First home: what to know before you buy

Buying your first property is one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make, and one of the most anxiety-inducing when you don't know what to expect. The good news: the process is more predictable than it looks once you break it into clear steps.

The most common mistake is touring projects before knowing what you can actually qualify for. That leads to falling for a property the bank later won't approve, or underestimating your own capacity and ruling out good options for no reason. A free initial evaluation settles this in a matter of days.

The second mistake is not budgeting for closing costs — legal, registration, and sometimes the down payment — as a separate line item from the property price. These typically add up to 3% to 5% on top of the purchase price, and many first-time buyers discover this late in the process.