In most cases, yes. Having a mortgage pre-approval helps you shop for a home with confidence, and helps your agent know that you are truly ready and serious about taking the next step in finding a home. It also allows us to eliminate anything that is out of your budget. It is ideal when it comes to writing offers, because in today’s competitive market many buyers are opting to submit offers without a financing condition. It shows sellers that you have your finances in order, which is helpful in competitive situations such as this. It also locks you into a mortgage rate for 90 days or more!

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The range of homes that a Buyer sees varies greatly depending on how specific their criteria is, how competitive the market is, and how urgent their timeline is. Some Buyers buy a property after their first round of showings if they have already done enough research and feel confident in their understanding of the market, and some Buyers end up on four or more rounds of showings seeing multiple properties in each batch before submitting an offer. Our clients have typically been able to make a confident decision on a home, and successfully submit offers after viewing 5-8 homes. We believe this is due to the educational approach we take with our clients before the search begins, and our emphasis on continued feedback and communication in regards to changing wants and needs throughout each unique Buyer journey.

You can put 5% of the purchase price down for a home valued at $500,000 or less, any amount above $500,000 requires 10%, and homes valued at $1,000,000+ require a 20% down payment. These values can be combined, see example:

• $500,000 or less = 5% of the purchase price
• $500,000 - $999,999 = 5% of the first $500,000, and then 10% of the remaining purchase price
• $1,000,000+ = 20% of the purchase price

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It is dependent on what your offer contract states. If it states “upon acceptance” (which is most typical for our market) this means that you will need to submit your deposit within 24 hours of your offer being accepted. You can submit the deposit either in person or electronically through wire transfer. If your offer contract states “herewith” this means that you will have to have your deposit ready to provide upon the submission of your offer.

Most people are really surprised by this answer. The good news for buyers is that you are not obligated to pay any fee amount to your Realtor. There are fees such as land transfer tax, legal fees, and moving costs associated with purchasing a house that do need to be considered and budgeted for.

As your real estate agent, I will walk you through the paperwork that needs to be completed in order to submit an offer once you determine that you have found the property for you. We will draft an offer together, and once it is submitted to the seller, I will negotiate the terms of the offer on your behalf. There will be an irrevocable date and time on the offer you submit, and the seller will have a chance to accept, decline, or sign back/counter your offer by the deadline. I will ensure that you are informed through the entire process, and will be working in your best interest throughout the offer process.