After you have signed an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (the “Offer”) you will need to retain a lawyer to act on your behalf to complete the sale of your property. The lawyer’s job is to ensure that the transfer of the property from the seller to the buyer is properly completed on the closing date. This process is usually referred to as a “Closing”.
Instruct your real estate agent to send us a copy of the Offer, including all waivers and the survey, if available.
We will require certain information from you as follows:
- Who is on title and their spousal status.
- Your forwarding address.
- Where is your existing mortgage? What Bank and Mortgage Reference Number?
- What are the property taxes and how much have you paid for the current year?
- Is your water billed by a meter or on a flat-rate basis? If a flat-rate, what was the amount of your last water bill?
- If there are any tenants being assumed by the buyer, we will require particulars of the tenancies including rental amounts, last month’s rental deposit, etc.
We will communicate with the buyer’s solicitor(s) and answer all requisitions they may have regarding your property. We will also ensure that the proper adjustments for property taxes, common expenses, water bills (if flat-rate), and rents (if applicable) are made on the closing date.
We will also write to your mortgage lender to obtain a discharge statement for the closing date. Any monies owing will be paid from the sale proceeds. We will obtain particulars/confirmation of the mortgage discharge registration.
About two to three weeks before the closing date, you should:
- Call your utilities companies to advise of the sale and request meter readings for the closing date.
- If you pay your property taxes by pre-authorized payment, call the Tax Department to cancel any payments due after the closing date.
- If you are selling a condominium unit, call the property manager to have your monthly common expense payments stopped, commencing with the first payment due after the closing date. If you pay by post-dated cheques, ask them to return your cheques. If you pay by pre-authorized payment, please instruct the property manager to cancel this arrangement.
Prior to the Closing, we will call you to arrange a sign-up meeting. At this meeting, you will review and sign the closing documents. Please bring two acceptable pieces of identification to the meeting (including one picture ID). In addition, we will require keys for the property.
On Closing, we will exchange documents, keys and funds with the buyer’s lawyer. If all goes smoothly, your funds will be available at our office for pick-up sometime between 2 and 5 p.m. on the closing date.
After we have confirmed the completion of your Closing, call your insurance broker to cancel your insurance effective the day after the closing date (in the event that there is a delay in the Closing).
Don't hesitate to ask us anything about your Closing at any time.
