What we do
Our real estate lawyers are there to protect your legal rights throughout the process of selling or buying a home. Most importantly, we will review your Agreement of Purchase and Sale to ensure that it meets your needs, and that you fully understand the legal rights and obligations you have agreed to.
Before your offer has been accepted, you may find it useful to have your offer reviewed by us. We will explain the legal concerns that generally arise from the purchase and sale of a home, and advise you as to whether your offer protects your rights. If necessary, we can make changes to the offer to reflect your needs.
Once your offer has been accepted by a seller, we will be responsible for a number of searches and administrative tasks. Most importantly, we will make sure that the person selling the property is the registered owner. We will also transfer the billing information with the utility companies, make sure that taxes and utility bills have been paid, find out if there are any mortgages, liens, or easements registered against the land, check with the municipality to make sure there are no unpaid taxes and that the property complies with the zoning requirements if a title insurance policy is not purchased, and check a survey of the property to make sure that the home is accurately described in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. As an alternative to conducting some of the searches, we can explain the option of title insurance to you.
If you are buying a home with another person such as your spouse, common-law spouse or a partner, we will also explain the different legal options for registering the legal title.