Making an offer to purchase a home

Sellers

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Buyers

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Making an offer

Once you have found the home you would like, a written offer to purchase must be prepared.

Considering the substantial nature of this investment, you should work with a lawyer, notary public, or a real estate professional when preparing an offer to purchase. An offer is usually recorded on a standard form entitled Contract of Purchase and Sale.

What should the offer contain?

When you prepare an offer, it should contain a number of standard details, plus any conditions which are important to you. Be fully aware that once you sign this document and the seller also signs it, a legally binding contract has been formed. Legally binding means both you and the seller will be bound by the terms of the contract and must each perform your respective obligations as stated within that contract. Either of you can go to court to compel the other to perform his or her part of the contract. Even if a contract contains subject clauses, it is legally binding as soon as both the buyer and the seller have signed the contract.

Your offer should include:

• Date of the offer. Date and time your offer expires.
• Full legal names and addresses of both the buyer and the seller.
• The full legal description of the home.
• Amount of the deposit you are giving (which will be held in a trust account and will form part of your down-payment).
• Sale price.
• Amount of your cash down-payment and details as to how you will finance the remainder of the purchase price. Your desired closing and possession dates.
• A list of the conditions which must be satisfied before the sale can occur. These are called “subject clauses” or “conditions precedent.”
• A list of items which are not attached to the building (chattels), but which you state are to be included in the sale price; for example, drapes, refrigerator, stove, etc. It is helpful to be specific in the description of these items. Your signature.

What are the seller’s options?

When the seller receives your “offer to purchase,” he or she has four options.

1. Accept the Offer Exactly as Written

If the seller signs your offer without making any changes, a legally binding contract has been formed. Again, legally binding means both you and the seller will be bound by the terms of the contract and must each perform your respective obligations as stated. Your performance can be enforced in a court of law.

2. Reject the Offer

The seller is under no obligation to accept your offer or to make a counter-offer.

3. Ignore the Offer

The seller is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of your offer.

4. Make a Counter-Offer

If the seller changes anything at all on your original offer, the seller is considered to have rejected your offer and to be making a new offer back to you. This new offer is usually referred to as a “counter-offer.”

When you receive a counter-offer, you then have the same three options as the seller had: accept, reject or make a further counter-offer. The process of counter-offers may continue until an agreement is reached.

If the counter-offer is unacceptable to you or if you have changed your mind about the purchase, the seller does not have the option of returning to your original offer and accepting it.

What are the buyer’s options?

If, after making a written offer, you decide you don’t want to purchase the home, it may be possible to revoke the offer. Many legal problems can result from the revocation of an offer, so you should seek professional advice about the correct procedure to follow.

More about “subject” clauses

The purpose of a subject clause (also known as a condition precedent) contained in an offer to purchase is to set out a specific condition that must be fulfilled before the sale can go through, although the contract is legally binding once it is signed by both parties. Subject clauses must be carefully and precisely worded. You would be wise to get professional help in composing them; however, it is ultimately your responsibility to be sure the clauses mean what you want them to mean.
There can be as many subject clauses as you are able to negotiate with the seller; however, the fewer you put into an offer, the more serious you seem as a buyer and the better the chance is that your offer will be accepted. Remember that you are, in effect, asking the seller to take the home off the market during the period while you are attempting to fulfill the conditions you have set.

Some possible items you might wish your purchase to be “subject” to include:

• a satisfactory professional building inspection
• the arrangement of the financing you require
• the lender’s approval of your application to assume the seller’s existing mortgage
• the sale of your present home
• if the home is a strata lot, satisfactory review of all relevant strata documentation, including engineer’s reports and/or building inspection reports, if any.

When you place “subject” clauses on your offer to purchase, you are required to use every reasonable effort to see that the conditions are satisfied. It is important to know that subject clauses are not “escape” clauses that allow you to avoid your legal responsibilities in the contract. Once you have fulfilled the conditions, written notification should be given to the seller that you are removing the subject clauses.

If you are unable to meet the conditions after making every reasonable effort to do so, the contract ends and there is no legal obligation to complete the purchase. It is important to remember that if the brokerage is holding your deposit, both you and the seller must sign a deposit release form prior to the deposit being released to you.

A seller may wish to accept your offer containing subject clauses, yet still be free to consider other offers until you have removed the conditions. To allow him or herself this freedom, the seller may ask for a clause in the agreement which permits the seller to require you to remove all subject conditions within a short, specified time period (usually between 24 and 72 hours) if the seller receives another attractive offer. If you cannot do so, your conditional contract comes to an end. Sellers are most likely to request this time clause where you have made an offer that is subject to the sale of your current home.

More about deposits

Usually, you will make a deposit with your offer to purchase or after your offer is accepted. That deposit is usually held in your brokerage’s trust account. The brokerage holds the deposit for the benefit of the transaction, not just for your benefit. Note: If your contract contains subject clauses in your favor and you do not remove those clauses, you will not automatically get your deposit back. Both you and the seller will have to sign a separate release form. If the seller will not sign the release, you will have to obtain legal advice, as your brokerage cannot release the deposit unless you and the seller have agreed to do so.

Unless the contract specifically states that any interest earned on a deposit will be payable to either the seller or the buyer, interest is payable to the Real Estate Foundation of BC.

If a deposit is to be held by someone other than a real estate brokerage, you should obtain independent legal advice to ensure there is no concern about either how the deposit is to be held or the terms upon which it may be released.

Completing your purchase

The Contract of Purchase and Sale, which you signed, will state the completion day for the transaction. On that day, legal ownership will transfer from the old owner to you in exchange for the purchase price of the home. You will be able to move in on the possession date stated on your contract. The completion and possession dates are not necessarily on the same date.

Do you need legal assistance?

It is normal practice for the buyer to engage a lawyer or notary public to prepare the documents necessary to transfer the legal ownership.

Among other things, he or she will protect your interests by:

• searching the title in the Land Title and Survey Authority Office registration system to find if anyone other than the seller has any legal rights to the home and to see if there are any registered easements or restrictive covenants
• preparing the documents to transfer ownership from the seller to you, including the Property Transfer Tax return
• ensuring that the seller’s old mortgage has been properly discharged, if this is required
• confirming that all payments for which the seller is responsible have been made
• arranging for you to sign the transfer documents
• preparing a Statement of Adjustments outlining all monies owed by you and the funds you will need to complete the transaction
• delivering the final amount due to the seller and ensuring you are registered as the owner in the Land Title and Survey Authority Office
• obtaining documents for strata-titled properties, such as the Information Certificate (Form B as prescribed in the Strata Property Act), Certificate of Payment (Form F as prescribed under the Strata Property Act) and the strata corporation’s Certificate of Insurance

The day has arrived! You have signed the documents, turned over your cheque, and received the keys. The home is yours!

Questions?

We are ready to answer any of your questions. Call Stan Stanchev at 604-202-1412.

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