For most people arriving in the Saint John Region, renting a place to live is the first step. This will give you time to explore your new community, save some money, and decide what neighbourhood you eventually might like to buy a home in. Of course, you can choose to buy a home at any time depending on your preferences. When the time comes to buy a home, it’s nice to know that the cost of a home in the Saint John Region is less than similar cities in Canada!
Get pre-approved before you buy
If you think buying a home is for you, you’ll first need to make sure you can afford it. So your first stop should be with your bank. Banks that provide mortgages are able to give you a letter of pre-approval. This means that they are willing to lend you a specific amount of money at a specific rate of interest. In order to determine how much of a mortgage they will pre-approve you for, they will look at your income, debts, and credit. Pre-approvals only last for a certain amount of time, usually three to four months.
Finding the right home for you
Once you’re pre-approved for a mortgage, an easy way to begin your home search is to visit websites that list all properties for sale through a real estate agent in Canada. You can also choose to visit these sites before you’re pre-approved since it’s a great way to research what homes are available, where they are, and what the price range is. Two sites you can visit include realtor.ca, and ForSaleByOwner.com.
Working with a real estate agent
A real estate agent’s job is to help people buy and sell homes. You do not have to use a real estate agent, but they may be helpful. They have access to new homes for sale even before they appear online. They know a great deal about neighbourhoods, fair prices, and potential problems with your home. You do not pay a real estate agent to show you houses for sale. Agents get paid only once a house is sold. To get a good agent, ask for a referral from another home buyer. You may talk to several agents before you choose one.
Making an offer on a home
Once you have found a house you want, you need to make an offer to purchase it from the current owners. When making an offer keep in mind:
- An offer may include the price, the appliances and other items you want to keep, as well as requests that homeowners make certain repairs.
- Your offer should be subject to financing and inspection. This means that you can back out if the bank does not follow through on the pre-approval or if an inspector finds serious problems with the house.
- Have the house inspected for any problems. Major problems might include trouble with the roof, foundation, plumbing, or electrical systems.
- If the house has a private well for drinking water, rather than being hooked up to a water supply, it is a good idea to get the well water tested.
- You must also have a lawyer review the purchase documents. To find more information about purchasing your home, contact www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca.
- Other costs when you buy a house may include a land transfer tax, a title search, HST on new homes and land, and lawyers’ fees.
Downpayment and mortgage insurance
A down payment is the money you pay when you buy your home. You must make a down payment of at least 5% of the total cost of your home. A few things to note about how down payments work:
- If you have no history of credit, the bank will require a 40% down payment
- Most down payments are between 5% and 50% of the price of your home. You may negotiate this amount with your bank. If your downpayment is lower than 20%, you will have to pay a one-time insurance fee to Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) so the bank is protected. It is mandatory and the less your downpayment, the higher the premium.
- The amount of your down payment also determines the amount of mortgage insurance you need to pay.
- The cost of your CMHC mortgage insurance is rolled into your mortgage payments. The bank then pays the insurance for you behind the scenes.
Property tax
Homeowners pay property tax based on the value of their home and land. Every year, a notice is mailed to your home. It includes the current value of your property, the property tax rate, and your total tax bill. If you do not pay your property taxes when due, you will be charged extra. The due date will be on your notice. For more information on property tax and property tax assessments, contact Service New Brunswick.
Building permits
If you are considering building or renovating your home, you will need proper permits to ensure that your project meets the health and safety requirements set out by the National Building Code of Canada. Work that typically requires a permit include siding, garage, shed, deck, pool, plumbing, additions, finishing a basement, adding a room, new windows, new door openings, electrical upgrades, and interior renovations. You will need to contact the community in which you live for building permit information.
Responsibilities of owning a home
As a homeowner, you have greater freedom to do what you want to with your property compared to renting. However, there are still rules that you need to follow, such as:
- You need to keep your lawn cut and your property clean and tidy. If you let your lawn grow too long, the municipality may cut it at your expense.
- If you live in an area with free garbage removal, you need to put your garbage on your curb in the appropriate bags or bins on the days when garbage is picked up.
- If there is no garbage pick-up, you must take your garbage to the local landfill.
- During the winter, you must remove the snow from your driveway. You may shovel it, use a snowblower, or you can pay someone to do the job for you. Check the Yellow Pages under Snow Removal Service.
- If you are away during the winter, you must keep your home heated warmly enough that your water pipes don’t freeze. When water pipes freeze, they may burst, and are expensive to fix.
- If you want to expand your home or make major changes to your property, you must get a permit from your municipality.
- If your home has a private well, you are responsible for maintaining it and your septic system.
Utilities
In the Saint John Region, the fall, winter, and spring months can be cold, and you will need to heat your home. Homes can be heated in different ways: an oil furnace, natural gas, electric heat, and a wood stove. Some rentals include heat and electricity in your rent, but if you own your own home, you will have to pay these bills yourself.
Electricity
Electricity is supplied by Saint John Energy or NB Power depending on the community you choose to live in
Natural Gas
If your home is heated with natural gas, or if your stove uses natural gas, you’ll need to purchase natural gas from the source that best suits your needs. You can find local suppliers by searching online.
Fuel Oil
There are many suppliers for heating oil if your home has an oil furnace or boiler. You can find a variety of them listed online.
Water and Sewage
Contact the community in which you live to activate your water and sewage, and to arrange payments. If you have a house that uses a well, contact the Department of the Environment for information on well water safety.
Household waste
The municipality will typically collect your garage if you live in a house. Many larger rental units have private garbage collection. Check with your landlord about garbage collection days and time if you live in a rental unit. Garbage is divided into five categories:
- Compost: Composting reduces landfill waste. Vegetable peelings, fruit, meat, grass clippings, leaves and other organic waste is composted to create new soil. Most homes have a small green bin to gather compost and a larger green bin to place at the side of the road for collection.
- Recycling: You can reduce household waste by 50% when you recycle. You can collect your cardboard, boxboard, plastic, metal, and milk containers in a bin, and drop them off at one of the many Blue Bin recycling depots located throughout the city.
- Redeemables: Soda pop, wine, and beer bottles can be dropped off at a redemption centre. There is an automatic fee of 10 cents added to your purchases, but upon return each bottle and will earn you five cents. Some people drop off bags of bottles and the money is donated to a charity.
- Trash: Anything that doesn’t fall into one of the above categories must be placed in a large garbage bag and placed at your curb on garbage collection day. Many people place their large bags in a garbage bin, to prevent birds or animals from interfering with the trash. More information about the landfill
- Bulky Items: Large household items including but not limited to furniture, mattresses, bed springs, boxes, barrels, pieces of fencing, barbecues, refrigerators, stoves, carpets and the like that would normally accumulate at a residential dwelling unit can be picked up twice a year. Residents are not permitted to place these items at the curb unless arrangements have been made with Municipal Operations.
Home safety and care
You should have a working smoke detector on all levels of your home. You should replace the batteries twice a year. You should also have a carbon monoxide detector.
Many residents use barbeques (both charcoal and propane) and fire pits outside for cooking food. Never use a barbeque or fire pit inside your home.
If you have a home with a yard, you will need to mow the grass. A lawn mower can be purchased at most department and hardware stores.
Be sure to contact the community where you live for more information:
City of Saint John
Town of Rothesay
Town of Quispamsis
Town of Hampton
Town of Grand Bay-Westfield
Fundy-St Martins