What to Expect

1 – Buyer Consultation Meeting

  • Schedule a meeting at a convenient location for you
  • We will discuss your criteria for your home search
  • Travis will share insights and information on the market, neighbourhoods, and answer any questions you have
  • Identify which neighbourhoods offer the type of home you are interested in, within your budget
  • Evaluate differences between neighbourhoods, and what “Bang for your buck” you get in each
  • Explain further how Buyer Agency works and answer any questions you may have
  • Discuss your financial pre-qualifications, if you have not yet been pre-approved, we’ll provide you with some choices of well established reputable lenders/brokers
  • There is no cost or obligation associated with the Buyer Consultation meeting- at the end of the meeting, the choice will be yours, you get to decide whether or not you want to hire Travis as your exclusive agent. (Buying a home doesn’t usually happen overnight – you may end up spending lots of time with your agent, so make sure it is someone you trust and get along with!)

2 – Financial Qualifications

  • Verify your pre-approval from your lender
  • Discuss your budget, and compare how much you would like to spend on a monthly basis vs. how much you’ve been pre-approved for, and what types of properties will fit within this criteria
  • By the way, do you know the difference between a pre-approval and an approval for financing – if not, we’ll explain it, as there is a BIG difference

3 – Enter search criteria into our MLXchange system

  • Our MLXchange system is the back end system which supplies the data for websites like realtor.ca, remax.com, and pretty well every real estate website available which gets shared feeds from our Ottawa real estate board
  • Our system will automatically notify you, and us with new listings, price changes, updated photos etc., for properties that meet your search criteria – within minutes of those changes physically being made
  • You get access to new listings before they are available to the general public realtor.ca, MLS.ca, and other websites as mentioned above
  • You get access to your own private website with a list of all properties which met your criteria in the past, so you can keep track and make notes if you wish

4 – The Hunt is On

  • Once we have found the right property, we will likely visit it a second time (usually when you visit a property a second time you are looking at it with a more critical eye, and will see things you didn’t notice the first time)
  • If you decide that it is the right one, we will do the market research on the home; how much they paid, what similar properties have been selling for, local area information, school information (if requested) etc.
  • Use market data to evaluate the asking price, and so you can determine how much you would like to offer

5 – Found it!

  • Our MLXchange system is the back end system which supplies the data for websites like realtor.ca, remax.com, and pretty well every real estate website available which gets shared feeds from our Ottawa real estate board
  • Our system will automatically notify you, and us with new listings, price changes, updated photos etc., for properties that meet your search criteria – within minutes of those changes physically being made
  • You get access to new listings before they are available to the general public realtor.ca, MLS.ca, and other websites as mentioned above
  • You get access to your own private website with a list of all properties which met your criteria in the past, so you can keep track and make notes if you wish

6 – Draft Offer

  • We will draft an offer with the price and terms that you request, and ensure that there are clauses in the offer that protect you along the way
  • In most cases, offers on residential properties will include conditions on you, the buyer, doing a building inspection and being happy with it, getting approved for the mortgage on the property, and we suggest additional conditions as well
  • We will ensure that you fully understand the workings of a good offer, and ensure that it is structured in your best interests, and fill in the blanks for you on how the process works
  • We will further explain any additional clauses that may need to be inserted into an offer based on your unique situation
  • Further, we will discuss negotiating strategy, and how we will work to get you the best price and terms for the purchase

7 – Offer Presentation

  • We will ensure that all the paperwork is completed properly and arrange for the offer to be presented
  • Understand the circumstances of the property and how to present the offer
  • In many cases, we will scan and email the offer to the listing agent to register the offer and start the negotiating process
  • Depending on circumstances, we may need to physically present the offer in person
  • We have even had circumstances of the buyer and seller sitting in a room together to present the offer
  • We do what is in the best interests of our clients given the circumstances

8 – Negotiate Offer

  • Negotiating an offer can be a tough situation. Emotions can run high, and time is of the essence. Every situation is different, so it is crucial to have an experienced negotiator working for you to ensure that you get the property for the best possible price and terms

9 – Acceptance of Offer

  • Depending on the conditions written into an offer, the deal will either be firm, or conditional
  • Under most circumstances, the offer will be a conditional offer.  During the conditional period, it is our duty to do the following:
    • Ensure that all documentation is sent to the proper contacts and locations; including lawyers, property management companies, lending institutions etc.
    • Assist you in arranging a professional home inspection and, if needed, recommend several real estate lawyers
    • Arrange additional inspections, appraisals, and other related appointments to complete the purchase of the property where applicable.
    • Finally, carefully monitor the process ensuring that specific deadlines are met, and that the offer remains legally binding

10– Deal with problems

  • During the conditional period, problems can arise. We help you deal with any problems that occur during this period, anywhere from getting questions answered about concerns on a building inspection, to renegotiating deals because there was a big problem that needed to be fixed

11– Fulfillment of Conditions

  • We will ensure that all the conditions have been waived or fulfilled and that the appropriate paperwork has been received by all parties, maintaining a legally binding agreement on your behalf

12 – Paperwork to Lawyer

  • We will ensure that your lawyer has all of the necessary documents to complete the transaction for you, so that the process will be as stress free and smooth as possible
  • In the agreement of purchase and sale there is a “title search clause”, so your lawyer can do an in-depth review of the agreement, and perform any searches necessary to ensure that the closing will go smoothly, and there are no problems with title

13 – Pre-close visit

  • We recommend having a visit just prior to the closing day, to ensure the property is in similar condition to when you originally inspected it, as it is the seller’s responsibility to ensure this. Ask us about horror stories that were avoided because of this visit!

14 – The Closing

  • Your financial institution and/or broker will have paperwork for you to sign as well if you are putting a mortgage on the property. The bulk of this paperwork is typically completed in the days leading up to the closing date
  • You will be required to meet with your lawyer to sign all of the paperwork to close the transaction and likely to deliver the closing funds as well (if the financial institution has not sent it directly)
  • Closing will take place via electronic registration, once completed, the lawyers will receive direction from each other that the funds can be released to the seller, and the keys released to the buyer
  • NOTE: typically this takes place in the afternoon, so book your movers accordingly, you may not get the keys until the end of the afternoon that the deal closes!

15 – After the sale

  • After closing our job of helping you buy your property is done, but our job as your trusted real estate advisor lives on. We will always be available to answer questions, give advice, keep you updated on the Ottawa real estate market, and share our resources (such as good reliable contractors) with you. One of my favourite things is receiving calls from past clients unexpectedly, asking for advice, market information or for a good referral for a contractor.
This website may only be used by consumers that have a bona fide interest in the purchase, sale, or lease of real estate of the type being offered via the website. The data relating to real estate on this website comes in part from the MLS® Reciprocity program of the PropTx MLS®. The data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed to be accurate.