What happens between acceptance and a firm deal?

Financing and the appraisal

A financing condition gives the buyer a set number of days to obtain a mortgage commitment. The lender will usually order an appraisal, and if it comes in below the price the buyer's borrowing shrinks. You have no control over either, but you can help by allowing the appraiser prompt access and by making sure the listing did not overstate the home.

When the buyer waives the financing condition, the risk of their lender changing its mind passes to them. A buyer who cannot fund closing after waiving is in breach, not released.

The inspection and what comes back to you

An inspection condition lets the buyer bring in a home inspector, who reports on what can be seen and reached. Ontario does not licence home inspectors, and the report belongs to the buyer. Expect requests: a price reduction, a repair, or a credit on closing. You are not obliged to agree to any of them; the buyer's only rights are to waive the condition or to walk away.

Any change you do agree to must be written as an amendment to the agreement and signed by both sides. A promise made at the kitchen table is not enforceable and not safe.

Condominium sales: the status certificate

If you are selling a condominium, the buyer will want a status certificate, the package the corporation must issue under section 76 of the Condominium Act, 1998 within ten days of a written request and payment of the fee, which is capped by regulation; check the current figure. The agreement usually makes the seller order and pay for it, so order it as soon as the offer is accepted.

The buyer's lawyer reviews the corporation's finances, reserve fund, insurance, any lawsuits and any special assessment. A surprise in the certificate is the most common reason a condominium deal does not firm up.

Title search and requisitions

The buyer's lawyer searches title and, by the requisition date in the agreement, sends any objections to us in writing. Typical requisitions ask us to discharge an old mortgage, clear an execution against a person with a similar name, explain a survey discrepancy or confirm a permit was closed. We answer each one and register or obtain what is needed.

The Vendors and Purchasers Act and the agreement itself set the framework: a valid objection that cannot be removed and that the buyer will not waive entitles the buyer to end the agreement, so early title work on our side matters.

Waivers, fulfilment and mutual releases

A condition is satisfied only by a signed waiver or notice of fulfilment delivered before its deadline. Until you hold that document, the deal is not firm and you should not rely on it, whatever the agent reports verbally.

If a condition fails, the agreement is at an end. Both sides sign a mutual release so the brokerage can return the deposit, and you are free to sell to someone else. A seller who refuses to sign a release for a properly failed condition gains nothing and delays the deposit's return.