Things to know when buying or selling a house

I just wrote an article on my experience about buying and selling two houses in 3 years. If you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, check it out here. Now, I’m sharing a few lessons that I learned. They are not in chronological order; I went with the flow, while binge-watching Forensic Files.

NOTE: while some things are similar, I only know about the market in Canada!

WHEN YOU ARE BUYING

Down payment

Once you start looking for a house, at least in Quebec, you need to have a down payment of at least 5% of the total amount of your house. In Canada, if your down payment is less than 20%, you also need to pay the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Get preapproved

Before starting the buying process, stop at the bank or at a mortgage brokerage to get preapproved. This will give you an idea of how much you can afford.

Mortgage insurance

The bank or the mortgage broker will tell you that you must get insurance on your loan. You have to know that if you already have a life insurance policy with the minimum amount of the price of your house, you usually don’t need to get the mortgage insurance. Before turning this mortgage insurance down, check with your life insurance company.

Save money for the notary or lawyer

You must go to the notary. It’s expensive. The buyer is usually in charge of the notary fees (I insist on “usually”). You need to set aside a certain amount for that.

Realtor commission

The buyer usually pays for the real estate agents’ commission (for the buyer’s realtor AND the seller’s). The percentage is negotiable. In general, it is around 5% of the sale, but you definitely should negotiate this with the contract’s conditions.

List your needs for your new home

Before you start visiting, make a list of what you want in your new house.

• Are you a growing family that needs more bedroom?
• Or maybe a professional working from home who needs a home office in a closed room?
• Do you want a basement? A huge kitchen? A fireplace? A pool? A big backyard?
• Do you want to live in a specific region or a specific neighborhood?
• A farmhouse? A townhouse? A condo? A single-family house?
• Do you want a brand new house or an older house that may need some renovations.
• The washer and dryer on the main floor?
• 3 bathrooms?

By listing what you want, your realtor will be able to make you visit houses that suit these needs.

Visiting houses

Visit more than one place. It’s okay if you end up buying the first house you visited, but you will at least have the peace of mind of knowing you made the right choice, and not on a sudden impulse.

To get an idea of what’s on the market, I strongly suggest that you check out Centris in Canada or Zillow in the US before starting visiting.

Check out the heating system and fireplace

If there’s a fireplace in the house, you should have it inspected by professionals to make sure it complies with local by-laws, and that it’s safe for use. Also, make sure the heating system works well. And check if the hot water tank is on location or not, and how old it is.

Always get an inspection

After making an offer on a house, have it inspected. Even if there is a lot to do, it’ll be a nice tool to refer to when renovating.

Don’t forget the land transfer taxes

Once you bought the house, after a few weeks, you will have to pay for land transfer taxes. Make sure to set aside money for it because it’s surprisingly expensive!

And all of the other expenses

Don’t forget about property taxes, school taxes, renovations, home insurance, maybe a will to protect your partner and/or your kids. You might also need to buy a lawnmower!

WHEN YOU ARE SELLING

The buyers will have your house inspected

Even if you had your house for only a year, the buyers will have it inspected (whether it’s a brand new condo or an older duplex). The inspector will always find something. ALWAYS. Don’t worry. You could ask to 100 inspectors to inspect your house, and they would mostly find the same issues, but also different ones.

Penalty fees

Mortgages usually have fixed terms of 5 years. If you sell before that, you will have to pay penalty fees. Take that into consideration.

Depersonalize your home

When you want to sell, store away all family photos, posters, and personal decorations. The buyers who visit the house must feel like this place is their new home. They don’t want to feel like they are walking through your things. It should look as modern and uncluttered as possible. If you need inspiration, check out the Property Brothers’ Instagram account.

View this post on Instagram

It's Wednesday, so you know what that means, right? It's a day full of #PropertyBrothers on @HGTV! And all the design inspo you could want from today's marathon is in our #linkinbio! . . . . #homedecor #designinspo #designtrends #designideas #homedesign #foreverhome

A post shared by Property Brothers 🏡🔨 (@propertybrothers) on Apr 22, 2020 at 12:59pm PDT

Keep it clean

This is obvious, but your house must be clean. You know the cliché of baking cookies before people visit your house? Well it’s more welcoming when it smells like freshly-baked cookies than cat pee (yup, we had that problem. I forgot to clean the litter boxes before leaving for a visit of my house. The real estate agent made sure to let my realtor know).

Be patient

I know it’s easier said than done, but selling a house takes time. We’ve all heard stories of people who sold their house before it was even put on the market. Actually, it almost happened to us: it takes a few days before the photos are uploaded to a realtor website, but you can still have visits. We had 3 or 4 visits before our house was officially posted online, and a couple made an offer. They ended up backing up on it, but the single fact that we had an offer before it was online is almost a miracle! Don’t worry, you will sell your house.

Don’t stay for the visits

When potential buyers visit your house, it’s better to leave, so they can feel at home. Unless they are visiting at 8:30pm and your kids are asleep (#truestory). Again, the buyers need to feel that the house they’re visiting is their new home.

Home staging

You should consider some home staging. You can either ask around if you know a home designer, or refer to Pinterest or Instagram. Simply adding a few modern decorative accessories can make all the difference. Homesense was my good friend in this case. I bought very nice bathroom decorations for less than $20.

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What do you do with a pink built in sofa? Why, you make it sparkle! 💎

A post shared by Home Staging (@stageofmind) on Apr 29, 2020 at 10:49am PDT

Certificate of location

You have to give the current certificate of location to your real estate agent. If anything changed in your house or on your land (e.g. a new pool, you added a solarium, you added a door in the basement, etc.), you need to get a new one (if I recall correctly, it’s about $800).

I hope this will give you a general idea of the process of buying or selling a house. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive, so if you have suggestions, let me know by email, on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!