First the simple process of buying real estate goes as follows:

1. Select the neighbourhood(s) you are considering to buy a house. Knowing where you want to live simply keeps things simple. If you are not certain and cannot make up your mind, ask yourself some basic questions.
   1. How far do I/we want to travel to work? Do I want to travel by foot, city public transit, regional public transit, car, car pool or by airplane?
   2. Do I/we want to be near family, or maybe far away from family?
   3. We are planning to have children, should we stay near family and friends during those birth and child rearing years?
   4. My career has me moving quite a bit, should I buy or rent, or buy something somewhere for the long term and rent when moved around?
   5. Which neighbourhoods have the housing types I like? Does this matter?
   6. What in the house matters most? Mature trees, large kitchen, many bedrooms, walk out basement, home business space or any of many other things that will count to you.
   7. What area amenities matter most? Are we sacrificing family time by living further from work and therefore much more daily travel time, and only the weekends for one another? Do you/we want walking distance to shops and entertainment? Do you/we want to be near specific grade schools or universities?
2. Consider the housing type and style. Buying the right house is often a process of trial and error. Your second house will have a list of important features that you created from your experience between your first house and your lifestyle. As your family grows and shrinks things change. Sometimes it is a simple as an Internet connection in that one room, and this time wireless is not a choice.
3. What happens often later should actually occur early and that is taking pen to paper and figuring what you can afford and when you can afford it. You can go online and figure things out – a good place to start, but there is no substitute for visiting a banker and a mortgage broker to discuss your situation and plans. Visit a few qualified people; it is after your money and your dreams.
4. Another person you should be contacting early is a qualified Realtor – especially with all the changes that have occurred and are occurring in the marketplace. Between municipalities and the province, much is changing. From green belts to green concerns, from higher targets for population density to newly announced roadways that never appear, a lot of things matter. Also as technology evolves there are helpful services that a Realtor can offer much earlier that only some years ago she could not have offered.
5. Viewing homes for sale
   1. With all this preparation done casually or in earnest, the “official” process now gets underway with viewing homes for sale.
   2. Secure a mortgage commitment from a lender. Consider a fixed mortgage or a variable mortgage.
   3. Go online to mls.ca regularly to see what the marketplace is offering and at what price for the housing type and style you desire in the neighbourhood(s) you have selected.
   4. Select a Realtor you are comfortable with, and who it is evident is qualified and competent to protect and promote your interests.
   5. Have your Realtor supply you regularly with selected market updates and market activity emails sent to directly to your email account.
   6. Always remember that just because a home is on the market for sale, does not mean the home will ever sell in its present offering. Between price and terms or the lack of co-operation of somebody involved, this home, this dream home is really a nightmare waiting for somebody. Therefore review with your Realtor the likelihood of an Offer of Purchase and Salebeing successfully concluded to both buyer and sellers satisfaction. You also know that not everything on eBay is saleable, homes are no different.
   7. Check the homes you have targetted at the curb with a drive by. This will be sufficient in enough cases to determine if you still have an interest in the property.
   8. Arrange with your Realtor to view the homes that still interest you.
   9. Always try to make a decision following a viewing as to whether you’d buy that home.
6. Negotiating
   1. Once you have decided which home you see yourself living in, work with your Realtor to put together an offer.
   2. Then you and your Realtor will negotiate to protect and promote your interests in securing a binding Offer of Purchase and Sale for the real property you have chosen.
   3. Once the Offer is accepted, you then will deal with the conditions that are likely in the Offer. This is the time to ensure the property is what it is represented to be, the financing will be forthcoming for this transaction and any and all other issues are either satisfied.
7. Escrow
   1. The period between the final acceptance of the Agreement and the actual closing can be anywhere between the next business day and many months. Often time the familiar range is 60 to 120 days. Events such as building the full deposit, end of the school year, job transfers all contribute to how many days are required for this time frame, known as escrow. Escrow is a busy time put simply.
   2. Now you need ensure the deposit and closing costs and financing are all lined up for the closing day.
   3. You have to deal with the move that comes with moving into the house. Even if it is an investment property, moving is still a variable. There is the change of address and all that goes with that from utilities to family and friends and change of home office information.
   4. Property insurance has to be secured and in place before the mortgage funds will be released. You are likely to use title insurance, but there is no substitute for a proper title search. Having both is an investment wisely made.
8. Closing
   1. In Ontario you generally will sign all the documents at a lawyer’s office a few days or earlier before the appointed date of closing.
   2. The date set out in the Agreement for closing is a target date. Sometimes the closing will not occur on this date; the lawyers will take care of this matter should an adjustment need occur.
   3. In the Toronto Real Estate Board Agreement, the property must be vacated by 6:00 pm on the day of closing. Arrange with your moving company or truck rental accordingly. Your plans may have you in the house at 6:01 PM or some months later.
9. Moving In
   1. After closing there may still be some issues, whether it be new home issues, conditions of the Agreement not met, or something unexpected.
10. Monthly Expenses
    1. And if you are a first time buyer you now have all the monthly expenses associated with homeownership as does any homeowner. Even if a first time buyer paid cash for that first home, it still takes between a year and maybe three years to get use to the rhythm of this monthly or weekly ritual. Enjoy it!
11. Home Depot and Rona
    1. These stores exist for a reason. And you now are the reason. Whether it is a cosmetic facelift or structure changes and repairs, you or someone you hire will be visiting the hardware store over the coming years. If you got a specific passion, go satisfy it, otherwise make changes to the home with an eye to resale value. Your principal residence is after all one of the best investments you have going and there is no tax on your home equity and value appreciation in Canada . Not bad, eh!