Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Thanks jcexit - that's helpful. Lots to think about!

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

In England up until the final contract of sale is signed by the buyer and seller, anything can change. They do not have to sign any thing formal until then. House buying in Scotland is different to England. It is easy to get out of anything here. I know people who are sat in a house full of boxes ready to move, and seller backed out at very last minute. They just have a sale agreement not a contract. They do not have to sign the final contract until very later in the buying stage. All they give is an offer, subject to surveys, mortgage etc.
This can take weeks, meanwhile you think all is OK. weeks later they can backout for any of a number of reasons.
We do not pay deposits here, well I have not anyway, so there is nothing to lose financially.
I have just recevied my house contracts today for the sale.It is the most basic and standard contract that is literally a contract that agrees the final sum to be paid. It does not include any of the "subject to's" as these are all done before the final contract and at the stage when you can still back out. Up until then all that is done is verbal, oe not a formal contract. From now until my buyers sign they are free to back out at any time and for any reason. They do not owe me a penny.

I believe Scotland has a completely different sytem.

We were made to believe that once we made an offer in Canada we were legally binded to honour it, or lose deposit, and pay his expenses. But just like here in England they added several " subject to's" so basically if these did not happen then deal was off.
We had to pay a tiny deposit of $500, until all the subjects were agreed to. But to my understanding all we would have lost is $500. Ours was slightly differerent as it was a house build, but we had a 10 page contract drawn up from the very beginning with loads of subject to's all over it for the builder.
I was mighty impressed with how thorough this contract was, nothing was missed out, and everything we asked for was included. She said I had to make sure we did not miss the slightest thing off we wanted done, and if he did not do it he suffered a financial penalty.

Our house was built on time, and almost all the points on the contract were abided by. The ones that werent were rectified later.

I thought Canada was similar to Scotlands system, but may be wrong.

ry]Oh please, give your brain a rest. Tell me exactly how, if you make an offer and it is accepted, you are NOT legally bound to honour that contract? It can have 100 clauses, that doesn't change the fact that once a contract is signed it is legally binding. All you are saying is it is legally binding PROVIDED that all conditions are met. Wow what a revelation.[/QUOTE]

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Actually, it's legally binding as soon as the 'Confirmation of Execution' has been signed on the 3rd page of the 'Agreement of Purchase and Sale' document - both parties are legally bound to the agreement with its conditions. The buyer becomes legally bound to buy and the seller becomes legally bound to sell once the conditions have been satisfied or waived.

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Absolutely correct jcexit. Your comment and those by Gooding regarding the system in England clearly define the difference between England (and to a degree here in Scotland) and Canada. In Canada you are legally bound from the minute you sign an Offer. In the UK you are not legally bound until the end of the process. Thus leading to the type of situation Gooding describes of people sitting with bags packed and then having the sale fall through.

In the UK someone could simply decide not to go ahead with the deal. In Canada they cannot. No chains, no gazzumping, etc. A far better system.

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Following on from this discussion can anyone tell me whether its possible to purchase extra land -eg farm land, from a neighbouring property to enlarge the plot size of a house, in Canada?
In the Uk it is possible but can be a major hassle...just wondered if anyone had done it in Canada and knows if its possible without too much aggravation.
Thanks

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Hi Michelle, You can do it quite easily, all you need is a neighbour willing to sell, and a lawyer to sort out the legalities.
HTH

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Thanks.
Well thats food for thought.....hubby and two young sons are very much into the great outdoors - and would dearly love an acreage. Some of the properties tick all the boxes but aren't on quite a big enough plot for all the activites the boys have planned.

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Wow, what a great thread!

Anyway, my 2 cents worth, we have just bought a house, moved in last week. We signed lots of stuff (contracts) but our realtor said that if our inspection was not "reasonable" (e.g. roof is falling down, or a tap drips) we could pull out.

Anyway, best thread for a long time

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

We had an offer accepted on a house conditional on the survey not showing any major flaws. In the meantime we found a house that we preferred, fortunately the roof on the original house needed replacing (cedar shingles dry out and crack in Calgary) so we were able to pull out.

Our realtor was not happy as his partner in the firm was the selling agent on the original house.

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

In Ontario at least, severing lumps of land is very controlled by provincial law and, in some cases, bye laws. The seller would have to apply to the Committee of Adjustments for permission to sever a portion of his land for resale.

Re: Buying house in Canada help
 

Your'e right, i should have mentioned that i was refering to NS, or maybe even more specifically to the Annapolis Valley. Part of my property is a "severed portion" from another property.