Stage 8 of 10
Closing
Your lawyer runs this stage. Your jobs are to send the money as certified funds and to have insurance in place, both earlier than feels necessary.
Between firm and keys, the lawyer searches title, reviews the survey and the status certificate, raises requisitions on any title defect, takes your lender's instructions, prepares the statement of adjustments and registers the transfer. You sign a stack of documents about a week out and wire the balance. The failure modes here are money arriving late and insurance not being bound.
Your progress in this stage
0 of 8 ticked, 0% weighted. 5 critical tasks are still outstanding.
Weighted, not counted: a critical task is worth 5 optional ones.
Outstanding, and each one can cost you the deal
- Calculate your exact cash to close and confirm it against the lawyer's figure · You
- Let your lawyer search title and raise requisitions · Your lawyer
- Bind home insurance effective the closing date · Your insurer
- Send the balance as certified funds, early · You
- Sign the closing documents with your lawyer · Your lawyer
Work backwards from closing
Closing day is the only fixed date in a purchase. Give it to us and every outstanding task in this stage gets the date it has to be started by, using the slow end of each stage's range.
Anything from Aug 28, 2026 onwards. A closing sooner than a week away is not something a lawyer and a lender can complete.
Critical
Skipping one of these can cost you the house, the deposit, or five figures.
- CriticalYou1 day
Down payment balance, land transfer tax and any municipal tax, legal fees and disbursements, title insurance, the sales tax on mortgage insurance if you have it, and the property tax adjustment. Your lawyer's statement of adjustments is the authoritative number; run yours first so you can question theirs.
- CriticalYour lawyer10 days
They look for liens, unregistered easements, work orders, encroachments and whether the seller can actually convey clear title. Anything they find must be raised by the requisition date in the agreement, which is why that date exists.
- CriticalYour insurer14 days
Two weeks out, not two days. Your lender will not advance funds without a binder naming them as loss payee, and a delayed advance delays closing.
$900 to $2,000 before closing day
- CriticalYou3 days
Wire or bank draft to the lawyer's trust account, at least two business days before closing. Personal cheques and e-transfers are not accepted. Confirm wire details by phone with your lawyer's office using a number you looked up yourself, because wire fraud in real estate closings is common and unrecoverable.
- CriticalYour lawyer1 day
Transfer, mortgage documents, statutory declarations, the statement of adjustments, and the land transfer tax affidavit including any first-time buyer rebate claim. Usually about a week before closing, in person or by video.
Important
Skipping one costs money or leverage, not the deal.
- ImportantYour lawyer1 day
One premium, held for as long as you own the property. It covers title fraud, unknown defects, survey issues and some municipal work orders. Your lender requires a policy regardless; the part that protects you is the owner's coverage on it.
$300 to $900 on closing
- ImportantYou1 day
Confirm the chattels are there, the fixtures have not been removed, nothing has been damaged in the move-out, and the systems still work. If something is wrong, it is far easier to resolve before closing than after.
- ImportantYou30 days
Reputable movers book out four to six weeks, and month-end is the worst time to leave it late. Transfer hydro, gas, water and internet effective the closing date, not the day you move.
$800 to $2,500 before closing day
What goes wrong at this stage
Each of these is common and each one costs money or a house. The consequence is stated in dollars or in what you lose, because a warning without a number is a warning people skip.
Sending the balance of funds on closing day.
Funds do not clear in time, registration misses the deadline, and you are in breach. Late-closing interest and the seller's costs are charged to you, and in the worst case the seller can terminate.
Instead: Have certified funds in your lawyer's trust account two business days early. Ask them to confirm receipt.
Wiring funds using details from an email.
Real estate wire fraud is one of the most effective frauds operating in Canada. Buyers have wired six figures to a fraudster days before closing, lost the money and the house, and wired funds are generally gone for good.
Instead: Phone the lawyer's office on a number you found independently and verbally confirm every digit before sending.
Leaving insurance to the last few days.
The lender will not advance, closing is delayed, and you pay for the delay. If the property turns out to be hard to insure, days are not enough time to solve it.
Instead: Bind coverage two weeks out and send the binder to your lender and lawyer.
Signing the statement of adjustments without reading it.
Errors happen, and adjustments for prepaid taxes, condo fees, fuel in a tank or rental equipment buyouts can each move by hundreds or thousands.
Instead: Read every line and ask your lawyer to explain any you do not recognize, before you sign.
What you sign and receive
A document marked binding commits you. Once it is signed you cannot change your mind without losing money, and in Ontario a resale purchase has no cooling-off period at all.
Statement of adjustments
The final accounting: purchase price, deposit credit, mortgage advance, prepaid property taxes and condo fees, and the exact balance you must deliver.
Signing this removes your ability to walk away without a cost.
Transfer / deed
The instrument that moves ownership into your name on registration. Registered electronically in Ontario.
Signing this removes your ability to walk away without a cost.
Charge / mortgage
Registers your lender's security against the property. Note whether it is a standard charge or a collateral charge, because that affects switching lenders later.
Signing this removes your ability to walk away without a cost.
Title insurance policy
One-time premium, coverage for as long as you own the home, against title fraud and defects. Keep it with your deed.
You are finished with this stage when
- Your lawyer has reported on title and cleared any requisitions.
- You have reviewed the statement of adjustments and understand every line on it.
- The balance of funds has cleared into the lawyer's trust account, as certified funds or a wire.
- Home insurance is bound effective the closing date and your lender has the binder.