Building a Foundation

STEP 1: Find a Real Estate Agent

• Interview a few agents and see if their personality matches your needs/wants. You want to “click”.
• Qualifications your agent should have:
  • Local market knowledge
  • Good reviews or testimonials
  • Financial knowledge – they can walk you through the numbers
  • Works full time in the industry
  • Great time management and communication skills (ie. did they show up on time & prepared? Do they communicate with you in a way that you understand and feel comfortable with?)
  • Network connections (Effective real estate agents rely on their relationships. Do they work with other agents regularly?)
  • They should ask about your housing goals and future vision

STEP 2: Know your Financials

• Maintain great credit
• Check with your lender before paying off any debt. They can guide you in making sure what you pay off is giving you the biggest bang for your buck.
• Your lender will be pulling your credit in the future as a part of the pre-approval process so don’t worry about that just yet
• Compile and save any important financial documents, including:
  • 2 months worth of pay stubs & bank statements
  • 2 years of tax returns & W-2’s or T4’s

STEP 3: Find a Lender

• Compare different lenders to understand the benefits and advantages of working with each. (Something as simple as a lower rate or term can save you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.)
• Make sure to tell EACH LENDER not to pull your credit until you’re fully committed to working with one
• If your credit isn’t where you want it to be, work on creating a plan with your chosen lender
• Your agent should be able to help you find someone trustworthy that they have worked with before.