Buying your first home is an exciting journey, and a very big investment. As a first time home buyer, you need to make sure that purchasing is the right step for you, and that you have all of your financing in order.
The first step in buying a home is getting a pre-approval. The RE/MAX Real Estate Team of Trevor Shaw work with various mortgage brokers, from private lenders to bank mortgage brokers, that can help you get a pre-approval – which is FREE of charge. When you apply for a pre-approval, you are getting pre-approved for a mortgage loan.
To provide you with a pre-approval, a lender reviews your income, the source of your down payment, your assets and liabilities, and inspects your credit report to determine your credit worthiness.
If you are not yet ready to purchase a home, but are looking at getting an idea what you need to do in order to purchase, a mortgage broker can help sit down with you and come up with a plan and to make sure that when you are ready, that all your ducks will be in a row.
Once you have received a pre-approval, the lender will inform you of the price of home you can afford. Once you have your budget, it is time to call a real estate team for Barrie and surrounding area – the Trevor Shaw Team – and start house-hunting!
The Trevor Shaw Team work closely with first time home buyers every year, and offer a First Time Home Buyers package. This package provides an outline on what you have to look forward to when working together and purchasing your first home.
The Trevor Shaw Team enjoy working with first time home buyers, and helping clients find a wonderful house to call their very own.
Call our Team today & let’s get house hunting!
INCENTIVES & GRANTS
There are various incentives for First Time Home Buyers, such as the Home Buyer’s Plan, the Land Transfer Tax Exemption, and the First Time Home Buyers Grant.
The Home Buyer’s Plan is a program that allows you to withdraw funds from your registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) to purchase a home. You can withdraw up to $25,000 in a calendar year.
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The Land Transfer Tax Exemption for First Time Home Buyers has a maximum amount of $2,000. When you buy land or an interest in land in Ontario, you pay land transfer tax. First-time homebuyers of an eligible home may be eligible for a refund of all or part of the tax.
Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government introduced the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit (HBTC) to help with the purchase of a first home.
The HBTC assists first-time home buyers with the costs associated with the purchase of a home, such as legal fees, disbursements and land transfer taxes. These are a particular burden for first-time home buyers, who must also save for a down payment. The $5,000 non-refundable HBTC provides up to $750 in federal tax relief. An individual is considered a first-time home buyer if neither the individual nor the individual’s spouse or common-law partner owned and lived in another home in the year of the home purchase, or in any of the four previous years. A qualifying home is generally considered to be a housing unit located in Canada that the individual or individual’s spouse or common-law partner intends to occupy as their principal place of residence, no later than one year after its acquisition. Any unused portion of an individual’s HBTC may be claimed by the individual’s spouse or common-law partner. When two or more eligible individuals jointly purchase a home, the credit may be shared but the total credit amount claimed cannot exceed $5,000. Claimants should ensure that documentation supporting the purchase transaction is available if requested by the Canada Revenue Agency.