Buying and Selling Properties

A real estate transaction involves several important steps, and your notary at Nadeau et Monast Law Firm will guide you throughout the process to ensure the purchase or sale of your property proceeds smoothly.

Many professionals can assist during a transaction, such as mortgage brokers, real estate brokers, land surveyors, and building inspectors. Your notary remains available from beginning to end to advise you and answer your questions throughout every stage.

Consult a notary at Nadeau et associées, notaries.

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Purchase and Sale Transactions

The purchase or sale of a property begins with a preliminary contract — the promise to purchase — presented by the buyer to the seller.

Once signed, this document legally binds the parties and obliges them to comply with its conditions. Because of the importance of this document, we encourage you to consult your notary before submitting a promise to purchase. Your notary can clarify important points, provide explanations, and suggest conditions adapted to your specific situation. Your notary may also draft the agreement on your behalf.

In addition to reviewing the property title and ensuring the property is free of prior encumbrances, your notary will:

  • Review:
    • The certificate of location;
    • The property’s specific legal situation;
    • The promise to purchase;
    • Mortgage agreements;
    • Condominium documents, where applicable;
  • Prepare legal documents and deeds;
  • Calculate and verify adjustments between buyer and seller (municipal and school taxes, condo fees, rental income, etc.);
  • Pay outstanding mortgage debts and transaction-related costs from the sale proceeds.
Your notary’s role also includes asking the right questions to adapt the legal documents to your specific situation, explaining the documents you sign, and ensuring you understand their consequences.

At Nadeau et Monast Law Firm, our goal is to make the purchase or sale of your property a positive, stress-free experience while ensuring you fully understand every aspect of the transaction.

Mortgages and Discharges

If you already own a property and wish to refinance it with a new mortgage, your notary will guide you efficiently through the process.

If the property is already mortgaged, your notary will oversee repayment of the outstanding mortgage balance and any applicable penalties using the proceeds of the new loan. Your notary will also obtain and register a discharge from the former lender to release the property from the prior mortgage.

A discharge is a legal document through which the lender releases the property used as collateral. It is necessary whenever a mortgage loan is fully repaid, including:

  • During the sale of a property;
  • During refinancing;
  • Once the mortgage debt has been fully paid.
Your notary will obtain and register the discharge in the land registry to officially remove the mortgage from your property title.

Transfers Between Spouses

Whether within the context of a developing conjugal relationship where one spouse who is the sole owner of the house where the couple lives decides to transfer some of the property rights to the other spouse, or within the context of a separation where both spouses own the home and one decides to purchase the rights belonging to the other and remain the sole owner, your notary at Nadeau et associées has a significant role to play.

Adding a Name to a Property Title

This type of transfer adds a co-owner to the property title so that the home belongs to both spouses. It may serve to protect the new spouse and their investment in the property.

Your notary can include special clauses in the transfer deed to recognize the first owner’s contribution. Since the property will be jointly owned, a co-ownership agreement may also be drafted.

Removing a Name from a Property Title

Following a separation, one spouse may decide to keep sole ownership of the family home.

Depending on the agreement between the parties, this may involve financial compensation or a separation agreement. If the property is mortgaged, it may be necessary to discharge the existing mortgage and arrange a new one. In some cases, the lender may agree to release one spouse from the existing mortgage without creating a new one.

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