Congratulations! You’ve signed your contract and your subjects are removed! Now what?

Get your contract to us

If you are using a REALTOR®, have your Realtor send your contract to us, and we’ll get your file started.

If you are not using a Realtor, then once your contract is fully signed and all subjects are removed, send us a copy of your contract yourself. You can fax it to us at the location nearest you.

Timing

In a perfect world, we will have about two weeks from the date we receive your contract and your lender’s instructions to the Completion Date.

Your “Completion Date” is the date the title documents are submitted to the appropriate registry, changing the ownership of the property into the name of your buyers. This date will be set out in your contract.

Two weeks gives us enough time to get documents from your buyer’s notary or lawyer, to do the necessary searches for your transaction, to prepare paperwork for you, to get things signed, to get money in our trust account, and to to pay out the various expenses and other trust items.

Contact us right away if your transaction is closing in less than a week, or if you think your transaction has special terms in it that will need extra time to deal with.

Intake

Once we receive your contract, we’ll give you a call and ask you some questions about your transaction.

We do this to help us make sure we have all of the information we need to start your file, and to prepare your paperwork properly.

During that call, our staff will arrange a signing appointment with you, so you can come in and sign the documents required to complete your transaction.

Signing Meeting

You will need to sign legal papers; we will make a signing appointment with you that will be about 3-5 days before your completion Date. That signing meeting will take approximately half an hour.

It will make your signing meeting go more smoothly if you:

  • make a list of any questions you might have
  • come undistracted – make other arrangements for children and pets, and have enough coffee!
  • don’t be afraid to say so when things don’t make sense
  • bring your identification

We will try to get all of your papers arranged for that signing meeting so you can sign everything together.

Occasionally, if something changes on your file, we might need to have you come back in to see us, but our hope is that we can have everything done at this signing meeting.

Let us know right away if you are not going to be in town in the week before your Completion Date, so we can help you make arrangements for an “out of office” signing.

When do I get my money?

We will go through financial statements with you at your signing meeting.

That financial statement will show you the various items that will be taken into account, such as commissions, adjustments for taxes, utilities or strata fees, and payouts for mortgages. It will show you how much money you might expect to receive when everything is all done.

Who pays the mortgage out?

We will help you with that. Paying out your mortgage is always your responsibility, but we will send a payout for the mortgage funds from your net sales proceeds to your lender on your behalf. We will provide you with copies of this payout for your records.

When will this be all over?

The biggest part happens on your Completion Date, when the title will be transferred into your buyer’s name. We will follow up on a number of things post-closing, but we will call you to say congratulations when the documents have been submitted to the appropriate registry to change the title into your buyer’s name.

When do I need to move out?

Your contract will set out the date and time the buyer will get possession of the home.

Your Realtor will give the buyer the keys, if you used a Realtor. If you did not use a Realtor, then you must make arrangements to get the keys to the buyer directly.

Should I use a Lawyer or a BC Notary?

Lawyers and BC Notaries both provide the same excellent standard of care when it comes to conveyancing. Both Lawyers and BC Notaries carry professional insurance, and both are required to do continuing education each year to keep their skills up. Both can assist you with simple or complicated purchases, and both can give you legal advice.

So what’s the difference? BC Notaries tend to focus on conveyancing in their practice more often than lawyers do, and so will often have more day-to-day experience in this field. BC Notaries are also trained in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, and will approach any problems from a collaborative approach, rather than an adversarial one.

If you’re worried about whether a BC Notary can work on a collapsing deal, don’t! BC Notaries can, and do, deal with collapsing deals on a regular basis. A truly collapsed deal happens only very rarely, and if that is the case, then both the lawyers and BC Notaries in our firm will refer you to a litigation specialist, so you can get the advanced help you need.