Many of our buyers and sellers come into our meetings excitedly asking - “So, what time will we be closed?”. In short, there is no way to say exactly. Obviously, the closing date is the day - but the timing is based on a lot of moving parts. It can happen any time until end of business ( usually 5 pm) that day and is still considered closed ‘on time’.

FACTORS THAT CAN IMPACT THE TIMING OF CLOSING

Some of those moving parts are:

• Deed and closing documents have to make there way from the sellers lawyer to the buyers lawyer by courier.

• Walk-through with the buyers has to happen, and any issues that may have popped up need to be addressed. Either fixed or a credit or holdback negotiated by the realtors or lawyers to resolve that issue.

• The sellers have to be moved out of the house - while rare, it is not unheard of for sellers not to be out of the home on the morning of closing day.

• The down payment and closing funds from the client need to be received by the seller’s lawyer and deposited to the buyer's lawyer.

• The funds from the mortgage lender have to come from the bank to the lawyer’s trust account and then make their way from the buyer's lawyer to the seller’s lawyer.

Once all of those things are complete - then keys can be released. While most days all of those things go smoothly, sometimes there are hiccups and they can cause delays so no one can say with certainty in advance what time a property will ‘Close’.

By: Briana C. O’Grady, J.D

Have Questions For Us?:

If you have any questions about an issue with a property in Nova Scotia process, 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.

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