Bambi Marshall

HometownRealty

1st TIME BUYERS

For YOU, as a First Time Buyer, this is one of the most exciting things that will happen in your life.  This can be fun as well as stressful, but that is why you have chosen me to give you step by step instructions.  Because this is your first time purchasing, you will have many questions and I am available through email, phone or texting and I pride myself on giving same day service and answering your questions right away.  If I do not know the answer then I will find out and get back to you.   I was an Avon District Sales Manager for  17 years and had over 300 Independent Representatives in my sales force.  My area included as far West as Gananoque, as far North as Seeley’s Bay, Westport, Smiths Falls and as far East as Kemptville down to Prescott, so I am familiar with those areas and getting back to people, especially women in a timely manner.  I am also proud to say that I am an Army Brat, my Dad was in the Army for 20 years…

First step – Visit your financial institution and determine how much you can afford and have the financial institution pre-approve you. When you are pre-approved, we know what price range we have to stay in and sometimes you might want to look for something less than you have been pre-approved for, especially if it might need some work. Ask your financial institution for ‘Improvement Plus’ and they will give you the details and how this works. (Keep in mind that when you are approved it is based on information that you have supplied to the financial institution, so now you have to provide them with the paperwork to get the COMMITMENT). So have the following information ready to go so that you are ahead of the game…

T-4’s from the last 2 years
Notice of Assessment(NOA)
Photo copy of recent pay stubs
A letter from your Human Resources stating that you are a full-time employee and how long you have been employed with them and how much you make a year
Be sure to be ahead of the game as there are other buyers out there looking at the same properties and timing is everything

Second Step – Contact an agent and interview a few of them first, whether over the phone, face to face or over the internet and make sure that you have the same goals and they will be there during and after the sale of your new house. You are making a big purchase and you want to make it is what you want and can afford.

Third Step – Make a list of wants and do not wants and determine the area that you are interesting in living. There are a few things that might help in that, like the school for kids down the road, where you work, being close to family and friends or not or to all amenities if you do not drive as well as re-sale….you should always be thinking ahead….

Fourth Step – Once you find the house that ticks a lot of your wants, then I will step you through the offer process. When you have made this decision there are a few things that you should have in mind.

How much of an offer do you want to put in.
How much of a deposit do you have to put down with the offer and it can range from 500.00 to 5,000.00 depending on you and this has to be given within 24 hours after the offer has been accepted.
What date do you want to move in-if you rent you usually have to give 60 days notice, but you can take over the house 2-3 weeks prior to you moving out of your rental so that you can go clean and paint before you start moving your possessions. This is one of those less stress things for you, pick a Tuesday to Thursday for a closing just in case there is a delay it will not cause you problems. For example if you choose a Friday and the bank is delayed in getting the funds to the Seller’s Lawyer you might not get the keys till Monday and will lose those 3 days of moving, plus interest is charged until the funds get to the Seller’s Lawyer.
What are the inclusions, like fridge, stove, washer and dryer and what is excluded like personal items or rental items etc.
What lawyer will you want to use and remember the closing cost are usually around 1.5% of the purchase price, for example if the house you purchased was $150,00.00 you would need at least a min. of 2250.00 for the closing costs.

Fifth Step – Now that your offer is accepted, here is where timing is very crucial for both you the Buyer and the Seller. You will need to arrange the following things that have been placed in your offer and these are called CONDITIONS. Conditions are there so that if you do not get financing or house inspection causes you concern, you can walk away from the deal and get your deposit back. But in the meantime here are the conditions for most houses and they are usually within Seven and 10 Days of the accepted offer.

Financing-remember I mentioned the paperwork to back up your what you are pre-approved for, the financial institution now needs this paperwork as well as the Agreement of Purchase and Sale and the listing of the property(which I can send for you).
House Inspection-determine who you will use and I know some people would rather not pay the 400.00 but being a first time buyer, it is important to have someone who knows what they are looking for and helping you to not get in over your head, in case there is something of major concern-as well as sometimes things can come up in the house inspection that can be rectified with Seller and Buyer. Book the House Inspection by the 5th to 7th day, and the reason for this is if the bank does not give you the financing I do not want you to pay 400.00 for something that is no good to you at this point…..this is a big reason for having paperwork ready for the financial institution, the sooner they have it the sooner you get your Commitment from your financial institution.
House Insurance-they usually will want to see the listing and go through the property to make sure it is insurable, because if a house is not insurable the bank will not give you the funds to get the mortgage.
Water and Septic-this is for the rural areas that are not on municipal water and sewer. This is important that we make sure the water is good to drink for obvious health reasons and the septic is in good working order as to replace a septic system is very costly and not a good thing for a first time buyer.
Final Walk Through-this is done days to a week prior to closing and this to ensure that the house is in the same condition it was when you first looked at it and as well as the items included are there and if there is a problem it can be dealt with in a timely matter.

Sixth Step – Now everything has gone smooth and you received your financing(COMMITMENT from the Financial Institution), you have done your House Inspection and everything went well and got your Insurance, now you can Fulfill these conditions and the SOLD sign is placed on the House.

Seventh Step – Now while you are waiting to move in your new home, do not forget to give your 60 days notice in writing to your landlord that you moving(be sure to check when you have a written lease what the rules are to break your lease prior to looking for a house). Get rid of anything that is garbage and throw it out now, you will thank me later(if you have not touched or wore it in 6 months then you most likely won’t when you move), start packing and naming the boxes, so on moving day they can be put in the right rooms, so unpacking will be easy and less stressful.

Eighth Step – You will be contacted by your Financial Institution and Lawyer to go and sign papers and ensure they have all of your paper work and walk you through the process.

Ninth Step – Getting the keys from your Lawyer and now the house is yours (sort of, until you pay the mortgage off it belongs to the financial institution).

Tenth Step – Moving day has come to move everything to your new home…be sure to arrange with a moving company or rental service ahead of time and watch out for long weekends as they usually charge you more.

Congratulations!!!!!

On your new home and when the time comes you can call me to sell or pass along my name to friends and family members.

Thank you….Bambi

IMPROVEMENTS PLUS

This is a great opportunity to have the renovations of your new home done and added to your mortgage versus saving up the money to do the renovations.  ASK ME ABOUT THIS PROGRAM.  CMHC allows 10% of the purchase price and GENWORTH will allow 20% of the purchase price for Improvements Plus

PURCHASING A RENTAL PROPERTY

If you are thinking about purchasing a rental unit, here are some of the changes that have happened with CMHC and Genworth that worth noting.. New Rental POLICY! CMHC and Genworth will consider up to 100% of gross rental income from a two-unit owner-occupied property where: -the credit score for all applicants is 680 or greater, and -the rental income is sustained for at least two years, and -the two-year average of the rental income can be confirmed -For 3–4 unit owner-occupied and 1–4 unit non-owner occupied properties, the net rental income (gross rents less operating expenses) can form part of the borrower’s gross annual income as per income tax returns schedule of rental activity. If you are purchasing a property for a family member to rent from you, check with your Mortgage Broker as you might qualify for only have to put down 5%, instead of the usual 20-25%.

SELLERS

Now that you have made the decision to sell your house, now is the time to decide who is going to do that for you. You should always interview the agents that have been referred to you either through friends or if you have decided to pick a reputable Real Estate Company. Make sure that you are comfortable with the agent and do not be afraid to ask point-blank questions and do you think you can have a working relationship with this agent?

Once you have decided on an agent, then the next thing is deciding on a marketing plan that will get your property sold. Price is very important and so is staging, curb appeal and de-personalizing the house. You should have it in your head that you are moving and start packing items now that you are not using, this will make moving day a lot easier for you in the long run.

If you have given me the chance to meet with you and you have decided to use my services then this is what My Commitment is to you as the Seller.

  • Professional pictures of your house – I have a Photographer that will take professional pictures of your house and well as provide you with a guide, stating, what needs to be done working up to the day of pictures and the actual day that pictures are taken.
  • Marketing your property – promoting the sale of the house through price and advertising.
  • New to the Market– This comes out every Wednesday(Recorder and Times) and I will advertise you house, if  an open house has been decided on,  include this in the New to the Market ad.
  • Sign on the property – this is important as people are now driving around in neighbor hoods that they would like to live and looking for new listing before they hit the internet and papers.
  • QR Code – The QR Code, once scanned by a passer by, potential Buyer, will place them directly into my website, where they can preview your house, information, inside pics right away, list of updates, inclusions and exclusions.  I provide more information about your property than realtor.ca or other sites.
  • Advertising – I advertise in the Recorder and Times, which is a local paper as well as Homefinder, which covers outside of Brockville, Prescott, that includes Kemptville, Cornwall and Ottawa.  On the Realtor.ca the site allows for 30 pictures and I do take advantage of that number as well as updating the pictures as the seasons change or as you re-do, re-paint or stage a room.  Keep in mind that the internet does play a big role on the sale of your house and also for you to search for a house.  There are many sites that you will find your listing and they are : www.bambimarshall.cawww.realtor.ca (which use to be mls.ca),   www.recorder.ca , www.remaxbrockville.com , www.remax.ca and did you know that besides realtor.ca that remax.ca/com is the second most visited website when it comes to real estate.  Most people are checking the internet 3 or 4 times a day looking for a house and then will do a drive by, if they like the what they see on the internet-Drive by, they will call their agent or listing agent to book a showing.
  • Open Houses – Yes, you will probably get that nosey neighbor, but keep in mind they will pass along the information and this is also another means of advertising, they will be telling their friends who might of said, ‘Let me know if a house comes up for sale in your area’.  I put the Open House sign up in a timely manner as well as ensure it is on the realtor.ca site and my website as soon as we have agreed upon a date and time.  I also have it put in  the Recorder and Times prior to the date of the open house.  If you do not like open houses then I do not have to do them but it is solely up to the Seller for this.
  • Showings – I will be the one who calls you, to book a showing, whether I have had a call from a Buyer or  an agent.
  • Follow-up – I will ensure that I send thank you emails(if they give me their email address or home number) to the people who have attended Open House as well as any information that they requested.  I will also let their agent know that they came through the Open House.  I will also follow-up with agents who show the house to get their feed back about the showing and that can be positive and negative.  Keep in mind negative feedback gives us an opportunity to fix what people are saying but never take it personal as everyone has different taste.

It is important to see what the penalty is on your mortgage, if you are deciding to sell. Always ask “what is the cost of me getting out of my Mortgage early”, secondly, “Can I port my mortgage to a new property” and thirdly, “can they take my original mortgage, add the difference if the new house is higher in price and do a combined mortgage, without a penalty and what would my rate be”.