First-Time Buyer's Checklist for Newfoundland & Labrador

Buying your first home is a sequence, not a leap. Here is the order things happen in, with the decisions that belong to each step. Nothing here is financial or legal advice — figures and programs change, so confirm the numbers with your lender and lawyer before you rely on them.

1. Get your finances in order first

Before you look at a single listing:

• Check your credit. Lenders will. Errors take weeks to fix, so pull your report early.
• Build a budget around the monthly payment, not the approval. Insurance, taxes, heat, and maintenance are real costs on top of the mortgage.
• Save for the down payment plus a cushion. Closing costs, moving, and the first round of repairs all land in the same month.

What counts as a down payment

For an insured mortgage, the minimum down payment scales with price. The current CMHC rules:

Home price	Minimum down payment
$500,000 or less	5% of the purchase price
$500,000 to $1.5 million	5% on the first $500,000, 10% on the rest
$1.5 million or more	20%

A $600,000 home, for example, needs $35,000 down. When your down payment is under 20%, mortgage default insurance is required and the premium (a percentage of the loan, currently ranging roughly from 0.6% to 4.5% depending on the size of your down payment) is normally added to the mortgage. Caps and premiums change — confirm both with your lender.

2. Get pre-approved

A pre-approval tells you what a lender will actually lend, at a rate they'll hold for a limited window. It turns you into a credible buyer and sets a hard ceiling for your search. Bring ID, proof of income and employment, and details of any debts — the lender will run a credit check.

3. Search with filters, not feelings

Use the search page to narrow by price, bedrooms, property type, and year built so you're comparing homes in the same league. When a listing looks right, check the details page: property taxes, days on market, and the what's-nearby map for schools, groceries, and drive times.

4. Make an offer with conditions

An offer in Newfoundland and Labrador is negotiable on price, dates, and conditions. Common conditions include financing approval and a home inspection. Some listings carry a seller's direction (an offer deadline) — those are extracted from the listing remarks, so confirm the terms with the listing brokerage.

5. Close

Between agreement and closing your lawyer handles title, land transfer tax, and the mortgage registration; you arrange insurance. Do a final walk-through before you sign for possession.

The short version

Fix the credit, pre-approve, search with filters, offer with conditions, let the lawyer close it. Do the first two and the rest is mostly patience.

Start with the live listings →