1) Initially, we discuss in my office all of your wants and needs for us to be able to find your home easily.
2) You need to obtain a mortgage pre-approval from one of my lenders offering the lowest rate available or your own financial institution, if you already have one.
3) We start our search and find your home.
4) Once we find the right home for you, we submit an offer (or agreement of purchase and sale prepared by yours truly) to the seller. Often there are certain conditions (to protect you) on the offer, such as: i) Confirmation of mortgage final approval ii) Home inspection approval (for detached freehold homes or even condos or townhomes especially the older ones) iii) Status certificate (for condominium properties only) to be reviewed by your preferred or chosen lawyer
5) I will negotiate on your behalf the terms and conditions acceptable to you and the seller.
6) Seller accepts our offer.
7) Your deposit (earnest money) is placed "in trust" until closing date. The deposit is usually from a low of $5,000 to a high of even over $100,000 depending upon the property value; this earnest money is part and parcel of our down payment.
8) Condition removal process: This typically takes from 5 - 10 business days and usually removed in the following order: i) Confirmation of mortgage final approval and home inspection approval ii) Lawyer’s approval of status certificate (if property is a condominium) If any of the conditions are found unacceptable to you, the sale can be voided and our deposit will be returned to us in full.
9) Waiver of conditions (as each condition is met): You must remove (waive) the condition/s from the offer within the pre-determined condition removal time period. If written waivers are not completed and presented to the seller within the time frame allowed, the agreement of purchase and sale may be voided and the full deposit (earnest money) will be returned to us immediately. Usual time frame is 3 - 12 days from the time the offer is accepted to remove all conditions.
10) A few weeks before our closing date, the instructions to prepare your mortgage will be delivered to our chosen lawyer from our chosen financing institution.
11) Seller's lawyer obtains the description of the property and prepares transfer deed for execution (signing) by the seller.
12) Our mortgage documentation is prepared and finalized.
13) The seller's lawyer delivers the transfer of deed and land documents to our lawyer under the trust conditions.
14) You must ensure to arrange for your home & mortgage insurance or you may not be allowed to move into your home until this is finalized and written proof is delivered to our lawyer. You should also ensure the transfer of your mailing address, hook-up of utilities (gas, electricity, water, etc.) On my website, go to Useful Tools, and then Helpful Links.
15) Our lawyer calculates the cash balance (including the remaining balance of the down payment) needed to close your home purchase after all adjustments & fees, and hands out this "Statement of Adjustments" to you when you meet with him/her.
16) You sign the transfer and mortgage documents at our lawyer's office, and simultaneously issue a bank draft/certified cheque (balance owing) based from the Statement of Adjustments payable to our lawyer's in-trust account.
17) Balance owing is forwarded to the seller's lawyer under the trust conditions.
18) Our lawyer submits the transfer and mortgage documents to the Land Registry Office for registration.
19) Seller's lawyer receives balance owing and holds it "in-trust" pending completion.
20) Registration of transfer and mortgage obtained - title is now in your name.
21) We do a pre-possession walk through of your home a few days before our closing date.
22) The Seller's lawyer releases the key/s to our lawyer.
23) Copy of acceptable title, is now in your name, delivered to our lawyer.
24) Your key to your home is now available for pick up at our lawyer's office.
25) Transaction is completed and finalized.
Congratulations, welcome to your new home!