Real Estate Law Firms Functions When You Sell Your Home
Real Estate Law Firm Help When You Sell Your Home.
Our real estate law firm helps you when it is time to sell your home. At Kahane Law Office in Calgary, Alberta we believe in flat rate fees that are reasonable. While no substitution for your lawyer, we include information on what sellers must know when selling their home. That said, in order to protect yourself and make sure that you do not breach of your contract, a real estate law firm does the following for you: (You can also call us anytime to learn more about selling your home at 403-225-8810.)
Real Estate Law Firms Review Your Sale Agreement
The residential real estate purchase contract that you sign when selling your home is a legally binding contract. In addition to the selling price, it will contain conditions, deposits, special terms, possession dates, appliances, representations and warranties. Your real estate law firm should review your contract with you prior to signing it. If time is an issue, you can add a “lawyer review” condition. This means that the whole contract will be conditional on your satisfactory review of the real estate contract with your lawyer.
What Your Real Estate Law Firm Will Need From You
You will need to give your lawyer a few things for your appointment. You need two pieces of ID. The identification requirement must include a piece of government issued photo ID. If you are selling a house or a bareland condo, you will need to bring a real property report with a certificate of compliance from the municipality that shows all the current improvements on the property. We also assist if you need an encroachment agreement or if a restrictive covenant on title is causing trouble. You should also provide your real estate law firm with your mortgage reference number for any mortgages on the property. Remember, many lines of credit are registered as a mortgage.
Dower Rights
Dower rights give specific rights to a married person who is not on title to a home, if either of the spouses lived in the home since the time of their marriage. Check your title for a dower release to see about avoiding dower issues. It is extremely important to know if dower rights apply to you when you sell (or refinance) your home. Click here to learn more about dower rights.
What Real Estate Law Firms Do For Sellers
Your real estate lawyer works with you so that the hardest part of the sale, is moving your belongings. Several steps make up the process for selling a home. To ensure the smooth sale of your home, it is good to familiarize yourself with this process. For example, the following make up the legal process for selling property in Alberta:
Opening The Real Estate File And Getting Started
After reviewing the real estate purchase contract, your lawyer will request a tax and title search. The tax search shows both the legal description and if any tax arrears exist. From the title, your lawyer will know about any mortgage or other debt registered on the real estate title and will request a payout statement for each exact amount owing. Your lawyer also looks for other financial encumbrances on title. The lawyer uses the sale proceeds to pay out any debts. This means the payment of any contested debt. It is better for sellers to negotiate these debts before selling their home.
Drafting The Seller’s Real Estate Documents
Next, the law firm then prepares all the documents needed for the sale of the property. The most important is the transfer of land. Remember that land titles needs original signed real estate transfer documents, so you will need to physically sign these documents. Sellers will usually go to the real estate law firm to sign documents a week or 10 days prior to the possession date. A document required for that meeting, includes the real property report (except in the case of a conventional condo). Before selling your home, ensure it demonstrates all the improvements on the property.
Ensure Bridge Lenders Fund Bridge Financing
When a person buys a new home before the sale of their old home completes, bridge financing is often used. Our lawyers ensure that the lender gets confirmation that there are enough funds in the net sale proceeds to support the bridge loan. Bridge financing is important to ensure an on time possession, even if a person buys and sells on the same day.
Sending Documents To The Buyers’ Lawyer
Your lawyer then sends the documents to the buyer’s lawyer. This includes an estoppel certificate with the sale of a condominium, or a Real Property Report for any property that is on bare land. We send them under trust conditions to make no use of them, unless they follow very specific rules. However, if there are certain documents missing, the Buyer’s lawyer will likely include a holdback condition. This means that there will be a certain amount funds held back until a condition is fulfilled. These rules help ensure that protection is in place for you. For example, this includes ensuring the proper execution of the buyers’ mortgage, insurance is in place, documents reversing the transaction in the event of non-payment, etc. The buyers’ lawyer then sends the transfer of land to land titles for registration. At this stage the buyers’ lawyer requests funds from the buyers’ mortgage lender.
Receiving Money To Pay For The Real Estate
There are very specific details here but your real estate law firm should then receive funds from the buyer’s lawyer. Your lawyer will use the money to pay out any debts on title, tax or condo arrears, real estate commissions, legal fees and have the net funds available for you. In many instances we can have your funds deposited for you into your bank account. In situations where questionable registrations on title exist, including, for example, furnace caveats, we assist in discharging those.
Real Estate Law Firm Reminders
Don’t forget to cancel your utilities for the possession date and cancel any automatic tax payments with your municipality. Also, do not cancel your insurance until your lawyer receives the full purchase price from the seller’s lawyer, even if this is after the possession date. Since funds can come in late, bridge financing is important if you are relying on these funds to buy a new home. Don’t forget to watch our video for real estate sellers. Also, remember that there are important things to note when dealing with the estate of someone who has died with respect to selling their home or property. Lastly, if you are non-resident Canadian for tax purposes you will need a clearance certificate to avoid withholding taxes.
Changes To The Law When Selling A Principal Residence
All people in Canada, are now required to report the sale of a principal residence to the CRA. There are still not any capitals gains from this sale. LEARN MORE about the principal residence reporting requirements here. While this is a more recent change, our real estate lawyers continually keep up to date on changes to Alberta law to ensure that you, your family and your investment in real estate receive the protection you deserve.
Real Estate Lawyer Flat Rate Fees: Value & Peace of Mind
Selling a home can be stressful. We deal with the issues to make life easier for you. Kahane Law real estate lawyers do most residential purchases on a flat rate basis. Our flat rate fees ensure that clients know what they will be charged for a standard transaction before they hire us. Please see our flat rate fees for details. Call 403-225-8810 or email today to contact us.