Whitby Real Estate Lawyers
Buying or selling a home or cottage is often the most important financial transaction of a person’s life and likely to be the largest investments many Canadians will ever make. When you need residential real estate lawyers in Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa, Bowmanville, and Courtice in Durham Region, or anywhere in Ontario, call M. G. Michaels & Associates. We also represent both buyers and sellers in residential real estate transactions in Toronto, Newmarket, Peterborough, Lindsay, and Cobourg. We can help with all your residential real estate needs.
The Right Whitby Real Estate Lawyers are Critical
Residential real estate transactions—buying or selling a home for your family—are full of emotion, as well as legalities. And in “hot,” highly desirable real estate markets like Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Oshawa, Bowmanville, and Courtice in Durham Region, residential real estate transactions move with lightning speed.
A residential real estate transaction may take place in days or even hours because many neighbourhoods all across Greater Toronto are so coveted that bidding wars are the norm, not the exception. While sellers are getting unexpected, 6-figure windfalls, prospective home buyers are getting frustrated that they lost out to another buyer. Hiring the right Whitby residential real estate lawyer is critical because Agreements of Purchase and Agreements of Sale are legally binding. Before you cross out the “subject to financing” or “subject to home inspection” clauses your real estate agent likely recommended, it is important to speak to your real estate lawyer.
Further, at M. G. Michaels & Associates, we believe the selection of a Whitby real estate lawyer is critical, especially for new home buyers or inexperienced home buyers. We are a law firm that cares about the quality of our work, from the beginning to the end, and takes the time to ensure that our clients understand everything about the process that they need to know. Our clients find comfort in the thorough and high-touch service of our Whitby residential real estate lawyers.
You Need a Real Estate Lawyer When….
You need a Whitby real estate lawyer more often than you think:
- Sometimes, when married couples separate or divorce, one spouse will buy the other spouse’s interest in the home, requiring a change in the home’s ownership, as well as a subsearch of title to ensure that the departing spouse didn’t leave unexpected debts attached to the property.
- Sometimes, when married couples separate or divorce, the matrimonial home must be sold and the proceeds are divided between the spouses. Learn more about Dividing Property and Financial Assets.
- Sadly, sometimes a co-owner will pass away and the surviving owner needs to take legal steps to have the deceased person’s name removed from title.
- Sometimes, homeowners need to re-finance their house, and use some of their equity to pay off debts or for investment purposes.
- Upon the death of parents, many Canadians need to sell a house, cottage—or both.
- Many people prefer to invest in real estate rather than the stock market; they buy houses as investments and rent or lease them out.
- Many parents are choosing to help their adult children buy their first home, by providing financial assistance as well as mentorship in how to buy a house.
The Whitby residential real estate lawyers at M. G. Michaels & Associates can help you in each of these situations and make sure your residential real estate transaction goes smoothly. Call or email us today.
Why the Right Whitby Real Estate Lawyer Matters
The requirements of real estate law can be confusing and confounding. For example, which documents need to be registered and how do they get registered, why you need to have title insurance (and what is title insurance anyway), and what do the many documents that you have to sign all mean. Our Whitby Real Estate lawyers will help you understand any and all of these legal concepts—and why they matter.
When you sell, you need to understand what your legal obligations are to the people now buying from you.
Assignment—what is it? The real estate transaction called an assignment takes place when someone (the assignor) who has bought a property in a transaction that has not yet closed allows someone else (the assignee) to take over the deal, including the rights and obligations of the assignor.
It’s most common in new construction, when someone waiting for a home’s construction to be finished sells to someone willing to wait. Often, the home is a condominium bought from the developer.
M. G. Michaels & Associates residential real estate lawyers know how to work their way through the intricacies of the sales assignments and the financing, on behalf of assignors and assignees alike.
Residential mortgage closings & disbursements: When the time comes for the deal to close, your Whitby real estate lawyers at M. G. Michaels & Associates residential can make sure all the additional last-minute fees, charges, and disbursements are legitimate and paid. And we understand if and when HST is charged.
Refinancing residential mortgages: A mortgage is a contract, and when you decide you want to refinance and get a new mortgage—whether for more or for less money—we can help you determine the ‘unexpected’ costs levied by the company holding your existing mortgage. We can often arrange for a transaction to replace or revalue a mortgage to be much more fair to our client. However, we do not and cannot negotiate mortgage rates or pre-payment penalties.
Tarion: Tarion is the government supported organization that looks after warranties on new homes in the Province on Ontario. Tarion covers many of the things in a newly built house that do not meet the required standards. For example, there are cracks in your basement foundation; plaster ceilings that are flaking; plumbing leaks; or doors that will not close due to poor alignment; and so on.
The M. G. Michaels & Associates residential real estate lawyers help homeowners who need guidance in understanding their entitlements, obligations, and responsibilities.
Good title: Good title is the term describing ownership of real estate which is totally free of claims against it and therefore can be sold, transferred, or put up as security (placing a mortgage or deed of trust on the property).
M. G. Michaels & Associates residential real estate lawyers are experienced in tracing back the ownership of property, minimizing the chances that a property being bought or sold does not have good title or, more importantly, that you will not receive good title on your purchase.
Title insurance protects against future discoveries of problems about a property, some title-related and some non-title-related. It is a form of indemnity insurance for a mortgaged property that covers the loss of an interest in a property due to discovered legal defects. In addition, we coordinate with the title insurance providers to protect you against issues that may affect title in the future.
The Whitby residential real estate lawyers at M. G. Michaels & Associates can sort these problems out on your behalf and make sure your residential real estate transaction goes smoothly. Call or email us today.
