Friday, April 02, 2010

What is so "critical" about a Status Certificate when selling a condominium in Ontario?

What is so 'critical' about the status certificate when you buy a condominium in Ontario?

When I am representing the seller, I tell them the status certificate is critical.

What I mean by " critical " is that we have nearly zero control over the content of the status certificate and how the buyers lawyer interprets the information contained within it.

If there are any issues with the financial status or operation of the condo (current or future) the buyer has the option to back out of the sale.

Most often the buyer and the buyer's lawyer is fine with the status certificate, but there are many issues that could arise. This is why I say it's the critical condition. Financing and inspection conditions are quite straightforward.

I'm not trying to scare you, these are just the facts.

Most Status certificates are fine, but once I receive the status certificate, I will copy the first 5 to 7 pages, these are the most important and specific pages to your particular unit (the balance of the status certificate is about 50 pages of budgets and legal information about the condo complex, and nothing particular about your unit) and I like to have a copy of these pages in the event of further discussion with the other agent or solicitor, more as a reference.

Typically, the status certificate for a condo should be fine as long as there are no new issues that you the seller does not know about.

I hope this helps,
Mark

No comments:

Post a Comment