Successfully Buying,
Selling or Refinancing
Your Home or Business
Residential or commercial real estate transactions can be a challenging and complicated process. McLean Legal’s Calgary real estate lawyers will make this process as smooth as possible by identifying and analyzing your deal to protect your interests and investments.
Residential Purchases
Whether you are a first-time homebuyer or an experienced investor, we can assist you with the purchase of a new or existing property, including single-family homes, condominium units, acreages, mobile homes, and foreclosures. We can help you by reviewing your purchase contract, the title of the property, due diligence searches, and preparing the legal and mortgage documents.
Residential Sales
We will assist with the review of the purchase contract, preparing the legal documents, reviewing the real estate property report and/or ordering the estoppel certificate, paying out and discharging your existing mortgage on title, and disbursing of the sale proceeds.
Residential Refinancing
Refinancing a residential property most commonly occurs at the end of your current mortgage term. Other situations include securing a better mortgage rate or terms, consolidating debt, and accessing the equity in your property. Our lawyers can help inspect and prepare the new mortgage documents to ensure your new financing closes on time without any issues.
Commercial Properties
Buying, selling, or leasing commercial properties are very different from residential properties. There are many legal pitfalls that can arise, which can lead to stress and significant financial loss. These can include title concerns, contract breaches, disclosure concerns, and regulation and zoning issues. As commercial lawyers, we can assist from beginning to end, including drafting and reviewing contracts, due diligence searches, negotiation, financing and document preparation, and title ownership.
Transfer of Land
Title Transfers, or an interest transfer, involves the transfer of a legal interest in land or an encumbrance from one person or company to another. An interest can be an ownership interest (freehold), leasehold interest, life estate, beneficial interest, mortgage, or other types of financial encumbrances. A land transfer can be subject to registered legal interests (mortgages, caveats, writs, liens, and other claims), which remain on title and affect the interest transferred. Our lawyers can assist and advise you in this process to ensure it’s completed correctly and in a timely manner.
Agreements & Resources
Co-ownership of a property with a partner, friend, or family member is common. We can assist with identifying your expectation of co-ownership upfront. This can include protecting your down payment, responsibility for bill payments or maintenance, living arrangements or rental arrangements, dispute resolution if issues arise, and rights upon sale. Our lawyers can also provide assistance with wills & estate planning, dispute resolution, and litigation.
Legal fees must be accounted for when buying or selling a property. Residential legal fees are flat rate plus disbursements. The overall cost is dependent on the specific elements of your transaction. Our lawyer can explain our fees and provide a quote during our consultation
Whether you are buying or selling a property, it’s recommended that you consult a lawyer before signing a purchase agreement or after a offer has been made. Our lawyers can review the documents, ensuring you understand the terms of the agreement. As the leading real estate law firm in Calgary, we can support you at any stage of your transaction.
Purchasing a house or condo for the first time in Alberta is a huge milestone. Prepare for it by getting a pre-approval from the bank, and determining what features of a home and community are most important to you. Then, commence searching for a property within areas you enjoy and within your budget. Finally, when you find a place you love – make an offer!
Generally, yes. If you are financing the purchase, a lawyer is required to provide legal advice and prepare the mortgage documents, as well to conduct closing and provide undertakings.
Having a lawyer review all legal and mortgage documents can ensure that your down payments and investments are protected from the beginning. This can be done through co-ownership agreements, caveats, or through will and estate planning.
Outside of the purchase costs, on going costs can include property taxes, home or condo insurance, condo fees, and residential association fees. It’s best to consider these costs when looking for your new home.
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