Buyers in the City of Toronto pay two land transfer taxes: the Ontario provincial tax and Toronto's own municipal land transfer tax, which roughly doubles the bill. Richmond Hill has no municipal land transfer tax, so you pay the provincial one only.

On a purchase of any size that is a meaningful saving, and it is one that buyers comparing Richmond Hill against a Toronto condo frequently fail to factor in. The same applies across York Region.

On top of that, Ontario offers a land transfer tax refund for eligible first-time buyers. Eligibility rules and the maximum refund are set by the province and change from time to time, so confirm the current figure and whether you qualify with your real estate lawyer before you build it into your budget. If you are buying with a partner who has owned before, that can affect the amount.

The deposit is paid within a day or two of your offer being accepted, by certified cheque or bank draft, and held in the listing brokerage's trust account. It forms part of your down payment but you need it available immediately, not at closing.

The down payment is the total amount you are putting toward the purchase, paid in full at closing with the deposit credited against it.

Practical point: if your money is in investments, a locked-in account or coming from family, arrange access before you start making offers. Losing a home because the deposit could not be produced in twenty-four hours is a genuinely avoidable loss, and it happens.

Several programs exist for first-time buyers in Canada, including the First Home Savings Account, the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, the federal first-time home buyers' tax credit and the Ontario land transfer tax refund.

Contribution limits, withdrawal limits, repayment rules and eligibility all change, sometimes significantly, and the definition of "first-time buyer" is not the same across every program. Some have holding periods that mean you need to act well before you buy rather than at the point of purchase.

Confirm the current rules and your own eligibility with a mortgage broker and an accountant before relying on any of them. This is the area where out-of-date information circulates most freely.

1. Get pre-approved. Not pre-qualified. A real pre-approval from a lender tells you your actual budget and holds a rate for a period.

2. Line up your team. Agent, mortgage broker, real estate lawyer. Have the lawyer chosen before you offer, not after.

3. Search and view. See more than you think you need to. The first few viewings recalibrate what your budget actually means in this market.

4. Offer. Price is one term among several. Closing date, conditions, deposit and inclusions all matter, and in a competing-offer situation they often matter more than the last few thousand dollars.

5. Conditions. Typically financing, inspection and, for a condo, status certificate review. This is your protection. Think hard before waiving any of it.

6. Firm and waiting. Your lawyer handles the title search and closing preparation. Do not make major purchases or change jobs in this window, because lenders re-verify.

7. Closing. Funds transfer, title registers, keys released.

You will have signed most documents with your lawyer a few days earlier and provided the balance of funds by certified cheque or wire. On the day itself, your lender advances the mortgage to your lawyer, your lawyer sends the funds to the seller's lawyer, and the transfer registers electronically.

Keys are released once registration completes and funds are confirmed. That can be late in the day, and it occasionally slips into the following morning if something upstream delays. Do not book movers for first thing in the morning on closing day, and do not book a moving elevator slot you cannot change.

Do a final walkthrough before closing if your agreement allows it, to confirm the property is in the condition you agreed and that the inclusions are still there.

1. Budgeting the down payment and nothing else. Closing costs are a separate pot of money and they are not small.

2. Confusing pre-qualification with pre-approval. One is an estimate from a calculator. The other is a lender's commitment.

3. Waiving conditions to win. Sometimes necessary in a competing-offer situation, always a risk, and never something to do without understanding exactly what you are giving up.

4. Financing a car or opening credit between firm and closing. Lenders re-check. This has collapsed deals a week before closing.

5. Buying the maximum the bank approves. The approval is what a lender will risk, not what leaves you comfortable. In an older Crosby home in particular, budget for the repairs that arrive in year one.