Is a lawyer required for selling a home? And are there any legal fees when selling your home? Understandably, hiring a lawyer by the hour doesn’t come cheap. Hence, you’ll want to verify whether it’s necessary to involve a lawyer when selling your home.
As with most types of transactions that include an enforceable contract, you can expect that a legal professional will be involved.
When is a lawyer needed in the home selling process?
When selling your home, you’ll need a lawyer in the last step of the process. Namely, closing on the sale of your home. Your lawyer’s job will be to assist the buyer’s lawyer in drafting the proper documents for the legal transfer of the home. The buyer’s lawyer will be responsible for drafting all legal documents. However, it’ll be your lawyer’s responsibility to review certain seller documents and representations.
Seller documents that your lawyer will review include:
- Form A – Freehold Transfer
- Seller’s Statement of Adjustments
- GST Certificate
- Residency Declaration
- Parking stall or storage locker assignments (if it’s a condo)
- Site Survey Declaration (if necessary)
Once your lawyer reviews and approves seller documents, the buyer’s lawyer will complete due diligence for the buyer.
Once everything is a go, the buyer’s lawyer will prepare a signing package for the buyer and seller to finalize the sales transaction.
Your lawyer will review the signing package prepared before you sign off on all transfer documents. They’ll help you through discharging your prior mortgages on the home. They’ll also make sure all payments or obligations that are due from you are cleanly settled (these may include property taxes, early payment penalties for discharging a mortgage, etc). And to keep matters fully transparent, they’ll provide you with a statement that outlines the settlement of the purchase money and net proceeds of the sale.
How much will you pay in legal fees?
Legal fees for selling your home will typically cost less than the legal fees for buying. This is because the buyer’s lawyer will prepare the bulk of the legal paperwork. Conveyancing fees for a seller can range from $ 500 – $ 1000.
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If you’re figuring out your next steps for selling your home, we’d be more than happy to talk through it with you.