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You already know REALTOR.ca is the place to go to look for real estate listings across Canada. Whether you’re looking for a rental property or a home to buy, or even looking for land to purchase, the REALTOR.ca listings page gives you access to hundreds of thousands of listings, both residential and commercial, from coast to coast to coast.
But there are even more ways REALTOR.ca can help you along your home buying journey, everywhere from casual browsing to decorating the inside of your new home. Here are just some of the features you can use!
Mortgage calculators
Knowing how much home you can reasonably afford is a good place to start when looking to buy. REALTOR.ca has three mortgage calculators for you to play with: the Payment Calculator, Land Transfer Tax Calculator, and Affordability Calculator. Though these are just for demonstration purposes, they give you a general idea as to the costs associated with homeownership.
The Affordability Calculator might be the best place to start. Taking into account your annual income, living costs, property taxes, and any other relevant fees or payments, the Affordability Calculator gives you an estimated cost for homes you can afford. Again, this calculator is just for demonstration purposes, but it gives you some realistic expectations before you fall in love with something outside of your budget!
The Payment Calculator lets you input an asking price and mortgage rate, then shows you different pricing scenarios based on how much of a downpayment you have. It also lays out potential monthly expenses for things like internet, cable, hydro, and other utilities so you can see a full-picture view of what you might expect to pay on a monthly basis.
The Land Transfer Tax Calculator is self-explanatory, giving you the estimated land transfer tax costs based on the asking price as well as your location and whether you’re a first-time home buyer.
Neighbourhood data and statistics
When you do land on a listing you love, the description will give you a full rundown on the property itself. But you may be craving even more. At the top of each listing you’ll find a series of four icons: Highlights, Neighbourhood, Statistics, and Calculators. Highlights is where you’ll find details on the property itself, and Calculators is pretty clear. However, it’s Neighbourhood and Statistics that can really help paint a clearer picture of the property and its surroundings.
Within Neighbourhood you’ll find helpful information to give you a taste of where the listing is located. The interactive map also lets you calculate your commute time through Google! Elements of the neighbourhood are rated on a scale from one to 10, things like:
- Are there sources of noise nearby?
- Is it close to highways and major routes?
- What is the parking situation like?
- Are there parks nearby?
- Is it transit-friendly?
- Is it cycling-friendly?
- Are there schools nearby?
- Is there nightlife?
- Are there daycares?
If you go to the Statistics section, you’ll find demographic information for the area as defined by Statistics Canada. Average household size, median age, average household income, marital status, projected growth, children at home, and even occupations are just some of the details you can find.
Knowing this information can be extremely helpful when it comes to purchasing a home. If you have younger kids, you’ll probably want to find a neighbourhood close to daycares and with other children in the area. You know what they say, after all. Location, location, location!
Create an account for even more options
We’ve all been there—spending the day browsing through properties for sale, then losing track of which ones you actually wanted to revisit! By creating an account on REALTOR.ca, you can save your favourite properties, get notifications, and save your search criteria for each time you return.
Found a property you love? Add it to your favourites so you can return to it later. You can even set up notifications if there are updates to the price, new photos posted, or when there’s an upcoming open house!
Do you have really specific search criteria? Or maybe you have a few different areas you’re keeping an eye on? You can save—and name—searches through your REALTOR.ca account, then get notified when new properties show up within those parameters.
You’ll also be added to the REALTOR.ca mailing list where we send regular updates on new products, services, content on all things inside and outside the home as well as contests.
Creating an account on REALTOR.ca is easy, and it’ll help make your house-hunting easier to manage. So what are you waiting for?
REALTOR.ca Living Room content
For more than three years, REALTOR.ca Living Room has been creating engaging, informative content for Canadians at every level of the home buying journey. From buying your first home to downsizing after retirement, REALTOR.ca Living Room can help you find inspiration for both inside and outside your home. There are tips on finishing your basement, creating a backyard retreat, understanding home insurance, and some fun DIY ways to hack IKEA furniture!
You can also submit questions to our Real Advice with Rita series, where a 30-something real estate professional will give you her take on anything from how to move across the country to the best colour to paint your front door. If you have a question you’d like answered, you can email it to us!
Meet a REALTOR®
Working with a REALTOR® is the best way to make sure your home buying process goes smoothly. Their professional knowledge and experience can help identify neighbourhoods that work for you, and a home that meets your needs and budget!
Finding a REALTOR® can be overwhelming, especially if you’re moving to a new city where you don’t have any contacts. You can use the Meet a REALTOR® feature to…well, to meet a REALTOR®! You can search by location and choose from different accreditations, testimonials, social media profiles, languages and specialties to help find a REALTOR® to suit your exact needs and preferences.
The Home Buyers’ Road Map
The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), in collaboration with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), created the Home Buyers’ Road Map to help home buyers make informed decisions when choosing a home. The toolkit offers step-by-step directions on what to do when you’re thinking about buying a home. The interactive version includes a quiz to find the best type of home for you and other tips you’ll find helpful as you go through the whole process.
There’s no denying the journey to homeownership can be overwhelming, but REALTOR.ca has plenty of resources to help make the process as easy as possible. You can also download the new REALTOR.ca app to take your search on the go!
