Find the one
you'll want to keep.

More than most people realize, and most of them have to be set up before you buy. The First Home Savings Account gives you a tax deduction going in and tax-free growth and withdrawal coming out. The Home Buyers' Plan lets you pull from your RRSP toward a first home without the usual tax hit, provided you repay it on schedule — and the two can be combined, which is where a lot of first-time buyers find their down payment. At closing, Ontario offers a rebate on provincial land transfer tax, with a separate municipal rebate in Toronto. Limits and eligibility rules change, so we'll go through what currently applies to you and introduce you to a broker who can confirm the numbers.

In most resale transactions the seller's listing agreement covers the commission paid to the buyer's brokerage, so you typically aren't writing us a cheque. Arrangements do vary by listing, so we'll go through exactly how it works on any home you're considering before you sign anything.

It depends on the purchase price and the mortgage you qualify for, and the minimums are set federally rather than by us. A mortgage broker can give you a real number in one conversation — we'll introduce you to one we trust, and you'll know where you stand before you start looking.

Land transfer tax, legal fees, the home inspection, title insurance, moving costs, and any adjustments at closing. We'll walk you through the full list early on so the final numbers are never a surprise.

There's no universal answer — it depends on your financing, your risk tolerance, and what the market is doing at the time. This is worth a real conversation rather than a rule of thumb, and it's one of the most valuable ones we have with clients.

The search is the unpredictable part — some buyers find it in two weeks, others take six months. Once an offer is accepted, closing is usually somewhere between 30 and 90 days depending on what you and the seller agree to.

We'd always rather you had one. In competitive situations some buyers go in without a condition — if that's where you land, a pre-offer inspection is often the better route. We'll tell you plainly what the trade-off is in your situation rather than making the call for you.

We'll tell you what we know about the competing offers, what the home is genuinely worth, and where we think it lands. Then we'll set a number together — and we'll tell you when to stop, which is the part that actually protects you.

They get mixed up constantly. The deposit is due shortly after your offer is accepted — usually within 24 hours — and it's what shows the seller you're serious. The down payment is the larger amount you put toward the purchase at closing, and your deposit counts toward it. What matters practically is that the deposit has to be available fast, so it's worth knowing where that money is sitting before you write an offer.

Often. We do video walkthroughs, send detailed notes and photos, and act as your eyes on the ground. Plenty of our clients have bought here before ever setting foot in the house.