Buy with two agents on your side

You do not need one to talk to us, but you want one before you write an offer. A preapproval tells you the real ceiling instead of the one you hope for, and in a competitive situation it is the difference between an offer a seller takes seriously and one they do not.

The same as hiring one agent. Buyer side commission around here is effectively the going rate and it comes out of the seller's proceeds whoever you hire, so this is not a number anybody is going to beat for you. What changes between one brokerage and the next is what that money actually buys, which for us is two full time agents rather than one. Ontario requires the agreement between us in writing before we show you homes, so you see the number before anything happens, and if a particular listing offers less than we agreed you hear it from us before you write the offer, not at the closing table.

Closing costs are the part that catches people out. Land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance, the home inspection, adjustments for whatever the seller has prepaid, and the move itself. The total varies a lot with price and situation, so rather than quote you a number that turns out wrong, we go through your actual figures early, while there is still time for it to change what you shop for.

Yes, and more of it than most people realise. Ontario refunds part of the land transfer tax for first time buyers, there are registered accounts built specifically for saving a down payment, and minimum down payment rules work in tiers rather than one flat number. Which of these you qualify for depends on your situation, and it is the conversation Paul has most often. First homes are our favourite deals to do, and no question about them is too small.

It swings with the season, the price band and the street, which is exactly why we will not give you a headline number that flatters us. What matters is that when the right one appears you can see it quickly, and that is a large part of why there are two of us. A weekday evening showing does not have to wait for one person's calendar to clear.

This is the situation two agents were made for. The hard part is never the selling or the buying on its own, it is making the two dates meet without carrying two mortgages or ending up with nowhere to go. One of us runs your sale while the other works the purchase, both of us are in the same conversation about timing, and it is still one commission. Start with what your current home is worth, because that number sets everything else.

No. A first conversation costs nothing and signs you up for nothing. Plenty of people call us, ask what they wanted to ask, and then buy nothing for a year or more. We would rather be the people you already know when you are ready than the people who chased you when you were not. Ryan picks up his own phone, so you get a person rather than a queue.