RESOURCES

For all the years that I have been a real estate lawyer, there is one item in real estate closings that baffles me over and over again. For some strange reason—people enter into contracts to purchase or sell real estate—and then choose to travel before their closing date!

At Kormans LLP, we are paperless and sign up our clients virtually. This certainly makes the real estate closing process easier, especially when one or more of our clients happen to be abroad before their closing date. However, we still recommend that clients should try to stay local for at least the 2-week period prior to their closing date!

Issues that can come up before closing include:

1. Banking. It is much easier to deal with your banking institution to resolve any financial items, including signature of documents, in person. 
2. Also, there are circumstances that original signatures will be required by a party to a real estate transaction (including lenders on certain mortgages and builders for new construction home closings). If you are abroad, you may not have time to sign and courier back originals prior to the closing date!
3. If you are purchasing a property, it is better to view the property as soon as possible after closing for any defects/issues that may arise. If you are travelling abroad and only discover a problem with your property after the closing date, the seller is unlikely to honour any warranties/representations from your purchase agreement.

And the list goes on and on. The bottom line? When you sign an agreement to buy and/or sell real estate, stay locally prior to the closing date. Make sure your transaction is completed, and from there, travel until your heart is content. Closing a real estate transaction can be a source of worry for many people on its own. Don’t add to your stress by being away before your closing!

When you are ready to complete a real estate transaction, please reach out to our firm anytime by contacting us at info@kormans.ca. We would be pleased to connect you with one of our real estate lawyers to go over your transaction and work with you to complete your closing!

Join our newsletter and don’t miss out on a blog post!

Jonathan A. Hacohen is a Partner at Kormans LLP. His practice areas include Real Estate & Corporate Law, as well as Wills/Estates law. You can reach Jonathan at jhacohen@kormans.ca.

The information and comments herein are for the general information of the reader and are not intended as advice or opinion to be relied upon in relation to any particular circumstances. For particular application of the law to specific situations, the reader should seek professional advice. Kormans LLP cannot be responsible for the content of other sites. We expressly disclaim all liability with respect to actions taken or actions not taken based on content received from a third party website linked, directly or indirectly, to that of Kormans LLP.  The link to another site is not to be construed in any way as an endorsement of the host, the site or the information contained therein, nor is such link to be inferred as an association or affiliation with the host.