Buying Tips

Wright Realty

Real Estate agents specializing in residential / rural homes / housing, commercial listings, farm properties in Moncton New Brunswick Canada

Wright Realty Serving Moncton New Brunswick and Surrounding areas

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Buying Tips - By Ivan R. Wright

Where to look for a property :

A good starting place to look for your next dream home is in the local Real Estate paper, Real Estate section of your local paper, on the internet at MLS.CA, drive around the areas you are interested in buying noting down phone numbers off Real Estate signs or run a search on the internet e.g. to find a property in or around Moncton, New Brunswick your search parameters might look like this : Real Estate homes property Moncton New Brunswick, or for Toronto : Real Estate homes property Toronto Ontario. By running your initial search on the internet you can view a vast number of potential properties and eliminate the ones that definitely do not fit your requirements, this will save you and your agent a lot of time and frustration. You will also be able to find out who is the listing agent along with phone numbers and address of those agents. A lot of today's agent have their own web sites where you can look at expanded info on selected listings or all the agents listings.

When you have narrowed down your search to a few listings, contact either the listing agent or any sales representative or agent belonging to the MLS Real Estate board for the area you are searching. If you decide to use the listing agent as your Realtor he/she will be acting in a Dual Agency capacity. The advantage to using the listing agent is that negotiations and information flow concerning the listing may go faster, and the agent will have personal knowledge of listing, the disadvantage is that the agent will be representing both the Vendor and the Purchaser and therefore services to both parties will be limited. If you choose another agent ( other than one working for the same Real Estate company as the listing sales representative ) that agent / sales representative will be working solely for you and in your sole interests. This can sometimes result in a more competitive negotiation process with you agent working solely for you and in your better interests.

The next step:

Make an application to your bank for "pre-approval for financing" to establish what your maximum price range will be. Once you have this approval tell your agent and arrange to view your selected short list of properties. Before viewing make a list of things you want in your new home.

What to do when you find the property you want:

After viewing the property and deciding it's the one ,you will need to make an offer. Remember, now is the time to ask for that Satellite dish or wood splitter etc., you can only ask, the Vendor may agree to include the items you want or will counter offer and exclude these items. Consider your timing requirements when making an offer - do you need to sell your own home first ( if so you will want a condition or subject written into your offer ) this is done by filling out a Purchase and Sale Agreement. This agreement will outline conditions or subjects such as : subject to financing, water tests, home inspection etc. You may also want a professional appraisal to confirm the value of the subject property. Also check out local bylaws and zoning to establish if zoning of the property will allow you to run any business you may want to or maybe keep animals if you desire etc.

Is the home / buildings structurally sound ?

It is advisable to have the buildings inspected by a licensed building inspector or a Professional Licensed Structural Engineer. Some items you can look at yourself are : Check the basement walls and floor for water stains and dampness, check the concrete basement walls and floor for major cracks, look down them to see if there are any bulges, major cracks or shifting indicating structural failure or hydraulics pressure due to water and ice. Check supporting beams for excessive deflection ( bending ) and major cracks, take a screw driver or similar object and try to push it into the beams to test for dry rot, if the screw driver penetrates the beam more than 1/8 of an inch further investigation should be undertaken by a professional. Check supporting posts in the same way, each post should have a concrete foundation under it. In the case of century old homes with rock and stone foundations post footing may consist of a rock or even a piece of wood - this is one of the major reasons for the floors above being out of level. If you wish to level the floors and prevent further problems you will need to pour concrete footings under all supporting posts, jack and level the floors above and then replace all the posts. Now is the time to consider if you can live with the floors the way they are or if you will want to correct these problems. Check the floor joists for deflection and for rot. Excessive deflection may indicate under sized floor joists of failure of the floor sub-system. While in the basement or the crawl space check the plumbing for type, leaks or improper fixing. On the main floor check doors for binding, cracks in gyprock above doors, windows or major openings, how level is the floor ?,check the ceiling for stress cracks - these items will give you an indication of movement of the structure and may raise structural integrity questions. Check any exterior decks to see if they are on proper foundations, are the post directly on the concrete or did the builder us approve post anchors. Is the deck properly attached to the home i.e. attached with a proper ledger with joist hangers. Is any exposed timber pressure treated, painted or stained. Check stairs and guard rails for safe attachment. Make the same inspections on each floor. You should look in the roof to see if there are any leaks or rot in the rafters, support beams or ceiling joists. Check for deflection of the ridge beam or supporting beams. While in the roof cavity check on the insulation type and R- value. Other items to check is the condition of brick chimneys, zero clearance flues etc. Check the bottom plates or sills on of the exterior walls for rot, if possible check the wall studs at the bottom also for rot.

Note: these structural inspections tips are not offered as a substitute for employing the services of a Professional Licensed Structural Engineer and are offered as a guide only to help you in your initial inspection of a perspective purchase.

Other - non structural items to look at :

Look at the condition of the grounds, take special note of low lying areas, ditches, streams, rivers and sea shores, try to establish if there is or has ever been a flooding problem. How much work would be required to bring the landscaping up to your required standards ?. Check driveway and walk ways for cracks which may later need to be repaired. Note the condition of the exterior paint, siding, decks, gutters, roof etc. and make a mental note of the approximate costs to bring each perspective home up to your standards. In the interior, note the drywall condition, not only to establish if the walls need repainting but also as to how well the drywall was initially finished and what would need to be done to the drywall to bring it up to an acceptable standard. Poorly finished drywall can be expensive to finish properly. Note floor covering condition and what floor coverings you would like to change compared to other perspective listings you have viewed. Note what appliances are to stay, the age and condition of each. Check the electrical panel - what is the capacity - generally in smaller or older homes will have a100 amp panel and in newer homes 200 amp. Is there fuses or breakers ?, what type of wiring is there - will you need to upgrade any of the electrical ?.Also check any oil tanks for CSA approval and age ( any tank over 20 years old will need replacement for insurance purposes ), also check for CSA approval on all wood burning fireplaces, furnaces and flues of chimneys.

Other things that may affect you decision:

School location

Shopping center distance

Bus service

Hospital distance

Fire service

Condition of other homes in the area

Noise from other residences, highway etc.

Are there in-home businesses in the area, can you live with them ?.

View, is there a possibility of other buildings being built that may block your view.

Safety for young children

Re-sale value, time to sell if and when you wish to move.

Closing the transaction:

After making all your enquiries and having completed and negotiated successfully your Purchase and Sale Agreement you will be required to remove all conditions you may have placed in the contract prior to closing and then to proceed to closing. You will need a lawyer to handle the paperwork. Your agent and the Vendor's agent will help you deal with the paperwork and will co-ordinate with the lawyers. When closing day comes you and your agent will conduct a "final inspection" to establish if the property is as viewed and is as stipulated in the Purchase and Sale Agreement, also check what was advertised on the listing cut or advertisement that you initially viewed to insure that you are getting everything as advertised. After you have signed off on the final inspection your agent should notify your lawyer that everything is OK and to release the funds to the Vendor's lawyer, if thing are not OK either your agent or you lawyer will have to advise the Vendors or their agent to have the problem rectified. Remember this inspection is only to confirm that all the conditions are meet and that nothing has been altered, removed and that everything is working as it was when you viewed the property.

Note:

These tips are designed to help and inform, as such I do not seek to cover all eventualities, steps or paper work required, you should defer to your Agent, Lawyer, Home Inspector, Professional Engineers Etc. during the purchase process.

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Contact Information:

Office address / Ivan R. Wright - Broker / Owner

Wright Realty

#3 York Street, Rexton

New Brunswick, Canada E4W 2G7

Canada.

Phone 506-870-8573, 506-863-9908 ( Cellular )

Fax 506-870-8368

Email : irwright@wrightreaty.biz

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