Thinking of buying your first home? Congratulations! Buying property is a milestone event worth celebrating, but before you pop the champagne – there are several things first-time homebuyers need to know before signing on the dotted line. If you educate yourself on each of these items below, you’ll put yourself in a good position with your first ever home purchase.
1. Closing isn’t cheap
Unfortunately, there is more to consider when purchasing a home than just the listing price or your offer. The Bank of Montreal suggests that you’ll want to budget between 3% and 4% of the purchase price (assuming it’s not a brand new home) to cover closing costs. That means that on a home that costs $400,000, you’ll be looking at between $12,000 and $16,000 in closing costs alone. That’s no small sum of money, so you can see why you need to keep closing costs in mind when creating a budget for yourself.
These numbers are estimates, and it’s likely your closing costs won’t be any more than 4%. Ratehub suggests they’re more likely to fall between 1.5% and 4% of the purchase price, depending on where you live, the kind of home you’re buying, and whether it’s a new build.