Buying a home is an important decision that you'll ever make. While selecting an ideal home and planning it could be interesting to you, there are important things to think about and do before you even meet with a real estate agent.

Budget Planning

• Allocate your income and expenses properly and check your affordability for new home
• Identify how much you can afford down payment. If you have shortfall in your savings for then you can use your RRSP under HBP - Home Buyer's Plan to make payment towards your down payment.
• Identify hidden cost and check will you be able to afford all of them.
• Talk to your financial planner and prepare your Financial Need Analysis

Analyzing the cost

On the top of your mortgage payments, there are other hidden costs associated when you buy a home. You should closely analyze each of them and check your pocket to make sure you can accommodate these expenses into your budget:

• Property taxes
• Land Transfer taxes
• Lawyer fees
• Notary fees for mortgage loan
• Home Inspection fees
• Utilities (water, waste, etc.)
• Hydro, gas, etc.
• Appraisal fees required by the lender
• Sales tax (for new homes)
• Moving expenses
• Real estate agent commission
• Basic Home maintenance costs
• Mortgage loan insurance premiums and home insurance
• Emergency fund for major renovations, repairs and unexpected expenses

Start your estate planning

Estate planning is the process of organizing and anticipating for the disposal of an estate during your life. A typical estate planning involves;

• Planning and settling final taxation issues,
• Creating a Will and
• Financial planning of your estate and improve your savings strategy.