Questions Buyers Should Ask Early

Ask the cheap questions before the expensive ones

Every property search has a point where curiosity turns into cost: time off work, inspections, travel across the province on a Saturday. The questions worth asking early are the ones that stop you spending any of that on a property that was never going to work. They take five minutes and almost nobody asks them.

Start with your own criteria

Before you ask about a property, answer three questions for yourself. What is your genuine monthly limit once taxes, utilities and maintenance are included. What are the two things you will not compromise on. What is your timeline driven by, whether that is a lease ending, a job starting or a school year. A buyer who cannot answer those will find every property both appealing and unsuitable, which is an exhausting way to spend a season.

Questions about the property, early on

Where we are acting for you, these go to the listing brokerage before a viewing is booked, and the answers come back in writing wherever they can.

How long has the owner held the property, and what is driving the sale now?
What major work has been done, when, and by whom?
What would need repair or replacement in the next two years?
What do the utilities and property taxes actually cost across a year?
Has any work been done without a permit?
For a condominium, what is the monthly fee, what does it cover, and have there been special assessments?
What closing date suits the seller?
Is there anything about the property we should know before viewing it?

Then ask about the community

Most regret in a purchase is about the surroundings rather than the building. Ask what the commute is like at the hour you would actually travel, not at ten in the morning. Ask about parking in winter, about noise, about what is planned for the vacant lot down the street. Communities such as Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Oshawa and Niagara each change character considerably from one neighbourhood to the next, so a general impression of a city tells you very little about a street.

Visit at two different times if you can. A quiet Tuesday afternoon and a Friday evening can describe two different places.

Ask what happens next

Before a viewing, confirm who you will be meeting, how long you will have, and what documents will be available on the day. After it, ask what the seller expects to happen next and by when. Clarity about process removes most of the anxiety in a purchase, and it tells you quickly whether the other side is organized and serious.

Have representation in place early

A buyer representation agreement sets out that we act for you rather than for the seller, what we will do and how we are paid. With it in place we search on your behalf, we put the questions above to the listing brokerage, we tell you what a property looks worth on the evidence rather than what it is asking, and we prepare, present and negotiate your offer, including the conditions on financing and inspection that give you room to check before you are committed. Your lender, your lawyer and your home inspector remain your own. Speak with all three before you find a property you love, so that when a decision arrives you are making it with support already in place rather than assembling a team in a hurry.