Five Smart Ways To Plan Ahead For Buying A Home

If you're in college or university, or if you just started a job, it's most likely that "home" to you right now means a crash pad.
But it's never too early to start thinking about the future!

Here are five valuable tips to consider that will make your life easier when you do want to buy a home a few years down the road.

1. Establish good credit habits and a favorable credit history. Get a credit card and use it responsibly. Apply for an automobile loan and make your payments on time every month. If you're renting an apartment, put your own name on the lease and the utility bills and make sure that the rent and the bills are paid every month. If you're already struggling with credit card debt, or you have large student loans, get some free credit counselling now! Make a concentrated effort to pay your credit card and loan payments on time (or even ahead of time) in the 6-12 months prior to purchasing! And, whatever you do, don't purchase a car in the year leading up to buying a home -- do that much earlier.

2. Start saving for a down payment and closing costs. It's possible to purchase a first home in many parts of the country without much in the way of savings. But in high-cost housing areas like Toronto, starting to save early can be enormously beneficial because you'll get the advantage of compounding interest and have a longer period of time to grow your investments. Open a savings account or a stock brokerage investment account and make regular deposits. (You can attend a Buyer Workshop or come in for a private Buyer Consultation to determine your down payment and closing costs.)

3. Read some books. Your local library and bookstore probably have at least a few shelves of books about financial management and buying a home.

By the way... the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is excellent for this! Take notes. Make a financial plan for yourself. Spend a few hours browsing our site... you can learn a lot about real estate, budgeting and credit on the Web too.

4. Research where you'd like to live. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Beacher who is rarely west of Yonge Street, or if you grew up in Mississauga and Toronto's many neighbourhoods confound you -- start exploring!

There's a lot of neighbourhoods to choose from in Hogtown and if you don't know what they're like, how are you going to know where you'd want to live? Take a few weekend walks (don't just drive through) around different parts of the city and you may even discover a few "hidden gems."

We have a program called HomeWatch that will keep you informed of new listings in specific neighbourhoods that interest you. It's great if you're several months away from buying and are in the 'getting educated' phase of purchasing.

5. Tap your Realtor relatives for advice. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or older cousins who have purchased a house or condo can give you good information about the cost of housing in the area where you want to live and what it takes to buy a home.

Questions to ask: Is housing affordable in this area? How much money would I need to save in order to buy a home? What advice would you give me about planning my financial future? Would you recommend some books that I might like to read about buying a home? Don't be shy. If you have a question, ask someone in a position to know the answer.

We're Available...

Rather than being typical real estate 'salespeople', our goal is to be consultants and advisors for our clients for the long term. Often we have home buyers who attended workshops one to two years ago call us up when they're ready and say "Let's go."

Please feel free to call us at 416.691.8118, or to email us with any questions... we are here to help, advise and coach you all along the way!