What are your costs of a transaction?
Inspection – Not required but is usually advisable which can cost $250-$500 depending on the size of the home.
Appraisal – Not always required but could be requested from your mortgage lender. The cost is typically around $250+.
Agents – If you bring a buy-side agent, they will charge the seller for their services. Typically 3.5% on the first 100,000 and 1.25% on the remainder. Of course, if you buy without an agent you should be able to negotiate a better sales price. Did you know, on average, it takes 4 years of mortgage payments to pay off the agent commissions on a home? Yikes!
Lawyer – You will need a lawyer to finalize the deal as well as clear disbursements. This fee can be $1,500 +. Prepare to pay any adjustment costs, such as property tax or pre-paid utilities.
CMHC (mortgage insurance) – Applies if you put less than 20% down on a home.
GST – This applies if you are purchasing a new home.
First time home buyer – Check out programs both federal and provincial as there are incentives that may apply like RRSP implications.
Moving – the costs of movers are extremely variable from Kijiji (~$500) to professional movers and organizers (~$2,500+ depending on volume) or all the bells and whistles for $10,000+. Or, pizza and beer if your friends love you!
Property Transfer Tax – The PTT tax is 1% on the first $200,000 of the purchase price and 2% on the remainder up to and including $2 million. The PTT is 3% on amounts greater than $2 million. For homes, another 2% PTT is payable on the portion greater than $3 million.
Property Transfer Tax – The PTT tax is 1% on the first $200,000 of the purchase price and 2% on the remainder up to and including $2 million. The PTT is 3% on amounts greater than $2 million. For homes, another 2% PTT is payable on the portion greater than $3 million.
Qualifying first-time home buyers may be exempt from paying the PTT if the purchase price of their home is priced up to $500,000. There is a partial exemption for homes priced between $500,000 and $525,000. At $525,000 and above the rebate is nil.
Qualifying buyers of new homes may be exempt if the purchase price of their home is priced up to $750,000. There is a partial exemption for homes priced between $750,000 and $800,000. At $800,000 and above there’s no rebate.
So... How Do I Find My Dream Home?
Step By Step.
If you don’t have your financial picture in hand, the best first step is to go to a mortgage broker to understand what you can afford.
Then, it is time to start looking at which neighbourhoods match your price point and home attributes
Want real-time alerts when new properties hit the market?
Bōde has the perfect system to allow you to set your search criteria, price points, neighbourhood preferences (and so much more), and receive real-time updates directly to your email.. and it’s free!
With your free Bōde account, you don’t need an agent to help you buy your home, you can do it yourself and save! That means no cold calls, no agent fees, and you are completely in charge of your home search!
Why Bōde?
