Thinking About Buying Your First Home? Why Rent?

How to Buy a Home the Easy way! Avoid 10 Common Potentially Devastating Mistakes Home Buyers Make.

Buying a home can be a “hair rising “experience. It can be a roller coaster of emotions …. Finding the right place…. Securing a mortgage….. moving in. And, if you’re like most of us, your home will be your largest investment. The emotions over such a large and personal purchase can often cloud good business judgment.

Many home buyers do very little research before “diving in” and investing their hard-earned money. Before doing that, doesn’t it make sense to be as informed as possible? That is what the following is all about. It’s designed to help you avoid 10 common, critical mistakes many home buyers make. If you follow these 10 suggestions, with the help of the right real estate professional, you’ll make a good sound business decision that you’ll be happy and proud of for years to come.

1. Inspect, Inspect and Inspect: Go over the inspection report with a fine tooth comb. Make sure the report was done by a professional home inspector. For condo purchases, go over the Status Certificate; go over the by-laws and association fees. Don’t take anything for granted… inspect everything!

2. Imagine the property vacant: Your furnishings and decorations will be the ones filling this new residence. Don’t be swayed by beautiful furniture….it leaves with the owner.

3. Income Plus Lifestyle Equals Mortgage Payment: Sit down with a competent real estate professional and honestly discuss your income level and living expenses. Take into account future considerations like: children, add-ons, amenities or fix-ups. Your dream home is certainly worth a sacrifice but don’t mortgage your future.

4. View Several Homes: See at least 3-5 properties. Don’t move on the first property you see but….don’t move too slowly either. With our help, you’ll be able to view enough properties to get a good overall perspective of your market. And when you find the right property, all the leg work will be worth it.

5. Utilize Your Team: By aligning yourself with the right real estate professional, you’ll have an entire team working for you. Top real estate professionals have lenders, inspection teams, appraisers, lawyers, trades people, cleaners….an entire group of trained professionals making the whole buying experience simple and easy for you.

6. Be Columbo…Be CSI: Check out all your costs and expense before you sign: utilities, cable, taxes, and insurance, maintenance and homeowner dues, if applicable. Make sure all utilities are on (gas, electricity, and water), so you can inspect everything is in working order, Ask lots of questions and be very detail conscious.

7. Do a Final Walk-Through Before Closing: Visit the property after all the furnishings have been moved out to be sure there are no surprises. Be absolutely sure the property is as exactly as you had agreed upon when the offer was accepted. Many times, things are unintentionally overlooked that could have been spotted in a final walk-through.

8. Plan for Flexibility: Closing dates are not written in stone. Allow for contingencies and have a back-up plan. If you or the sellers need a little more time to conclude the final arrangements, don’t let these delays upset or frustrate you. These types of circumstances are not uncommon in a real estate transaction; however, with a great real estate professional and his/her teams, this will seldom occur.

9. If It’s Not In Writing, It Doesn’t Exist: All promises and discussions are to be in writing. Don’t make any assumptions or believe any assurances. Even the best intentions can be misinterpreted. Have your real estate professional keep an ongoing log (in writing) of all discussions, and get the seller’s written approval for all agreements.

10. Loyalty Breeds Loyalty: Be open, honest and up-front with your team. Hard feelings and disloyalty will cause headaches, delays or may even keep you from getting into the home you worked so hard to locate. Take the time to select the right real estate professional in the beginning and your home purchase will be a simple, easy and profitable experience you’ll have fond memories of…for years to come.

My hope with the above information has been to educate you and help you avoid the pitfalls many home buyers go through. I hope you find these ideas valuable and impress upon you that we at Envelope Real Estate take the buying and selling of real estate very seriously and have implemented many checks and balances to ensure your purchase is hassle free.

Your initial consultation is always completely free of charge and you’re under no obligation of any kind. We’ll sit down for 30 minutes or so…no high-pressure, just plain, honest talk about what it’s going to take to achieve to get you into your first home. Go ahead, pick up the phone and give us a call at 519-435-1600 or order one or all of the reports below.

They will help you with the process and hopefully prove to you that together, your first purchase is safe and in the process I have saved you money!

"The Raving Envelope Real Estate Buyer Plan" got it's name from the level of care and integrity we bring to real estate in London.

		40 Very Important Things You Should Know Before You Buy Real Estate f you’re in the market to buy a home anytime soon, and you want to find the perfect home at the best possible price, terms, and financing, there are THREE things you need to do up front: First, understand and get control of your personal emotions about the purchase of your home Second, get the most valuable, important information available so you make a prudent and educated decision. And third, become informed about the very best financial resources and products to fit YOUR needs…NOW, not later. After all, buying your home is very different from any other financial transaction. It isn’t just a “home,” it’s a transaction that affects your monthly overhead expenses…your ultimate net worth…your retirement…your kids education…and much more. So it’s no surprise that buying your home may involve a bit of fear, anxiety, frustration…or even excitement for that next move in your life. The secret is…try not to let these emotions get in the way of a prudent purchase. The tips and information in this report will help you have a better understanding of most, if not all, aspects involved with the purchase of your next home.
		Secrets For Saving Thousands When Buying & Financing a Home It’s no surprise that borrowing $100,000…$200,000 or more is a lot of money. And how to FIND the right home…how much to PAY for the home…how much to BORROW…and on what FINANCIAL TERMS can literally mean tens of thousands of dollars MORE or LESS in your pocket! If you’re like most people, the decision to buy a home involves a number of stresses and strains. For about 80% of buyers, it’s the single largest financial transaction of their lives. Mistakes in any part of the buying process can cost you thousands. That’s why we wrote this special report…to give you a number of helpful, straightforward tips for finding a home that meets your needs, AND becomes a wise financial investment for you. Here are eight strategies (we call them “secrets” because so many home buyers disregard them when buying) you should consider when buying your next home…
		Questions You Should Ask a REALTOR Your decision to buy a home clearly involves more than looking at two or three homes, making an offer, and moving in. Hiring the wrong representative can mean the difference between making and losing money, selling or buying quickly…or taking a long time, a trouble-free transaction, or a living nightmare. Unless you have experience interviewing people (and real estate representatives in particular), you won’t always know what questions to ask. Further, you won’t always know what answer will best suit your needs for buying or selling. So here’s a list of 12 important and insightful questions you should ask ANY Real estate representative BEFORE you sign anything.
		2010 London Ontario Condo Guide In this guide you will find pictures of condos that are representative of the different condo styles you will find out there. The condos each have descriptions and a price range. The current prices range as follows: A= UNDER $100,000 B= $100,000 - $150,000 C= $150,000 - $200,000 D= $200,000 - $275,000 E&F= Over $275,000 This guide also includes a helpful link to a map outlining the city and city information and numbers.


Why is my contact information showing?
* First Name:	First name is required. Please do not use <, >, or HTML.
* Last Name:	Last name is required. Please do not use <, >, or HTML.
* Email:	Email is required. Invalid Format
* Phone:	Phone is required. Invalid Format

Comments:	Maximum 2000 characters for comments. Please do not use <, >, or HTML.
	* * Maximum of 2000 characters


Receive additional information via email. Unsubscribe at any time.

Stop Paying Rent Now

Do NOT Sign Another Rent Cheque Until You Consider This:

Buy and Own Your Own Home or Condo, Right Now:

You can stop flushing away rent money every month, stop making your landlord rich, and buy a home or a condo of your own right now, and I can help you every step of the way.

Imagine; a home of your own! A fenced yard for the kids. A

garage for your car. Enough room for your stuff. All on a quiet street. Privacy. Comfort.

Why Now?

I have lots of lenders sitting on too much money-imagine that! - and they are eager to make more home loans right now. Interest rates are low. The time just couldn’t be better to get financing for your new home.

What About Credit Problems?

Even if you do NOT have perfect credit, there are loans available for you. Even if you are self-employed, there are loans available to you. Whatever your current situation, there’s probably a home loan just right for you, and I’ll find it for you.

Won’t I Need A Big Down Payment?

You do not need a large chunk of money for a down payment either. If you’ve been held back by the idea that you have to save up $10,000, $20,000 or more to put down, to buy a good home, I’ll show you how to avoid that altogether.

Consider Charlie and Sue. They had rented for 24 years. They raised 4 children in rental apartments and homes. Just recently, I helped them find a beautiful home and buy that $147,000 home with $7,350.00 down. Charlie and Sue got out of their apartment with the nosy, noisy neighbours and no place to park their car, got into a really great home in a nice neighbourhood with 5% down.

Now Charlie has a TV room. And instead of paying rent each month and losing that money forever, that same payment is now an investment, creating security for them in the future. Oh and by the way, their mortgage payments and taxes are less than they were paying in rent! Can I do all that for you? Yes, I can.

Maybe the level of the government will even step in to help with the down payment, with low interest financing, home improvement grants and in other ways. Very few people know that the government is eager to help them buy their first home. I can help you get every benefit available for first-time home buyers from Mr. Harper too.

Every Month You Wait, You Flush Your Hard Earned Money Right Down The Drain.

Renting is wasting money. You make your landlord rich, but you do nothing for yourself. By putting those exact same dollars into a “house payment” instead of “rent”, you create “equity”….. value that you own, that later can send your kids to university, finance the start-up of your own business or pay for your retirement. Be your own landlord and build up future financial security. I’ll even show you easy strategies to speed up the pay-off of your home without making extra payments. And, as a homeowner, you get tax breaks that renters never get.

There’s no reason to wait. I can help you buy a home RIGHT NOW.

By the way, I was just visiting with Jack the other day; I helped them buy their first home 6 months ago. Jack and Carolyn had a bankruptcy three years ago and were worried they could not buy a home. I helped them purchase a nice 2 bedroom condo for $104,900 with only $6,000 down. Jack’s whole attitude has changed. He is no longer a renter who cannot buy because he has a bankruptcy. He is a homeowner and you can tell he’s proud of it. He’s already talking about renting out his condo and moving up to a bigger home in a few years.

I remember when Verna called me last year. She had lived in the same house for 40 years and after her husband passed away, she was urged by her family to move to an apartment “to save money”. After 16 months in an apartment, the cat and she were going stir crazy. She liked to tinker about and she didn’t like the noise and all the traffic. I helped her find a great one bedroom condo with a balcony, she has her own laundry and oodles of storage and get this, and her payments are less than what she was paying in rent!

Switching from renting to home ownership can help you go from being in debt or “cash poor” to becoming financially secure, too. You can use home ownership as the “foundation” of a complete change in your finances!

Being A Homeowner Makes You Feel Good

In addition to the smart financial and tax reason for buying your own home instead of renting, you will feel better about yourself and your life. You’ll provide a safer place for yourself, your spouse, your family. You can decorate your home just as you please. You’ll enjoy inviting people over to your home.

Will I have To Settle For A Home I Don’t Love?

My inventory of available houses and condos is huge. I can show you a great home in just about any price range. Also, you may be surprised at how much home you can afford, with my loans and financing strategies. We’ll talk about the kind of home you want, the kind of neighbourhood you want to live in, your finances, and then I will do all the hard work of finding the perfect home for you. A home you can afford, with a loan that’s right for you. A home you’ll be proud of. A home you can move into now.

Of course, everything you tell me is completely private and confidential. My job mandates this high level of integrity. I work for you. I’m your counselor and advisor.

Why Not Explore This Idea? What Do You Have To Lose?

I’m so confident that I can “match” you with right home , if I fail after 120 days, I’ll pay you $50.00 cash the day you “fire” me as your home finder!

If I’m So Certain I can Help You, Why Wouldn’t You Let Me Try?

There are 2 ways we can move ahead from here………

One, you can call me and we’ll discuss your situation and see wht we can do.

0r, send me an email with your full name and I will have one of our mortgage specialists get back to you.

You Never Pay A Cent Out Of Your Own Pocket For All The Work I Do For You

Or two, if you’re not ready to meet yet, at least let me send you my FREE “The Envelope Exclusive Homeowner Information Packet”. Reading this information may change your entire life.

To set up a meeting or ask for your FREE “The Envelope Exclusive Homeowner Information Packet”, call me at 519-435-1600 or send me an email at ty@enveloperealestate.com and I’ll get back to you quickly.

Sincerely

Ty Lacroix

Ty Lacroix Broker of Record

PS: I know there’s a tendency to set this aside….to “think it over”… but then it may get lost, and you forget about it. So I wanted to give you a little extra reason to pick up the phone and call me right now, while it’s still fresh in your mind. When we meet, I’ll give you a “FREE BUYER’S GUIDE” which has lots of important information about buying a home or a condo. There’s “no catch”. But I only have a limited supply. So you need to call me right now at 519-435-1600 to be sure of getting one.

PPS: Oh… I almost forgot a very important thing. I or one of our many lenders will also provide for you a FREE confidential credit report and FREE determination of your home loan qualifying range. Remember, everything is completely private, confidential and you are under no obligation what so ever. So give me a call at 519-435-1600 right now.

Hi Ty

I want to thank you for all your help in the purchase of my "Dream Beach House"......You made the buying process easy....all your patience as I went through it a few times was absolutely wonderful..

Showing me other places so I knew what else was out there and could be sure "this was the one" before my final decision was great......

Thank you for your suggestions and help in getting the final papers signed......being able to do the whole process in one day was certainly pretty stress free....not having to wait while it was taken back and forth over a few days made it very easy.

Once again, thank you so much for all your help...I will definitely call you again if the need arises to buy or sell and will pass your name on to anyone I know who may need someone...

It was certainly great working with you for these last few months.

Kind regards

Sue Grycaj

Our experience with Envelope Real-estate and Ty Lacroix, in particular,
was nothing less than comfortable and stress-free (well, as stress-free
as buying a home for the first time can get!). Ty, as an experienced
agent, was very informative and most importantly, intuitive! He was
able to give us as much information as we required, often answering our
questions before we asked, and was thoughtful and conscious of our
priorities.

Ty took the time to get to know my family and made sure that the
properties we viewed reflected our interests. The extra time that he
took to get know us, attributed to the efficient way in which we were
able to find a home together. Ty is not one to sugar coat anything! He
is very forthcoming and had proved that he was on our side throughout
the entire process by telling us exactly how it is. The key point is
that Ty was willing and able to work with us. He was always patient,
resourceful and honest.

Ty had great referrals for a home inspector and a lawyer. His referrals
were particularly helpful, and it was comforting to know that Ty had
worked with these individuals time and time again. The research and
preparation in buying a home can be really overwhelming, and having
someone to guide us, saved us a tremendous amount of time, and left us
with less to worry about.

When it was time to close the deal, Ty was firm and productive. We were
able to reach an agreement with the other party (in our favour) in a
timely manner. His genuine interest in making us happy allowed us to be
comfortable and trusting in his talent and experience.

Envelope Real-estate, from our experience, is very client orientated.
My family and I will not hesitate to say that we have had an amazing
experience with Envelope Real-estate and Ty Lacroix! Ty's hard work has
resulted in my family and I finding the perfect home!!

Thank you, Ty and Envelope Real-Estate!

Mojdeh Rahbari

" Ty assisted me in purchasing a property that I use for both my home and my business. His efforts have paid off in more than just the property, the advice he gave has served to assist not only my personal life but my business as well. When I purchased my house there were 8 other bidders on the property, but due to Ty's quick thinking and hard work, we were able to secure the property even though I had gone in with the lowest bid! Since that time my property has seen a 40% rise in property value! Not only did Ty work for my interests and ensured that I got the very besyt in value, he also ensured that the future of the property was secure, and would result in a location that would provide a tremendous dividend if I decided to sell.
Ty is affable and works tirelessly for his clients, and as a result his clients are loyal, I would never use anyone else!"
Karl Fitzgerald-Sloman

Scared of Buying Real Estate in London Ontario?

'You're both kind of scared aren't you"? Last week a couple came to my office from a referral( their neighbour) and wanted to sell their existing home in London and move up to a larger home.

We spent 45 minutes discussing their criteria, budget and motivation, yet, I could see they had hundreds of thoughts, be it fear or apprehension about the process they will be entering.

I understand that the fear of the unknown can be an obstacle so I left them with a package of the Envelope Home Buyer/Seller Information Kit I provide to all my clients.

Below are a few tidbits:

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Great information for home buyers, home sellers, insurance, qualifying, fix ups around the house, money saving ideas, loan and equity ratios and much more.

City of London : Maps,parks,schools,churches,city hall departments, building codes and regulations and much more, a great site.

Those 2 websites alone will help you make some great choices and with the other material I supply you with, you can rest assure that your real estate experience in London will be enjoyable and profitable.

Renting Versus Buying a Home

I was speaking with a home buyer last week and she was advised by her financial planner that she would be better off renting versus buying.

We discussed the many pros and cons but what eventually swayed her decision to purchase was freedom and individualism.

When you rent, you are normally limited on what you can do to improve your home. You have to get permission to make certain types of improvements. Nor does it make sense to spend thousands of dollars painting, putting in carpet, tile or window coverings when the main person who benefits is the landlord and not you.

When you own a home, however, you can do pretty much whatever you want. You get the benefits of any improvements you make, plus you get to live in an environment you have created, not some landlord.

If you are moving to a home for the first or the 6th time, having someone on your side will help make things go smoother and save you money as well.

Is a Home a Good Investment?

IS A HOME A GOOD INVESTMENT? As a fairly general rule, homes appreciate about four or five percent a year. Some years will be more, some less. The figure will vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, and region to region.

Five percent may not seem like much at first. Stocks (at times) appreciate much more, and you could easily earn over the same return with a very safe investment in treasury bills or bonds.

But, take a second look …

Presumably, if you bought a $200,000 house, you did not pay cash for the home. You got a mortgage and lets say you put as much as 20% down, that would be an investment of $40,000.

At an appreciation rate of 5% annually, a $200,000 home would increase in value $10,000 during the first year. That means you earned $10,000 with an investment of $40,000. Your annual “ return on investment” would be a whopping 25%!

Of course you are making mortgage payments and paying property taxes, along with a few other costs. Your rate of return when buying a home is much higher than most any other investment you can make.

If you would like to know more about other home buying ideas or tips, let me know and I will gladly see that you are informed and knowledgeable before you purchase.

Ty Lacroix Broker of Record & Owner 519-435-1600 Email Ty

Thinking About Buying Your First Home? Why Rent?

Stop Paying Rent Now

Scared of Buying Real Estate in London Ontario?

Renting Versus Buying a Home

Is a Home a Good Investment?