First-Time Home Buyer Specialist in London & St. Thomas

Yes. Ontario offers a land transfer tax rebate of up to $4,000 for eligible first-time buyers. In London and St. Thomas there's also no additional municipal land transfer tax — that second tax only applies in Toronto, which is why the same purchase price costs less to close here.

For the Ontario land transfer tax rebate, you generally must never have owned an eligible home anywhere in the world, and your spouse must not have owned one while being your spouse. The rules have real edge cases around inherited property and prior marriages, so confirm your specific situation with your real estate lawyer before counting on the rebate.

A pre-qualification is a rough estimate based on what you tell a lender. A pre-approval is an underwritten commitment that holds a rate for roughly 90 to 120 days and tells you your real, confirmed budget. Get the pre-approval before you tour anything — it's the single most common step first-time buyers skip, and it's why some of them fall for a home they can't finance.

There's no single number, because it depends on the purchase price, your down payment, your other debts, and the mortgage stress test — which qualifies you at a higher rate than the one you'll actually pay. That's exactly what a pre-approval settles. Rather than guessing from an online calculator, get pre-approved first and you'll have your real ceiling before you start looking.

Plan for roughly 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price on top of your down payment. That covers land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance, a home inspection, and adjustments owed back to the seller for prepaid property taxes or utilities. This is the number that catches first-time buyers off guard most often.

The First Home Savings Account is a registered account built specifically for a first home — contributions reduce your taxable income and qualifying withdrawals come out tax-free. It can also be combined with the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan. Contribution and withdrawal limits change, so confirm the current year's numbers with your bank or financial advisor before you plan around them.

Most first-time buyer offers include financing and home inspection conditions — a set number of days to confirm your mortgage and have the home professionally inspected before you're legally committed. Waiving those conditions to win a bidding war is a real risk, and it's a decision worth making deliberately rather than in the moment.

Typically 4 to 8 weeks from an accepted offer to closing. The search itself runs anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on how specific your must-haves are and how competitive that pocket of the market is right now.

Yes — a real estate lawyer is required to close in Ontario. They handle the title search, mortgage registration and the transfer of funds. If you don't already have one, I can recommend lawyers I work with regularly.

St. Thomas generally gets you more house for the money and has real momentum from the Volkswagen PowerCo and Amazon employment growth, while London gives you more inventory, more amenities and a shorter commute to most jobs. Which one wins depends on where you work and whether you'd rather buy more space now or more convenience. I cover both and I'll give you the honest comparison for your budget.