Buying A Home In Canada 2025 | First Time Homebuyer Tips

Buying your first home can be an

exciting time and it can also be a

terrifying time. And in this video, I'm

going to give you the full Canadian

first-time home buyer guide, at least

what I can put into a short 10 to

15minute video. And by the time that

we're done, you'll have the full 10step

process from start to finish of what it

takes to buy a home in Canada. But

before we get into it, my name is Nol

Matias, and if you want to thrive

financially, this is the place for you.

So, do me a favor. Hit the subscribe

button and hit the like button so more

people like you can see this video. Oh,

and by the way, if you're watching this

video, it's probably because you're

thinking about getting into the housing

market. So, make sure you watch to the

very end of this video because I am

reintroducing my home buyer master

class, which has helped hundreds of

Canadians buy a home and save tens of

thousands of dollars while doing it. And

I'll tell you all about how you can get

your spot at the end of this video. So,

let's get into it. Let's discuss the

Canadian home buying process or more

specifically the Canadian first-time

home buying process. And as simple as

this may seem, there's really only 10

steps. You do them in order. And in most

cases, you will have a professional or a

series of professionals helping you

throughout the process. But the one

caveat to this, the one thing I want to

make sure that everybody understands is

that your experience will completely be

dictated by the quality of the

professionals you choose. So, when it

comes to choosing a realtor, when it

comes to choosing a mortgage broker,

when it comes to choosing a home

inspector and a lawyer, make sure you do

everything you can to pick the absolute

best people because those are the people

that will make sure that you don't run

into any roadblocks, step on any

landmines, and in general will just make

it a significantly more enjoyable

experience. So, with that in mind, let's

get into the 10 steps to buy a home in

Canada. Now the first is probably the

one that you're going through right now

because you are watching this video and

that is research and preparation. So the

first thing you need to do is understand

your personal finances including your

credit score and your debt to income

ratio. By the way, if you want to

understand those things, there are other

videos on this channel where I go into

it in depth. But in general, what you

need to understand is that your credit

score needs to be over 680 and your debt

to income ratio shouldn't be more than

about 40%. So, in other words, 40% of

your pre-tax income goes towards your

housing costs. That includes energy,

heat, and everything else, as well as

any other debt obligations that you

have. Oh, and by the way, one thing to

note on credit scores is if you pull up

your credit score on one of the consumer

bureaus, you'll probably see a lower

credit score than what your mortgage

broker or your bank will use in order to

get you approved for the mortgage. So,

if you're close to 680, just rest

assured that you're probably going to be

okay. If your credit score is 4 or 500,

well then you've probably got some work

to do. Go and make sure you check out

one of the other videos on this channel.

Now, the next thing you want to do is

determine your budget and how much a

house is affordable for you. Now, I

typically recommend if you can get away

with it not to exceed 25% of your

household income with respect to your

housing costs. Now, a bank will qualify

you typically for up to 38 or 39%, but

that has a tendency to make you house

poor. So, the lower the amount of your

income that is going towards your

housing costs, the better. And I'm going

to suggest that you do everything you

can to make your housing cost as minimal

as possible. If that includes buying

maybe not the house that you dream of,

but the one that will just do, do that

because it will make your life

significantly less stressful. Then you

want to go out and research various

types of mortgages. Obviously, you can

check that out on this channel as well.

But for the most part, what you're going

to have is fixed and variable rate

mortgages are the two types of

mortgages. And then the pricing on

mortgages is typically done in one of

three ways. You either have discount

mortgages, full feature mortgages, or

bank mortgages. The discount mortgages

always have certain features stripped

away from them. The big bank mortgages,

at least as far as fixed rates go,

almost always have higher penalties. And

the full feature mortgages, the ones

from lenders that you may not recognize

the name of, but that actually have to

have a better product in order to

survive, are typically the best ones and

the ones that most consumers end up

choosing. And then last but not least,

you're going to want to go and learn

about the different types of properties.

By the way, the resource I talk about at

the end, the home buyer master class,

goes through all of this stuff in

detail. But the different types of

properties that you could potentially

look at are town houses or rowousing,

condos, which are basically apartments

that you own, and single family homes,

which are detached. Obviously, condos

tend to be the cheapest. Town houses

tend to be a little bit more expensive,

and single family homes are the most

expensive option of the three. Now,

that's just a general rule. You can have

very expensive condos and town houses as

well, but entry-level properties are

typically the condos and the town

houses. Now, the next step in your home

buying process is going to be to find a

mortgage broker. People often go to a

realtor first, but the reality is you

need to know what you can get approved

for and what type of mortgage you can

get before you actually go out and

search for a house. So, talking to your

mortgage broker first and talking to

them as far in advance as possible is

usually the best bet. So, if you think

you're 18 months to 3 years out from

buying a home, still go and have a

conversation with a mortgage broker,

start looking for a mortgage broker

because one, you'll get a feel for how

they operate. And two, if there's

anything showing up on like your credit

score, they will be able to give you

direction on what you need to improve in

order to get the mortgage that you want.

Now, there's a couple things you want to

make sure that your mortgage broker

does, and that is first and foremost has

a fiduciary duty to you. You need them

to be committed to doing only what is in

your best interest. And by the way, this

is done in a legal document. Then you

want to make sure that you have a

recommendation or some other sort of

social proof when it comes to the

mortgage broker that you're choosing. So

in other words, you want to know that

they're good at what they do. A

recommendation is obviously the best way

or for companies like ours, Mortgage

360, we have what's called a BC Corp

certification, which is a certification

around transparency and honesty and

social and environmental impact. So,

we've got a certification that says that

we actually do what we say that we do,

which by the way has put our clients

ahead of all else. And then last but not

least, you want a mortgage broker who is

going to ask you more questions than you

ask them. They shouldn't be firing

information at you. What they should be

doing is learning about you, learning

about your situation so that they can

make meaningful recommendations. Oh, and

notice we haven't talked about finding a

banker here. The reason why is quite

simple. If you're going to your bank to

get a mortgage and you don't understand

that they have a fiduciary duty to the

bank, so in other words, they have to do

what's in the bank's interest and their

job is to extract as much profit from

you as possible. Well, then you've been

living under a rock. So, I'm here to

tell you that the best place to get your

mortgage is not and has not been for the

last 20 years a bank directly. There are

far better products out there than what

a bank can offer you. And if you have a

good mortgage broker, they'll show you

exactly the difference between the

products they offer and the products

that you would get from a bank that

could end up costing you tens of

thousands of dollars more over the long

run. Now, once you've found your

mortgage broker that you are comfortable

with, then you want to go about getting

preapproved. Now, this is going to

include, if the mortgage broker is good

at what they do, gathering necessary

financial documents. So, proof of

employment, proof of down payment. Yes,

even if you're two or three years out

from getting your actual mortgage,

you're going to want to go through the

exercise of collecting this

documentation so that the preapproval

that you get is a real one. It's one

that's based on real data. It's been

verified and it is very likely to get

approved when you actually go to buy a

home. Then what you want to do is work

with your mortgage broker to apply for

different pre-approvals, making sure

that you get rate holes in place so that

you know what your worst case scenario

will be when you go to actually get the

mortgage. And most importantly at this

point in the process, you want to

discuss with them what to expect with

respect to rates and with respect to the

process. What comes next? What are all

the things that are going to happen? And

most importantly, what is actually going

to happen with rates? Because quite

often, the pre-approval rate ends up

actually being higher than the real rate

that you get, especially if rates

haven't gone up since you got

preapproved. And the reason for this is

because a good mortgage broker will be

able to get you a rate hold with one

lender and then we'll be able to switch

you to a different lender if there is a

lower rate available than the rate hold

that you already have in place. Now,

once you've gotten your pre-approval,

then it's time to go out and find your

real estate agent. Now, there's a couple

things here. First is if you have a

great mortgage broker, one that you

trust, just get the recommendation on

what realtor to use. They will often

have a really good working relationship

with several good real estate agents.

they'll know who knows their stuff and

who doesn't. And quite often they'll be

able to match make you to the perfect

person. If you don't have that option,

then go out and research and interview

potential agents. Again, key here is

they should be asking you more questions

than you're asking them. They should be

learning about you, what your needs are,

and what kind of home that you want to

buy. And most importantly here, you want

to choose an agent who understands your

needs and your preferences. You want to

make sure that they are going to do

what's right for you and that they're

going to be looking for the homes that

actually meet your needs. And last but

not least, you're going to sign a

buyer's representation agreement with

them. You aren't going to go out and

look at different houses with different

agents. You want one agent who's going

to do the work and make sure that you're

taken care of. Anytime somebody goes out

and talks to multiple agents after

they've started their home search, it

inevitably creates confusion. and

confusion causes pain in the home buying

process. So, don't do that. Sign up with

an agent, one that you know you can

trust, and follow through in the process

with them so that you know you're

getting exactly what you need and the

information that you need in order to

make the right decision. Then, once

you've got that real estate agent, the

fun part begins. You start your home

search. Now, if your realtor was good,

they are going to ask you a whole bunch

of questions that will create the

criteria for the property they are going

to look for for you. And at this point,

it's okay to start attending open houses

and schedule viewings with your realtor.

But keep in mind when you go into those

open houses, you want to be upfront with

the real estate agents that are holding

them and tell them you're already

committed to working with somebody and

you're just there to look. But don't be

afraid to go and look because looking

around and seeing different things will

start to give you an idea of the things

that are really important to you and the

things that you like. And then from

there, you want to start narrowing down

your options and revisiting your top

choices. Typically, what you want to do

is you want to rate every house that you

go through on a scale of 1 to 10.

Anything from a 1 to a 6 is a no. A

seven is a property that you're probably

neutral to. So, just throw those ones

out as well. And then any properties

that you rate 8 to 10 are ones that you

want to go back and take another look

at. Oh, and don't be surprised if you're

buying a house with a partner if they

have different ratings than you. So,

it's going to be important that you find

a house that is an 8, 9, or 10 for both

of you. And dudes out there, I'm going

to give you a little bit of advice. If

she thinks a property is a 10 and you

think it's an eight, that's probably a

winner. Now, once you found that perfect

home, you're going to go out and make an

offer. So, you're going to work with

your agent to determine what a

competitive offer price is. They will

know the market. They will know how much

you can negotiate off a price. And by

the way, this is where a great agent

separates themselves from a good agent

because a great agent will have the

negotiation skills that you need in

order to get you a better deal. They'll

know just how far they can push the

boundaries without insulting the seller

so that you can get that negotiated

price brought down substantially. And

then you're going to go ahead and draft

and submit the offer to the seller. This

is where your realtor is going to walk

you through all the paperwork, all the

documentation. And keep in mind that if

you submit it and the seller accepts it,

you've now bought a home. And in your

offer, there's going to be certain

things that you negotiate. So, you're

going to negotiate terms, conditions,

and things like the financing condition

date, the closing date, and any sort of

contingencies. Now, that's a fancy way

of saying that if there's something in

the home that you want, say you want a

couch or a bookcase or a hot tub

included in the offer, or you want it

conditional to a home inspection or

something like that, those are the

things that your realtor is going to

assist you in putting into the offer.

And again, great realtor versus good

realtor will get you the things you need

to be able to buy the house with

confidence. Then once you've got the

offer written, you're going to go

through and get a home inspection. So,

this is where your realtor is going to

come in handy because they're probably

going to have a great recommendation for

a home inspector. In the same way that

your mortgage broker recommended your

realtor, your realtor can recommend a

home inspector that will give you the

information you need to make sure that

you're making a good decision. And once

they've inspected the home, if there's

anything that needs to be repaired or

any red flags, they will tell you. If

there's a red flag there that indicates

that you probably shouldn't be buying a

home, don't take that as a negative.

Take that as a sign that that home

wasn't meant to be and go find another

one. But if there's things that just

need to be repaired, you can negotiate

with a seller to repair those things.

And last, but not least, you may need an

appraisal, but this is something that

will be ordered by the bank. You may not

need it. And if you do, the bank or your

mortgage broker will typically order it

on your behalf. So, don't worry too much

about this piece, but know that you need

to get your mortgage approval process in

place because you may need that

appraisal and you may need some lead

time in order to get it ordered. While

the whole home inspection thing is going

on, you also want to be finalizing your

financing. Start this immediately after

you write the offer and it is accepted.

get it to your mortgage broker along

with all the information and all the

documents that they need as well as any

additional documents that are requested.

Time is of the essence here. You don't

want your mortgage broker coming and

asking you for documents and then take 3

or 5 days to get them because that will

delay the process. Get everything as

fast as you can and your life will be

way less stressful. From there, your

mortgage broker will start talking to

you about different lenders, different

types of mortgages and this is the point

where you will choose a mortgage. The

key thing here is listen to the

recommendations that your mortgage

broker makes and make sure that the

mortgage that you're choosing is one

that you are comfortable with. And then

once the mortgage broker has submitted

the mortgage to the lender and it's been

approved, you're going to get what's

called a commitment letter back. And at

this point, you're going to review and

sign that document. That document will

tell the lender that you're accepting

the terms and will give them the

go-ahhead to instruct the lawyer to

start drafting your actual mortgage

documents. Now, at this point, you're

getting to the closing process. This is

where you choose a lawyer. Again, a

recommendation from your realtor or your

mortgage broker comes in handy from

here. You're going to set up an

appointment. Then you're going to go in

and sign the closing documents. These

are going to be the transfer of the

title and any mortgage documents that

are relevant. Once that's all done,

you'll probably go and do a final

walkthrough of the property. Make sure

everything is as you previously viewed

it. And then once your lawyer has sent

the money required to close to the

seller's lawyer, that is when the

lawyers will give your realtor a call

and say, "Hey, keys are releasable and

you now own a home. Congratulations."

But there's a couple more things that

you need to do. You need to immediately

set up your utilities and change your

address. And you need to plan your

moving day. Hire a moving company if

necessary or buy enough pizza to feed 10

to 15 of your friends so that you can

get the house move done quickly. And

once you're all moved in, boxes are

unpacked, pop that bottle of champagne

and celebrate your new home. And that's

it. That's the home buying process in a

nutshell from start to finish. Oh, and

if you want more detail on the home

buying process, make sure you check out

this video right here.