[SevenPlus]

From many posts on this and other threads on UT it is clear to me that many 'first time buyers' really "have no idea of what is going on". Of course, not everyone needs a lawyer but they ARE useful for MANY people - and, no, I am not a lawyer myself!

I agree with you that if someone is completely blind going into their first purchase and just can't understand the contract language (especially first time foreign buyers, well they no longer allow them temporarily for now at least), then it would be a good idea to have a lawyer to walkthrough the whole thing together. Usually though, most people do their due diligence very well (research, talking to family members/people they know etc.) before major purchase so they pretty much know all the key stuff, and in such cases lawyer's function is largely diminished. Also, Preconstruction condos is a number game for the builders so as long as most buyers for one building don't have issues with the APS, they won't budge anyways I feel.

I took some time to read some threads here, while I'm no expert in this stuff, it largely feels to me that vast majority of the problems me and many other people run into are outside of what the APS and condo act dictates anyways (e.g. builders taking advantage of gap/ambiguity in the current regulations), so sadly whether someone had a lawyer to review the APS or not would not have made anything different. The moment people signed that contract and it leaves the 10-day timeframe, they are stuck with whatever the developers decide to do.