Once your offer for your dream property has been accepted, there is still so much to do before you can call the house trully yours. In the following article, an experienced Toronto realtor will highlight the most important points of the process.
Once the offer has been accepted, your solicitor should explain to you your obligations under the contract. Your solicitor should help you to understand all the costs connected to the closing procedures, including Land Transfer Tax, disbursements and legal fees.
UTILITIES
Letters are sent by your solicitor to all municipal or regional utility departments to validate that there are no arrears or outstanding charges, such as gas, water or hydro expenses. 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 vendor’s solicitor. Details about the billing type and whether the billing is metered, all this is also asked for by these letters.
TAXES
Your solicitor will request a Tax Certificate to verify the current year’s taxes amount and to find out any arrears and outstanding charges for taxes, both in the current year and in any previous ones.
BUILDING & ZONING
A letter is sent by your solicitor to the Building and Zoning Department together with a copy of the survey for the property to discover the full particulars of zoning by-laws and restrictions relating to the distance from the street and side and rear lines, type of construction, lot areas and building areas, lot frontage and depth requirements and permitted uses.
TITLE & EXECUTION SEARCH
A Search of title to the property is started in the appropriate division of the Land Registry Office to determine whether or not the vendor 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 do an execution search to make sure there are no executions against the vendor or previous owners of the property. If there were any, they would affect your title.
FINANCING
While your solicitor is going through his initial searches, it is your responsibility to make necessary arrangements for financing. 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 require to finish the transaction. There are always some costs connected to mortgage financing that you haven’t known about on the day of closing. Again, it is a good idea to ask your solicitor about these costs, when you get the Mortgage Commitment Letter from the financial institution that you have chosen.
BEFORE THE DAY OF CLOSING
A few days before the closing, you will need to come to your solicitor’s office to sign all the necessary documents and to produce a certified cheque to verify the balance of closing funds.
CLOSING DAY
Your solicitor will arrange an appointment with the vendor’s solicitor at the appropriate Land Registry Office to subsearch the title and finish the execution searches. They will exchange documents, keys and cheques and your solicitor will make sure all the necessary documents are registered. After the documents registration, the vendor is entitled to get the money and you can get the keys from your solicitor.
AFTER CLOSING
Now your solicitor will provide you with a reporting letter that certifies your title and explains all the transaction details. After moving in to your new house, it is a good idea to check all items that should be included in the purchase price according to the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, are really left on the property by the vendor. Let your solicitor know without any delay if you think something is missing.
