Here’s what buyers need to know after their deals have gone firm.
Let’s say you’re a buyer and you’ve gotten pre-approved, hired a professional real estate agent, put an offer on a property, had your offer accepted, and gone through the conditional period. Now that your deal has gone firm, what do you do?
Typically, it takes one to three months before you can notarise the transaction. After that, you become the official owner. During this period, there are a few things you need to understand. First, your credit cannot change. Some people assume their credit won’t be verified after the deal has gone firm, but this isn’t the case.
On a similar note, try not to change careers or jobs. Your bank is giving you your loan because they assume you have the income to pay it back. If your income changes, your loan status could as well.
“If your income changes, your loan status could as well.”
Another thing you need to know is that you should have your down payment ready one to two weeks before paying for a property. If you are using my buyers’ plan and some of your money is coming from RSPs (Retirement Savings Plans), know that your RSPs need to be invested for 90 days before you take them out. Plus, using RSPs as payment can take some time, so start the process early. I recommend starting 30 days before closing.
As a buyer, you also need to purchase homeowners insurance. Most notaries will not notarize the transaction if you don’t have insurance. You may not know that you’ll have two meetings with your notary. The first is to sign your loan, and the second is to buy your property.
If you are leasing a rental property when you buy a home, you’ll need to negotiate out of your lease. I’ll go into more details on this topic later, but if you have pressing questions about it, just reach out to me.
If you want to get into more details about this process, attend my buyer webinar. You can learn more about it on my website or simply call or email me. I look forward to hearing from you!
