Selling... What Happens

When you have found a buyer for your home and you receive an offer, here’s what needs to be decided. Your Realtor will guide you through the following:

Price

Your Realtor should have provided you with comparable sales of other homes in the area in order to establish a fair market value when you listed but based on the amount of time that has passed, you may need this refreshed. The offer is usually something less than your listing price in anticipation of a process of offering and receiving counter offers from the buyer. This will establish what the buyer is willing to pay for your home and what you are willing to sell for. If the buyer is not willing to pay what you are asking, the offer may collapse and you may need to wait for another buyer.

Completion Date

This is the date that the buyer’s and seller’s lawyers exchange funds for title and ownership changes hands. If you are purchasing another property, this date will need to be coordinated with your purchase so that the funds from your sale will be available for your purchase. Typically the completion date of your sale is one day before the completion date of your purchase.

Possession Date

This is the date that you will need to vacate the property and the buyer is given legal access. It is typically about 1 to 3 days after Completion. Again, this date will need to be coordinated with the possession date of your purchase in order to be able to move from one property to the other without having to find temporary accommodation.

Adjustment Date

This is the date on which taxes, insurance and utilities become the responsibility of the buyer. This date usually coincides with the Possession Date.

Deposit

With your Realtor’s help, you will be determine a deposit amount which is typically a % of the purchase price. The deposit is usually paid by the buyer at the time the offer is accepted or when subjects are removed and generally is deposited into the trust account of the buyer’s agent. It is held there until shortly before the Completion Date when it is transferred to the lawyer for disbursement.

Inclusions

There may be items in your home which you do not wish to have included in the purchase price but are not specifically excluded in the listing. Although the buyer may request that they be included, you will need to clarify these issues to avoid any misunderstanding later on. Generally things that are only attached by their own weight and not affixed in some fashion need to be addressed. Example: A buyer may request that the mirror on the wall, which is only hung on a hook and therefore not considered a part of the property, be left behind; you may not intend to leave it. If the mirror had been screwed to the wall, it would technically be considered attached and part of the property. These types of fixtures and chattels should always be addressed if there is any doubt as to whether they stay or go.

Subjects

Subjects are clauses in the contract that allow the buyer a specified period of time to confirm their ability and desire to purchase the property. These can cover a very wide variety of concerns including financing, insurance, inspections, disclosure etc.. The objective of a subject clause is to allow the buyer some time to investigate the property more thoroughly and to do their due diligence before committing to the purchase. Typically subjects need to be removed within one to two weeks of the date of the offer, with the exception of a ‘subject to the sale of’ clause which creates complexities that your Realtor needs to clearly explain.

After all of the subject clauses have been satisfied and removed from the contract, the buyer is committed to the purchase.