Common Closing Costs for First Time Buyers

You’ll likely be responsible for a variety of fees and expenses that you and the seller will have to pay at the time of closing. Your REALTOR® and/or Lawyer conducting the closing will tell you the required amount for:

• Down payment on the purchase price
• Appraisal (some banks will include this if you deal with them)
• Credit report (should be included from your lender)
• Private mortgage insurance premium – depending on the amount of your down payment
• Homeowner’s insurance
• Property tax even if being paid as part of the mortgage, you may have to reimburse the seller for a portion they have already paid – determined on your date of closing. Lenders keep funds for taxes accounts as they are paid with the mortgage, then pay taxes for you.
• Title registration costs are included in your lawyers conveyance fees
• Legal fees 
• Survey Certificate if the seller does not have one to pass on
• Title Insurance is an alternative to a Survey Certificate 
• Proration's for your share of costs, such as property taxes
• Property Transfer Tax (as a first time buyer you may be exempt – confirm if you qualify
• Utility Deposits (if you are new to the Utility company your deposit may be substantially more than just a transfer fee)
• Home inspection  - cost varies depending on size and age of home

I haven’t gone into the detail of all of these items – Your REALTOR®  or Lawyer will confirm these costs and determine if you qualify for exemptions or discounts.  It’s important you have a discussion on all these items so you are properly prepared.

Reviewing home maintenance expectations is also a great conversation to have.  Never having owned a home before you may not be expecting the  ongoing costs for changing your filters, lights, yard maintenance, or garbage removal.  If you are purchasing a new home – you might need to buy window covers, yard maintenance equipment like hoses, lawn mower, rakes.  Small appliances are not usually included in your purchase – you might need a microwave, coffee pot, fire extinguisher, garage door remote.

Not to overwhelm – just wanting you to put complete thought into your process so you can enjoy the end result and not be caught short of funds or have unrealistic expectations. 
At the end of it all – nothing gives you a greater sense of community, accomplishment and pride then settling into you first home.

Guest Blog - Taking the LEAP!

Taking the LEAP!

Guest Blog Post by Ashley Houseman

There’s nothing more exciting than researching homes on the internet, sifting through hundreds (maybe thousands) of photos of homes listed for sale until you narrow down the possibilities and compile your list of those you’d like to see in person. In most cases, a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

On numerous occasions, I've had the pleasure of walking through homes with First Time Home Buyers to discover some of the most outrageous and interesting features a house could possibly possess. Some in which you wish the REALTOR® would have posted pictures of, so you could have ruled it out as a possibility and saved yourself the gas and your precious time to see it.

Epic Fail!

Homes with holes in the floor (we could see the dirt fill below), bathrooms with the door against the toilet, homes that were previous crime scenes (which I found out later via “Googling” the address), an ENTIRE home that was a dedicated shrine of Dale Earnhardt Jr (I’m a fan, just not an entire house of it) and my personal favorite:  a bidet in the middle of a bedroom, yes, a bedroom.

It’s tough to see yourself in a home when either photos don’t do a good home justice or when a potential home is washed out by clutter or issues that are hard to look past. Here’s a few tips to help you to weed out the bad ones from the diamonds in the rough:

Do Your Homework:

• Go online:  Did you know that most REALTORS® can send you listings via email to check out from the web from the comfort of your couch? Use their services to check out homes! Their MLS® will be your most up-to-date source for what’s available on the market. Also check out  www.ColdwellBanker.ca and their app as well.  Or www.KelownaRealEstate.com
• Do the Drive-by:  If it’s a good possibility, drive by the home and see if you like the location. This will help you to weed out more homes than you think.

Look Past the Surface:

• Good Bones:  If shag carpet and gaudy wallpaper isn’t your thing, don’t sweat it. Those are cheap fixes to a home that may have great bones. Look past the things that are easily replaceable and look at the layout of the home, as adding an addition is way more expensive than that gorgeous granite you’ve been dreaming of.
• Don’t Fall for the Bells & Whistles: Quite opposite of the last tip. A home may have some sweet upgrades like solid counter tops and stainless appliances, but you aren’t too crazy about the layout. Just remember, you can always customize the home down the road but living in a home with an awkward layout can eventually get annoying. It’s more expensive to do a total renovation (knocking down walls, permits, etc) than it is to buy an entire stainless kitchen on a Memorial Day sale.

Think About the Future:

• Resale, Resale, Resale:  That small bedroom that is a decent “office” now may not be a considered good-sized bedroom for a buyer down the road when you’re trying to sell, as this personally cost us 10+ buyers when selling our home!  Don’t compromise on things that you think may hinder your chances of selling the home in the future.
• Replacement Costs:  Buying a home is an investment, especially if you have to replace a ton of stuff inside. Take a closer look at things like the roof, air conditioning unit, pool pump, and other high ticket items that could be in need of replacing. It’s good to budget replacement costs into your yearly budget, but you don’t want to take on a home that needs everything replaced all at once.

A Home Fit for a Family:

• Busy Streets:  If you have or plan on having kids, that’s great, just make sure the house accommodates them! Any parent of a toddler will tell you that living on a busy street is one of the scariest things in the world as you watch cars fly by your driveway. Consider an area that has less traffic and will be safer for the little ones.
• A Tub:  As silly as it sounds, you will want a tub in the guest bathroom. Unless you want your sweet munchkins taking over your master every night until they can bathe themselves, save yourself the insanity and make sure there’s a tub in the guest bathroom for the little ones.

These are just a few things to think about when you’re looking to buy a home for the first time. When in doubt about certain things, always consult a real estate professional, as they are your best source of information in the home buying process.

No matter what your first time home buying adventure is like, just remember, you could always have a bidet in the middle of your bedroom.

Ashley Houseman( YES! Her last name has HOUSE in it) is an Associate Broker/REALTOR® with Coldwell Banker Morris Realty. in Punta Gorda, Florida. You can follow her on Twitter at @BrokerEXCLUSIVE or visit her blog www.brokerEXCLUSIVEblog.com. 

First Time Home Buyers Week...Coldwell Banker

There seems to be a week for everything these days, but very few of them prove to be valuable for more than just a week. So Coldwell Banker® With 30% of home buyers in 2013 being first time home buyers, they are dedicating an entire week of content on the Coldwell Banker Blue Matter blog, Twitter and Facebook pages to sharing tips, explaining terminology, and guiding first time home buyers through the real estate process.  We will also post this info to our Facebook page as it filters through to us.

The Coldwell Banker network of agents and brokers across the globe share insights as well as real life experiences from first time buyers who are currently going through the home buying process for the first time. In my Blog of September 8, 2011  “Out of the Mouths of Babes” I review some of these topics from the perspective of my daughter – who just bought her first house.  Even though inventory and markets change, the basics haven’t changed much at all –Here’s just a quick sample of some of the content I’ll be unveiling as it comes through:

• 8 Tips for Finding Your First Home
• Confessions of a First Time Home Buyer – Taking the Leap
• Common Closing Costs for Buyers
• Real Estate 101: What does it mean to be pre-approved?
• Real Estate 101: The Importance of Interest Rates
• 9 Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector

As an aside to the First Time Home Buyer Week – there have been reports generated from surveys that show a very interesting trend in young couples entering the real estate market.

When headlines address the home buying market, it’s typically done from a dollars-and-cents perspective. But, buying a home is so much more than a business transaction as we are seeing a shift in the real estate culture that is being led by millennial couples who are purchasing a home before marriage. Buying a home is one of the most emotionally impact-ful experiences a person can have, especially if it’s a mutual experience shared with one’s husband or wife (to be).

Coldwell Banker Real Estate partnered with market research firm Harris Interactive to learn more about the emotions married adults exhibit during the home buying process. As it turns out, the survey findings revealed that 1 in 4 young couples are buying a home together before tying the knot. The results also discovered that nearly all (92 percent) of married individuals who purchased their first home with their current spouse after being married view it as a positive milestone in their relationship and life together. From a psychological vantage point, these statistics make complete sense.

Purchasing a home is a very exciting and special time in a couple’s life.  Time.com and USA Today, have been seen to say buying a home together has become “the new engagement ring” for some young couples. The home buying process forces couples to deal with their competing feelings of money and how to spend it, and that is why successfully purchasing a home with someone else is deemed a significant accomplishment in any relationship. It means the couple has been able to overcome their differences in an effort to create a better future together.

Sellers, take note:

GROWING FAMILY IS NO. 1 LIFESTYLE MOTIVATOR FOR HOME BUYERS

Coldwell Banker® survey finds Sellers are more willing to make changes to increase buyer appeal; Buyers prefer updated kitchens & open floor plans to trendy media rooms  
A recent survey of 700 Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals across North America revealed home buyers are motivated by lifestyle needs, with growing families ranking as top motivator on both sides of the Canadian/U.S. border.  Meanwhile, sellers are becoming increasingly aware of the value of presenting a home with buyers appeal, and are becoming more willing to go the extra mile as they compete for buyers’ attention.

Sellers More Willing to De-clutter, De-personalize and Make Repairs


Of those Coldwell Banker professionals surveyed:

• 94 percent say their sellers are getting rid of clutter and making cosmetic updates, such as fresh paint and minor repairs.  This percentage was the same for both Canadian and U.S. respondents
• 60 percent of Canadian respondents agree that clients are willing to “de-personalize” the home.  This percentage was much higher in the challenging U.S. market, where 76 percent agree.
• 59 percent of North American respondents say sellers are even bringing in new home decorations or furniture to help make the home more appealing.  

When marketing your home, it’s important to help buyers imagine themselves living in the property. De-cluttering and de-personalizing is crucial to this process.  Sellers should recognize that while demand for homes remains strong in Canada, their home is still competing with other listings.  If a home is presented with a minimum of clutter and distracting personal items, it will appeal to buyers and improve the chance of a sale. 



Buyer Preferences are ‘Back to the Basics’


Sellers, take note: when it comes to selecting a home, buyers are going back to the basics.  They value new or updated kitchens, bathrooms and open floor plans as the most important features for a new home. 

• 33 percent of agents surveyed across North America say that a new or updated kitchen is the most important feature to home buyers. 
• 14 percent say the most important feature to home buyers is an open floor plan, while 12 percent say it is a new or updated bathroom. 
• Only 1 percent of the real estate professionals surveyed say they believe that entertainment rooms or finished basements are the most important feature.

Home Buyers Moving for Babies and Careers


The survey also drilled down into which life events are motivating the most people to buy homes.  According to the Coldwell Banker Real Estate professionals surveyed, growing families is currently the biggest lifestyle driver for home buyers in both Canada and the United States.  


70 percent of real estate professionals surveyed say a new baby or growing family is the “most common”, or a “very common” lifestyle reason that North American buyers search for a new home.  Other key motivators include: 

• Marriage - 59 percent.
• Divorce - 48 percent.
• Retirement - 37 percent. 

While the majority of survey responses regarding buyer motivators were similar between Canada and United States, and although job reasons was the No. 2 reason overall across North America, there was one marked difference.  Fifty-five percent of Canadian respondents cited job reasons vs. 69 percent of respondents in the United States, where the economy and job market have endured recent downturns.  


For most of us, while a home is probably our largest investment, the fact remains that people move for lifestyle reasons.  Regardless of market conditions, buying a home remains an investment in our lifestyles where the emotional and psychological benefits can hold equal value to the pure economic investment.

Canada vs. U.S. Pricing Variances


The survey also indicated a clear difference between the two countries when it came to sellers’ pricing strategies.  Unlike the stable Canadian real estate market, much of the U.S. market has been challenging for the past few years.  The Coldwell Banker survey indicates that U.S. sellers are ready to ‘get real’ about real estate.  In the United States, 51 percent of those agents surveyed said sellers were more willing to price their home competitively than at the same time last year, while in Canada only 31 percent of surveyed agents said their sellers were willing to do so.    


Canada continues to enjoy a stable, balanced market, with near historic low interest rates, and a good inventory of homes for sale.  This supports demand for housing, and sellers are continuing to price their homes according to our market conditions. 




Your Coldwell Banker professional REALTOR® can help you determine what ‘tweaks’ you can do fairly easily to your home that will attract more Buyers to the table.  Your REALTOR® is equipped with comparable properties and shopping statistics that can make a huge difference in how they expose your home to the market place to have the greatest effect.

When the going gets "Tough"...just call me.

Susan Tough

Women VS Men - Home-Buying Decisions

Coldwell Banker® recently published a survey about how men and women differ in their home buying decisions.  Here are the results:

Coldwell Banker Survey Finds Women and Men Make Home-Buying Decisions with Head and Heart

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (March 27, 2012) – Square-footage and price are important elements to consider when selecting a home but according to a new survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate of 1,000 men and women, they both also rely on how they feel and how their lifestyle fits into a home when looking for a place to live. The survey found 28 percent of women and 25 percent of men put more emphasis on their feelings about a home than they do on the layout, square footage, or price. The majority of women (62 percent) and men (61 percent) also know within the first visit if the home is right for them.

“A home is more than square-footage and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and this survey shows just how much emotion can play a role in home buying process,” says Jessica Edwards, Coldwell Banker Real Estate consumer specialist. “When two people are looking for a home together, there are many considerations to take into account.  Of course, price and layout matter, but ‘feeling at home’ is an important factor.”


The survey also reveals insights into the roles men and women play at home and finds some interesting differences between age groups. 

Women Take Charge of Making a House a Home:

• Over half of women (54 percent) say that they take the lead when it comes to decorating.  However, younger men play a larger role in décor decisions than their older counterparts. Forty-eight (48) percent of younger respondents, age 18-44, say decorating is mutual; this decreases to 36 percent for respondents 55 and over.
• Women also cook it up in the kitchen. Sixty-eight (68) percent of women say they are the “primary chef” for their household.  Not to be outdone, some men are also putting on the apron – occasionally.  Nearly a quarter of men (23 percent) say cooking is their job.

Age Changes How Men and Women Feel “At Home”

• Sharing financial decisions may get easier over time. Fifty-four (54) percent of people age 18-44 say major financial decisions are mutual, compared to 60 percent of those 45-54. This increases to 70 percent for people 55 and over.
•  Interestingly, as age increases, so does contentment with the current status of the home. Almost half (45 percent) of those older than 55 say they are very happy with their home just the way it is, compared to 25 percent of those age 18-44.  More men seem to be focused on making significant changes to the home (9 percent) compared to women (5 percent).

Check out this video from Coldwell Banker highlighting tips for both men and women for buying a home.

For couples entering the home-buying process, here are Edwards’ tips for harmonious house-hunting:

• Each person should come up with a list of a few things that are most important and then come together as a couple to decide on a list of the top three to five things that are important for the home. 
• When looking for a home, communication is key. Consider designating a point person for different aspects of the home-buying process, so that information is not delayed or communicated to just one part of the couple.
• Don’t get too many people involved; typically more people means more stress and what is most important is that the couple is happy with the decisions being made.
• Don’t forget to have fun! Remember that this home will be the place to build memories and a life together.

What has motivated you in your home buying decisions? Whether you are a head or heart person, make sure you are represented by an experienced licensed REALTOR®. 

When the going gets "Tough"...just call me.

Susan Tough

For more information please visit ColdwellBanker.com. 

Survey Methodology: Coldwell Banker Real Estate engaged SSRS to conduct an omnibus survey via telephone in February 2012, among more than 1,000 respondents. This study was conducted in SSRS’s EXCEL Omnibus. EXCEL is a national, weekly telephone omnibus service designed to meet the standards of quality associated with custom research studies. The EXCEL survey consists of a standard set of introductory and demographic questions supplemented by a changing series of questions on various topics as contracted by participating companies.

Sample Design: Each EXCEL survey consists of 1,000 interviews, with 50% men and 50% women.EXCEL uses a fully-replicated, stratified, single-stage random-digit-dialing (RDD) sample of telephone households. Sample telephone numbers are computer-generated and loaded into on-line sample files accessed directly by the CRT system. Within each sample household, one adult respondent is randomly selected using a computerized procedure based on the “Most Recent Birthday Method”. Respondents answering questions in an EXCEL insert specifically designed for this survey were 1014 men and women ages 18 and older.

Margin of Error: Because this is a sample, and not an actual population, an associated margin of error applies. At a 95% level of confidence, the margin of error for this sample of 1014 is +/- 3.08%. This essentially means that we can be 95% certain that, for any percentage result for the total sample, the “true” percentage is within 3.08 percentage points of that which is actually reported.

Significant Differences: Within this report, significant differences are reported at the 95% level of confidence.