What does a real estate lawyer do when you buy a home in Saskatchewan?
This answer covers the law of Saskatchewan.
Buying a home involves legal work between an accepted offer and getting the keys, and a lawyer can help with it. What that work includes depends on your deal, so it helps to understand the parts that affect you, such as the title, the mortgage and the costs.
A title search through Information Services Corporation (ISC) Quick Search finds currently active titles but does not show previous owners or interests that were removed. Mortgages and liens appear on a title as registered interests, while judgments are tracked separately in the Judgment Registry. If you are buying a resale condominium unit, the buyer can request an estoppel certificate from the corporation.
On costs, in a standard Law Society offer-to-purchase template each party pays their own lawyer, and the purchaser pays the Land Titles Registry fees to register the property in the purchaser's name and to register the purchaser's mortgage. Saskatchewan also has a provincial fee to transfer property based on the property's value. Exactly what your lawyer does, and whether your lender requires one, depends on your deal, so confirm the steps with your lawyer.
Key takeaways
- The legal work in a purchase touches the title, the mortgage and the costs, and what your lawyer does depends on your deal, so it is worth confirming the steps with them.
- ISC Quick Search finds currently active titles but does not show previous owners or interests that were removed.
- Mortgages and liens appear on a title as registered interests, and judgments are tracked separately in the Judgment Registry.
- In a standard Law Society offer-to-purchase template, each party pays their own lawyer, and the purchaser pays the Land Titles Registry fees.