CFB Edmonton is one of the largest military bases in Canada, and as such the military moves a lot of people into and out of the Edmonton area.

A relocation to Edmonton can be a very stressful process for the military personnel and their family. They have to coordinate the sale of their home with the purchase of a new one in Edmonton. Usually, the family moving to Edmonton is sent out on an HHT, house hunting trip, with 4 or 5 days to find a home, negotiate the sale, and complete the transaction. Now that’s stressful!

Our team has a terrific system in place to help reduce the stress, open up more housing options for the HHT, and make the entire process more successful for the military relocating family.

With more than 11 years of experience as a Realtor, John Carle has successfully helped dozens of military families move into and out of the Edmonton area. During his 20 year career in the Canadian Forces, Ben Officer personally went through 3 HHT’s of his own. In the past 5 years of his real estate career, Ben has helped more than 30 families with their HHT’s. The processes and systems below are a result of combining their experiences and expertise to create the smoothest and most effective HHT process in the market today.

Here’s a few things that the Knock-Knock real estate team does to make your HHT a success.

1. A Dedicated Agent.

When you land in Edmonton, one of our agents will be at your disposal for the entire process. During your 4-5 day stay in Edmonton, that agent will have their schedule cleared so that you’re the only client they deal with. The benefits of this are obvious.

The Knock-Knock.ca real estate team has 3 experienced agents and a full compliment of support staff. This means that all other clients are disbursed throughout the team, freeing up your agent to give you the attention and dedicated service that makes an HHT successful.

2. Pre-Booked Inspection

The home inspection is a crucial part of the home buying process. Being present at the inspection is something that most military clients don’t have the luxury of doing, because good inspectors are usually so busy that they are booking a 7-10 days out. You want a good inspector, because a inexperienced inspector will miss a lot of the details.

Most inspectors won’t book an inspection without an address and pending sale; they want to know where they’re going and confirm that they’ll actually be working. Otherwise they’ll just book someone else.

Because of our strong relationship with our home inspectors, they are willing to bend the rules for us. We get the luxury of pre-booking the home inspection, without knowing where the inspection will be, because the inspectors value our clients make up a huge part of their business. This allows you to be present for your inspection, see the issues first hand, and get hands-on information about the home you’re buying; rather than having a report faxed to you in your home town.

3. Market Knowledge Before Your HHT

In most cases, the first day out looking at properties is an orientation day. You’re getting a feel for the market and the lay of the land. You’re learning about the neighbourhoods and the values of the properties. You’re getting to see what you can get for your money. But with only 4-5 days to buy, inspect, and close the sale… spending that first day getting your feet wet is terribly inefficient.

That’s why we set you up with market knowledge before you come out. We send you new listings, neighbourhood advice, and sales prices on the areas that interest you. This helps you to better understand just what you’re getting into, how your neighbourhood selections will affect the type of home you’ll get, and generally eliminate the need for learning about the market while you’re here.

This makes the first day on the ground far more effective, and gives you more valuable time looking at good properties.

4. Professionals on Stand-By

Sometimes you need to meet with a banker to finalize the financing on the home, or meet with a lawyer to sign transfer documents or get a power-of-attorney in place for 1 of the spouses. Because of our strong relationships, our supporting lawyers and and bankers are always prepared to shuffle their schedules to make sure that you’re taken care of while you’re in Edmonton. Not only does this make the HHT go more smoothly, but it makes the time between the HHT and possession go smoothly too.

These are just a few of the several tricks, systems, and processes that we use to make your HHT a success.

If you’d like to talk to one of our agents about your HHT, fill in the form below and we’ll call you right back. Your successful HHT is just a phone call away.

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