CALGARY - In residential real estate, there's an old saying about how location is an important factor in any purchase - besides the price of course.

A BMO Bank of Montreal survey, released today, says that among current and future first-time home owners, location is the main reason they would consider offering more than the asking price for a home.

The survey found that:

• 70 per cent of current home owners would consider offering more for a home based on its location

• 63 per cent of future first-time home owners would consider offering more for a home based on its location.

• Future first-time home owners who are men are more likely (70 per cent) than their female counterparts (57 per cent) to consider offering more for a home based on its location.

“Especially in today’s heated market, it’s easy to get caught up in the emotions of a home purchase,” said Jane Yuen, Senior Manager of Mortgages, BMO Bank of Montreal. “It’s hard to walk away from a home you believe is ‘the one’ but homebuyers need to avoid getting caught in a bidding war that pushes their mortgage payments outside their comfort zone. In short, you need to know your limit and stay within it.”

Among future first time home owners the study found some notable gender differences:

• Men are more likely than women to agree that talk of rising interest rates has influenced their decision to enter the housing market (39 per cent vs. 26 per cent).

• Twice the number of men compared to women report that they have been caught up in a bidding war (16 per cent vs. eight per cent)

• Females are more likely than their male counterparts to say they are being overwhelmed by the choices/decisions involved in the home buying process (44 per cent vs. 28 per cent)

The Harris/Decima online poll was conducted from February 16-22 2010 and is based on a sample of 1,000 Canadians between the ages of 25-45 years, who are either current home owners (who currently have a mortgage on their home and needed one when they purchased their home) or are planning on purchasing their first home in the next 12 months, and at least share in their household’s financial decisions.

mtoneguzzi@theherald.canwest.com

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