The Initial Costs of Home Ownership

Listed below is a basic overview of some of the costs that may or may not come up in your particular situation when you purchase a home here in Saskatchewan. These costs are approximations only and are subject to change. They serve to help you plan as a homeowner or potential homeowner. When you do decide to buy a home, you'll discuss your personal situation with your Century 21 Realtor and go over the exact costs.

A down payment is the lump sum of money that your lender expects you to put into your purchase at the start. Typically, between 5% and 20% of the purchase price. Traditionally, the rule was always 20%. This amount has changed over the years, since homes and the cost of living have drastically gone up in price. A majority of folks…

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Home Buying Considerations

Buying a home this year? Unsure of where to start or even what to be thinking about? No worries! Prevent unneeded stress during your purchase with knowledge on your side. Here are the 4 main considerations for you to ponder over when buying a home:

1) Determine your budget.

Your primary cost is a mortgage. This means that you are going to have to determine the maximum price you can afford. Also, when calculating this number, don't forget that there are smaller costs! For example, property insurance, taxes, electricity, water bills, and other fees that can come up. The sum of all these costs will be your budget. A budget will be invaluable to you when you look for a home - it keeps you grounded. Knowing what you can afford and wanting…

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7 Things to Notice at an Open House

Open houses may be staged to look like a home decor dream, but don't let that distract you from the real reason you're there; to potentially buy the home! Make sure you can see past that neatly arranged furniture to focus on whether or not that the house will be a good fit for your needs. To help out, here's our home buyer checklist of 7 things to take note of during an open house:

1. Windows

Check the windows to see if they face the right direction to let sunlight in and have a good view. Another thing to note with windows is their age. Older windows have a tendency to be drafty (from use over the years). If there's enough of an air leak, it could negatively impact your home's heating bill in winter and cooling bill in summer. 

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Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

It doesn't matter if you're buying a home or selling a home; you will always have at least question during the process...even if you've been through it a couple of times. The fact is, each sale is unique. Every sale follows the same outline, but with so many changing factors (different buyers, different sellers, different negotiating skills, different property values, different market fluctuations, etc) each sale is different in its own way. Realtors have lots of experience navigating through all of these differences to get to the end result efficiently. So when you have a question, who better to ask? We've put together a list of questions that we hear more frequently. If you're new to this all or going through the experience again, you can reference…

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