Tag Archives: real estate

We may have bought a house (1) – the process

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Yesterday evening we had our offer accepted on a modern townhouse in the Upper Beaches area.

The house was first listed on MLS on Friday, we saw it at an open house on Saturday and our realtor immediately started working on our offer and indicated our interest. He then presented the offer to the sellers and their realtor last night at 6.15pm, whilst we waited round the corner so that the contract could go backwards and forwards with minor adjustments (and lots of signatures!). Once it was finally accepted, we were invited to meet the sellers, which was lovely and meant that we got to see round the house again straight away! At this stage, the contract is only partially binding on us subject to conditions, which have to be lifted by Wednesday evening, but is binding on the seller.

Today we had to get a bank draft for the deposit and deliver this to be held in trust by the realtor. We also saw our lawyer to go through the legal requirements and costs. Tomorrow we will have the home inspection. This is similar to a home buyers report except that we and the realtor will walk through the property with the inspector and will have the chance to ask him questions. We also hope to have confirmation of our mortgage. These are the two conditions that we need to lift. Assuming these are fine, we then move to a binding contract (subject only to any legal issues that might emerge) and our lawyer starts his checks (similar to those in the UK).

If all is well, closing (completion) will take place between 30 November and 14 December, to be confirmed by 16 November.

House Hunting – the search begins

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Having met with our mortgage advisor on Saturday, we wandered back down from Danforth to Queen through the back streets and, by chance, came on three open houses in a particularly lovely area known as the triangle. Although none suited us perfectly, it was a positive and reassuring start to our search. Indeed, we went back to all three with our realtor as part of a more focussed effort the following day.

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(click on a photo to page through larger versions of all the photos in this post)

mainWe also saw a great investment opportunity triplex further north – not a very pretty house and we decided that, whilst we are willing to do upgrades and a small amount of work, we are doing too much else to want to take on a project of this size. to be honest, I think I’m also pretty hooked on the idea of being at least on the edges of Beach, in a home that I love rather than one that has the greatest income potential!

Later today, after we pick up our new car (I will write about this tomorrow!), we are going to see another batch of houses, including one that, from the pictures, really appeals to us even though it is slightly further from the beach than some, though with the advantage of being really close to the subway on Danforth.

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[See a multimedia presentation on this property]

Real Estate

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Classic Beach!Having already linked up with one Toronto realtor, Renate, at the UK Emigrate shows, we are also lucky to have access to the insights of a second realtor in one of our hosts, Paul, at Accommodating the Soul.

 

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