Buying a House - Scott's Story (Part 2)
After speaking with our broker, and before we met our realtor, we decided to check out an open house by ourselves. There was a place right around the corner from where we are renting that was at the very top of our budget, but we wanted to see what our budget would get us in our current subdivision.
There were three large bedrooms which was nice, but the living space on the main floor was just too small when we consider our toddler, and the backyard was very small too. It’d be ideal for a young couple. By looking at this place, it helped us create our initial list of what we want and don’t want in a house – definitely a valuable experience.
After looking at this place that was close to what we’d been pre-approved for, we thought “what if it goes to a bidding war – how flexible would the lender be?” So we called our broker with some questions and to get some peace of mind.
Questions we asked:
- How much flexibility do we have with the “pre-approval” price?
- How does looking at a condo (with monthly fees) affect our borrowing limit?
- When do we need to provide the down payment?
She answered all of our questions and we continued the search.
Meeting with the Realtor
We met with our realtor after some texts/emails/phone calls were exchanged. When someone tells you the buying process is an exciting whirlwind, well, they aren’t lying. We wanted to communicate every update we had! So we had a coffee, shared our wants, our needs, and our “No way, Jose!” lists.
Our Wants
Two toilets
Fenced backyard
Our Needs
A kitchen that can be blocked by a gate
Parking for 3 vehicles (we own two and have a sister-in-law that visits from out of town)
No Way, Jose!
1 Bedroom (there needs to be 2+)
We think we're pretty realistic with our wants and needs. So now we'll start looking at places that match our criteria and the next blog post will be a summary our viewings...and possibly a decsion!