DOCUMENTATION AND INFORMATION REQUIRED OF YOU
Once your transaction becomes unconditional, please provide us with the following:
- A copy of your Transfer/Deed of Land (if available);
- A copy of your current property tax bill and proof of payment if possible. Please advise us if your taxes are paid with your mortgage. If your taxes are paid to the City on a pre-authorized monthly basis, you will need to cancel this arrangement with the City Tax Office (613-580-2444) prior to closing and pay any amount due. We will need to know what the total interim and final taxes are for the year as well as the amount paid so that we can calculate the appropriate tax adjustments to be made with the buyer on closing;
- If you are selling a condo, please provide us with the current amount of condo fees you are paying. You should continue to pay your condo fees for the month in which your sale is taking place. We will adjust this amount with the buyer on closing;
- A copy of any survey you have in your possession (not if you are selling a condominium);
- The name, address and telephone number of your mortgage lender and mortgage reference number. We will need this information to request a formal Discharge Statement prior to closing which will set out any prepayment penalties and applicable Discharge fee;
- Your forwarding address after the completion of the sale;
- The manner in which your home is heated. If heated by oil you will need to have the tank filled to capacity and provide us with the size of your tank and your oil supplier. We will then prepare the necessary adjustments on the Statement of Adjustments.
- If you are a non-resident of Canada, we are legally required to withhold 25% of the gross sales proceeds pending your obtaining a Clearance Certificate from the Canada Revenue Agency. Please contact our office if this situation applies to you.
- Your spousal status and whether the home you are selling can be considered a matrimonial home under the Family Law Act. If the home is registered in your name alone and you are married, your spouse will be required to give written consent to the sale of the home.
- We will also need to know if you have ever had a judgment registered against you in Court or if there has been construction on the property within the last 45 days; and
- If the home is serviced by a well or a septic system or if there is a swimming pool, we will require a copy of the Water Well Record, the Septic Use Permit issued by the MOE, or the Pool Enclosure Permit issued by the City.
- If you will not be available to meet with us to sign closing documentation because you will be out of town, please advise us as soon as possible. You will be required to make arrangements to see another lawyer or official in another jurisdiction to have the documentation signed, your ID verified and the documents returned to us by fax and courier prior to closing. If you intend on having your Attorney for Property act in your place to sign documents, we will need to know in advance and will require the original copy of the Power of Attorney to review and provide to the Buyer's lawyer.
PREPARING FOR THE CLOSING
Although the purchaser should be arranging to have the utility meters read on closing, you should also notify your local hydro, water and gas utility suppliers of the pending sale and arrange to have the meters read on closing. Final accounts should be forwarded to you at your new address so they may be paid in a timely fashion. Please ensure that you have contacted the utility companies servicing this to ensure that the accounts are set up in your name(s) on closing.
To assist you, we include contact information for the following utility companies:
Enbridge Gas Online Form ▸
1-877-362-7434
Hydro Ottawa Online Form ▸
613-738-6400
Hydro One Online Form ▸
1-888-664-9376
If the home is equipped with a hot water tank that is rented or purchased through a leasing company, please provide us with the contact information of the third party supplier. Your agreement of purchase and sale will typically require a purchaser to assume a lease of a hot water tank. A lease to own or conditional sales contract that you entered into would not be included unless you negotiated this item through your realtor.
Do not cancel your home insurance until after the transaction has closed. There is sometimes a need to extend the closing date and you could find yourself uninsured if you have already cancelled the insurance.
Please make arrangements to cancel any service contracts such as cable, alarm company, snow removal, etc. You are required to leave your home vacant and in a broom swept condition with all of your personal belongings removed, unless otherwise agreed to. Do not arm the house alarm before leaving the house. Extra keys, garage door remotes and appliance manuals can all be left on the kitchen counter. You are required to vacate the house by no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date. The buyer could have keys to the home as early as noon on the day of closing.
LEGAL SERVICES
To prepare for the closing of your transaction, the following tasks will be preformed:
- reviewing the agreement and amendments;
- preparing a Statement of Adjustments;
- review of any documents prepared by the Buyer's lawyer for your signature;
- responding to title "requisitions" made by the Buyer's lawyer;
- paying any balance of your mortgage, the real estate commission, property taxes or other required debts;
- meeting with you to obtain your signature and keys to the property; and
- remitting the balance of the sale proceeds to you as directed; and
- preparing and forwarding the Final Reporting Letter.
MEETING WITH YOU
At the signing of the closing documentation, please provide a set of keys to the property. To verify your identity, you must provide us with either two pieces of valid photo ID such as, a passport or driver's licence, or one piece of valid photo ID and a credit card or birth certificate.
Although we make every effort to provide you with the net proceeds of the sale on the actual closing date, we will sometimes receive the funds from the Buyer's lawyer too late in the day to make a deposit to our trust account, in which case your funds will be paid to you the following business day.
In order to protect the environment and reduce postage and copy charges, we will provide the final report in PDF format, unless you specify otherwise to us in advance.