How to Deal with Real Estate and Divorce

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We’re back again with our good friend Ryan Mackay of Real Property Law to discuss the important topic of real estate and divorce. Ryan’s going to share some tips, best practices, and processes of going through a transaction while going through a divorce at the same time.

Even a “good divorce” isn’t always a good time. There’s always a lot of stress and pressure during this time, and the last thing you want is to add more of it by having to deal with a real estate transaction.

Quite often during a divorce, both parties have their own family lawyer and want to use that lawyer. Either way, someone will be left feeling extremely vulnerable. One way to remedy this problem is by hiring an independent, 3rd-party law firm that’s just there to do the transaction. Someone like Ryan and his team.

For the most part, when both parties have agreed to sell, there isn’t much left to fight about. However, there are worries about money. If people come to Ryan, he will help them sell and if they give him a written statement explaining what to do with the funds, things are made a whole lot easier. Otherwise, he can hold the funds in trust until the family lawyers have done their thing. This makes sure no one is taken advantage of throughout the process.

Ryan and his team can be a helpful unbiased third-party, an intermediary who can remain neutral. As for buying a home from a couple that’s divorcing, it’s important to know one thing. When you move into the house, it will be full of junk that neither spouse wanted. They will take the stuff they want and leave the rest. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a good thing to know.

If you are going through a situation like this or know someone who is, we can help. Just give us or Ryan a call or send us an email, and we’ll be sure to handle things with the utmost care. We look forward to hearing from you!

The Number One Pitfall Calgary Sellers Should Avoid

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Ryan Mackay of Real Property Law joins me to answer a recent client question: What is the number one problem for sellers to avoid?

If you’re selling a house or bare land condo, you need a real property report. Ryan sees a huge percentage of sales come in without a real property report. A lot of these sellers are two weeks away from closing and say they have never even heard of this report!

The real property report is essentially a surveyor’s drawing that shows where your property lines are. The RPR lets you know if your stuff is sitting on your land or if your new fence is encroaching on your neighbor’s property. If that’s the case, that problem will cost money to fix.

If there’s no RPR in play, the contract gives the buyer complete power over the deal. You need a real property report with a municipal compliance stamp from the city confirming that everything is okay. If you don’t have that, the buyer can put the entire deal on hold and even delay funds. If you need that money to purchase your next home, suddenly, you’re in a bad position to purchase your next home.

Get the real property report ready to go when you list your property. Sometimes, you might have had one before, but if you built a new fence or shed you need to get it updated.

This is a huge problem that is easily preventable. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

Avoiding Pitfalls During the Home Buying Process

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

There are countless pitfalls you can fall into during the home buying process. Today we want to help you avoid some of the more troubling ones, so we’ve invited Ryan Mackay, an attorney with Real Property Law, to talk a little bit about how to avoid certain pitfalls that have ruined deals for buyers in the past.

Within a purchase contract, there are an endless number of things that could go wrong. While the big, catastrophic problems are rare, they are still possible if you don’t have the right person or team of people guiding you through the process.

Ryan says that most of the problems he sees are mistakes made before the client even comes to his office. One of the biggest issues he’s been seeing has to do with home inspections or lack thereof.

Let’s say you are looking at a house and for whatever reason, you decide not to get an inspection. You may think that everything appears to be fine from your walkthroughs, but what you don’t know is that there is a clause in a standard contract that says the property will be in essentially the same condition on the possession date as the day the contract is signed.

If there ends up being something major wrong with the home that doesn’t get picked up due to a lack of home inspection, there is nothing Ryan can do to help at that point. By waiving your inspection, you waived your right at re-negotiation of the contract due to repairs. The contract says you're buying as-is, so you end up paying good money for a broken item.

This is a completely preventable issue and proof that getting a home inspection is a wise investment. More than just the inspection, it’s about hiring the right people to work with so that you never have the opportunity to skip an inspection. You want your agent, your lender, your lawyer, and your home inspector to all work together in order to help you buy a home.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to hearing from you!