Purchasing a home can be a very exciting, stressful and complex endevour. Working with a real estate agent helps ease the process and ensure you are buying a home that will best suit your needs as well as give you a great real estate investment for the future. Real estate agents are looking at houses daily of all price ranges. They know the real estate market. They have access to the actual sold prices of homes which is absolutely paramount when purchasing. Sold prices reflect what buyers are actually prepared to pay for a home. Asking prices of homes can be all over the board. Some are Seller's prices and some are prices the real estate agent have suggestedto the Sellers by looking at the actual sold prices and then there are some that are somewhere in between. A real estate agent should give you all your options. You might not know if you went up in your price range by $10,000 you would be able to buy in Orchard Heights at brand new and it would effect your mortgage payments very insignificantly especially with the interest rates where they are right now. This is the time to go for more. First time homebuyers exemptions are really important. You have to meet certain criteria to not pay Property Transfer Tax. fProperty transfer tax is alot of money. 1% on the first $200,000 and 2% on the balance of the Purchase Price. Once you do find your home we prepare a Contract that protects you, help you negotiate the price, faciliate the financing, house inspection, look at the title to the property, house insurance etc. The real estate agent is with you to the day you take possession of your new home.