Real Estate
Buying & Selling a Home
If you are buying a home, we will assist you with all aspects of the purchase transaction. Your purchase agreement should ensure that you have the opportunity to secure satisfactory financing and to have the property properly inspected to protect yourself against any unknown defects. The Agreement should also contain an appropriate Property Condition Disclosure Statement to address these issues. Your mortgage lending arrangements should be coordinated with your purchase arrangements, to avoid complications which might delay possession and generate unnecessary cost. Special attention is required when purchasing a new home or a home under construction. In these cases, you must be aware of your GST obligations and Builder's Lien holdback requirements, and you should also consider special additional holdback provisions in the Sale Agreement to protect yourself from possible construction deficiencies. Special attention is also required when purchasing condominium properties. A review of the condominium bylaws, Minutes and Reserve Fund status is very important to ensure there are no building envelope or similar deficiencies which are not adequately provided for.
Similarly, if you are selling a home, we will help ensure that your obligations are clearly defined in the Sale Agreement and that payment of the purchase price is assured before possession is transferred. Sellers will always want the Agreement to provide, to the greatest extent possible, that the sale is on an "as is" basis to prevent any future claims for matters relating to the property.
Title Issues
One of the lawyer's primary responsibilities is of course to ensure that you receive clear title when you purchase any property. Because of the extensive oil and gas development in our practice area, this is a particularly complex matter in many farmland purchases. Farmland titles are often cluttered with numerous caveats and we can assist in determining if and when those caveats need to be removed as part of the purchase process.
Commercial Leases
As discussed elsewhere on our website, both landlords and tenants who lease commercial property must be careful to ensure that a proper lease is in place to protect all of their interests.