In the province of Ontario, you are legally required to— hire a real estate attorney to sell your house. A good real estate attorney provides a backstop for your real estate agent, finding loopholes in the purchase agreement, saving you money with contingencies, and maybe even insulating you from lawsuits years down the line.
Property law can be vague and complex. A residential real estate lawyer has had experience interpreting these laws. They can advise on following specific laws and bylaws unique to your region. Selling a home, you always want to be in compliance with property law.
Realtors, in most cases, use templates for an Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Unfortunately, not all home sales are the same. There may be changes or additions which need to be made. There may need to be conditions added in as to what happens if a sale does not close if deficiencies are found in the home on inspection or other issues. A lawyer can help with this.
There could be significant tax responsibilities in selling a home. A real estate lawyer can advise you on what’s expected and what an appropriate response is. For example, some sellers may be required to pay tax on the profits they earn from a home sale. There may be tax provisions they are unaware of which can help save sellers money on this. There may also be a way to exclude these gains in certain circumstances. Regardless, a lawyer’s there to advise you.
If you’ve never gone through the closing process for selling a home in Toronto, there’s a process to be followed. A real estate lawyer can help in completing title searches to ensure the sale of your home is valid, ensure funds are received prior to transferring the deed to the buyer, will deliver the keys to the new owner, and inform utility companies of the sale.