Services › Move-Up Buyers › St. Thomas
Plenty of St. Thomas families bought a starter home and have outgrown it — another child, a home office, a basement that needs to become a bedroom. Moving up here means selling into the same market you're buying in. Here's how I plan it so you move once, not twice.
It depends on how quickly homes like yours are selling right now. Entry-level and established resale homes draw buyers from London looking for more space, which can make buying first more realistic — but only with financing in place for an overlap. If your type of home is sitting, sell first or buy with a condition on your sale. I'll pull recent sales for your pocket before recommending an order.
Yes, and it's common, because new-build closings are often months away. The risk is timing: the builder's closing date can move after your sale is already firm, or your sale can be slower than planned when the builder is ready. Don't sell firm until the builder has set a final closing date, and leave room in both agreements.
Ontario land transfer tax on a $700,000 home is about $10,475. St. Thomas adds no municipal land transfer tax, but you also won't get the first-time buyer rebate on a second purchase — it's one of the costs move-up buyers most often forget to budget for.
Negotiate a longer closing when you sell, if the buyer can accommodate it, so you have time to search. The fallback is a short-term rental. Deciding which you'd accept before you list keeps you from being rushed into the wrong purchase.
Stay in St. Thomas if you want more space for the money and your work or family ties are here — Harvest Run, Miller's Pond and Southwest St. Thomas are where many local families move up. Look at London if a job has moved there or you want a particular school area. Commuting from St. Thomas to London takes about 20 to 25 minutes, so many families can do either.
The same way it works across the London–St. Thomas corridor: we agree on a price and closing date for your home before you list, and if it doesn't sell on those terms, I buy it. That lets you shop for your next home knowing your current one has an exit. Terms apply — ask me for the full written details for your home.
The homes move-up buyers sell — established resale and entry-level homes — are exactly what first-time buyers and buyers crossing over from London are shopping for. That's an advantage, but only if your home is priced from recent sales in your pocket and listed when buyers are active.
It also shapes the order you do things in. When your type of home is selling well, buying first with financing in place for an overlap becomes realistic. When it isn't, selling first or buying conditionally protects you from carrying two homes.
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*Terms apply — not intended to solicit buyers or sellers already under contract with another brokerage. Price and closing date must be mutually agreed upon. Ask me for full written program details.