Real Estate Law
Purchase and Sales
Buying and selling a property is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. When acquiring or selling your property, our goal is to make the process as simple, convenient, and trouble-free as possible.
We are available for a consultation at any time throughout this process, including reviewing and advising as to offers of purchase and sale prior before presentation or acceptance.
This is an especially valuable service for those contemplating buying or selling a property privately.
There is no charge for such initial consultation.
The Lawyer’s Services
When You Buy
Once an accepted offer for purchase or sale of a property has been concluded, the services and protections offered by a lawyer in acting for you in your purchase are typically as follows:
-
Conducting a legal search to verify that the seller has a good and marketable title to the property being sold;
-
Confirming that there are no liens or encumbrances that would prevent you from receiving a good and marketable title to the property from the seller, and if there are any, to arrange to have these removed prior to transfer to you of title to the property;
-
If you are borrowing money to finance the purchase, dealing with your lender, preparing the mortgage, and arranging for delivery of mortgage funds prior to the closing of the purchase and sale;
-
Preparing all necessary documents for the completion of the purchase, meeting with you to review these with you and obtain your signature to these before the completion date;
-
Deal with the seller’s lawyer throughout the transaction, and cooperate with, and coordinate the efforts of, other professionals involved, including your mortgage broker (if you have chosen to use one), realtor, mortgage lender, surveyor, title insurer, and home insurer; and
-
Report to you after finalization of the purchase and provide to you a reporting letter along with copies of all documentation of the transaction.
When You Sell
The services and protections offered by a lawyer in acting for you when you sell your property are typically as follows:
· Confirmation that any contingencies that make the offer on your property conditional only are satisfied or removed so that you have a legally enforceable contract for the sale of your property;
· If you have an existing mortgage on your property to arrange for a payout statement from your mortgage lender and confirm with you your agreement as to the amount owing prior to the completion date;
· Preparing all necessary documents for the completion of the sale, meeting with you to review these with you and obtain your signature to these before the completion date;
· Deal with the buyer’s lawyer throughout the transaction, and cooperate with, and coordinate the efforts of, other professionals involved, including your realtor, mortgage lender;
· Review with you the amount of commission owed to your realtor and attend to the payment of such commission on completion of the sale;
· Pay-out of any existing mortgage, obtain from your lender and register a discharge of any existing mortgage on your property on completion of the sale;
· Pay to you the net sale proceeds, and after finalization of the sale and discharge of any existing mortgage, provide to you a reporting letter along with copies of all documentation of the transaction.
Other Professionals
The Realtor
While many buyers and sellers choose to use the services of a professional realtor, through the Canadian Real Estate Association national Multiple Listing
Service (MLS) website, as well as websites operated by the Real Estate Board of the Fredericton Area and those of its individual member brokers and agents, it is not obligatory to do so.
If you do choose to use the services of a realtor, we cooperate with and coordinate the efforts of your realtor, to ensure that we work as a team united in your goal of buying or selling your property efficiently.
Private Sales
A lawyer can assist either a buyer or seller who wishes to enter into a contract to buy or sell real property to do by preparing the necessary documents to make either a purchase or sale a legally binding agreement. This includes assisting with properties offered for sale through private listing services for owners such as PropertyGuys.com or Propertysold.ca The lawyer will ensure that in doing so, that he or she protects the interests of their client at all times. The lawyer can also assist in handling negotiations over the terms and conditions, such as price, before you make or accept an offer by signing a written contract of purchase and sale, which written agreement is mandatory to ensure that an agreement to buy or sell a property is legally binding on the parties.
Our services in drafting agreements for buyers or sellers are complimentary, if such clients then use our offices for completion of the purchase and sale should such offer prepared by us be accepted. There is no obligation should any such offer either to buy or sell not be accepted.
At all times, however, our loyalty is to you as the client, which duty is our primary responsibility.
Surveyor
While it is the responsibility of your lawyer to ensure the “quality” of title to your property, the “quantity” of your property is the responsibility of a member of the New Brunswick Association of Land Surveyors.
As a buyer of property, if the precise dimensions or area of the property is an important consideration, then it will likely be necessary to instruct your lawyer or for you to retain the services of a Surveyor to survey the subject property and prepare a drawing, called a Surveyor’s Real Property Report, to illustrate the required information such as the location of property boundaries and the location of buildings on the property.
If no existing monumentation, such as surveyors pins or stakes, can be located, and you wish such monumentation to be placed by the Surveyor, an extra charge may apply.
In some cases, an existing survey may exist of the property, a copy of which may be provided by the seller. Whether this document will be acceptable either to you as the buyer or your mortgage lender is a question of fact that must be determined in consultation with your lawyer and lender.
You should also be aware that it may be the position of the New Brunswick Surveyor’s Association that the duplication of such existing survey may be a violation of copyright law.
For more information about this, you should refer to the website of the New Brunswick Association of Land Surveyors or discuss the matter with your lawyer.
Title Insurance
As an alternative to the availability of an acceptable surveyor’s real property report, you may wish to purchase title insurance.
Title insurance functions to protect you from economic loss that may result from subsequent problems that are discovered after the completion of the sale, such as encroachments on your property or an encroachment by your buildings on a neighbor’s property.
Additional hazards may be insured by your title insurer, such as adverse claims against the title to your property, claims of rights of way over your property, and other hazards.
For a complete review of the types of hazards that may be insured, it is necessary to consult with the particular title insurer that you will use, and review the policy of that insurer in detail. As your lawyer, we will also endeavor to advise you as to the any advantages that title insurance may offer in the circumstances of your purchase, and assist you with making an informed decision about use of such a product in your case.
Some of Canadian title insurance companies are:
- Chicago Title Insurance
- First Canadian Title Insurance
- TitlePlus Title Insurance
- Mortgage Broker
Mortgage Brokers are individuals who seek to put borrowers and lenders in touch with one another. The services of a mortgage broker are typically paid for by the mortgage lender, but in some cases a fee is charged by the broker from the borrower. Before using the services of a broker, it is advisable to confirm the basis, including costs, upon which their services will be provided.
Some advantages of using a broker may be:
-
Securing you the most competitive rate from among different lenders; and
-
Obtaining mortgage lending for persons who have difficulty securing a mortgage loan from a conventional lender, such a s a chartered bank, based on credit history, self-employment, or other reasons.
Mortgage Lender
Whether or not you choose to make use of the services of a mortgage broker to secure a source of lending for your purchase, your lawyer has the responsibility, once the loan has been approved and a commitment issued, to deal with your lender with all aspects of the loan thereafter, including reviewing the instructions to your lawyer from the lender, preparing and taking your signature on the mortgage documents, arranging for the advance of funds from the lender for the completion date, and attending to the registration of your mortgage in conjunction with transfer of ownership to you of the property.
Home Insurer
It is a requirement of your lender that you arrange house insurance, effective the date of completion of the sale. The choice of an insurer is an individual one to be made by you as the buyer, but having made a choice of insurer, upon being so advised, we will act on your behalf in obtaining all documentation from your insurance company necessary for the completion of the purchase.
Our Fees
The cost of legal services, like those of most professionals, is competitive. Upon request, we will provide a written quotation of the costs of our service for your purchase or sale. In addition to providing such confirmation of the costs of our services, we will also provide to you an informative letter that will explain many aspects of buying or selling a property that you will need to know about.
There is no obligation to receive either this letter or our fee quote.
[end]
