No you don’t. You can buy a property without the guidance of a buyer's agent. Yes, we are biased, but there is no reason not to hire an expert Realtor to guide you through the largest purchase of your life. All four of us were born and raised in the Edmonton area and have years of experience helping families buy homes, condos, acreages and investment properties in Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Morinville, Beaumont, Leduc, Sturgeon, Strathcona and Parkland.

Yes. Before we even start discussing homes, neighbourhoods and amenities, we need to determine your budget. The first step to the buying process is to get a free pre-approval with one of our top mortgage specialists in Edmonton. Usually this can be done in under 20 minutes over the phone. We have outstanding specialists and mortgage brokers available at all major lenders and banks. Obtaining a free pre-approval before starting to shop for homes will help by:

1) Ensuring that you are shopping at a price point that is in line with what the bank will lend you.

2) Getting an interest rate hold for 90 days in the event that rates increase while you are shopping for a home.

3) Help us negotiate a better price for you by making your offer look stronger than other competing offers.

Our team requires all of our buyers to be pre-approved before shopping for homes.

Just like sellers have their own agent representation, you need a top buyers’ agent in your corner to fight for your best interests. Buyers in Alberta typically do not have to pay anything to their buyers' agent. The seller takes care of the fees for both agents.

Far too many buyers hire an agent without proper research just to find out that the agent that they selected lacks experience, work ethic, or both. A great way to find the best Realtor in Edmonton by searching for and reading Edmonton Realtor Reviews.

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Negotiating such a large purchase is complicated. It is just as much an art as it is a science. The good news is that this is not the buyer’s job. Successfully negotiating a purchase requires the service of an expert Realtor with hundreds of deals under their belt. Determining the proper price for a home requires extensive research and strong area expertise from your Realtor.

The final price of a home is dependent on many factors such as the home’s list price, condition, comparable sales and your Realtor’s experience. Negotiating down from list price can depend on how the seller has decided to price their home. Some sellers will intentionally underprice their home as a strategy to get multiple offers and have the price increase. Other sellers will overprice their home, which leaves more opportunity to negotiate a lower price for the buyer. In hot seller’s markets, many homes will sell at or above list price. In slower buyer’s markets, some sellers can drop their prices anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 depending on the situation. Additionally, negotiation is not all about price and can involve terms, conditions, dates and disclosures. Each property and situation is unique and should be discussed with your Realtor.

For most people, the answer is yes. Few families can qualify to carry more than one mortgage at a time. However, it is very important that you speak with one of our mortgage professionals in depth about this. In some cases, shopping for a new home while your current home is on the market can turn your buying experience into a disappointing disaster. All situations are unique so we suggest speaking to an experienced Realtor and devising an appropriate plan.

Yes! Showhome salespeople work for the builder - not you! Far too often we see new home buyers get taken advantage of on crazy prices and failed promises. We’ve helped hundreds of families buy brand new homes from builders and have always negotiated better terms, upgrades and pricing for our buyers!

When buying a home, the three most significant costs are:

1) Your down payment. Speak with one of our outstanding mortgage professionals to find out what this needs to be.

2) Your legal fees. We suggest budgeting $2000 for a real estate lawyer.

3) Your home inspection. We suggest budgeting $500 for your home inspection.

Beyond these items, you may need to budget additional funds for moving costs depending on how you choose to complete the move to your new home.

The minimum down payment for most buyers is 5% of the total purchase price. Some buyers may be required to or may choose to have a higher down payment like 10% or 20%. In Canada, mortgages with down payments less than 20% will be required to include CMHC fees. These premiums are incorporated into your mortgage payments and are not due in a lump sum. Buyers that have a down payment of 20% or greater do not have to include CMHC fees and thus can save money monthly.

In most cases, the seller must provide a current Real Property Report with municipal compliance to the buyer of a home. The term ‘current’ does not refer to time, but rather means that the report reflects the current state of the property. A Real Property Report is an approved survey plan of your property. The RPR usually includes the house, garage, deck, shed, fence, property boundaries, utility right of ways and any other improvements or structures on the property. A municipal compliance letter accompanies an RPR and notes any non-compliant or non-confirming issues that need to be navigated before or during negotiations.

In some cases, the seller can purchase Title Insurance for the buyers as an alternative to a Real Property Report with municipal compliance. Title Insurance is an insurance policy for the buyer that may protect against non-compliance or non-confirming issues that would have otherwise been discovered if an RPR or municipal compliance had been done. Title Insurance is becoming increasingly common for buyers to accept. An expert Realtor can discuss the pros and cons of either option with you.

In Alberta, both the listing agreement and purchase contract state that a seller must disclose any lack of permit only if they are aware of a missing permit. Unless specifically asked, sellers are not required to provide copies of permits to buyers. For example, when selling an older home, the seller is not required to go out of their way to track down the original permits for basement development, deck, garage and other items. Additionally, if there are no permit disclosures by a seller, the buyer may assume that all required permits that the seller is aware of are indeed in place. An expert Realtor can guide you through what a seller is required to disclose and provide to a buyer.

Yes, and you should. In fact, we recommend a home inspection on virtually all of our buyer purchases including brand new homes from builders. A home inspection in Alberta usually costs around $500 and is a small price to pay for peace of mind going forward. A home inspection is not a pass or fail grade. Instead, you are hiring a home inspector to give their expert opinion and analysis on every aspect of the home. Buyers are primarily hiring a home inspector to find any major or deal-breaking issues with the home that may cause a buyer to walk away from the purchase. The best home inspectors will also leave you with a list of 20-30 maintenance items or minor deficiencies with the home so that you are aware of them and can address them accordingly after you move in.

Alberta is unique in the sense that ‘possession’ does not necessarily take place at noon on closing day. In Alberta, possession is triggered when the seller’s lawyer confirms receiving funds from the buyer’s lawyer. If lawyers expedite money transfer on the morning of possession day, we may be able to pick up keys as early as 11am. If there are any delays with lawyers, lenders, banks or insurance companies on possession day, we may not be able to pick up keys until as late as 4pm. With all this being said, in most cases, buyers are able to receive keys in the early afternoon on possession day.

Items included in condo fees are completely dependent on the style of condo, included amenities and state of the complex. Condo fees for apartment style condos in Edmonton frequently include water, sewage and heat. Owners of apartment style condos are usually responsible for their own power, cable and internet. There are also many condo complexes in Edmonton that do not include any utilities. Your Realtor will be able to identify which items are included in the condo fees of a particular complex prior to writing an offer.

After an offer is accepted, the buyer must provide a deposit to be held in trust until possession. For most homes, this is usually $5,000-$15,000. A deposit must be certified funds such as a bank draft. This amount is the first part of your down payment. For example, if your total down payment is $22,000 and you give a $10,000 deposit, then you’d only have to bring $12,000 to your lawyer for the remainder of the down payment later on. If the financing and inspection conditions go well, the deposit is forwarded to your lawyer to meet up with the rest of your down payment. If the conditions do not go well and the buyer fails to waive conditions, the deposit is fully refundable. The seller's brokerage will send you the bank draft back and we can go find you another house immediately.

The normal possession timeline is 30-60 days from the time of offer. But, as we like to say: everything is negotiable! If you don’t want possession for another 90 days, we can probably make that happen. If you need possession immediately, we can speed things up to 19 days or sometimes even quicker if the house is vacant. These details are part of the offer process and negotiation.

Residential real estate law is a highly specialized field in law. Legal fees to buy a home in Edmonton can range from $1000 to $2000. It is our opinion that buyers should hire an extremely seasoned and reputable real estate lawyer in Edmonton. An outstanding real estate lawyer is one that has completed hundreds or even thousands of real estate transactions. We only recommend lawyers that are highly experienced and specialize in residential real estate law. Our team works with and can recommend some of the best real estate lawyers in Edmonton and area.

Yes. The best Realtors in Edmonton have access to about 3x the amount of information that the general public does online. We also have years of experience in finding neighbourhoods that are great for families from all walks of life. Rather than you doing the work, we can set you up on an email search to ensure that we don’t miss any new listings or price reductions.

Average detached house price in Edmonton in 2022: $433,750

Average townhouse price in Edmonton in 2022: $230,000

Average condo price in Edmonton in 2022: $172,500

Bank appraisals typically are only required when a buyer has a down payment of 20% or greater. A bank appraisal in this case is not done for the benefit of the buyer, it is done for the bank’s own purposes. If an appraisal is required, most lenders will cover this cost and decide not to pass it onto the buyer. There are some situations where the buyer will be required to pay for this appraisal. It is crucial to have these discussions with your mortgage professional well in advance of offering on a home.

We think that you should buy a home at the time that is best for you and your family! However, different challenges with buying happen at different times of the year. A spring market (Jan-June) typically comes with more homes on the market which means more selection for a buyer. Buying in a spring market usually also means more competition from other buyers and an increased chance of finding yourself in multiple offers. Buying in the second half of the year has its own challenges. A late year purchase usually means far less buyers to compete with, but also far less selection of homes to choose from. Because of the lower amount of buyers shopping, one can sometimes find better deals in the later half of the year. Many families prefer to be in their new home and settled by the time the school year starts in September. This also helps drive the seasonality of the market in Edmonton.

Century 21 Masters is a real estate brokerage in Edmonton and St. Albert. They have over 100 agents across 4 office locations in Edmonton and area. Century 21 is one of the most recognized real estate brands in the world and is one of the top real estate brands across Alberta. The Esposito Team has been the #1 team at Century 21 Masters for 13 years in a row focusing on serving sellers, buyers and investors.

No. One of the big benefits of buying a property in Alberta versus other provinces is that there is no land transfer tax province-wide.

In almost all cases, no. Even when GST is applicable, like when buying a new home for example, it is usually included in the advertised price. In Alberta, real estate prices are usually advertised including GST versus price plus GST.