Dec 13, 2016
Purchasing and building a custom home with a builder affords you the luxury of building a home perfectly tailored to your tastes. It’s a trend that is rising in popularity, especially in the Niagara Region as the population grows and residential resources expand out to accommodate. Newly built homes come with many benefits, specifically, there should not be any serious issues or immediate maintenance costs.
Frequently, home buyers do not hire a lawyer until the purchase deal is almost complete, however hiring a lawyer to review your purchase agreement and negotiations early on, can protect your from the risks and hidden costs associated with purchasing a builder’s home.
Your purchase and sale agreement is a legally binding document that outlines the terms and conditions of the purchase of your new home. The document is drafted with legal clauses and should be reviewed by a lawyer in order to confirm the terms outlined are in your best interest. This is important because, you may be prompted to sign your agreement in the presence of your builder or given a short period of time for review, in order to guarantee the price or lot. To protect your purchase, the largest purchase you may ever make, you must have the contract reviewed and flagged by your lawyer.
Critical dates, including possession, should be outlined in your purchase and sale agreement. If your builder misses these dates and requires a timeline, you have options. For instance, you may be able to seek compensation for the delay period or remove yourself from the contract in its entirety. Whenever you approach a delay you should seek legal advice to understand your options moving forward.
Your new home builders should provide you with a new home warranty in writing. This document will outline the terms and timelines of the areas of your house under warranty. To protect yourself and asset, you may consider marking done the deadline for your warranty and studying the terms of that warranty.
The closing costs outlined in your Agreement of Purchase and Sale are estimates, with new home builds, homeowners may find additional costs added into the purchase contract. This could include unexpected charges like development charges and utilities installation, your lawyer can help you to monitor and potentially cap or remove these additional charges.
Using a lawyer to buy a custom built home is the best due diligence you can perform. For superior quality representation in the sale or purchase of a home or piece of land, contact one of Chown Cairns Niagara Real Estate Lawyers below.