Thinking of getting a mortgage for a house in GTA, specific area is not decided yet. Hope you can help me with the following queries:
- Which is better, use a mortgage broker or go shopping by yourself from bank to bank for the best rate? I heard it's better to use a broker, since shopping mortgage by yourself will affect your credit rating. Is this true?
- Any idea/ suggestions for a place to live for a family of 5 (2+3 kids)
Thinking of less crowded place, safer environment for 3 kids (under 10 yo) and less than 1 hour to reach downtown TO, my office. Budget around 300K.
Several alternatives are:
1. Missisagua, around Cooksville GO Station. Less than an hour to downtown, nice environment.
2. South Riverdale in downtown TO; expensive, older (town) houses (need some repairs after purchasing, I guess).
3. Aurora-Newmarket, the place we live now. Almost 3 hours door to door 2-way commutes though.

Thx in advance.

I prefer to get mortgage quotes direct from a financial institution (I actually like it). ING direct and presidents choice financial seem to have good rates

http://www.pcfinancial.ca/

http://www.ingdirect.ca/en/

hope this helps

I like Oakville but it is expensive!

mortgage broker is the way to go IMO

why Ray?

I would do both, but remember that the advertised rates of the big banks are bullshit numbers, just an opening point for negotiation. Guess it depends how comfortable you are trying to push them down. Brokers have a lot more leverage, but will take there commision somehow, even if its hidden from you. AFAIK it should not affect your rating at all to shop around.

They don't cost you anything, they have a very good track record of getting you the best rates (according to the ones I deal with anyway). and also provide great service.

Thanks for all the replies. Appreciate it...

I think, I am going to do both, as Iaink suggested.
I am approaching PC Financial in the meantime...
I also met a realtor and he mentioned about his position as a Buyer's agent.
Do we have to stick with one buyer agent after signing a kind of contract with them?
Or we are basically free to "shop" from one realtor to another? For example there are other interesting properties other than the one they offer?

Also any idea/ comments re. places to settle for family of 5, 3 kids under 10 yo?

Thx again.

I'm with Ray on this one - broker is the best way to go. Having bought a total of five houses since coming here, and using a broker for the last two - I wish we'd done it that way from the outset. Much better rates and they have all the contacts, especially if you do have unusual circumstances.

It sounds like you haven't been in the property market before. It's a lot simpler and faster than in the UK. Get your mortgage approved before you start looking at houses. Bear in mind that if you can't put down a fairly big downpayment (20%, I think), you will have to pay a significant mortgage insurance premium.

It is standard for both buyer and seller to have an agent. Your realtor will probably ask you to sign a contract with him but that doesn't matter. If you see a property you like, you simply tell him and he arranges it. The two agents split the commission, if the sale is made.

As I say, the process is fast. I'll give an example. We were looking to buy a house in Oakville. My partner went out with an agent to view a few. She found one she liked and the three of us went back for another look. I also liked it. We then went straight to our realtor's office (Saturday pm) to write up the offer. That included our offer on price, closing date and conditions (usually relating to window treatments, appliances etc etc). Offers also have a time limit (one week) and are subject to financing and inspection. The offer was then presented to the seller and his agent, who prepared their counter-offer. Sunday night (yes, Sunday night), the two groups got together in adjoining offices and the agents shuttled back and forth with counter and counter-counter offers until agreement was reached. At that point we handed over a deposit cheque. The seller was then locked into us for seven days. We had the option to pull out at any time. During that time, we had to finalise our financing (already done) and have the house inspected (if we wanted to). The inspection revealed a couple of things that needed attention. A condition that they be fixed immediately was put into a revised offer, which the seller accepted. We had reached the equivalent of exchange of contracts in under a week. Only then did we need to find a lawyer to do the legal stuff (also pretty simple).

It was just as easy when we sold the place (the offer shuttling was done at nearly midnight!).

It's even simpler in Quebec, by the way. The same lawyer (notary, to be precise) handles the legal work for both sides. The buyer pays. When we bought our house here last year, we got from the first-view stage to signing up a notary between Friday afternoon and Sunday lunchtime (including the inspection).

WOW

I was getting concerned that if we found a house in July (this year) we wouldn't be in before my eldest daughter started school in September (in S Ontario). All we gota do now is sell our house in the UK, fly over and find a house in Canada, EASY :scared:

If you don't mind me asking what was the cost of the inspection? Do you get different levels of inspection that you do over here (home buyers report, full structural etc.)

Inspections are around $350

My house purchase took 6 weeks from start to finish.

It would have been faster, but the woman who was moving out was moving into a seniors home. Had this not been the case, we could probably have done everything in 4 weeks.

Same is true here - last purchase we made, was less than 2 weeks from first look to actually moving in!

I just sold a condo from first viewing to moving in - 4 weeks !

It took us about 5 weeks from starting to view houses to moving in the one we selected after about a week of viewing. Probably could have been faster, but the current residents weren't moving out until a specific date which was fine with us anyway. Very quick process here.

You may want to consider the east side of the GTA. We are in Pickering which is about 45 minutes from downtown via the GO train (quicker if you can get the express). Prices are lower than on the west side and the area is nice. If you want to go even farther east to Oshawa, prices are much lower and you do still have a GO train for commuting. Unexpected benefits were a drop of almost 50% in car insurance and lower cost for car tag/registration as well.