4 | Contracts And Closing
After you’ve gotten prepared, listed your home, assessed the skills of your realtor and their plan, what happens when you get an offer and what does the closing process look like?
Offer
When you get an offer on your home, remember that it is a starting point. It’s not uncommon to see an offer come in between 2-5% less than list price, or in competitive situations with multiple offers even over list price. Remember there are multiple aspects of a contract to work on (ie. possession date, terms, conditions, etc.) not just on price. We will negotiate for you to get the best deal and it may take some back and forth. Negotiations may take a couple hours, or could stretch out over a couple days (we keep you updated all the way through).
Condition Period
Once we come to an agreement on the offer there are likely going to be conditions that the buyer has before the deal is “firm”. These essentially are a missing link in the contract that will need to be filled in before you can put your sold stickers up. The condition period is usually 2 weeks and the most common conditions are subject to financing (the buyer’s lender agreeing to lend on the home) and subject to inspection. If you have a condo, another likely condition is subject to condo document review, The costs of the condition are borne by the buyer, except the gathering of the condo documents (those are the sellers responsibilities).
The buyer, after reviewing the property and the papers, may request a renegotiation of the terms of the contract (usually price). This is when a skilled listing agent can make a real difference to your bottom line. We’ve been through this before and help our clients navigate these negotiations with skill and care so we can get the conditions removed and have a “firm” contract.
Closing Process
Once the deal is firm sold stickers are up, it’s a march to the closing date. This is typically at least 2 weeks after condition removal, 4 weeks after an accepted offer, but can be longer depending on possession date.
Before closing you will need to:
- Meet with your lawyer to sign final documents
- Cancel / change all utilities
- Forward your mail to your new address
- Celebrate!
Possession Day
This is when the money and property change hands, usually around midday. Your lawyer will receive the cheque from the buyer’s lawyer and confirm with us once it is received. At that point we allow them to pick up the keys from our office. Then it’s time to celebrate again and move on to whatever is next!