Gather your Documents

Here is a list of the documents you should have on hand, both for your Real Estate Professional and for any potential buyers.

Selling a home is an involved process. There are numerous items to think about including choosing a Real Estate Professional, preparing your home for sale, negotiating with possible buyers, handling details with a lawyer and moving. When you are prepared the process can be much easier. In fact, you will feel less stressed and more organized when you give some thought to organizing the paperwork you need. When you have everything in one place, you will not be scrambling to find documents at the last minute. Even better, you will feel in control, and prepared for anything that comes your way.

Here is a list of the documents you should have on hand, both for your Real Estate Professional and for any potential buyers.

Mortgage Documents:
If you have financing it is important to determine if their are any costs to paying off your mortgage. There are different mortgages and most have a buy out penalty (average is 3 months of interest payments). This is important to know so you understand how much your retained earnings will be after the sale and disbursements. This information is not required for the Real Estate Professional but is valuable for your consideration.

If your financial obligations exceed the net sale proceeds of your home you will have to come up with 'cash to close' This determination is made in advance of the sale and funds may be required prior to listing the property. This becomes part of the listing agreement.

Real Property Report (RPR):

An RPR is a legal document an Alberta Land Surveyor prepares. It’s basically a high level drawing of the property, the boundaries, and the buildings and structures on it, so buyers know exactly what they’re buying. If you are selling a property in Alberta you are contractually obligated to provide a current RPR.

An RPR contains:

legal description and municipal address of the property
date of land title search and date RPR was done
Certificate of Title (land title) number and names of registered owner(s)
location and description of all buildings and structures (e.g. decks, fences) with dimensions, directions and distances from the property boundaries
location and dimensions of any visible encroachments (i.e. buildings or structures that are too close or even beyond the property line)
designation of adjacent properties, roads, lanes
evidence of municipal compliance (i.e. the RPR has been reviewed by your municipality and adheres to all municipal bylaws and regulations. They usually stamp and date compliance directly on the RPR)
illustrations of any easements that affect the property (an easement is an agreement between the property owner and some other party (usually your municipal authority or utility) for them to utilize part of your property as needed)
Certified Land Surveyor’s duly signed certification and opinion on any concerns
copyright of the RPR to the land survey company

Compliance Letter:

You have to contact your municipal authority, (County Office or Summer Village Office) to obtain a compliance letter. This letter is also a contractural requirement. Before the municipality stamps your RPR, it will look for non-compliant issues, including:

Encroachment: If a structure encroaches on adjoining property, you and the adjoining owner may enter into an encroachment agreement. In order to do so, the owner of the other property has to agree to allow the encroachment. The parties register the agreement on their property titles. If the adjoining owner doesn’t agree, you may have to remove the encroaching structure.
Relaxation: If a structure is too close to the property boundary or over an easement or utility right-of-way, your municipality may grant a relaxation to allow it to remain. This will usually require a relaxation permit, for which your municipality will have to conduct a further review and may require additional information such as photos of the structure and an extra permit fee. If the municipality does not grant the relaxation, you may have to move or remove the structure. As part of the sale, the buyer or lender may require a holdback of part of the purchase price or mortgage proceeds until you have a relaxation permit.

If you cannot resolve non-compliant issues before the sale closes, title insurance may be an option to enable the sale to close on time.

Utility bills (gas, water, power):

Many buyers will ask for average utility costs so its handy to have them available. Along with costs the utility bills also have location and meter details that can be shared with the buyer for ease of utility transfers.

Tax Assessment Notice:

This document has all the relevant tax information on it from your municipality along with a recent tax bill to determine the annual taxes for your property as this information is on the listing.

Condominium Documents (If applicable):

If you are selling a Condominium (Bareland or Conventional) you are contractually obligated to provide a list of documents including but not limited to meeting minutes, budget and financial statement, proof of insurance, reserve fund study, etc.

Maintenance Documents:

Repair receipts for any improvements completed on the property including permits (when required).

Gather your Documents

Here is a list of the documents you should have on hand, both for your Real Estate Professional and for any potential buyers.

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