Money Talks: who handles the money when you’re Buying a Home in Nova Scotia

One of the things that incites the most anxiety when buying or selling a home is the money, who is handling it? Luckily for home buyers and sellers your trusted professionals help you in this department.

Mortgage Broker/Specialist: Determining how much you are approved to borrow, and getting approved for that loan are the realm of your mortgage professional. They can help you with sorting out the financing for your new home, including how much you are approved to borrow, how much you will need to put down, and ballpark review of your closing costs.

Once you have been approved the money moves into the hands of your real estate lawyer.

Your lawyer: We will work out, with the seller's lawyer the exact amount that will be required to purchase the home, taking into account things like the purchase price, the deposit, and adjustments for fuel and property taxes.

Down payment and closing costs: These will need to be deposited by you to your lawyer. This will cover the shortfall between the mortgage funds and the total you will need to close the deal. This includes things like deed transfer tax, fees and disbursements.

Mortgage funds: Your lender will forward the funds to your lawyer on closing day to facilitate the purchase.

Amount to close: Your lawyer will then send a cheque or deposit the funds in the agreed amount to close to the seller's lawyer to complete the purchase of your home.

Lastly your lawyer registers your deed and pays the deed transfer tax on your behalf.

For a detailed breakdown of the estimated closing costs that you will incur over and above your mortgage payout see our blog on closing costs.

Have questions for us?:

If you have any questions about closing costs you can call us at (902) 826-3070 or email us at info@highlanderlaw.ca to set up a meeting with one of our lawyers at our Tantallon law firm. You can also schedule a no commitment Issue Review Consult for $250+HST where you have the opportunity to explain your situation to a lawyer and get basic advice before deciding whether or not you'd like to retain us.  

By: Briana C. O'Grady, J.D. Associate Lawyer

The information and materials on this blog are provided for general informational purposes only and are not intended to be legal advice. Nothing contained on this blog is legal advice or constitutes a legal opinion. While it is our goal to provide information which is current, legislative changes and court decisions, among other matters, may result in some information no longer being current or accurate. You should consult a lawyer before relying on any information. The views expressed herein by individual contributing lawyers posting entries to the blog are solely those of the authors and should not necessarily be attributed to or considered representative of the firm of Highlander Law Group Lawyers