Why do you need this buyer’s guide? Even if you’ve been through it before, buying a new home that hasn’t been built yet can be a daunting process.
Yes, it’s exciting to think about picking out the home that’s right for you and choosing all the features and finishes it will have. And there’s an appeal to living in a home no one else has ever lived in before.
But it’s also a process that takes months and more time than you’ll ever expect, with countless decisions and things to think about.
That’s why this guide was created.
First-hand look
While I was Homes editor at the Ottawa Citizen, I spent a year following buyers as they moved through each step in the buying process. And I had the opportunity to act as a “buyer” myself, thanks to an offer from Cardel Homes, which let me choose their next move-in-ready home, decide on the features and finishes it would have, and go through all the steps a real buyer would, except actually paying for and moving into the home.
At the end of that year, I ran a series of stories on the new-home buying process from beginning to end. That series was later repackaged into this handy guide.
If you’re thinking about buying a new home from one of Ottawa’s production builders, I encourage you to download this guide for yourself to better prepare you for the challenging, but ultimately rewarding, road ahead.
Update May 2021: While pricing in the guide is no longer accurate and current supply-demand issues are skewing home availability, this guide remains a good step-by-step example of the buying process.
