TIPS FOR HOMEBUYERS: VANCOUVER HOME BUYING ADVICE
With my tips for homebuyers and advice when buying Vancouver real estate, you will avoid the pitfalls and have a more enjoyable experience.
There are so many factors which will affect your experience buying a home in Vancouver, such as the market conditions, whether it’s a sellers or buyers market, time of year, type of property, price range and many other factors.
The tips for homebuyers I have put together outlines general good advice, developed over 20 years assisting clients buying and selling homes in Vancouver. These aren’t just tips for first-time homebuyers, I believe anyone buying real estate in Vancouver will benefit from my advice. Let’s get into it.
6 HELPFUL TIPS FOR HOMEBUYERS WHEN BUYING A HOME IN VANCOUVER
1) Be available
First of our tips for homebuyers is to make sure you have the personal time to commit to buying a property. Buying a home takes a lot of time and you need to dedicate hours to research, speaking with your agent, arrange your finances, and actually visit homes of interest. If you’re not able to make yourself available, you’ll miss opportunities and find the buying process stressful.
2) Get your financing ready
If you’ll be relying on a mortgage, have your financing ini order. Whatever funds you’ll be using for your purchase, make sure they’re cashed out of investments and available. I’ve seen so many buyers find their perfect home but are not in a position to move quickly because their finances aren’t ready.
3) Stick to your budget & feature list
Over the years I’ve watched many buyers have a smooth purchase. I’ve also witnessed a long and chaotic home-buying experience. I’ve experienced buyers who do not exactly what they want, constantly straying from their budget, or property type, which causes a less than ideal situation. Of course, in the beginning it’s normal to explore different locations or property types, but there needs to be clarity about these choices.
One of the most important tips for homebuyers is to define what they want. If you’re working with a competent Realtor, you should have initial meetings to go over your budget and what features, type of home and neighbourhood you’re wanting to purchase. This is when your Realtor is going to let you know if you’re features vs budget is realistic or not. Your agent will also understand if your described home is going to match your needs.
Really put some thought into what you need in a home today and into the future. Everyone’s situation is different. We’re top Vancouver Realtors who work with clients upgrading to a bigger house or better neighbourhood. We also work with mature clients who are selling their large house after the kids have moved out. These particular clients are now searching for a smaller space with less maintenance. You will likely know what you need but it’s still important to create a list.
You can waist a lot of time and confuse yourself by not sticking to your budget and feature list. Even worse though, you can end up buying a house which isn’t exactly what you need or want. I know this may sound somewhat ridiculous, right? Well, I’ve seen it happen in many different forms over the years.
4) Stop hunting for a unicorn
This one is going to take some explaining so bear with me. Plus, searching for a unicorn home somewhat relates to the previous section. So this is how it works. Buyers are watching for new home listings on MLS and visiting open houses. They find a home which is amazing and almost seems too good to be true. The home meets all their pre-defined criteria, plus much more. Well, if it seems too good to be true, please listen to me, it is!
Often Realtors will underprice a property to create hype and interest. The home belongs within a much higher price category. Sure enough, come offer night the property sells for substantially over listing price. All the well-informed homebuyers and Realtors understood the property value was higher than list price. I always find it interesting when you see a news headline which reads, ‘Home Sold $500k Over Listing Price’. The actual headline should be, ‘Realtor Underpriced Vancouver Home By $500k’.
It’s fine if this happens once or twice to a homebuyer who is still becoming acquainted with property values and is hopeful, despite their agent’s advice. It’s an issue if a buyer is only seeking out these types of homes. Buyers searching for a unicorn often ignore other properties which match their criteria and are within their budget. They become locked in a perpetual cycle of searching for these types of homes. Sounds strange? Yes, but I see it happening often.
5) Take your realtor’s advice
If you’re not trusting advice from your Realtor, you shouldn’t be working with them. You need to work with a local Vancouver real agent you trust. I’m not telling you to follow someone blindly, its collaborative teamwork, but your agent should be quarter-backing the process.
Taking pointers and advice from your agent will increase your chances for success when buying real estate. I have the perfect case study, a purchase I assisted with recently.
I was introduced to a family with kids who had been searching with another agent. Their offers on homes had been unsuccessful.
There were lots of things I changed about their approach to finding a home, but I won’t go into all the details, in hopes of keeping this concise. First, we narrowed their search to their most ideal neighbourhood. We also set their viewable properties to only homes within their budget. It was also decided we would only visit homes which matched their pre-defined criteria. All this allowed us to become ultra-focused. We were patient and finally found the perfect home within a few weeks.
When it was time to place an offer, my clients listened to all my suggestions. Before offer night, we completed a pre-inspection, arranged financing, and completed all the necessary research. This allowed us to write a very competitive offer without the many subject encumbrances.
Other suggestions which I believe made their offer stand out were the following:
- Writing a letter to the sellers introducing themselves, highlighted how much they loved the home and the community. Yes, a bit cheesy but home-sellers want to know who they’re dealing with.
- We submitted a copy of a large deposit in the form of a bank draft with the offer. This showed the buyers had the funds ready and were serious about buying. This indicated motivation on the buyers’ part by withdrawing the funds ahead of time.
- Offering a fair price which reflected the market value of the home.
My clients listened to all of my advice, although it was more work for them. I’m glad to say we were the winning offer of 8 competing homebuyers. The buyers secured the home they loved and of course were extremely happy! By the way, if you’d like to learn more about how to win multiple offers when buying a home, we wrote an article about this topic.
6) Do your own research
This is one of the valuable tips for homebuyers. Get involved in researching properties. There are many websites which can help you look at the property history, neighbourhood sold data and community plans. You can also research building permits/developments which will happen in an area, within the near future. Although your Realtor will be doing all of this, you should be doing it too. Doing your own research will help you better understand value. You will have more meaningful and collaborative discussions with your agent.
When you find a home you’re interested in buying, dig deep and understand what you’re purchasing. Do everything listed above and more. Research the property history and order an inspection.
Conclusion
We hope our tips about buying real estate can help you during your house hunting journey. We also hope you find value in our approach, whether you’re buying your first home, or a seasoned real estate mogul. If you do, and you’re looking for a competent Vancouver Realtor, feel free to contact us. With 20 years of experience helping clients purchase homes in Vancouver, we can help you too!
