You have home-buying questions? We have answers.
Building a home is exciting, but it can feel a little overwhelming. We’ve built thousands of homes and would love to share what we’ve learned. Here are some answers to the questions we often hear about what happens before and after you buy your Cardel home.
Before you buy a Cardel home.
First things first, take a minute to register. Head to the community page that you are interested in and click the red ‘REGISTER’ button at the top or the red button on the right-hand side. Once you are there, click ‘Get email updates’ and fill in the form. Once submitted, you are officially registered to receive release emails, community updates and more! If you are interested in multiple communities, you will need to register on each community page.
To reach a sales agent by phone, email or in person, visit our contact page for sales centre hours and locations by clicking this link.
All Cardel floorplans are available online, and only base prices for each plan are shown. Structural options are priced independently and can be added to our floorplans. For more detailed pricing, please contact our community sales consultant. If you are looking at a quick move-in home, the all-in price shown includes all structural options and design selections.
The deposit and milestone payments required during the process of buying a Cardel home are structured as follows:
- A $2,000 lot deposit is required to hold your home.
- Upon signing an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS), 10% of the pre-tax purchase price of the home is due and payable. Should you request an alternative deposit structure, approval is on a case-by-case basis. If you are purchasing the property as an investment property, 20% of the pre-tax purchase price is due and payable.
- After making selections at the Design Centre, a 10% deposit is required on upgrades.
- The balance of the full purchase price remaining (including upgrades and taxes) is due upon closing before moving in.
Interested homebuyers who have registered online are always the first to know via email about our releases. All lots are first come, first served.
To reserve a home with Cardel Homes, you will need:
- $2000 lot deposit
- Mortgage pre-approval
- Driver’s licence(s)
All Cardel home prices in Ottawa include applicable sales taxes, and we are legally required to include, collect and remit taxes to government authorities. This is the case with all new home builders in the Province of Ontario.
Our prices include the HST rebate. If you are purchasing the property for investment, or you are considered a foreign buyer, the purchase would be subject to the full HST amount in addition to the purchase price. All home purchases will be subject to a land transfer tax at the time of closing. A lawyer or accountant is the best person to consult with for these particulars and any other circumstances.
You do not need a real estate agent to buy a new home from Cardel. However, if you are working with one, you are welcome to consult with them and invite them to all of your appointments.
Many of our floorplans include options that are popular with new home buyers, including adding bedrooms, additional windows and more. As a production builder, we do not typically offer options beyond those identified on individual floorplan plans.
To obtain a mortgage pre-approval from your bank, start by contacting a mortgage specialist. Cardel works closely with Jordan and Kayla from RBC:
Jordan: RBC Mortgage Specialist Jordan Borup, Kanata, ON
Kayla: RBC Mortgage Specialist Kayla Laughlin, Carleton Place, ON; Stittsville, ON
With the exception of the small deposit that purchasers pay, Cardel is assuming all risks and financing all the costs of building a new home, including development fees, permits, inspections, labour, insurance and materials. Asking for proof of pre-approval is simply our method of ensuring that purchasers are in a financial situation to support and complete their new home purchase.
Other than controlling your excitement and anticipation, your only significant tasks will be making design and finishing decisions on your new home. If you have purchased a single-family home, you will be selecting exterior and interior finishes. Townhome buyers will simply select interior finishes. After that is done, you can go back to being excited about moving into your new Cardel home.
It takes approximately 10 months to build a new home from the time a sales agreement has been signed by all parties.
Designing and building your Cardel home
One of our designers will reach out to you once your agreement is firm. From here, you will have 45 days to make your design selections in your new home.
For reasons of safety and liability and in order to qualify for a new home warranty, all flooring, countertops, cupboards, etc., must be purchased and installed by Cardel. Homebuyers are provided with options for many of these materials.
Our sales team will be your primary point of contact throughout the construction of your new home, keeping you informed of the progress. While selecting your home finishes, you will be in contact with one of Cardel’s designers.
Hiring a home inspector is entirely your choice but is not required. If a home inspector is hired, the best time to do so would be within your new home warranty period. Be sure to ask if the home inspector is certified in conducting new construction inspections.
Given that materials have to be ordered weeks in advance and that construction people have to be scheduled ahead of time, it is not possible to make changes once construction has begun.
For single-family homes, we do offer guided structural tours accompanied by a member of the Cardel team during the construction of your new home. At all other times and for your own safety and liability issues, we are not able to allow buyers to walk through homes under construction unattended.
Our team will continue to keep you regularly informed of your home’s progress through direct emails that often include photos. If a delay is necessary, following the Tarion Statement of Critical Dates, you will be notified in ample time to make any necessary arrangements.
Tarion is a not-for-profit consumer protection organization established by the Ontario government to administer the province’s new home warranty program. By law, all new homes built in Ontario are provided with a warranty by the builder. Tarion’s role is to ensure that buyers of newly built homes in Ontario receive the coverage they are entitled to under their builder’s warranty. For more information, visit the Tarion website.
Cardel Homes is a family-owned company founded by Del and Caryl Ockey in Calgary in 1973. Cardel built its first home in Ottawa in 1996 and today builds homes in Calgary, Ottawa, Denver, Colorado and Tampa, Florida.
A quick move-in home is an opportunity to buy an already-built or under-construction home and is available for immediate purchase or occupancy. These homes have carefully selected structural options as well as designer-selected interior and exterior finishes. They offer the convenience of all in price within a shorter build time. To see our quick move-in homes available for purchase, click here.
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