Obsessed with real estate? Check out Zoocasa's new website

Do you hate to miss an open house? Constantly talk to your neighbours about how much the house down the block sold for? Do you enjoy browsing the home section of the paper and can’t stop yourself from surfing to see what’s for sale in your neighborhood?

If you said yes to one or more of these questions then you may just be addicted to real estate. But that’s okay, because we are too and we’ve just launched a brand new website for people like us. If you’re obsessed with real estate, you need the new Zoocasa.com.

Starting today, Zoocasa now has the complete set of all homes for sale on MLS in the GTA and you can even sign up to get sold information.

And we’ve gone further by adding a new agent search feature that will make hiring a professional agent easy. You can now search, compare and connect with experienced real estate agents who have been hand picked by Zoocasa and are the best of the best from top brands and brokerages like Century21, RE/MAX, Royal LePage, Harvey Kalles, Coldwell Banker and more.

And what’s even better? When you find an agent with us and successfully buy or sell your home, we will give you a rebate worth thousands in cash and gift cards from national retailers like Best Buy, Future Shop, Home Depot, Sears, Canadian Tire and Rogers

So what does that look like? If you sell or buy a home for $550,000, you can expect a rebate of more than $2,000. You can learn more about our program by giving our rebate calculator a try on our website.

See, we told you we’ve built a destination for people like us.

We’re excited to launch these new services starting today in the Greater Toronto Area, with plans to roll it out across Canada in the near future.

We'll have more news in the coming weeks and will keep you posted here on our blog, on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. We invite you to check out our new website.

From the whole team at Zoocasa, thank you for choosing us to help you find your next home.

Carolyn Beatty,

President

Zoocasa

If the bank cancels my mortgage commitment because I lost my job 1 month before closing, can I cancel the purchase and get my down payment back?

Zoocasa Ask Pros Question of the Week: 

"If the bank cancels my mortgage commitment because I lost my job 1 month before closing, can I cancel the purchase and get my downpayment back?"

Featured Answer:

Talk to your lawyer, he can advise you on the status of your "contact" with the bank and your obligations therein. A lawyer is the only person who can give you confidential advice and is the only expert on contract law in your real estate team - banker, broker, real estate agent are not experts and cannot offer confidential advice etc. The best course of action is to talk to the lawyer 1st!

 See original post and more Real PRO answers to this question.

First timers: Wary and web savvy

It's a given that younger generations are very much web savvy. Doing everyday tasks like ordering coffee, paying bills, restaurant reservations and getting directions is second nature to them. But how does this factor in when purchasing a home? Knowledge is power. An article by Adam Mayers, personal finance editor outlines just how much younger generations and first time homebuyers look to the Internet for research. 

One very major point that Mayers makes is that young first timers are taking on the most risk: they don't usually have the most to put down in terms of down payment, usually get shafted with the highest ratio mortgages and are more sensitive to mortgage rate increases. As such, these younger first time home hunters naturally go online for research to look for the best value. 

The numbers don't lie: Wary and web savvy

A study by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. shows the following interesting facts: first time buyers look to their friends akin to how their parents look to professionals for advice and 20% use social media in their search with Facebook topping the list.

Generation gaps have different views about how helpful banks really are. Older generations think of banks as one stop shops that provide financial services in bundles but younger generations are not so trusting. The numbers don't lie for this fact: about 30% of younger first time home buyers are financing through brokers which is up 23% from two years ago. 

Do your numbers add up?

Attention first time home buyers! As much as you think you're prepared for the financial costs in purchasing a home, always budget a little more. Something always comes up, whether that be a closing cost, unforeseen legal costs or extra renovations. Check out this article on our site that outlines basic mortgage payments and other costs you should factor in when financing your home purchase. Excerpt below.

You know how much you have to spend, but not all of it can go towards the purchase price of your new home. Some of it will be used to over costs associated with buying and moving into a home.
Other upfront costs to consider:

• Deposit: up to 5% of the purchase price, made when you make an offer to purchase.

• Home Inspection Fee: generally $500.

• Prepaid Property Taxes and/or Utility Bills: to reimburse the vendor for prepaid costs such as property taxes, filling the oil tank, etc.

• Property Insurance: covers the cost of replacing your home and its contents. Property insurance must be paid in place on closing day.

• Survey or Certificate of Location Cost: $1,000 to $2,000 range.

• Legal Fees and Disbursements: must be paid upon closing. Minimum of $500.

• Land Registry Fees: a percentage of the property's purchase price. Check with your lawyer/notary to find out the current rates.

• Property Appraisal Fee: between $250 and $350.

• Moving Expenses.

• Furniture, etc.

Click here to read more.

$300,000 for you first time?

The Financial Post has recently published an article that outlines the results of a recent poll about first-time homebuyers. Conducted by the Bank of Montreal, the average Canadian first-time homebuyer is 29 and can put upwards up to $48,000 on a down payment on a $300,000 home. Regional variances do exist to the national average of $300,000. Vancouver is considered to be the most expensive city with first-timers forking out $539,000 with Calgary and Toronto following with $474,000 and $446,000 respectively.


No matter what age you are, saving the money for a house let alone a downpayment can be quite intimidating. Great financial planning will always pay off in the end and will not only help you get that first home but also manage the mortgage that goes along with it. Here at Zoocasa we pride ourselves on connecting first-time homebuyers with all the resources required for making their homebuying dreams a reality. Check out some of the resources below to get started:

Home Ownership Centre

A home is a huge financial commitment and one that will greatly impact the quality of your life. How do you prepare for such an event? Zoocasa's Home Ownership Centre provides the best advice - facts, articles and expert tips - to help you find and get your dream home.

Down Payment Requirements:http://www.zoocasa.com/en/before-you-buy/homeownership-down-payment-requirements 

Investment of a Lifetime:http://www.zoocasa.com/en/before-you-buy/homeownership-investment-of-a-lifetime 

Providing Valuable Ongoing Savings:
http://www.zoocasa.com/en/before-you-buy/homeownership-providing-savings

Mortgage Marketplace

Mortgage Marketplace is a calculator feature of Zoocasa that allows you to calculate and compare rate as well as connect with local specialists for expert mortgage advice. See below for a quick example of how you can manage your mortgage.

After a sale is made, is it possible to find out if a home was sold with conditions or not?

Zoocasa Ask Pros Question of the Week: 

"After a sale is made, is it possible to find out if a home was sold with conditions or not?"

Featured Answer:

There is not way to find out, as far as I know. The REALTOR(s) for both the buyer and seller would be obliged to maintain their client's confidentiality and would not disclose the details or nature of the agreement.

You can always try the direct approach and ask the buyer or seller directly; but they would have no obligation to tell you and it may come with other legal perils depending on the nature of the contact between the buyer and seller. You would probably want professional legal advice before trying this tactic. 

This would not change if you were another potential buyer. No seller is obligated to sell their home to a particular person or for the highest offer: accepting an agreement is always at the sellers discretion.

The best thing is to move on and keep looking! I believe everything happens for a reason; if your offer on one house isn't accepted it means it wasn't the right one anyway. This has been true for several clients of mine; when they finally do purchase the property they want they invariably say that they are glad their other offer wasn't accepted.

 See original post and more Real PRO answers to this question.