Stage 3 of 10
Building your team
Hire the lawyer and the inspector before you need them, because both get hired under time pressure and both are where people economize and regret it.
You need four people: a buyer's agent, a real estate lawyer, a home inspector, and a mortgage broker or lender contact. Ask each of them, in writing and before you engage them, who pays them and how much. The three you pay directly are not where the money is worth saving.
Your progress in this stage
0 of 4 ticked, 0% weighted. 2 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
- Retain a real estate lawyer and get a flat quote · You
- Line up a home inspector who can attend on 48 hours' notice · You
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.
- CriticalYou5 days
Ask for one number that includes fees, disbursements, title insurance and software charges, in writing. Ask what a rush closing costs and whether they handle mortgage instructions from your specific lender. A lawyer is mandatory in Ontario; notaries cannot close a purchase here.
$1,500 to $2,500 on closing
- CriticalYou3 days
In a fast market you will need an inspection within two days of an accepted offer, or a pre-offer inspection before you bid. Book the relationship now. Ask for a sample report and confirm you can walk the house with them.
$400 to $700 during your condition period
Important
Skipping one costs money or leverage, not the deal.
- ImportantYou7 days
The agreement has a term and a geographic territory, and it may include a holdover clause that entitles the agent to commission after it ends on properties they showed you. Negotiate the term. Thirty to ninety days is reasonable for a first agreement.
- ImportantYou3 days
Some properties are hard to insure: knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized or polybutylene plumbing, oil tanks, aluminum wiring, a roof past its life. Finding that out after you are firm is a problem, because your lender will not advance funds without coverage in place.
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.
Picking the lawyer with the lowest advertised fee.
The quote excludes disbursements and title insurance, the real bill is hundreds higher, and a volume practice may not have time to explain a title problem to you at 4pm the day before closing.
Instead: Compare all-in written quotes and ask who you will actually speak to.
Using the listing agent to buy the property they are selling.
Under multiple representation the agent cannot advise either side on price or strategy. You get no advocacy in the one negotiation where you most need it, and the price on the house is the one you arrived at with nobody on your side of it.
Instead: Use your own agent. If you are told a listing agent can get you a better deal, ask them to put in writing how that works.
Signing a long buyer representation agreement without reading the holdover.
You owe commission to an agent you have stopped working with, on a property you buy months later through someone else.
Instead: Cap the term, limit the territory to where you are actually shopping, and read the holdover period before signing.
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.
Buyer representation agreement
Makes an agent your representative for a fixed term and territory, and sets out how commission is handled if the seller's side does not cover it in full. Includes a holdover period after expiry.
Signing this removes your ability to walk away without a cost.
Lawyer's retainer and quote
Confirms the lawyer is acting for you and what you will pay. Should itemize fees and disbursements separately.
Signing this removes your ability to walk away without a cost.
You are finished with this stage when
- You have signed a buyer representation agreement and you know its term and territory.
- You have a lawyer's name, a written flat quote, and confirmation they can close on short notice.
- You have an inspector who will let you attend the inspection and who provides a written report.
- You understand how your agent is paid and what happens if the listing offers a reduced commission.