First Time Home Buyers: Tips to Buying Your First Home that will Reduce Your Stress and Buyer's Remorse

The purchase of a first home is likely to be the biggest one-time purchase in your life. There is a huge shift from living with family or renting, to owning a home. It can be an overwhelming experience and at times you may feel that you are barely keeping in step with the process. We are now at a point in our lives where our children are buying their first homes and we see the worry and signs of stress that make this FIRST BIG PURCHASE such a momentous event for them. The learning gained from buying a home and selling a house six (6) times - four different cities and two different provinces - has given us experiences that we share here with our children. The tips we can give you when going through the mind-game process of buying a home are insightful and are especially for people just like our children - first time home buyers.

Every step along the way to becoming a property owner brings a new rush of questions.
This first-time home-buying torrent of questions can, at times, feel like you are fighting river rapids in a kayak. Just like novice kayaker, it is fear of the unknown in home-buying that creates the stress.

Can we afford this house?
Did we pay too much for this property?
Will we be able to make the monthly payments?
How will we pay property taxes and still have money for any maintenance and renovation costs?
Will we have a mortgage forever?

Notice most questions and fears are centered around finances. Not surprising then that this big purchase would cause you stress. Finances or Money is the number ONE cause of stress in our lives.

Our experiences can be the information that can help you steer the ship named 'Home Equity'. Equity - the difference between the market value of a property and the claims (loans + mortgages) held against it.

Here are a TEN pointers that helped us and can help you through the psychological aspects of buying your first house (you might even experience an adrenalin rush):

1. Accept that buyer's remorse will happen and it could overcome you early in the process of purchasing your first home. Buyer's remorse is a natural feeling where we doubt ourselves and question our purchasing actions. It may last for months after you buy. These are natural feelings to have; a home is a large purchase with significant impact on your lifestyle. Remorse will give way to a contentment as you make this house your home. Buyers remorse usually lessens as you become more experienced in buying and selling houses.

2. Buy a House, Sell a Home. Buy to resell. Buy with resale in mind. Remember that this is your FIRST house purchase, and not likely to be your last. Within 3-10 years of buying a house you are likely to sell and buy a second, third, or fourth house. Perhaps you will buy more than that number. No matter the number of houses you buy, do so with the view that you will re-sell, make a profit, buy UP (larger home) and/or reduce your mortgage on subsequent house purchases.

3. Pay the minimum Down Payment on your first house – unless you are paying 25% or more against the total price of the house (this may provide you with some relief on the mortgage rate), THEN pay the minimum. Use your cash for legal fees and transfer taxes PLUS for household improvements (like painting), maintenance and furniture/appliances/tools purchases. Remember point number “2” - this is your first home.

4. Don't make yourself 'house poor' - Amortize your first mortgage to the limit (25 years plus). This will reduce the impact to your monthly cash-flow (mortgage + interest payments). Don't concern yourself with paying down this FIRST mortgage in 5, 10 or 15 years. You expect to build equity in your first home to apply to your next home purchase(s). Remember item “2” - this is just your first home.

5. Loans and Mortgages are a Fact of Life – settle into the idea that you will likely have a mortgage and some form of loans for most of your working life. Unless you come from “material substance”, i.e. money, or have won the lottery, you will have large debt for most of your life. Accept that you are likely not to be in a position to eliminate your mortgage until you have worked 20-25-30 years.

6. Shop around for your mortgage – mortgage hunting can be an exciting thing. Use it as a learning experience. Bankers, Mortgage brokers and Real Estate agents all want to give you the money! Talk to other first time home owners. Compare interest rates, terms of mortgage and payout penalties. It's a numbers game - have fun with this financial aspect of home ownership by familiarizing yourself with financial terminology and ask those 'mortgage financiers' to break it down into layman's terms so you can understand it.

7. Separate an 'emotional' buy from a 'good' buy – this ONE THING will be your biggest hurdle, causing additional stress between a couple in their hunt for the first home. Real estate agents may try to leverage (manipulate) this couple tension to their advantage – like getting you to buy beyond your means or buy NOW because other offers are on the table. As difficult as it may become, agree as a couple that if things are not right for you as a couple that you are willing to walk away from any house deal on the table. Be vigilant in reaffirming this point to each other.

8. Create a “Must Have / Would Like” list of features - accept compromise as an element of home buying – unless your first home is custom built, accept that you will need to compromise on some of the features you have on your list of features. Remember item “2” - this is just your first home. Getting all the house features you want requires a longer term view – a goal on your next home.

9. Scope out any neighborhood in which you want to own a home – just like test driving an automobile before you buy it, walk around your potential neighborhood. Check out schools, shopping and city hall (use the web) for zoning (building projects), crime levels and types, community involvement. Talk to people who live and work in the area you are considering a home purchase.

10. Accept the fact that your current social lifestyle may shift a bit – entertain at home instead of going out on the town; mowing the lawn and garden maintenance might replace some of your gym activity; interior decorating and carpentry become new hobbies to replace Nintendo and X-Box.

11. Breathe – Breathing is good. Enjoy the rigors and rewards of home ownership. Learn and continue to educate yourself on home ownership.

First time home ownership can be a highly stressful situation. But buying your first home can still be a wonderful experience. Home buying and home ownership should complement your life and relationship with your spouse and family. You may want to do it more than once. Buy a House – Sell a Home. Make your house the home that others will want to buy. Be the Consumer, Not Consumed.

First Time Home Buyers: Tips to Buying Your First Home that will Reduce Your Stress and Buyer's Remorse

BNL BLAM Tour! Barenaked Ladies is One of Canada's musical wonders!

Rocking Fun! That captures the Barenaked Ladies BLAM Tour Concert in Ottawa at Scotiabank Place on February 21. This is a group to be experienced LIVE! BNL is a group that truly loves to play together and to a crowd. Their seemingly spontaneous stage antics and banter creates a great Musical Comedy. Barenaked Ladies are great musicians and they are funny guys! They engaged the Ottawa audience by retooling lyrics to include well researched localisms. Tyler Stewart for Prime Minister, Winterlude, World's longest skating rink, Beaver tails, Potine, ice sculptures were included in both lyrics and rants by Steve and Ed. Tyler's eating fascination with very large milk shakes and the salt shaker (now a maraca) which he purchased at the Stittsville Flea Market, caused a funny musical miscue. BNL even referenced Carp, Arnprior, and Nepean. The tasteful stage was masterfully animated with complex lighting effects. Kevin Hearn performed his vocal debut with Serendipity on their newest album – Barenaked Ladies are Men.

BNL is very much a band to be experienced LIVE!

The opening act for Barenaked Ladies was Tomi (pronounced Tommy) Swick from Hamilton Ontario. Tomi Swick is a Great singer and the band has a mature full instrument sound – love the guitar rifts and effects. These guys know how to play! This alternative singer has some of the overtones of Tom Cochrane (Red Rider) and Paul Simon. Treating us to their original music, they also mastered a version of Graceland that matched the Paul Simon rendition. Buy their CD – Stalled Out in the Doorway – is end-to-end great!

BNL BLAM Tour! Barenaked Ladies is One of Canada's musical wonders!

Grand Parenting – Infant and Child Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) – Updated CPR Techniques

So you thought you knew about CPR techniques. You were certified prior to October 2005 as a CPR trained individual. NEWSFLASH! It is NOW time that you get CPR re-certified! If you have never been CPR trained, go do it. As parents, grandparents or anyone entrusted the care of our children CPR is a vital technique in our toolkit for emergency response.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), according to the American Heart Association 2005 document, 2005 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC , has been modified for all categories – Infant, Child and Adult. From Choking to full CPR response grandparents and parents alike must get trained. Your infant and children's lives could depend on your ability to administer proper choking and CPR response techniques.

Why should Parents and Grandparents know how to address choking and administer CPR?

Look at some of the statistics for choking related emergencies and deaths:

• In the USA each year 3,000 people die from choking

• About 2,600 choking accidents in the UK each year involve children under four years of age

• In Canada, choking on food causes approximately 200 deaths each year

• Babies under two years are at the highest risk from choking injuries

• Children up to age 6 years also have a high risk. Approximately 80% of emergency calls for choking are for children under 6 years

• A child with a fully obstructed airway will be dead in 4-6 minutes without help.


Every child-care provider has to be certified for CPR as part of their ECE (Early Childhood Education). Everyone in the medical, rehab, retirement and emergency response all require CPR certification. They are typically re-certified annually. As a parent you would want anyone caring for your infant or child to have CPR and Choking technique knowledge. So it makes logical sense that even you, the parent or the grandparent, should be CPR trained. CPR training is a small but important skill for anyone caring or baby-sitting an infant or child.

If I just call 911 then the ER team can administer CPR.

Yes, ER teams, once they arrive, will take over from those who have been delivering CPR to the victim. No oxygen circulation for more than 6 minutes is disaster. Immediacy of CPR delivery is paramount to a person's survival. Waiting for the ER team will be too late. CPR and Calling 911 is the only way for any level of survival success.

Isn't the CPR technique different for Infant, Child and Adult?

Until 2005 the mix of breaths to compressions was different for each category. But now it is 2 breaths and 30 quick compressions for infant (less than 1 year), child (1-8 years) or adult (over 50 lbs). The American Heart Association discovered that circulating the blood through the lungs and heart to the brain can only be accomplished with sustained quick compressions. In fact, the compressions are more important than delivering the breaths. The old method of 5 to 15 compressions has been extended to 30 quick compressions for all recipients. This delivers the necessary circulation through the lungs and heart to the brain and other body extremities.

How do I get CPR Trained?

In the USA simply contact the American Red Cross, American Heart Association or American CPR Training. In Canada CPR training is delivered by the Canadian Red Cross or St. John Ambulance. You could also check with your local hospital, fire department, ambulance, or emergency response for FREE CPR workshops that might be coming to your area.


Be the responsible parent or grandparent. Get CPR trained and get re-certified or trained at least every two years. Protect your future. Keep our children safe. Be the best parent and grandparent you can be.

Grand Parenting – Infant and Child Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) – Updated CPR Techniques

Buyer Beware the Extended Warranty – Deal or No Deal

Experience is always life's best teacher. But ideally it is through somebody else's experience that you could learn a valuable lesson about extended warranties.

What is the deal with extended warranties? Are they really an insurance against damage or malfunction?

A seasoned salesperson knows just when to propose the extended warranty; especially, those electronic store sales representatives. When you are high on the purchase the salesperson poses the question, “ Would you like the extended warranty added to this purchase?”. Now they Do NOT review the extended warranty Terms and Conditions (T's & C's) outlining the things that ARE NOT covered by the extended warranty. In fact, some of them purport (Like Future Shop which is part of the Best Buy chain of stores) it is a 'no hassle' insurance. BUNK!

Truth be told, the extended warranty merely extends the manufacturer's warranty and is confined to the same coverage restrictions. It is interesting that the major area where you would want coverage – damage or breakage from impact – IS NOT covered under an extended or a manufacturer's warranty. Review, up front, the details of the extended warranty contract. You will discover lots of exclusions with respect to damage.

Consumer Reports Magazine surveyed tens of thousands of its readers about their repair experience with an extended warranty. The repair cost usually was less than the extended warranty cost. Consumer Reports Magazine concluded from this 2002 research that extended warranties are NOT A GOOD INVESTMENT.

Studies have shown that electronic stores use extended warranties to bolster their profit margins on low margin electronic items. The extended warranty could add 30% to the cost of your purchase. Smooth-talking efforts to sell customers extended warranties is usually part of a sales employee's compensation and job security.

An Extended Warranty seems to be a case of 'buyer beware'. Remember electronic equipment prices drop very quickly. Newer products are introduced every 6 to 12 months forcing that once 'state-of-the-art' item you have to be flushed from manufacturer's inventory at rock bottom prices to retailers and consumers. This short product life-cycle creates a cut-throat competitive retail pricing environment among manufacturers and retail stores. Extended warranty sales improve a retail store's bottom line.

Instead of repairing your damaged product, consider replacing it via one of the on-line auctions. This bid-price for the exact used [undamaged] product you have could prove less cost than the extended warranty cost. You will have just saved yourself some money and the frustration of arguing with a customer service representative to have an extended warranty claim honored by the retail store.

Buyer Beware the Extended Warranty – Deal or No Deal

Your Personal Kyoto Protocol - Our Individual Responsibility to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and be Environmentally Friendly

It is now time for each and every one of us to make a positive effort to help reduce the impact of Global Warming on our good earth. The official cause for global warming has been unequivocally determined at the 2007 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) meeting in Paris France. Established in 1988 by the the United Nations, the IPCC has just completed its 4th Assessment Report, which has established that global warming has been human-caused and for the most part greenhouse gases have been the largest contributor to the acceleration of global warming. Effects of global warming will definitely be experienced in this century.



Reducing greenhouse gases. What can we individually do in-parallel-to and in-advance-of government decrees, programs and laws?



We can do lots! But here are FOUR areas to consider right now!



1. The always can-do-more Recycle-Reuse now includes in our house the extended use of jars or plastic containers to store leftovers. And they are used in my workshop for paint, paint thinners and wood filler before recycling them. Keep containers and jars in use longer and resist the use of those “burping” containers.



2. Encourage your employer to implement a partial or full Work From Home Program (Telecommuting as it was referred to in earlier times). This is particularly appropriate for office jobs that involve sales, marketing and telephone support. Fact is, most of these roles are characterized by computer / web use, telephone / conference calls and on-site customer visits. Think of the reduced automobile traffic that could result from such a responsible program. Even if your office were to implement a 1 or 2 day per week Work from Home program, you reduce gas emissions and while creating cubicle sharing program, which will also reduce business overhead costs. Progressive companies like Dell, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have such Work From Home Programs.



3. Plan, reduce and eliminate those automobile trips to the mall, grocery store, sports or fitness event. Car Pool with neighbors and consolidate trips for supplies. Wow! Just like they did in pioneer times. Time to plan one or two days per week when you do all the “going into town for supplies”. Walk, take the bus or subway instead of your carbon generating greenhouse gas emitting vehicle.



4. On-line shopping as an alternative way to shop. You not only save gas but also reduce the wear-and-tear on on your vehicle. No travel time and no parking expenses further respects your valuable time and saves money. Products purchased on-line are conveniently delivered directly to your door. On-line internet shopping makes even more sense to those in rural communities, where they are typically farther away from shopping centers.



Time to get to know your neighbor, expand your circle of friends and acquaintances, reduce the use of your automobile(s). Claim it as your own Personal Kyoto Protocol.

Your Personal Kyoto Protocol - Our Individual Responsibility to Reduce Greenhouse Gases and be Environmentally Friendly