Possession Day

What Happens on Possession Day for Lethbridge Real Estate…

What is a Pre- Possession walkthrough?

When you buy a home, in Lethbridge and Southern Alberta, the REALTORS will normally do a prepossession walkthrough.  This is done normally the night before or the morning of possession.

In Lethbridge, this is done with almost every transaction and should be written into the contract in terms.  In other centres, like Calgary, they will often not allow a walkthrough, unless it is in the contract terms.

Why do you do a walkthrough?

Walkthroughs are done to check to see several things.

1. Is everything there that is supposed to be?  (all the appliances that were included are still there).
2. Is everything working?
3. Has the home been cleaned? (It’s not a requirement for sellers to clean the house before possession, but it is a common courtesy. Unless cleaning is written into the contract).
4. Has there been any damage to the home?

If everything is fine after a walkthrough, (which it is about 99% of the time), then the buyer will call his or her lawyer to say that all is well.  Then the buyer’s lawyer knows that it is okay to send the money to the seller’s lawyer.  Once the seller’s lawyer receives the funds then the seller’s lawyer will tell the seller’s realtor to release the keys.  At that time the buyer is free to start moving in.  This usually happens around 12 noon.

 

• BUYERS COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH WITH BUYER’S REALTOR
• BUYERS CALL LAWYER, SAY WALKTHROUGH WAS GOOD
• BUYER’S LAWYER SENDS MONEY TO SELLER’S LAWYER
• SELLER’S LAWYER CALLS SELLER’S REALTOR TO SAY KEYS ARE RELEASABLE
• SELLER’S REALTOR CALLS BUYER’S REALTOR TO RELEASE KEYS
• BUYERS CAN START MOVING INTO THE HOUSE.

 

Possessions are set in the contract to happen at 12 noon.  However, if the money is received before then, then the buyers can move in a little early. If the money doesn’t arrive till later, then the buyers will have to wait to move in.  DON’T BOOK A MOVING COMPANY FOR THE MORNING OF!  It’s much safer to book for later in the afternoon, or even better, the day after possession.  You don’t want to be paying movers for a house that you are not allowed to move into yet. About 80% of the time possessions happen before noon.  However, sometimes the buyer’s lawyer doesn’t receive funds from the mortgage company till later in the morning, so they can’t send it till later and it doesn’t arrive till later.  Quite often law offices take lunch from 12-1pm, so if the money doesn’t arrive before 12 noon, you will usually have to wait until 1 pm.

What happens if there is a problem with a walkthrough?

What happens if something goes wrong with the walkthrough?   For example, the washing machine or the microwave is missing. Or the garage remotes are missing.  The first thing a buyer should do is ask their REALTOR to help.  If it is a big issue, like say the basement is flooded, it is best that the lawyers be contacted. Some type of holdback may need to be arranged.   Otherwise, the REALTORS should be able to work out the problem, so that everything goes smoothly.

 

Check out Joel and Justin chatting about possession day on our facebook Page.