How To Short-List Builders for Your First Home in Canada
Moving to Canada is a major decision, and one that certainly takes a lot of consideration to ensure you’re doing all the necessary steps to make your move easier. Finding employment, setting up new bank accounts, and registering children at new schools are just a few of the things you’ll be taking care of, but what about finding a new home? You may have decided to build new so that you have the perfect home for your family’s move to a new country, but how do you decide on the right builder to construct your home? We have a few tips on how to short-list your options.
Decide Your “Must-Haves” For Your New Home
Depending on how many people there are in your family, your needs may vary in terms of what type of home you need, how many bedrooms and bathrooms, and other features of the home. Determine your list of features your home must have to be able to accommodate your family.
As an example, if you’re moving multiple generations to Canada, you may wish to have everyone living under one roof. For this reason, you may require a larger home that has additional bedrooms and bathrooms, a spacious kitchen and living area, and the option to convert the basement into more living space, maybe with another kitchen if needed. You may even wish to have a separate, private entrance to the basement suite installed in your home.
Question your potential home builders on whether your “must-haves” are available and their related costs. Short-list your potential builders based on how they can meet these needs.
Determine Your Preferred Location Within The City
You’ve chosen which city you want to move to, but you may want to also narrow your options as to where in the city you wish to live. Do your research on the new communities that stand out to you and the amenities they have to offer to determine what location best suits your needs.
Whatever your family’s unique needs are, be sure to choose a community that works best for you, then find the builders that offer homes in that area.
- Do you need to be closer to certain schools or new jobs?
- Will your family have extracurricular activities you’ll need to commute?
- Do you already have friends or family that have relocated, and you wish to be close to them?
Find A Builder That Will Help You Through The Purchase Process
While it’s a good idea to visit a bank and obtain a mortgage pre-approval prior to shopping for a new home, new home builders are also equipped to help you with this process. Question your potential builders on how they help you through the process of buying a new home, from start to finish, including credit score questions, mortgage qualification, purchase-related paperwork, and working with a lawyer to close on the home.
As a new Canadian, this process may be unfamiliar to you, but your new home builder should be equipped to help you understand what’s required of you to make your new home purchase a smooth one.
Find Out If Your Potential Builders Are Open To Working With Your Realtor®
If you’ve decided to enlist the help of a Realtor® to find your new home in Canada, it’s important to know that not all home builders work well with real estate agents. Some won’t work with them at all or make the process more difficult if a real estate agent is involved.
Question your potential builders about whether they accept purchases involving Realtors®, and if so, what their requirements are for doing so.
The services of a real estate agent aren’t necessarily required to buy a home from a new home builder in Canada, depending on where you choose to live. You have the option to work directly with your builder to purchase your home.
There are many factors to consider when buying your new home but buying from a builder can make the move easier. Some new home builders offer optional floor plans to better accommodate your family’s unique needs, help familiarize you with the complete purchase process, and offer homes in several communities throughout the city so you can live exactly where you want to.
Short-listing your builders means asking plenty of questions in advance to find the one that is best suited to help you find your first new home in Canada.
About the Author:
At Sterling Homes, our mission is to provide the opportunity for affordable homeownership without compromise. Over the last 70 years, Sterling Edmonton has quickly become one of Edmonton’s most popular builders. We bring more than seven decades worth of exceptional customer service, superior design and unparalleled craftsmanship to the greater Edmonton area. As a member of the Qualico Group, Sterling Homes focuses on greater Edmonton’s finest family communities, while being able to offer some of the region’s most family friendly prices thanks to volume purchasing power for materials, trades and land. This has not only made Sterling one of Edmonton’s bestselling, move-up builders, but also one of the industry’s most respected home providers. It is through our uncompromising commitment to our customers that we proudly deliver the Sterling Advantage – that’s why each and every home we build includes a 10-year home warranty, a completion guarantee and new home warranty excellence rating. Our Advantage is our pledge that, when you build your dream home with Sterling, we will deliver a timely, well-built home you’re sure to enjoy for years to come.
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