Timing
Here is a typical timeline for a sale.
Day 1. You and your realtor successfully conclude a deal for the sale of your property and you phone our office to enquire about our services.
Day 2. You tell your realtor you are using Galbraith Law to assist with the sale of your property.
Day 3. The realtor instructs their broker to send real estate instructions to our office.
Day 4. We receive real estate instructions and a file is opened.
Day 5. We conduct searches at Land Titles and order a copy of property tax statement. In the City of Edmonton, this arrives the same day. In some outlying areas, this must be done by mail and can take up to one week.
Day 6 and 7. The weekend.
Day 8. We order a mortgage payout statement and if you are selling a condominium we order the Estoppel Certificate. Depending on the lender and condominium manager, it can take one week or more to receive these documents.
Day 9. We meet with you to sign documents.
Day 10 or later. We send the Transfer of Land to the lawyer for the buyer. We cannot send this document until we receive payout statements so that we know we will have enough money to pay off all encumbrances registered against title when the deal closes.
Completion Day. Typically, we receive the cash-to-close between 11am and 12noon.
We ensure the correct amount has been received. Our first priority is to payout the debts so that interest stops.
Day After Completion. Once we are sure all debts and realtor’s commissions are paid, we complete your statement showing monies received and disbursed, pay ourselves and the net sale proceeds are released to you.
There can be delays along the way and the efficient closing of your sale can depend on the cooperation of several parties. If there is more than one debt to be paid out of the sale proceeds, we must receive statements on each payout. In the case of a condominium, we must receive an Estoppel Certificate from the condominium manager. In the case of houses in newer residential areas, there is often a community fee secured against the title and we must obtain confirmation of this amount before the closing.
When Do I Get My Sale Proceeds?
Under the standard REPC, the buyer takes possession of the property on the completion date. Typically, we receive the sale proceeds just before noon on the completion date. The first thing we do is pay out any encumbrances on your title (such as your mortgage) to ensure that interest stops. We then pay any commissions owing to your realtor. Finally, we pay any other expenses such as the amount owing for Title Insurance. We are then able to prepare our reporting letter to you which includes a full accounting of how the sale proceeds were disbursed and your net sale proceeds. The net sale proceeds are typically available on the business day after we receive the sale money. If you have special requirements such as having funds deposited directly into your bank account or paying interim financing you received to support the purchase of a property, please advise us well in advance of the completion day to ensure we are able to accommodate you. We encourage you to pick up the reporting letter and solicitor’s trust cheque directly from our office. Net sale proceeds can be sent directly to your bank by courier however there is an additional fee for this service.