Buying a Home

Once you have finalised the real estate purchase agreement with your realtor and the mortgage with your lender, there really isn’t much for you to do from the lawyer side of things. Generally, here is what you need to do for the lawyer side of things: Give my contact info to your realtor and your mortgage lender. The real estate office will send me the final purchase contract (Conveyancing Instructions) and the mortgage lender will send me the mortgage information (Mortgage Instructions). Arrange for insurance on the property. I will give you the information you need to provide to your insurance agent. Make sure that you have access to the down payment funds about one week prior to the Possession Date. For example, transfer funds from investments to your chequing account. About 1 week before your possession/closing/key release date, we will meet in person to sign all of the documents for the purchase. At this meeting you will need to bring your down payment bank draft, your photo ID, and any other documents required for the closing. The meeting will last about 45 minutes. Then on the closing day, we will receive the mortgage funds from your mortgage lender and along with the down payment received by you, we will pay the purchase price to the seller’s lawyer. Once the seller’s lawyer receives the purchase price from us, they will contact your realtor to release the keys to you. This usually happens around noon. And that is really it!

We will meet one week to one day prior to the Possession Date to sign the documents.

Usually, you get the keys around lunch time on the Possession Date. On the Possession Date, I will send the Cash to Close (the purchase price) to the Seller’s Lawyer around 12 noon. Once the Seller’s Lawyer receives the Cash to Close, the Seller’s Lawyer will contact the Seller’s Real Estate Agent who will then contact your Real Estate Agent to arrange for keys to be released to you. Do not expect to receive the keys prior to 1pm on the Possession Date.

Your real estate agent will arrange for you to receive the keys. We will contact you on the Possession Date you to let you know that we have paid the seller’s the funds and to expect a call from your realtor.

There are a number of factors that may prevent your deal from not closing on time. For example, your mortgage lender may not provide the mortgage funds to me on time or the Seller is not able to provide information or documents necessary to complete the deal prior to the Possession Date. I will let you know immediately if I am aware that there may be a delay. If the deal is unable to close on the Possession Date, you may still be able to move in under a tenancy arrangement . This option will be discussed with you if necessary.

Two to Three months after your Possession Date, I will mail you a package of documents for your records which will include a copy of the title to your home. If you have any questions or concerns when you receive the package, do not hesitate to contact me.

We offer Flat Rate Pricing for the Conveyancing for your Home Purchase. Our Flat Rate Pricing includes the Legal Fee, Disbursements, and G.S.T. This make it easier to budget your costs. In addition to the Flat Legal Fee, you should also budget for the following which may be payable at the time of Closing: - Any Lender Fees. - Any closing adjustments between you and the Seller such as municipal property tax, condo fee, and homeowner association fee adjustments. - Title Insurance premium.