Buying New From a Builder?
FREE Amendment Schedule for Builder Agreements

Get a Free Quote Get a free online quote and know your full legal costs up front, including title insurance and land transfer taxes. Then print out the quotation certificate and phone one of our 11 locations to provide your preliminary personal information. Get a Free Online Quote

From: Mario Zammit, B.A. (Hons), LL.B.
To: Toronto Area Real Estate Buyers
Date:

Generally, purchase agreements with Builders on new residential properties are within two types of situations:

(A) Those dealing with Condominiums where either the entire unit or a certain component (such as common roads in a Townhouse complex) are part of a condominium corporation and where a maintenance fee is payable each month;

(B) Freehold properties NOT involving a condominium.

(A) BUYING A NEW CONDOMINIUM FROM A BUILDER

By law, the purchaser of a newly constructed Condominium unit has a ten day “cooling off” period beginning on the date when the builder has signed an acceptance of the offer and has made a fully signed copy available to the purchaser. During this time, a purchaser can review the contents of the agreement and can request in writing any changes that are proposed to be made (or the purchaser can provide the builder with a written notice of termination of the transaction) which must be provided to the Builder prior to the expiration of the cooling off period. A purchaser who decides not to provide any such written notice within the 10 days is deemed to have accepted the agreement as originally written.

(B) BUYING A NEW FREEHOLD PROPERTY (NOT A CONDOMINIUM) FROM A BUILDER

By contrast, a purchaser of a “Non-Condominium Freehold Unit,” enjoys no automatic “cooling off” period and any rights to have a lawyer review the contents of the sale agreement must be inserted into the agreement itself by way of a special condition for a lawyer’s review which is usually a special condition schedule inserted by the builder’s sales representative, if requested by the buyer prior to signing the offer to purchase from the builder.

NOTE ON REVIEWS OF BUILDER AGREEMENTS
(Condo and Non-Condo)

Our Law Offices have reviewed hundreds of Builder contracts over the last 15 years, and although agreements vary from Builder to Builder and from project to project, there are common issues present in virtually all such agreements.

Consequently, we are providing our clients with a FREE special AMENDMENT on this website, being a general amendment to the builder’s agreement dealing with these common issues, including a cover sheet to be submitted to the builder’s sales representative in order to address such common issues of possible concern.

Included below are two proposed AMENDMENTS which deal with each of the two residential categories mentioned above, being one for condominium properties and one for Freehold (Non-Condominium) properties being purchased from a Builder.

Each of these amendments can be modified to suit individual needs or concerns; however, for the majority of cases, the free AMENDMENT proposed below will be sufficient to deal with the recurring common issues in Builder contracts.

Our Law Offices still continue to provide individualized personal service associated with an Individual Builder Review at our MAIN OFFICE location should any of our clients require a comprehensive customized review of a builder’s agreement in a more personal face to face meeting.

For most “Typical or Usual” Builder Agreements, we hope that the FREE Amendment (below) together with its cover letter will assist you in your dealings with your Builder and help make your purchase an easy and predictable one with no later surprises.

Sincerely,
Mario Zammit, B.A. (Hons), LL.B.

Download Cover Letter & Amendments

(To Download, right click on the link and select Save Target As....
Files are in Adobe PDF format, if you need Adobe Reader, you can download it here)

If you'd like our office to represent you on a
purchase from a builder,
please call: 416-730-2833 or
Fill in the form below:

Name:
Phone:
Email:
Current Address:
New Property Lot, Plan, Street or Name of Project:
Proposed Closing Date:
Questions/Comments

Please click here for a FREE Quote