Buyer's Guide

A Step-by-Step Buyer's Guide

Whether buying your first home, next home or even one that will help you #buildwealththroughrealestate - buying a property is such an exciting milestone. To prepare yourself for this moment, you need to know what to expect during the process. This step-by-step buyer’s guide will help reduce the stress of buying and help you enjoy the journey as much as possible.

Living room with soaring windows overlooking trees, a stone fireplace, and a white sofa.

Step 1: Research

Do you already know where you want to buy? If you want a condo, townhome, or single-family home? Which features do you like and dislike? What’s available on the market now? What type of property will be the best fit based on your financial needs? If you answered no to any of these questions, now is the time to start researching. In addition to looking for properties that interest you, also take note of any changes in asking prices. This could give you valuable insight into housing trends in specific neighborhoods and help you when the time comes to make an offer.

Two-story stone house with dark-framed windows, a covered entrance, and landscaped front garden.

Step 2: Decide on Your Budget

Notice I said to decide on your budget—not determine how much a lender will give you. In many cases, a mortgage lender will pre-approve you for more than you’re comfortable spending, which is why it's important to determine the monthly payment you feel comfortable with. This likely includes doing a full household budget and taking into consideration what changes other than a mortgage payment will occur once you take possession of your new property.

Open-plan living room and kitchen with white sectional sofas and large black-framed windows.

Step 3: Get Prequalified

The first best step before you head out house-hunting is connecting with your trusted mortgage broker and getting pre-approved. Typically, you'll want to have all your documentation in order to provide to your broker in addition to a minimum of 5-20% of your anticipated purchase price saved in cash as a downpayment.

Stone house facade with tall windows, ornate white columns, and elaborate cornices.

Step 4: Choose a Real Estate Agent

Can you shop for, look at, and ultimately make an offer on a home without a real estate agent? Technically yes, but why would you when it costs you nothing for an agent like me to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will I help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but I have in-depth market knowledge and over a decade of experience successfully negotiating offers for my clients. Let me help you find your next home and #buildwealththroughrealestate.

My goal is to provide you with the most tailored service that is designed to help you buy next property

Schedule A Consultation

Two-story cream house with columns, an upper balcony, and colorful flower beds.

Step 5: Find the Right Property

This should be the most enjoyable step of the entire process. I will arrange showings of properties you’re interested in that are within your price range. Take notes about what you like and don’t like, and make sure to pay attention to details. Turn light switches on and off, open and close doors, and run the faucets in various rooms. Don’t limit your inspection to the home itself. Make sure to take time to explore the neighborhood and keep an eye on traffic at certain times of the day, the parking situation, and how close it is to necessities like schools and grocery stores.

Urban backyard patio with a wooden deck, white sofas, lush planting, and a small garden structure.

Step 6: Make an Offer

Once you have selected the perfect property, work with your agent to craft a fair offer based on the value of comparable homes on the market. Depending on what the property is listed at and whether the current environment is a buyer’s or seller’s market, your offer may be below, at, or even above the asking price. I will be able to help you negotiate if you receive a counteroffer and reach an agreement.

White stone house with slate roofs and a tall chimney, framed by bare winter branches.

Step 7: Have the Home Inspected

In most cases, your offer will be contingent on having the property inspected to ensure there is no major structural damage or large repairs needed. I can help you arrange this, and you can schedule it within days of making an offer. If there are no major issues, the process goes to step eight. If there is, you can renegotiate your offer based on what needs to be fixed, or you can withdraw it.

Large two-story house with peaked gables, dark accents, landscaped gardens, and a curved driveway.

Step 8: Select Your Loan

Now is the time to go back to the mortgage lender who pre-approved or pre-qualified you and choose your mortgage. You will be presented with various options based on your unique financial situation, including fixed-rate, variable-rate, amortization length, and more. Work with your mortgage lender to select the option you feel the most comfortable with.

Large gray-brick house with an arched entrance, balcony, double garage, and landscaped curved driveway.

Step 9: Get a Property Appraisal

Your lender will have your new property appraised so they have their independent value of it. The appraisal is to ensure that all parties involved are paying a fair price for the house.

Stone house with arched windows, landscaped flower beds, and a broad paved driveway.

Step 10: Finish Paperwork

All paperwork will be coordinated between your real estate agent, mortgage broker and lawyer. When you’re finished, you’ll know you are the legal owner of your new property.

Congratulations!

After signing the final paperwork to complete the purchase, you are now the owner of a new house. It may take a few days for your loan to be funded once the paperwork has been returned to the lender, but once that check is delivered to the seller, you’ll be all set to move into the home of your dreams.

Testimonials

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BRENDAN Q.

Working with our real estate agent was an incredible experience from start to finish. Her knowledge of the Toronto market, professionalism, and years of experience gave us complete confidence throughout the process. Beyond that...

BRANDON S

I very highly recommend using Natalie Costello as your realtor! She is super professional, knows exactly what her clients want and need, is a great listener, goes above and beyond for her clients and truly cares about her clien...

BARBARA D.

I appreciate Natalie's attention to details in the sale of my home as she knew and understand my emotional attachment. She really and truly cared that I received and thoughtful support during the entire process. She knew how im...

ELIZABETH G.

Natalie and her team helped us find a tenant for our property. Natalie was amazing with attention to detail and keeping us informed along the way. Her and her team made this process easier and their professional advice was alwa...

ALLISON N.

Natalie Costello helped me purchase my first condo in Toronto. She was completely professional and a pleasure to work with, her knowledge of the market was excellent and her guidance invaluable. I would recommend Natalie and he...

NATALIE D.

Natalie Costello treats her clients like family. I could not have chosen a better realtor to advocate for my best interests! Natalie is incredibly clever and she doesn’t cut corners. She has impeccable taste, an eye for detail,...

JORY B

Great agent, will recommend to everyone. Very responsive. Met all our needs.

TIMOTHY S.

We were very pleased with how much Natalie Costello helped us out finding our new rental home. We’ve had some bad experiences with real estate agents but would choose Natalie again without a doubt. She even helped us with some ...

KELLY A.

My husband and I had the absolute pleasure of working with Natalie this summer for both buying a property and selling a property. Her marketing strategies and attention to detail made the process seem easy. We actually bought o...

PETER L.

Natalie Costello sold our unique condominium in one of the worst condo. Markets in 30 years. We got the best price/ ft. ever in our building with a totally clean offer. She is a true no BS Uber professional sales person and clo...

MELISA D.

So grateful to have met Natalie Costello to navigate and support us as we looked and found our « meant to be home » Natalie was always available and accommodating and always positive and supportive. Looking and finding the righ...

JENNY P.

Blair was really thorough, took his time to show me different properties until we found the perfect fit, and was able to save me a good chunk of money with the negotiations! He was easy to work with, was extremely communicative...

LUISA S.

Working with Natalie has been an absolute dream, and there are not enough words to describe the gratitude I have for her. She embodies everything that a realtor should - making sure that she works only in your best interest. Th...

SEFALI G.

Working with Natalie and her team was wonderful, I know her over 10 years. She is amazing person and will make sure to sell your house in no time, I had my house for 8 months to another realtor, as soon as I got Natalie, sold m...

SEAN M.

Natalie was absolutely fantastic to work with! She was strategic and meticulous every step of the way, making sure no detail slipped through the cracks. I really appreciated how she stayed on top of everything, which gave me to...

BAILEY W.

I had the pleasure of working with Natalie Costello to sell my loft during this challenging market. From our first conversation, she demonstrated an exceptional level of professionalism, market expertise, and dedication. Natal...

MATT W.

I can't praise Natalie enough for her outstanding service in selling my home! From our initial consultation to the final closing, she was incredibly knowledgeable, professional, and dedicated to achieving the best outcome for u...

CHANTAL N.

My husband and I are beyond grateful to have worked with Natalie. Her transparency, and expertise right upfront solidified our decision to work with her. We were able to sell our condo in a highly competitive market with a time...

BRENDAN V.

Natalie was fantastic in helping me find my first place! Not only was she extremely knowledgeable and professional, but she was also very personable and really cared about finding me the perfect spot. The entire process from vi...

PAIGE F.

If I could give more than a 5 star review I definitely would! Natalie is an outstanding agent! She made me and my other half so comfortable with the whole process in buying our first home! She is truly amazing at what she does....

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Unlock a range of invaluable services including accurate property valuation, expert guidance in crafting competitive offers, skillful contract writing and negotiation, and so much more. Don't hesitate to reach out to us today and let us assist you every step of the way in your real estate journey. Your success is our priority.