When you buy a home in Ontario, you will need to retain a real estate lawyer who will assist you with the purchase of your property. Your real estate lawyer will carry out a number of tasks and deal with various issues on your behalf.
Closing a real estate transaction in Ontario would involve lawyers attending at a Land Registry Office (LRO) to conduct title searches. On the day of completion, lawyers from both parties would meet at the LRO to exchange documents and keys and register the transfer. Today, with electronic registration, everything from title searches to transfers of land are completed with specialized software. Only lawyers and law firms can gain access to this software, and the switch to electronic registration does not remove the requirement that a lawyer must sign the transfer of land.
When choosing a lawyer to help you complete your real estate transaction, it is important to find a lawyer experienced with real estate. Experienced real estate lawyers will understand where complications with home sales tend to arise and will make sure that their clients’ interests are protected. Having an experienced real estate lawyer review an Agreement of Purchase and sale before it becomes firm is also a good idea, as a lawyer will often catch potential issues that a layperson will miss. In a standard resale agreement, you should consider including a clause that the agreement is subject to your lawyer’s review, and for a pre-construction condo, you should have your lawyer to review the contract within the statutory ten-day cooling-off period.
At “Omar Zahid Law Professional Corporation” we practice only Real Estate to keep our focus in one direction. This is what makes us ” The Best Real Estate Specialist law firm.”
The following are some of the tasks that will be carried out by us as your estate lawyer to ensure a smooth closing:
- Review your Agreement of Purchase and Sale to ensure that you are adequately protected.
- If you are buying a condominium unit, your real estate lawyer will review the status certificate, which includes information on the physical and financial status of the condominium corporation.
- Conduct a title search to ensure that you are purchasing a property with “clean title” (no liens, undischarged mortgages, etc. on title).
- Prepare a Requisition Letter for the seller’s lawyer, requesting information and documentation required for the closing.
- Arrange for title insurance for you.
- Provide your insurance binder/certificate to your lender and ensure that it meets the lender’s requirements.
- Receive mortgage instructions from your lender and follow such instructions to request funds from the lender.
- Receive Statement of Adjustments from the seller’s lawyer and review all adjustments and the payable amount with you. The Statement of Adjustments sets out the agreed-upon purchase price, any deposits provided by you, and adjustments credited to either the seller or you for items such as property taxes and common expenses.
- Transfer the funds for the sale to the seller’s lawyer.
With our assistance, you can make the purchase of your next home a smooth and seamless experience.