting the property search.

Condominium ownership is different from owning a single dwelling, townhouse, or apartment because condos have a dual nature. Condominium owners hold Title to their units and share responsibility for the operating costs of the balance of the common elements such as lobbies,

The Condominium Corporation is run by a board of Directors, elected by the owners. The Board's function is to manage the corporation.

Most mortgages have the option to allow payments to be made on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. This option may be desirable for two reasons. The first is it can save you money as you can expect to pay off your mortgage about 4 years sooner. This can save you dramatically over the life of your mortgage. The other reason why these options are so popular is that if your employer pays you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, you can simplify your budgeting by making the payment line up with the way you paid.

Paying extra amounts on your mortgage can make a big interest saving over time. When we select a mortgage company, privilege payments options are something that we look for. A 20% privilege payment will allow you to pay off up to $20,000 per year on a $100 000 mortgage. It is important that the privilege payment also be flexible to allow you to pay smaller payments on the mortgage and as often as you wish. An extra $1000 periodically paid on a mortgage can help you become mortgage free faster.

When you require a mortgage for more than 80% of the purchase price of a property, that mortgage must be insured by Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) or GE Mortgage insurance. The premium charged by these company`s decreases as the down payment increases. When you finance your property at 95%, a premium of 3.75% is added to the mortgage. By increasing the down payment to 10% of the purchase price the premium can be reduced to 2.5%. If you can put down 20%, you can avoid any additional insurance fee. Depending on your situation there are ways that you can structure this financing to avoid the CMHC or GE insurance premium.

As mentioned above, when you put a 20% down payment on your purchase you can avoid the CMHC premium. More importantly the larger the down payment, the lower the amount of interest you will pay over the life of your mortgage. It is important to note that it may not be wise to stretch yourself to increase your down payment and end up borrowing on credit cards or a line of credit at a higher rate.

The options for mortgages available can be very confusing for most mortgage shoppers. Terms for mortgages vary between variable and fixed rate, 6-month terms to 10 year terms. Taking a variable or floating rate mortgage can have savings. Typically the shorter the term or guarantee of the rate, the lower the rate will be. This does not always happen, depending on the market place and the economy, but history has shown that short-term rates tend to be lower than long-term rates. The up side of variable rate is the strong potential for interest rate savings. The down side is the fact that you are accepting the interest rate risk without a guarantee. If you are considering a variable rate mortgage you need to look at your own risk tolerance, and your cash flow available to deal with potential increased payment. Considering projections of rates and where we see interest rates heading can also be important in this decision. Make sure you talk to an expert when you are making this decision.