Email:blake@blakenichol.ca| Phone: 403-288-6500
 

Buying a Property

We understand that buying a house or a condominium is, for the majority of people, the biggest investment that you will make in your lifetime.  Whether you are a first time home buyer or an experienced real estate investor, we will efficiently guide you through this process to make it as painless as possible for you.

Getting Started:

Please do not hesitate to contact us anytime.  Once you have bought a property, we will require the following:
  1. A copy of your purchase contract.  Please instruct your Realtor to fax or email us a copy as soon as possible;
  2. Your mortgage instructions.  Please provide our contact information to your financial institution and request that they provide us with your mortgage instructions as soon as possible;
  3. Proof of insurance.  If you are buying a house (or a condominium that requires you to have your own insurance) and obtaining mortgage financing, please have your insurance agent fax or email us a copy of an insurance binder letter confirming that you have insurance coverage effective on your possession date with the first loss payable in favour of your financial institution; and
  4. Completed client ID form (Download here).  We will advise you of the identification that we require from you prior to our meeting.

Meeting with You:

  1. We will contact you to advise you of anything else we require and to schedule a meeting with you to sign your purchase documents.  We will usually meet with you approximately one week prior to your possession date;
  2. We will also advise you of the amount of the closing funds that we require from you in order to complete your transaction.  All closing funds must be in the form of a BANK DRAFT made payable to Blake Nichol in trust.  We require closing funds about one week prior to your possession date and we will normally have you bring in your bank draft to our meeting when you sign documents.  Closing funds will also include payment of all legal fees and disbursements as well as any amounts required for property tax, home owners association fees, and any other adjustments; and
  3. We will review and explain all purchase and mortgage documents so that you understand same before signing and the meeting will usually take about 30 minutes to an hour to complete.  You will always be meeting with Blake personally or with another lawyer, except in very rare instances when you may be meeting with one of our senior real estate assistants.

Possession and Closing:

  1. Most contracts provide that closing funds are to be delivered to the seller’s lawyer in trust on or before 12:00 noon on the closing date;
  2. You will usually receive possession of the property at or around 12:00 noon on your possession date; however, sometimes it will be earlier than noon, and sometimes it will be later.  You will normally receive the keys from your Realtor; and
  3. We will thoroughly review the closing and possession process with you during our meeting.
Reporting to You:
  1. Our goal is to provide you with our comprehensive reporting package within four to six weeks of your possession date, or earlier if possible; and
  2. We will also return any excess trust funds that we are holding on your file to you with your reporting package by way of our solicitor’s trust cheque.