Even after your bid for the house you decided to buy has been accepted by the seller, there’s plenty left to do before you can rightfully move in. In the following article, an experienced realtor from Toronto will identify the most important pitfalls of the process.
After your offer has been accepted, the next thing to do is to meet with your lawyer and have her/him explain you all your liabilities following from the contract. Your attorney should help you to understand all the expenses connected to the closing procedures, including Land Transfer Tax, disbursements and legal fees.
UTILITIES
It is also necessary to verify the absence of any arrears or outstanding charges, such as gas, water or hydro expenses. Your lawyer does this by sending letters to the municipal or regional utility departments. These letters also verify if the equipment on the property is rented or owned and they also inform the various utility departments of the scheduled closing date, the new owner’s name and the name of the seller’s lawyer. These letters also ask for information as to the type of billing and if the billing is metered.
TAXES
A Tax Certificate is requested by your lawyer to verify the amount of the current year’s taxes and to inquire as to arrears and outstanding charges for taxes for the current year and any preceding years.
BUILDING & ZONING
Your lawyer will also send a letter to the Building and Zoning Department, along with a copy of survey for the property. The purpose of this is to find out all the particulars of zoning by-laws and restrictions concerning the distance from the street and side and rear lines, construction type, lot and building areas, lot frontage and depth requirements and permitted uses.
TITLE & EXECUTION SEARCH
A Search of title to the property is initiated in the appropriate division of the Land Registry Office to establish whether or not the seller is the owner of the property, whether or not he has the right to convey the property, and that the property is not subject to any encumbrances, encroachments, easements, liens, agreements or mortgages that were not revealed in the Agreement or Purchase and Sale. The appropriate Sheriff’s Office will manage an execution search to make sure there are no executions against the seller or prior owners of the property. If there were any, they would affect your title.
FINANCING
In the meantime, while your lawyer is busy performing all the initial searches, you should arrange all the necessary financing details. Already before signing the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, you should have decided the amount of financing you will qualify for and the amount you will need to finish the transaction. On the day of closing, you might not know of all the expenses related to mortgage financing. Your lawyer can advise you of these expenses when the financial institution that you chose provides you with a Mortgage Commitment Letter.
BEFORE THE DAY OF CLOSING
You will be asked to show up at your lawyer’s office a few days prior to closing to sign all necessary documents and to provide your solicitor with the balance of closing funds by way of certified cheque.
CLOSING DAY
Your lawyer will arrange a meeting with the vendor’s lawyer at the appropriate Land Registry Office to subsearch the title and finish the execution searches. They will exchange documents, keys and cheques and your lawyer will manage that all the necessary documents are registered. Once the documents have been registered the vendor’s lawyer may release the money to his clients and your lawyer may release the keys to you.
AFTER CLOSING
After closing your lawyer will write a reporting letter to you certifying your title and explaining all details of the transaction. Then you are finally free to move in to your new home! Just make sure to check that all items that should be included in the purchase price, as specified in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, are left on the property by the seller. Let your lawyer know without any delay if you think something is missing.