Real Estate Lawyers

When Selling a Home If you are selling and buying another home, it is good practice to schedule your purchase a few days earlier than your sale. It means you will have to obtain a bridge loan and pay a small amount of interest, but it will reduce a huge amount of stress and make your move much smoother. You can then take the time to clean to your standards and make some improvements should you choose to do so before moving in your furniture. When including chattels (like fridge, stove, etc.) in your sale, try to avoid "good working order clauses" in place of "as is" condition. Quite often, good working order clauses create last minute disputes and the threat of a claim for some minor imperfection in the chattel. it is best to simply say, the fixtures are sold "as is", knowing that the buyers are likely going to include a home inspection condition which would allow the buyers to satisfy themselves as to the condition of the chattels. Once the inspection condition is waived, you then have peace of mind knowing that the buyers will not have any ground to complain should the dryer simply stop working. Provide your real estate lawyer with: Copy of the Sale Agreement and all Amendments/Waivers Name and contact details of your Realtor Your full legal names and dates of birth Your complete contact details, including best phone numbers and emails at which to reach you Valid identification (i.e. Driver’s license), which is required by law Most recent Realty Tax Bill Statement Remember to: Call your utility company about 1 week prior to your closing date to schedule a final reading for your water and hydro If you have a water heater rental or have a financing contract for a water heater, be sure to make arrangements for transferring the rental contract, or obtain and provide our office with the payout statement for the account as of the closing date Once the transaction closes, the purchaser’s lawyer will notify the City Tax Department of the change in ownership and billing information Cancel your home insurance the day after your closing date Forward your mail through Canada Post Office Provide Notice of Change of Address to all companies with whom you deal with (ie. cell phone provider and bank) Complete the Seller Information Form »

Mortgage Financing Our Real Estate Lawyers routinely represent private lenders and borrowers in financing matters.

Commercial and Residential real estate Our clients include small and large commercial and residential property owners with multi-tenanted, multi-occupant and multi-use buildings. Our Real Estate Lawyers routinely handle complex purchase transactions and investigate title and tenancies to ensure clear and marketable title is obtained. We also prepare, review and enforce lease agreements.

Land Transfers and Survivorship Applications Title transfers occur for many reasons. An individual may want to put the property in their spouse’s name to protect their property from creditors, or rollover the realty into a holding company, or simply add a child’s name on the title for estate planning purposes. Our Real Estate Lawyers routinely assess and advise clients on the best approach to achieve their goals and minimize costs. Survivorship Applications are performed to remove the name of a deceased person from joint title of a property into the survivor's name.

When Buying a Home If you are selling and buying another home, it is good practice to schedule your purchase a few days earlier than your sale. This take the stress out of having to move out and then in on the same day. It also allows you to get your new home ready by cleaning, decorating and renovating it. Of course, you will require a bridge loan from your lender which is repaid with nominal interest to the bank once your sale closes. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of buying a home is being unsure as to when you will get vacant possession. You may have movers scheduled or a certain time of day and the risk is they end up waiting, having to charge you while you wait to get the key to your new home. Most lawyers will tell you that you can expect the key between 2pm to 5pm on the day of closing and this depends on when your lender sends your lawyer the mortgage proceeds. Tips when buying a home Provide your real estate lawyer with: A Copy of the Purchase Agreement and all Amendments/Waivers if you are buying a condominium, make sure you or your realtor gets the Status Certificate to the lawyer promptly for their review Name and contact details of your Realtor Your full legal names and dates of birth Your complete contact details, including best phone numbers and emails at which to reach you Two (2) valid pieces of identification (i.e. Driver’s Licence and credit card with your name on it) If you are obtaining a mortgage or secured line of credit, provide us with the contact details of your broker or lending institution, so we may request your mortgage instructions from the bank Tell us whether you, your spouse or former spouse has ever owned real estate anywhere in the world. First time homebuyers are entitles to a maximum credit of $2,000.00 against the Land Transfer Tax. If one spouse is a first time homebuyer but the other spouse owned or had a former spouse that owned a property anywhere in the world, then the maximum Land Transfer Tax credit is reduced by half. Binder for Fire Insurance for the replacement value of your home naming your lender as the “1st loss payee” and the lender’s address. Simply notify your insurance agent who will be familiar with this request and ask that they fax or email the insurance binder to our office. Remember to: Call the local utility company about 1 week before your closing date to set up the water and hydro account in your name. Notify any other service providers 7 to 10 days before closing to schedule setting up services for telephone, cable and internet accounts Forward your mail through Canada Post Office Provide Notice of Change of Address to all companies with whom you deal with (ie. cell phone provider and bank) We will promptly respond to any questions you or your realtor may have in the course of the transaction and, when necessary, we routinely make ourselves available after office hours. We promptly review Status Certificates and advise you and your realtor of our opinion on whether to waive the condition and, if not, why not. Complete the Buyer Information Form

When Buying a newly constructed residence If you re buying a new home from a builder as an investment and you, nor an immediate family member, intend to live in it, then HST up to a maximum of $24,000.00 will be charged on the purchase price at the time of closing. You will however, be able to apply for an HST rebate after the title is transferred to you and the premises are leased. The rebate application requires you to provide a copy of the signed lease along with a copy of your Agreement of Purchase and Sale and a copy of the Statement of Adjustments. You can not avoid paying HST by misleading the builder. There are too many checks and measures along the way that will expose you to costly interest and penalties from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Revenue Canada is stringent in its enforcement of this rule and routinely performs intensive audits. Quite often when buying a newly constructed condominium, you will likely be expected to take occupancy prior to the title being transferred to your name. You will essentially be forced to be a ‘tenant’ to the builder for a period of time, sometimes months, before the builder can transfer the title to you. The builders charge ‘occupancy rent’ from the occupancy date, comprised of an estimate of the realty taxes and common element fees for your unit, plus interest for the unpaid balance of the purchase price. We can provide further clarification on this issue if you wish, but essentially there are two sets of closings – the interim occupancy date when you get possession and the final closing date when title is transferred into your name. If you intend to buy a property privately and are not using an agent, we can draft your purchase offer and advise you on the key items you need to be aware of when negotiating the deal.

Mortgage Financing Our Real Estate Lawyers routinely represent private lenders and borrowers in financing matters.

Commercial and Residential real estate Our clients include small and large commercial and residential property owners with multi-tenanted, multi-occupant and multi-use buildings. Our Real Estate Lawyers routinely handle complex purchase transactions and investigate title and tenancies to ensure clear and marketable title is obtained. We also prepare, review and enforce lease agreements.

Land Transfers and Survivorship Applications Title transfers occur for many reasons. An individual may want to put the property in their spouse’s name to protect their property from creditors, or rollover the realty into a holding company, or simply add a child’s name on the title for estate planning purposes. Our Real Estate Lawyers routinely assess and advise clients on the best approach to achieve their goals and minimize costs. Survivorship Applications are performed to remove the name of a deceased person from joint title of a property into the survivor's name.