Buying a home is probably the most significant investment you will ever make. From the time you submit your offer to purchase to the day you pick up the keys, you need the advice and assistance of an experienced lawyer. Galbraith Law is there to help.
Offer to Purchase for Buyers
The first step in buying a home is submitting the offer to purchase. This document is called a "Real Estate Purchase Contract". Your real estate agent will help you prepare and submit the offer. Ask your realtor if you have any questions about your offer. Once your offer is accepted, it is a legal contract, and you are bound by all the terms. Remember - i f it’s not in writing, it’s not part of the Offer.
After the offer is submitted and the deposit is paid, take steps to deal with many of the issues that arise well in advance of the closing or possession date. It is usually your responsibility to arrange for insurance and utility hook-ups. Make sure you can get insurance for your new home. We have seen several cases in the past couple of years where a buyer could not get fire insurance either because the house was too old or too remote.
You also need to make sure all your financing arrangements are in place. If you are obtaining a mortgage, the lender will need time to prepare and issue mortgage instructions. If you are cashing in investments, it often takes several days or more to process the transaction. If you are selling a home at the same time as buying a new one, many timing issues and complications can arise. Often, you will need the money for your purchase before you receive the money from your sale. Talk to your realtor, your banker and us well in advance to ensure that any complications are addressed. For example, you may need to obtain interim or bridge financing.
How Can We Help?
After the Offer of Purchase and Sale has been accepted, the bulk of your lawyer’s work begins.
We start by checking the taxes and the property description. We do a search at Land Titles to ensure that there are no registrations against the title that affect your ownership. We also search the Personal Property Registry to ensure that any freestanding items that you may be purchasing such as appliances are free and clear and to ensure that there are no outstanding judgments against any of the parties that may interfere with closing.
Then we do a full search of title. Should we find anything unusual or unexpected we will contact you. The vast majority of encumbrances on title will not interfere with your use and enjoyment of the property. Utility right-of-ways, restrictive covenants and easements are typically encountered.
Please ask us for a full explanation of any of these encumbrances and how they can affect your ownership. For example, should you build a garage on top of a utility right-of-way you may be faced with a costly task when the utility company needs to access the utility line and substantially damages your garage in the process. Since you built your garage on top of the utility right-of-way you will have to pay for all the repairs to your garage and the extra costs the utility company may incur as a result of the presence of your garage.
Galbraith Law will prepare all the necessary purchase and mortgage documents. We are authorized to prepare and register mortgages on behalf of all the major financial institutions.
We will arrange to discharge any mortgages or liens, advise you of any problems, attend to registration of the property in your name and requisition and pay the purchase money. We will confirm that registration has been properly completed as you have requested. We will contact the vendor’s lawyer and ensure that keys are released to you.
The Closing
After the closing, we will ensure that any outstanding encumbrances are discharged from title. For example, it can often take several weeks for the vendor’s lawyer to obtain a discharge of their mortgage and register it at Land Titles. We will also attend to any other unfinished matters such as the registration of encroachment agreements or the fulfillment of outstanding conditions. Our job is not finished until all these loose ends are completed.
Finally we will provide you with a complete written report with copies of all relevant documents to show that you have good title to the property.
Galbraith Law
217 14925 111 Ave
Edmonton AB T5M 2P6
