After years of renting, I realized that I was paying a mortgage anyway so it might as well be my own. Mine wasn't a straightforward first-time home buy, though. I had very stringent requirements in order to accomodate my elderly, mobility-impaired father. Given the awful stories I'd been reading in the papers, I expected to be in for a long, hard grind, particularly since it was crucial to my business and my father's medical care that I stay in Brampton relatively close to the hospital. It doesn't help that I was scared out of my mind!
From the beginning, I immediately had faith in Catherine: her professionalism and optimism made the process incredibly fast and easy! She listened carefully to my requirements, then explained how the real estate process works. I was made aware of things that I thought made it completely impossible but she kept my confidence buoyed
Instead of months of parading in and out of properties, I only ended up viewing three. I put a bid on the first property, but the owner was not bidding in good faith. The counter-offer was way out of scale. I was still going to go for it but Catherine pointed out that the agent was playing on my fears and insecurities and that it wasn't the last house on the market. She also pointed out what I hadn't thought of: accepting the seller's price would have wiped out any budget for the extensive work needed to make the place suitable for my father to move around confidently and safely.
The second house was exciting and I was so hoping but, in the end, the seller went with the other offer. It was only ten thousand more than mine but, instead of egging me to find the extra money, Catherine said it was better to keep looking.
The third house was bang on the money! Not only did it meet every single requirement, but it had even been recently renovated and looked fantastic! Catherine went in armed for battle and I got a great price! I knew i made the right choice of agent when even the opposing agent complimented Catherine's skill and expertise!
These days, digital signing is all the rage, but Catherine went traditional to respect my father's distrust of electronic transactions. She printed everything out time after time and drove to my house so my father could read the details on actual paper. He was putting the money for the down payment and he signed with a proud flourish I hadn't seen in a long time.
I'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to real estate but Catherine patiently explained things over and over so I could see how the situation changes. She provided evidence, statistics, and data so I knew she wasn't just pulling numbers out of a hat when she gave projected estimates. She was open about where I could find third party information and she was always upbeat, telling me "there's always a solution!" When I was in utter despair and ready to just give up.
My family and I are so happy in our new home! There's space for everybody and Dad has his indépendance back. I can't think Catherine enough for this life-transforming experience!
