Home / Buying
Buy the right house, at the right number.
Financing sorted before you look, a shortlist that respects the budget, and offers written to win without overpaying.
The most expensive mistakes happen before you ever see a house.
Buyers usually start by browsing listings. That is the fun part, and it is also the part that quietly locks in a bad outcome, because by the time you have fallen for a street you have already stopped doing arithmetic.
We do it in the other order. Financing first, then a real monthly number with taxes, utilities and closing costs in it, then a shortlist built around that number. By the time we walk into an open house you already know what you can do, which is what lets you move fast when the right one comes up.
One practical thing. Get the pre approval before you book a single showing. In a competitive London price band, a buyer who can close in thirty days beats a higher offer that needs sixty, and you cannot promise thirty without a lender behind you.
What buying with me looks like.
Financing before browsing
I will introduce you to two brokers and one bank, then leave you to it. You come back with a pre approval and a rate hold, and we build the search around the number they gave you rather than the number you hoped for.
A search you actually control
Matching homes land in your inbox the morning they hit the board, filtered the way you would filter them. You mark the ones worth seeing, I tell you which of those are worth the Saturday and why the others are not.
A candid read on every showing
Foundation, roof age, grading, what the neighbours are doing, what sold on that street in the last ninety days. If a house has a problem I will point at it rather than let the inspector find it for you a week later.
An offer built to win, not to overpay
We look at the last three comparable sales, the seller's likely motivation, and what conditions are actually protecting you. Sometimes that is a firm offer on day one. Sometimes it is a quiet call two weeks after the listing goes stale.
Conditions, closing, keys
Inspection, financing and title all get managed to their deadlines with reminders that come from me rather than from a lawyer's office at four thirty on a Friday. One point of contact through to possession day.
Run your own numbers first.
Every calculator on this site is free and nothing asks for your email before it gives you an answer. Start with what you qualify for, then work out what the month actually looks like.
- Mortgage payments on Canadian semi annual compounding
- Affordability using the GDS and TDS ratios lenders apply
- Ontario land transfer tax with the first time buyer refund
Questions buyers ask me most.
How much do I need for a down payment in Ontario?
Five percent on the first $500,000, ten percent on anything between $500,000 and $1.5 million, and twenty percent on any purchase above $1.5 million. On a $700,000 London home that is $45,000. Under twenty percent down you also pay a CMHC premium, which gets added to the mortgage rather than paid up front.
The mortgage calculator works all of this out for you.
What does it actually cost to close, on top of the price?
Budget one and a half to three percent of the purchase price. In London that covers Ontario land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance, the home inspection, the appraisal if your lender asks for one, and adjustments for prepaid property tax. There is no municipal land transfer tax here, which is a Toronto expense.
The closing cost calculator itemises every line.
What help is there for first time buyers?
The Ontario land transfer tax refund of up to $4,000, the First Home Savings Account, the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, and the federal first time home buyers' tax credit. Used together they are worth well over $10,000 to most London buyers, and the land transfer tax refund alone wipes out the tax on a purchase up to roughly $368,000.
Do I pay you anything as a buyer?
In almost every case the seller's brokerage pays the co operating commission out of the sale proceeds, so there is no separate invoice to you. If a listing offers no co operating commission, you will know that before we write anything, not after.
How fast do homes move in London right now?
It depends entirely on price band and neighbourhood. Entry level homes under $650,000 in Masonville and Hyde Park still see competition. Anything over $1.2 million sits considerably longer. I will give you the real days on market for your specific search rather than a city wide average that hides both.
Start the search properly.
Tell me the budget and the neighbourhoods. You will get matching homes each morning and a straight answer on every one.