Plan for the costs of home buying

[Joe Crawford]

Real Estate Matters - December 10, 2007.


There's a lot to consider when buying a home aside from finding the
right property to suit your needs and lifestyle. As your Coldwell
Banker (R) real estate professional will tell you, home buying requires
a plan, and that includes sound financial planning. After all, home
buying doesn't just involve the immediate expenses incurred with your
real estate transaction. It also requires long-term changes to
monthly spending that should also be planned for before you buy.

Some of the immediate costs that you can expect during the home buying
process are appraisal, home insurance, legal fees and disbursements,
utility hookups, and home inspections. The Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation (CMHC) offers an on-line Consumer Guide and Workbook on
their website at site (www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca) that includes an excellent
list of other expenses to be considered when calculating your home
buying costs. Of course, you may not know what amounts to use when
estimating these expenses. That's where your Coldwell Banker real
estate professional comes in. With their wealth of experience, they
can help you come up with realistic price ranges to work with so
you'll know what to expect before you make an offer to purchase.

Monthly expenses will also change with new or increased spending on
utilities, home repair and maintenance, lawn and garden care,
appliances, homeowner's insurance, tools and decorating. All will have
to be included in your new spending plan. Not sure what to allow for
such costs? Again, here's where your Coldwell Banker professional can
help you estimate the costs of such expenses, sometimes obtaining
historical information from the current homeowner.

When you do your planning in advance, you take a lot of the guesswork
out of the home buying process. And that will not only ease your
stress level, it will also improve your chances of a successful
outcome. It's just one more way that, with a little help from your
Coldwell Banker representative, you're another step closer to making
today's dream of home ownership into tomorrow's reality.

After you've searched through some listings online and you're thinking
you'd like to know more, contact me your Coldwell Banker professional
Joe Crawford (519)742-5800 ext 2117, or simply click here and have all
the hot new listings emailed right to you as they come on the market.
You've got nothing to lose and a lot to gain!

www.kitchener-waterloo-homes.com