Help! Good Fortune, but what to do????

Hello,

My husband and I have recently had the good fortune of coming into some money and are looking to move back to canada from england. I am a canadian citizen and my husband is british. We are going to visit canada in august for 2 weeks to look at properties etc.
What we would like to know is, should we buy a property ahead of our application being accepted?
We both have a high standard of education, however, will not have jobs until we move and find one.
If anyone knows, and can give us some advice, that would be greatly appreciated.

thank you!

First off - congrats on your good fortune!

Personally, I wouldn't buy anything until you have your paperwork good to go. How much would it suck if you bought a place, only to have your application held up over something? I think that'd be the cautious approach, but I guess it's really your call. I suppose if you bought a place, and then couldn't move into it, you could always sell it again or maybe rent it until your applications are approved.

If you are planning to pay for the house outright (ie. no loan) then you can probably go ahead and buy a house whenever you like. I know from looking for myself that the RIGHT home for you and your family might not come along that often so if you find it, then yah maybe make that purchase right away.

As CanuckAbroad mentioned, something may happen to hold up your application (the immigation system is not perfect) so that's something to consider, though obviously you may still want to go ahead if you're comfortable with that and potentially with renting it out for awhile. Basically it's going to be a personal decision for you guys.

That being said, if you ARE looking to get a home loan (obviously I have no idea just how fortunate your good fortune is!) then that is probably something that you won't be able to get until you get jobs in Canada.

Congrats and good luck with the move!