What happens to deposit upon offer? Very interesting perspectives. I was talking to a RE and he mentioned that one of the advantages of using a buyer's agent (in a private sale) was that a RE could protect the deposit that is usually given upon offer. Otherwise, we'd be writing a deposit...

Thanks for your thoughts so far. We've already pinpointed the area that we want to buy and lucky for us, houses don't sell quickly there so we're always able to see them on MLS. My thinking in not using a buyer's agent was to save money. The calculation you posted, simlus, is exactly what...

I read this suggestion in another thread. Could someone elaborate on why one would be advised not to have a buyer's agent? Wouldn't a buyer's agent be able to give us comparable listings if we were interested in a house? Would a seller's agent be willing to do this for us as a buyer?

We've been quite taken with the little hamlet of Claremont, which is north of Pickering. Challenge is that there isn't a lot of real estate for sale and well, we're being pretty picky on what we're looking for. Anyone have thoughts on living in Claremont? It would be quite a drastic change...