When you’re a Canadian home buyer looking for a mortgage in Toronto or another major city, and a home to go along with it, there are plenty of tools available to help you in your search. Home inspection reports, title searches, and current market value tools are all ready to help you make sure the home you’re getting is a good one, and that you’re paying a reasonable amount of money for it. But surprisingly, when it comes to other very important information pertaining to a particular property, such as whether it’s been used as a grow-op or experienced a fire within it, that data has been very hard to find.
That is, until now.
Thanks to Home Verified, who is responsible for creating full reports based on most properties in major Canadian cities, and Teranet, home buyers can now find out just about anything they need to know about any home that they’re interested in.
Alex Weiner, owner of Home Verified, explained that the thought process for creating Home Verified was very simple.
“We were amazed that anyone conducting their due diligence when buying a car could obtain a vehicle history report with insurance claims and other information, but there was no report for a resale home, which is usually the single largest purchase most Canadians ever make,” he said.
Therefore, the Home Verified report system was created. You can view a sample of a report you’ll receive should you put in a request, at www.homeverified.ca; but the type of information you’re likely to find on it will include:
- Past and present insurance claims that have been made for the property, both by the current and past owners.
- Insurance claims data for the neighbourhood, indicating whether major problems such as flooding are present.
- Rankings for schools in the neighbourhood.
- An outline of the demographics in the area, as well as amenities available such as coffee shops, public transit, and shopping areas.
- Contact information for the major political offices in the area including the mayor, MPs, MPPs, and city councillors.
- Any history pertaining to the possibility or confirmed use of the property being used as a marijuana grow-op.
The data has been compiled through a number of sources including Teranet, the company responsible for electronic land registration and title search services; responses to Freedom of Information requests made to countless police forces around the country; as well as thousands of insurance companies providing over 8 million insurance records.
The Home Verified tool is going to be one of the best resources for real estate agents and home buyers alike, and for this reasons reports are available on a subscription basis for both groups. Real estate agents can purchase a subscription for $39.95 while home buyers can purchase a report for $69.95.
A high cost, especially when you’re already facing so many fees through your home purchase? Yes, it is. But considering the headache it could save you, and the assurance it will bring just knowing how perfectly safe and sound your home is, it is one of those tools that’s well worth the cost.
