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A lawyer side of any real estate transaction starts normally when the lawyer first receives the Agreement of Purchase and Sale from either your realtor or you directly. As such, it’s critical that the Agreement of Purchase and Sale get into our hands as soon as possible, especially if you have a quick closing date.

Once the Agreement of Purchase and Sale is in our hands, then you will receive an engagement letter listing out exactly what we as your lawyers do for you, what your next steps are and a list of the estimated costs. We will also have various questions for you, such as the name of the mortgage lender, information about the property and information about you.

When you are purchasing a property, prior to closing, we will conduct a search of title to ensure that you will have a valid title to the property you are purchasing.  The cost for the search of title will vary depending on the type of property you are purchasing.  A sub search is performed again on closing to ensure the sellers have not further encumbered the property. In additional to a search of title, we will also obtain title insurance for you. Title insurance is an insurance policy issued by an insurance company, which insures or indemnifies the home buyer and mortgage lender (where mortgage financing is provided) against loss or damage sustained as a result of covered title risks and defects. It further insures against various problems which would have been disclosed by an up-to-date survey of the property and against the property’s failure to comply with municipal or other applicable regulatory authority requirements. In essence, it transfers the risks connected with the property’s title from the home buyer and mortgage lender to the title insurance company.

We normally like to meet with clients a day or so before closing, if possible. This is where we will go through all the closing documents and discuss the process for closing. If you are purchasing a property, we will advise you prior to our meeting, how much funds we need from you to close. If you are selling a property, we will review, at our meeting, how much funds to expect once the deal closes.

Still have questions?  Please contact Madelaine Thurston at Kelly Santini LLP at 613-238-6321 x 305.

Article Written by Madelaine Thurston