You’ve been diligent, researched the neighbourhood you want to live in, viewed the comparables, and have spoken with your bank about mortgage options. Today is the day, you are going to walk into that sales office and buy that condo unit with your name on it! It’s done, you did it, now you think let me sit back put my feet up and crack a beer and wait till the condo is built. ‘HALT”, we scream!! Sorry we don’t mean to alarm you, but have you spoken with your lawyer and had him or her go over your agreement within that 10 day cooling off period? If not you could have just made a very costly mistake… a very costly mistake indeed. If you were lucky enough to be working with a knowledgeable Realtor we are sure he or she would have told you about the benefits of having an Assignment clause and Cap On Development Charges clause written in your agreement, and made sure you visited a lawyer within that 10 day cooling off period. Most people don’t even know about developmental charges, and what’s quite scary is that these charges can be extremely high. In fact these charges might get even higher as Toronto’s city council is proposing to double these already hefty charges. Alas, don’t be alarmed because if you did have a knowledgeable Realtor and Lawyer advising you with your purchase they would have made sure that those clauses were in your agreement. Even if you have to shell out small amounts of money to start with to obtain advice, it always pays to consult the professionals whose careers are all about knowing the ins and outs of real estate, and how to protect ones self.
