Frequently Asked Questions

It is advisable to retain a lawyer at the very beginning of the pre-construction condo purchase. A lawyer will help you to review the Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS), as well as other documents that you will need to review and sign throughout the purchase process. Depending on your needs, a lawyer’s main goal will be to help you save time and money, while simultaneously helping you understand legal terms and protecting you from the financial risks that can be associated with a pre-construction condo purchase. Understanding these important legal terms can mean the difference between giving the condo buyer a preferred right or imposing a heavy financial burden on the buyer. In short, involving a lawyer early in the process can help you to successfully complete one of the biggest financial decision of your life.

When you want to purchase a pre-construction condominium you will need to put money down as a deposit. This deposit will sit in an Interest Bearing Trust Account and can be held for up to six or seven years. The developer can collect the interest earned on the deposits; however, in order to do so, the developer must issue the necessary tax documentation, which will require your SIN number. It is important to note that this sensitive information is always handled with the utmost care and will only be shared with the developer.

A mortgage is not required until final possession. Final possession is typically 3-5 years after the first round of sales for a condominium in Toronto. At the time of the final possession, the deposit money that you have already paid will be applied to the purchase price.

Simply put, an assignment sale is the sale – or an “assignment” of a contract to purchase a pre-construction condominium suite. An assignment sale is usually applied to the pre-construction condominium that has not been registered yet, so no one can take ownership of the unit itself. Only the contract can be sold. When you purchase a pre-construction condominium unit, you will be given an assignment clause/right in the form of a contract. You can choose to sell your assignment before the condo

t is important to understand that every condo launch cycle will be slightly different. With this is in mind, as a developer goes through the stages, they will typically increase prices and remove various incentives. The following stages represent a typical new condo launch in Toronto; however, these stages are not indicative of every launch.
STAGE 1 – FRIENDS & FAMILY
This stage is typically not advertised and is only available to close friends and relatives of the developers. There is not typically an “event” to purchase at this stage. Friends and family members will be invited to purchase before the developer starts to sell to the public.
STAGE 2 – PLATINUM LAUNCH
The platinum launch is typically the best time for investors to purchase at a new condominium with the following perks:
Day 1 pricing, typically much lower than the other stages of a condo launch
Typically the best perks and incentives
Best suite selection (the “prime units” are often sold during the platinum phase)
STAGE 3 – VIP LAUNCH
VIP Agents are those that sell pre-construction condominiums but not at the same volume as a Platinum Agent. They will be invited to the second round of sales, where prices are typically increased, perks and incentives are removed, and the best suites are usually already sold.
STAGE 4 – TREB AGENT LAUNCH
Developers will then open up their sales to any TREB agent who may have clients. At this time, a majority of the best suites have already been sold and prices have been increased significantly; however “purchase perks” might be added at this time.
STAGE 5 – PRE-REGISTRATION INVITES
If you register on a developer’s website, you will get an invitation to purchase before the majority of public buyers. At this point you do not need an agent to purchase, however, it is recommended that you have outside buyer representation to assist you through the process.
STAGE 6 – PUBLIC OPENING
The final stage of a condo launch is the public opening. By this time there have already been five previous purchase groups. In Toronto, our very basic rule of thumb is ‘if you are able to walk into a sales office without an agent representation, you are way too late’.

Below are the typical steps involved in purchasing a suite at the beginning of a new condo launch. Platinum Agents tend to offer front of line access to the best projects and suites
1. Selecting the Project Perhaps one of the most important aspects is selecting the right project. This will involve consultations with your chosen Real Estate Professional.
2. Selecting the Suite Once you have chosen the project narrow down your selection for the best suite. This will include a floor plan analysis, the view, a range of floor choices, suite price and determining how the suite will fit in your budget.
3. Submitting a Suite Reservation Worksheet Once you determine which suite you are interested in purchasing simply complete a suite reservation worksheet and return it to your Platinum Agent. The worksheet will outline the suite you are interested in and what floors you would like to possible purchase that particular floorplan on. It will also include you contact information, your occupation. In addition, your Platinum Agent will ask for a copy of your ID to confirm that the information on the worksheet is accurate.
4. Confirmation of Suite Allocation Your Platinum Agent will confirm the suite that has been allocated to you. Once you confirm that you wish to purchase the suite, you will make an appointment to sign the agreement. The suite will be held for you until that time.
5. Signing the Agreement If the information that you provided on your worksheet is accurate, then the paperwork for the agreement can be prepared before you arrive. You will typically sign multiple copies of the same agreement so that all parties have a copy.
6. 10 Day Recession Period Once you sign the agreement, you will have a 10 calendar day “Cooling off Period.” The developer is required to give you this time period to review your agreement and suite decision. We recommend that you do the following during this period. Have a Lawyer review your agreement. A lawyer will read through the agreement and highlight any issues that may be of concern.Get pre-approved by a mortgage broker. If there are any problems within the 10 days, you will be able to cancel the agreement with no penalty.
7. Deal goes firm & Deposits Cashed On the 11th day, the deal will automatically go firm and the first deposit cheque will be cashed.

A mortgage pre-approval is a statement from a lender that says you are qualified to borrow up to a certain amount. It also includes a specific pre-approved interest rate, though this number can change depending on how soon you put in an offer on a home since mortgage rates are variable. To come up with the promised loan amount, lenders take into consideration the same factors they would consider for a traditional mortgage approval, including your debt to income ratio and your credit score. The better your financial situation looks, the more you’ll be pre-approved to borrow.So why is that piece of paper so key? In this article, we’ll go over four of the biggest reasons why getting a mortgage pre-approval is important for buyers.
1. It Lets You Know What You’re Working With There is so much to consider when you’re looking to purchase a new home. From what location you want to live in to what your must-haves are in a house (and alternately, your deal-breakers), you need to juggle a lot of different needs in order to end up with the best home for you and your family. And one of the biggest needs to juggle is going to be cost.
2. Buying a home is a major investment and most of us aren’t paying for the whole thing up front in cash. When you get a mortgage pre-approval, you’re able to set your budgetary limits and make sure that any home you’re looking at is a home that you will be able to finance.
3. It Makes You a More Attractive Buyer There are two types of markets: buyer’s markets and seller’s markets. In a buyer’s market, inventory is high and demand is low and you have a lot more lee-way in terms of the purchasing process. In a seller’s market, however, inventory is low and demand is high, and buyers need any advantage they can get on their side if they want to eke out the competition.,Most markets go back and forth between these two varieties season to season and/or year to year. And if you’re looking to buy in a seller’s market, then one of the advantages that you’re definitely going to want is a mortgage pre-approval.Consider this: if there are two buyers making an asking price offer on a home and only one has a mortgage pre-approval who do you think the seller is going to be more likely to go with? In almost all cases it’s going to be the buyer with a pre-approval, since there’s a lot less risk to the seller of the deal falling through due to lack of appropriate financing.
4. It Gives You More Room to Negotiate In addition to making you a more attractive buyer, a mortgage pre-approval also lends you some flexibility in terms of bargaining and negotiations. That’s because sellers who know that a buyer is already qualified for the offer amount may be more likely to make some compromises if it means the sale is a sure thing.

Buying real estate is potentially one of the largest purchases you will ever make,so you probably already know how important it is to take it seriously.,Real Estate Agents are highly trained professionals who need to know the ins and outs of the industry before they can get certified.,In addition to the training,many Platinum Agents have over a decade of experience.You should also keep in mind that the on-site sales team works directly for the developer,so they’re interested in selling their project and their project only. As platinum brokers, we protect your interests by representing you, not the developers.We are here to support you. We’ll guide you through the complicated purchasing process and make sure there are no surprises.,Our specialties in pre-construction also means we can educate you about developers, the site plans, different layouts, market trends, pre-construction closing costs,the lease process and carrying costs if you’re an investor. We can show you multiple options in any given area too, something the developer’s sales team won’t do.,One of the biggest perks of going with a Platinum Agent is that we have access to projects before they’re released to the public, giving you first choice of suites at the lowest price. By the time the developer is selling to the public, many of the units will likely be sold and the remaining inventory will have increased in price. The best part about going with a Platinum Agent? It doesn’t cost you a thing., This is because our commission is paid by the seller, not the buyer.