A few key tricks to looking at houses and you'll be well on your way to finding the perfect home just for you.

Look up
Don't forget to look up everywhere in the house, ceilings, tops of cabinets, bedroom corners, closet ceilings, light fixtures... it's important to know about the water damage from a leaking roof before you hire a home inspector knowing you don't want to invest the time, effort and money to repair it. In a lot of cases its probably an easy repair and if you don't mind taking it on and you can negotiate that into a lower asking price.

Be realistic
Chances are the house you currently live in isn't perfect and no longer meets your family needs. If you're looking for a certain price point, a certain area, certain house features (i.e. main floor laundry), basement apartment, specific lot size, all your paint colour choices and perfect gardens, be prepared to look for a long time. You should always expect more rather than less, but don't expect that they knew that you really dislike the colour green when they painted the walls. Inevitably something will need to be changed, whether it be paint colours or room themes - you're belongings and touches will make it your space.

Act quickly
If you look at a house and decide "it's great, it's perfect , but, well.... I want a deal so I'll sit and watch it for a while to see if the seller reduces their price". A good agent should be able to negotiate that deal that you're waiting for, if there's a deal to be had. Some sellers simply have a price in mind and will not reduce under any circumstances. If you wait for it to come down in price, you risk some else putting in an offer and taking your house away. Or even worse, if it does drop in price, there may be others waiting and then suddenly there's a multiple offer situation which will drive the price back up.

Get out there
In this day of internet savvy house shoppers, 7 out of 10 Canadians will use the internet to search long before they ever call an agent. Don't limit yourself to open houses on the weekends on someone else's schedule to find your perfect home. Statistics tell us that only 1% of people ever find their next home through an open house (personally I did, but it's uncommon). Sign a buyer agency with an agent who will work to find you the houses that you're looking for. If they don't perform, meet with them to discuss your needs and then if nothing changes, speak to them about terminating your agreement or speak to their broker of record and move on to someone that will help you.

Communicate, communicate, communicate
If your needs/wants change from your initial meetings with your agent, don't expect that your agent can read your mind, talk to them and help them understand how and why you've changed tunes. Just like a good marriage it requires communication and constant work. Utilize all the tools, such as e-mail that make it easier for busy people like yourself.

Be available
It's hard to coordinate schedules between your free and time your agents, so if that's the case, pick one day & time every week and decide, with your agent, the maximum number of houses that you'll see. If you're looking for a quicker timeline to find your house, make it 2 or 3 days/nights and stick to it. Go out on appointments to see these houses that initially may not interest you - think of it like dating, try going outside your comfort zone and often you'll find "the one".

Timing
Give yourself at least 15-20 min per house, that way if one doesn't strike your fancy, you'll be in and out and have more time to look at another one that does. You don't need to rush but if you know that the house doesn't interest you, move on. NOTE: Limit showings each day. By the 5th or 6th house, you'll barely remember the first 2.

Bring a camera
It always good idea to take pictures of each house to help your memory later, but make sure to write down which picture number belongs to which house. Also remind your agent that you'll be snapping away so that they can get permission from the home owner to tackle the privacy issues before you get to the house.


Working with the right agent can save you time and money. It can be very frustrating to see a house that looks great on the net, but then because there's no address you have to call the listing agent, who is more than happy to try to "sell" you something. Let someone help you sort through all the houses on the internet who only has your best interests in mind. Suggest coffee with your agent to feel more comfortable with their abilities and skills - if they don't have the time to get to know you, perhaps they're just not the right agent for you.

Happy house hunting...



Will 2008 be the year you wish you bought real estate?
Heather Park
Sales Representative
Telephone: 905-683-8661 or 1-888-413-0800
E-mail - heather.park@remax.net
Web - www.sellwithheather.ca
Facebook - YES I WANT A NEW HOUSE 2