Making a sound real estate purchase is often a lot more involved than most first time home buyers realize. You can't just go to London, zip around with a real estate agent, and find the right home for you and expect to purchase at the right price. Buying the right London Ontario home for sale and buying it at the right price are two very different things.

Research will be your best ally when it comes to finding the right price so that your house purchase not only gives you a good home, but a sound investment. The fact is that some purchases will pay higher dividends than others, in the London market and elsewhere. While we might not have the inside edge an Ontario lawyer may provide, we are pretty confident that you will want to take a look at a few different facets of the London market before making your purchase. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Condo to stand alone home ratios

Make no mistake about it, London is a large city. However, it lags behind many of Canada's cities when it comes to the condo market. Centres such as Vancouver, Toronto, and even Saskatoon are the dream of any pioneering Ontario architect. They are already large, guaranteed to grow, and have highly populated urban centres which require high density development.

While London has the population and the downtown areas ripe for condominium development, it does not have the same interested demographic that most cities of its size and larger in the country share. That means that the condo to home ratio in the city is even lower than in most areas; for every condo unit built, more than 70 homes are erected!

That's a low ratio and illustrates the amount of expansion still available within city limits. From an investment perspective, the condo market in London is not yet right for the plucking.

New Home starts

An economy that is a little bit behind has also resulted in a lower number of new home starts within the city, a number which has continued to decline over the last five years. This is very important for the first time home buyer, as it often means you can purchase a new home for the same price as a similar resale home. While you won't get the same return as you might on a house for sale in Mississauga, that new home is guaranteed to appreciate in value and fetch you some extra money on the sale.

Current market values

When it comes to comparative market values between locations, London Ontario enjoys an edge that is more than competitive with what is around it. The city still tends to be overlooked within its geographical area. That means whether you are looking for London ON townhouses, single detached dwellings, or condominiums you are going to be paying a lower price for your home.

That's great news if you are moving from somewhere like Brantford; a London purchase with the money from the Brantford sale can net you an extra $30,000 or more!

Don't get caught up in the adventure of it all when you are thinking about putting an offer on your ideal piece of London real estate. Instead, take a look at the comparative value and ensure that you are making the right offer from an investment perspective.