What Your Real Estate Lawyer Actually Does When You Buy a Home in Ontario

Most home buyers meet their real estate lawyer twice: once to sign, and once to pick up the keys. Between those meetings sits a process designed to make sure that what you are buying is what you think you are buying, and that on closing day, money and title change hands exactly once, correctly.

Before you sign: the cheapest advice you will ever get

The best time to involve a lawyer is before you sign the agreement of purchase and sale. A short review can flag conditions that should be added, deposit terms that put your money at risk, closing dates that don't leave room for financing, and clauses that survive closing in ways buyers don't expect. Once the agreement is signed, those terms are largely fixed.

Title search and due diligence

After your offer is accepted, we search title to confirm the seller actually owns the property and to surface anything registered against it: mortgages to be discharged, liens, easements, restrictive covenants, or claims you would otherwise inherit. We also address execution searches against the parties and, where appropriate, off-title inquiries about taxes, utilities, and work orders. Title insurance covers many risks, but knowing about a problem before closing is always better than claiming on a policy after.

Closing day, behind the scenes

In the final days before closing, we prepare and exchange closing documents with the seller's lawyer, receive and review your lender's mortgage instructions, calculate the statement of adjustments (the precise reconciliation of purchase price, deposit, taxes, and prepaid utilities), and collect the balance you need to bring. On closing day itself, funds move through our trust account, title is transferred and registered electronically, the mortgage is registered, land transfer tax is paid, and only then are keys released. If a wire is late or a document is wrong, closing does not happen, which is why the preparation matters.

What it costs

Budget beyond the down payment for Ontario land transfer tax (doubled by the municipal tax for Toronto properties, less any first-time buyer rebates you qualify for), legal fees and disbursements, title insurance, and adjustments. We give clients a clear, itemized picture before closing. No surprises on the biggest purchase of your life.

Buying, selling, or refinancing in the GTA? Contact Sohail Law Group for a free consultation and a clear quote.