Moving Costs

Legal Fees: There is no universal legal fee for legal services provided when you either buy or sell your home. Generally, the fees incurred when you sell your home are lower than when you buy your home, particularly if you require mortgage financing to buy your home. A Real Estate lawyer will provide you with the details. I can put you in contact with lawyers used in the past. Remember that GST must be added to legal fees and real estate commissions.

Disbursements: Disbursements are amounts you pay to your lawyer over and above his or her fee for legal services. These are expenses that are incurred by your lawyer on your behalf when completing your home purchase or sale. Whether you are buying or selling your home, your lawyer will be required to conduct some searches of your title and the property tax account. If you are purchasing your home, your disbursement costs will be higher than if you are selling because there will be registration costs associated with transferring title to your name and registering your mortgage against title. Your lawyer can give you a more detailed explanation of the disbursements you can expect.

Land Transfer Fee: The Land Transfer Fee payable in Alberta is considerably lower than what is payable in other provinces. The Fee is usually payable by the purchaser and is calculated as follows:

$35 plus $1/$5,000 of the value of the home.

eg. Purchase price is $150,000
Transfer Fee: $35 + (($.20 X $150,000) ÷ $1,000) = $65.00

There is also a registration fee for registering your mortgage:

$15 plus $1/$5,000 of the amount of the mortgage

eg. Mortgage amount is $100,000 Registration fee: $15 + ($.20 X $100,000) ÷ $1,000 = $35.00

Real Property Report: The Purchase Contract usually requires that the seller provide an up-to-date Real Property Report with a municipal stamp of compliance endorsed. The cost of a new Real Property Report is approximately $375 - $450, and the municipalities charge approximately $50 - $100 to endorse their compliance. You should check with a surveyor to determine the exact cost of preparing your Real Property Report. If your property does not comply with municipal regulations, you may have to remove or alter the offending structure, or apply for an Encroachment Agreement and or a Relaxation from the municipality. This can cost as much as $500 plus any additional fee for legal services.

Adjustments: The Purchase Price will usually be adjusted so that each of the purchaser and the seller pay their respective shares of property taxes, condominium fees, and Homeowner Association fees, if applicable. If the property is a rental property, there will be an adjustment for damage deposits and rent received or payable. Each party should contact the utility, telephone, and natural gas companies to either terminate or set up services. Generally, each of these services will send their final account to the seller to the cut off date, and services used following that date will be billed directly to the purchaser.

Insurance: If you are buying your home, you should contact your insurance company to set up adequate fire insurance in respect of your home and personal contents. The amount of your insurance premium will vary according to the coverage desired, the age and condition of your home, and of course, your insurer's rates. If you are buying a condominium you will need insurance coverage for your contents and any upgrades you or the previous owners have completed to the unit, even though the building itself will be insured by the corporation.

Home Inspection: You can obtain a home inspection for a fee of approximately $250 to $350. You may alternatively consider hiring the services of a structural engineer to inspect the house you wish to buy. I can recommend home inspectors used in the past.

GST: For most resale homes and condominiums GST is not payable by the buyer. It is always best to know your position on GST especially when buying acreages or raw land. Details should be written into the offer if there are any questions on who is to pay the GST.