The Sea Change in Canadian Mortgage Insurance + MORE Dec 2nd

The average new mortgage being taken out by today’s borrowers surged to $360,000 as of the third quarter, Equifax reports.

If you’re considering buying your first home, you probably want to do a bit of research. Perhaps you’ll talk to friends and colleagues and even read a few articles regarding the process, but with 80% of first-time home buyers confessing they’d love a do-over, perhaps there isn’t such a thing as too much information.

To help, here are the top 10 mistakes first-time home buyers make, along with some handy tips on how to avoid them.

Get the mortgage rate that works for you.Find the best rate for you in under 2 minutes at ratehub.ca. Let’s get started.I’m buying a homeI’m renewing/refinancingYou will be leaving MoneySense. Just close the tab to return.

1. You fall in love with home staging

Everyone knows this. Everyone trots this piece of advice out—particularly as they swear up and down that they can see past the old-fashioned wallpaper to the home’s potential. Then reality hits, as potential buyers start to see staged homes versus original decor.

In its simplest form, home staging is when the seller declutters and rearranges the furniture to make rooms look more appealing to buyers…

Few realize how dramatically Canada’s mortgage insurance market has changed.