Real Estate
Most buyers know they need a real estate lawyer in Ontario to close a home purchase. Fewer know what that actually involves. The answer is more than most people expect, and it starts well before closing day and continues after the property is yours.
Here is a straightforward walkthrough of what a real estate lawyer does on a residential purchase in Ontario, and why each piece matters.
Your lawyer can review a draft Agreement of Purchase and Sale before you sign it. Most buyers sign first and call a lawyer afterwards. If something in the agreement is wrong, it is far easier and cheaper to fix before signing.
This is where most people miss an opportunity. A lawyer can read the draft agreement before it is signed, which is particularly valuable if the property has complications: a tenant in place, a right of way, an older septic system, a pre-construction purchase with builder-specific terms, or anything else that affects how the property can be used or transferred.
There is nothing wrong with signing first on a straightforward transaction. But if a term is off, fixing it beforehand costs almost nothing, and fixing it afterwards can be difficult or impossible. Getting your lawyer involved early is one of the cheapest forms of protection available in the whole process.
Every client has to be identified and verified. The Law Society of Ontario requires lawyers to verify client identity and to carry out anti-money-laundering checks on transactions involving the receipt or transfer of funds.
This is the part of the process clients notice as paperwork and rarely as protection. Before acting, your lawyer must identify and verify you, and complete the client identification and anti-money-laundering requirements that the Law Society of Ontario imposes on real estate transactions.
Real estate is a recognised route for laundering money, and lawyers handling large sums through trust accounts sit directly in that path. These obligations exist to protect the integrity of the transaction and, ultimately, buyers who might otherwise find themselves entangled in a deal constructed for reasons that have nothing to do with property. Expect to provide government identification and, in some circumstances, an explanation of the source of your funds. It is routine, and it applies to everyone.
Once the deal is firm, your lawyer receives a copy of the signed agreement. This is a legally binding contract and the foundation of everything that follows. Your lawyer reads it in detail — the conditions, inclusions and exclusions, closing date, deposit structure and any negotiated provisions — and flags anything that needs addressing before closing.
Common issues at this stage include chattels listed in the agreement that may have been removed, closing conditions that were not properly satisfied, or additional clauses added by the seller’s lawyer that need a response.
Your lawyer checks that the lawyer acting for the seller is licensed to practise in Ontario and properly insured for real estate work, and looks for regulatory history that could put your transaction at risk.
This is a step almost no buyer knows happens, and it can matter enormously. A real estate transaction depends on the lawyer on the other side doing their job properly and, critically, on their being entitled to do it at all. Your closing funds pass through their trust account.
So opposing counsel gets looked up. Are they licensed and in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario? Do they carry the professional liability coverage that applies to real estate practice, which is a requirement for acting on these transactions in Ontario? Is there disciplinary or regulatory history that should give pause? Findings of that kind are a matter of public record, and they are worth knowing before hundreds of thousands of dollars move.
If something looks wrong, that is a red flag to be raised early — not discovered on closing day when funds are already in flight.
A title search is an investigation of the property’s legal history through Ontario’s land registration system. It confirms who owns the property and reveals mortgages, liens, easements, work orders and other encumbrances that are invisible during a showing.
This is one of the most important things a real estate lawyer does, and one of the least visible to buyers. The search confirms who legally owns the property, what mortgages or liens are registered against it, whether there are easements or rights of way, whether there are outstanding work orders or zoning violations, and any other encumbrance that could affect your ownership.
The title search is what tells you whether you are actually getting clean ownership of what you are buying. A property can look perfect and still carry a lien registered by an unpaid contractor, an undisclosed mortgage, or an easement granting a neighbour access across part of the land. None of that shows up at a viewing. It shows up in the title search.
Almost all lenders require title insurance, and a prudent lawyer would not close a purchase without it. It covers issues that existed before you bought but were not discoverable in the title search — fraud, survey errors, encroachments and pre-existing violations.
Title insurance protects you against problems that predate your ownership and were not caught by the search: title fraud, survey errors, zoning violations that predate you, encroachments onto neighbouring land. It is a one-time premium paid at closing and it covers you for as long as you own the property.
Your lender will almost certainly require a policy covering their interest. An owner’s policy covering yours is separate, and given the breadth of what it covers relative to the premium, it is not a place to economise. In practice a careful lawyer would not close a residential purchase without title insurance in place.
Your lawyer receives the mortgage instructions, satisfies the lender’s conditions, requisitions the mortgage funds so they arrive in time for closing, registers the mortgage on title, and prepares the cheques and wire transfers that pay out everyone who has to be paid.
If you are financing the purchase, your lawyer acts as the intermediary between you and your lender. They receive the mortgage instructions, review the mortgage documents with you, and make sure every condition is met before funds are released. They also register the mortgage on title on the lender’s behalf.
This is more involved than it sounds. Lenders have specific requirements about how the transaction must be structured, and any discrepancy between the mortgage instructions and the actual terms of the purchase has to be resolved before funds are advanced.
There is also a mechanical side that has to be timed precisely. Your lawyer requisitions the funds from the lender so they land in the trust account in time, then prepares the cheques and wire transfers that pay out on closing — to the seller’s lawyer, and to whoever else must be paid from the proceeds. If funds arrive late, closing is at risk, which is why this is handled on a schedule rather than on the day.
On a purchase, the seller’s lawyer prepares the statement of adjustments. Your lawyer reviews it — checking that property taxes and, for a condominium, common element fees have been adjusted correctly. It sets out the balance due to the seller on closing, after deposits.
The statement of adjustments is the accounting between buyer and seller. It is prepared by the seller’s lawyer, and your lawyer’s job is to review it carefully — because an error in it costs you money.
Adjustments are the part buyers rarely anticipate. Property taxes are apportioned between buyer and seller as of the closing date: if the seller has prepaid beyond closing, you reimburse them for that period; if they have underpaid, you receive a credit. For a condominium, common element fees are adjusted the same way. Prepaid utilities and similar costs follow the same logic. Once deposits already paid are taken into account, the statement shows the balance that has to be provided to the seller on closing.
The trust ledger is the document that breaks down what you owe on closing day — the purchase price, your deposit, the mortgage proceeds, the adjustments, legal fees, title insurance, land transfer tax, and any commissions payable to a mortgage broker or real estate brokerage.
If you want a single document that answers “what do I actually need to bring to closing”, this is it. Where the statement of adjustments deals with the position between buyer and seller, the trust ledger is your own accounting: it starts from the purchase price, credits your deposit and the mortgage proceeds, applies the adjustments, and adds the costs payable through your lawyer — legal fees and disbursements, land transfer tax, and any brokerage or mortgage broker commission that is being paid from the transaction.
Your lawyer should walk you through it before closing so there are no surprises about the number or the date it is needed by.
Registration has to complete before the Land Registry Office closes at 5:00 p.m. — after that no further registrations can be made that day. Standard OREA and TRREB agreements give the seller until 6:00 p.m. to vacate, so plan a same-day move accordingly. And in most cases you will receive lockbox codes rather than keys handed to you directly — the code opens a lockbox at the property, and the actual keys are inside it.
Closing day is when ownership transfers, and from your lawyer’s side it is the busiest day of the transaction. Your lawyer receives the mortgage funds, combines them with your closing funds, and sends the purchase balance to the seller’s lawyer. In exchange they receive the transfer documents and access to the property. Once funds are confirmed, they register the transfer of title in your name through Ontario’s electronic land registration system, and register your mortgage. That registration is what legally makes you the owner.
The title search described earlier isn’t the last check. On closing day itself, before funds move, your lawyer runs two further searches to confirm nothing has changed in the gap since that original search.
A writ search is repeated against the seller, the same check carried out during the original title search, to confirm no writ — a debt from an unpaid civil judgment that can attach to a property as a lien — has been registered against them in the meantime.
A sub search is also run against the title itself, covering only the period since the original search, to confirm no new registration — a second mortgage, a lien, or any other encumbrance — has been made against the property since. Both are a final safeguard for the time between when title was first searched and the moment it actually transfers to you.
Everything has to complete before the Land Registry Office closes at 5:00 p.m. Once it closes, no further registrations can be made that day, which means a deal that has not registered does not close that day. This is why lawyers push on timing and why a delay in funds arriving matters so much. Documents have to be exchanged, funds have to move, and registration has to happen — in the right order and inside the business day.
Two practical points that catch buyers out on moving day.
First, you will most likely be given lockbox codes rather than keys handed to you directly. The code opens a lockbox mounted at the property, and the actual physical keys are inside it. This practice began during COVID-19 and has simply remained the norm since.
Second, and more important if you are moving on closing day: the standard OREA and TRREB forms of Agreement of Purchase and Sale provide for vacant possession by 6:00 p.m. on the closing date. So even where the deal has closed and title has registered in the afternoon, the seller is entitled to remain until 6:00 p.m. — after which remaining would be trespassing. If you have booked movers for the morning of closing, that gap between registration and possession is worth understanding before you book.
Your lawyer sends a reporting letter, notifies the municipal tax department of the change of ownership and, for a condominium, the property manager, and completes the payouts required by the transaction.
Once closing is complete, your lawyer sends you a reporting letter: written confirmation that title is registered in your name, a copy of the title insurance policy, the final statement of adjustments, and the other documents relevant to your ownership. Keep it. It is the record of how you came to own the property, and you will want it if you ever sell, refinance, or need to resolve a title question.
There is also administrative work that continues after the day itself. Your lawyer notifies the local tax department of the change of ownership so property tax bills go to the right person, and for a condominium notifies the property management company so that common element fees and the unit owner record are updated.
Then there are the payouts. On a purchase, funds go where the transaction requires. On a sale they are more involved: discharging and paying out existing mortgages, settling outstanding property taxes, and paying real estate brokerage and mortgage broker commissions from the proceeds. Handling those correctly, and obtaining the discharges to prove it, is part of the closing rather than an afterthought.
Real estate transactions in Ontario are legally complex. Title defects, undisclosed liens, improperly discharged mortgages and title fraud are real risks and they do happen. In practice, transfers of title in Ontario are registered electronically through the province’s land registration system, and access to it is restricted to licensed lawyers — which is why a lawyer is not an optional participant in the transaction.
A title defect discovered after closing can be extraordinarily difficult and expensive to resolve without the right protection in place beforehand. This is not a step to cut corners on.
Not every real estate matter is a straightforward residential purchase or sale. Wannes Law acts on residential and commercial transactions, survivorship applications, life leases, sales under a power of attorney, and estate sales and power of sale transactions. If it concerns real estate, we handle it.
Meet the lawyers and legal team at Wannes Law. Our real estate services cover residential purchases, sales, refinances and transfers across Toronto and the GTA, alongside the commercial and estate-related work above. We also offer a flat-fee status certificate review for condominium buyers — and if you proceed to close your purchase with us, that review is complimentary.
If you’re buying a home in Ontario and want to know exactly what to expect and what it will cost, get an instant quote online. No phone tag, no waiting — just a clear answer you can plan around. For a full walkthrough of what goes into that number, see our guide to real estate lawyer fees in Ontario.
These cover the purchase process specifically. For broader questions see our full FAQ, or read what past clients say on our testimonials page.
Yes. Transfers of title are registered through Ontario’s electronic land registration system, and access to it is restricted to licensed lawyers, so a lawyer has to complete the registration that makes you the legal owner.
On a purchase, the seller’s lawyer prepares it. The buyer’s lawyer reviews it and checks that property taxes and, for a condominium, common element fees have been adjusted correctly.
The statement of adjustments is the accounting between buyer and seller. The trust ledger is your own accounting: purchase price, deposit, mortgage proceeds, adjustments, legal fees, title insurance, land transfer tax and any commissions, ending in the amount you personally owe on closing.
Registration must be completed before the Land Registry Office closes at 5:00 p.m. After that no further registrations can be made that day.
Usually you receive lockbox codes rather than keys handed to you directly — the code opens a lockbox at the property that holds the actual keys, a practice that began during COVID-19 and has remained standard. Standard OREA and TRREB agreements allow the seller until 6:00 p.m. to vacate, so access may not be immediate on registration.
It is risky. The deal has to register before 5:00 p.m., and the seller is generally entitled to remain until 6:00 p.m. under the standard agreement. If you are moving on closing day, book with that in mind.
Yes. On closing day itself, before funds move, a writ search is repeated against the seller and a sub search is run against the title to confirm nothing new has been registered since the original title search. It is a final safeguard for the gap between that search and the moment title actually transfers.
It is not mandated by statute, but almost all lenders require it and a prudent lawyer would not close a purchase without it. An owner’s policy covering your own interest is separate from the lender’s and worth having.
Yes, and it is the cheapest protection in the process. Fixing a problem before signing is far easier than fixing it afterwards.
The Law Society of Ontario requires lawyers to verify client identity and complete anti-money-laundering checks on transactions involving the movement of funds. It applies to every client.
This article is general information about residential real estate transactions in Ontario and is not legal advice. Procedures, statutory requirements and fees change, and the terms of your own Agreement of Purchase and Sale govern your transaction — the 6:00 p.m. possession time described above reflects the standard OREA and TRREB forms and may be varied by agreement. Confirm the details of your purchase with your lawyer.
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