- Real Estate
Purchases -
The purchase of a new home is an exciting event, but it can
also be an overwhelming one. Your lawyer should be able to
put your fears to rest and make things less intimidating. I
make it a point to be available to answer any questions which you
may have during the purchase process, and I personally attend at
the Registry Office on the Closing Date
to ensure that all goes smoothly.
A house purchase is a complex legal and financial
transaction, and it should not be taken lightly. Your
lawyer acts on your behalf to coordinate this transaction;
investigating title and other matters relating to the property,
managing the receipt and payment of funds relating to the
transaction, as well as creating, reviewing and legally
registering all the necessary documents. A lawyer is the
only person who is legally entitled to perform all these
functions.
If you have not already signed an Agreement of Purchase and
Sale (commonly referred to as the "offer"); it is a
good idea to have a lawyer review the terms of the Agreement
before you sign, to ensure that you are properly protected.
You should also ask the vendor or his agent if there is a survey; if there is not, Title Insurance may be an option, you
should see a lawyer immediately.
It is your responsibility as the purchaser to ensure that the
home is physically sound. You may want to have your lawyer
or real estate agent insert a condition in the Agreement of
Purchase and Sale that calls for an independent home inspection.
You will usually have to contact a financial institution to
obtain a mortgage. Once you have been approved for a
mortgage, your lawyer will deal with the institution to obtain
the funds and to draft the mortgage document itself.
You should also contact an insurance company to arrange for
fire and loss insurance on the home. Although you will not
actually own the home until the closing date, it will be
necessary to make these insurance arrangements in advance, so
that they will be in place on the closing date and at no time is
the home left uninsured.
Your lawyer will check the legal background of the home
before the closing date. He or she will ensure that the
vendor actually has legal ownership ("title") which
entitles the vendor to sell it to you. He or she will also
verify that the property taxes on the home have been paid and
that there are no previous arrears. The lawyer will also
check with the municipality to make sure the land is properly
zoned and that there are no work orders outstanding against it
according to municipal records. Using zoning and survey
information, the lawyer can check to see that the position of the
house conforms to city bylaws with respect to side yards, front
yard setbacks, minimum frontage and other aspects. The
lawyer may do other searches which can vary with specific
properties.
In order to obtain answers to his searches, your lawyer will
have to pay out certain amounts of money to utilities, the
municipality and others. These amounts are called
disbursements. Fees required to register documents are also
disbursements. It is important to distinguish between the
lawyer's fee and disbursements. The fee is the payment for
the lawyer's service for acting on your behalf.
Disbursements are amounts that a lawyer must pay to others to
complete the transaction, for which you in turn must reimburse
the lawyer.
Land Transfer Tax must also be paid
when a property is purchased. This amount is collected by
your lawyer which he in turn pays to the Ministry on the Closing
Date. Please click on the link for more detailed
information; including how to calculate the Land
Transfer Tax.
Legal Fees:
My fee for a purchase transaction is $400. plus GST.
There will also be a number of disbursement charges which can
run in the neighbourhood of $400. to $550. depending on the
details of the transaction.
Please feel free to contact my office if you have any further
questions and for a breakdown of the disbursements involved in
your transaction.
Some Other Things to Think About ...
Send E-mail to David Fysh at david@davidfysh.com