Buying a home in Ottawa, Canada is what most residents and even interested non-residents consider as one of their dream investments. The Ottawa real estate market has a very good potential for a cost effective investment. However, buying a home in Ottawa can be a daunting task especially if you don’t know the market well enough.
There are home buying traps that you may not have noticed but you may already be in now. These home buying traps can cost you a lot. You might end up paying more than the actual value of your dream home. Instead of having a good investment, you might just end up committing a costly mistake.
Top 5 Home Buying Traps
Here are the top 5 home buying traps that you must watch out for and avoid:
- Not knowing exactly what home you need. Some people just jump into the real estate market without a clear idea of what they need. They become too overwhelmed with excitement of the thought that they are buying a home in Ottawa. Sometimes they just base their decision purely on what they want instead of what they need. What happens then is that they end up with a home that barely meets their needs. It may not be the right size, it may not be too advantageous, or it may not even fit their budget.
- Not knowing the actual market value. Bidding on a home can be very costly if you haven’t done your part in knowing the actual market value of the home. You will not have any solid basis for your bid. You will end up either bidding too high or losing your dream home because you are bidding too low.
- Not clearing the title. Don’t end up having several encumbrances on the home that you purchase. For instance, tax liens or even owners that are not listed. This happens when you jump into the purchase without clearing the title of the home. Make sure that you do a title search to ensure that you will not have any title strain on the home later on.
- Not doing a thorough inspection of the home. If you want to maximize your home purchase investment, you need to do a thorough inspection of the home that you intend to purchase. Not doing so will just result to having more expenses on fix ups that were not originally on the disclosure. It would be wise to get help from a qualified inspector who will look into all physical details.
- Not having an updated property survey. Any structural change on the home will be on record on an updated property survey. If the survey you have is not updated, you may end up not clearly marking your boundaries.
These home buying traps can be avoided if you just do your research first prior to actually purchasing your dream home in Ottawa. A good real estate agent will also be able to offer great advice and help on your purchase.