They started dating during the pandemic… and they bought a house together, with their life savings.
What I see here, is my best friend looking so happy and starting a new chapter of her life. What you see here is a happy couple who finally won a bidding war, with conditions of financing written into their Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
As first time home buyers, these two have been working for years, to find the right person to shack up with… and to save for a nice downpayment, closing costs, moving costs, furniture, and all the works that come with falling in love and buying a home. With the housing market being so hot, and bidding wars being so competitive these days, listing agents and Sellers have not been afraid to ask Buyer’s to “take out your conditions and come up in price…then we have a deal”. Which means without any conditions to fall back on, ex: home inspection or financing, you are buying the property firm, with no conditions. When this happens, there is no coming back (without more legal fees), the Seller’s brokerage holds the Buyer’s deposit and can keep it if there are no conditions to be waived. You need to be 99.9% sure that your lender or CMHC can approve of your purchase. The lenders need to approve/qualify you and the property. Deposits, which will go towards the down-payment are anywhere between $20,000- $40,000 for a $600,000 home in Hamilton and surrounding cities and towns. That’s not a lot of money for big investors, but it is a lot to lose for any First Time Buyer trying to break into the market. Investors have a lot of equity to play with and are confident making a firm offer based on the portion of their downpayment. It is becoming more and more difficult to bring an offer to a Seller with conditions of home-inspection, financing, we used to even be able to put in an insurance condition back when I started in this industry five years ago. Those days hopefully aren’t over, as it is important for Buyer’s and it is important for the Mortgage Brokers and banks to ensure a practical and safe way to purchase property, especially for First Time Home Buyers.
Kirsten and Ryan did their research and made a proper game plan before jumping into the 2021 housing market. They communicated about what they both wanted their future home to be like, along with what was important to each of them, and what was on their list of pros and cons. They knew there could be things that they may have to do to the house to make it work for them to get the home they wanted. They ended up moving 30 minutes further than where they were first looking, in order to get the house they wanted and under their budget, with conditions of financing written into the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. They were strategic with their first purchase and made a 30 minute sacrifice in order to get everything else on their wish list.
Today they get the keys to their new house in Brantford, ON. to embark on their home owner journey. This Bungaloft holds so much character and charm, I can’t wait to see what they do with the place to make it their own. I hope this home brings them both so much joy, laughs and good memories. It sure was a lot of laughs and joy house hunting with the two of them.