Hey guys
At this point I have heard the place will be registered July, but my question is aside from the mortage and lawyer fees do we still owe norstar any money when we get possession of the unit? My lawyer is on vacation for a week so I'm wondering if anyone here know?
Oew
Hey OEW,
On final closing, there will be adjustment costs that each unit owner will have to pay to the builder, through our lawyers. What these costs are will be known by your lawyer first, once he/she receives a statement from the Norstar lawyer. The adjustments include education levies, development costs, and likely a couple of months' worth of maintenance fees to build the condo's reserve funds, among many others.
Also, we'll each be required to pay BOTH the Ontario Land Transfer Tax AND the City of Toronto's Land Transfer Tax. For example, if the condo unit purchase price was $200,000, then the land transfer taxes would be $1725.00 x 2 = $3450. We would pay these taxes to our lawyer upon closing. On top of that will be the lawyer fees to complete the real estate transaction, plus a few other things, like title insurance.
Check out this website that I found for more info on closing costs and land transfer taxes in Toronto:
http://www.homelegalcost.com/ltt.asp?calc=1
As you can see, the final closing amount will be quite substantial. That's why I'm not so eager to get the condo registered too soon. The later it registers, the more time we have to save extra $ for the closing costs. Remember, we're actually paying a reduced amount to occupy our units, because we're only paying Norstar the interest portion of our balance, plus the maintenance fees, and estimated property taxes, both of which are fixed costs. Once we get the notice for final closing, we're expected to pay whatever closing costs get calculated for each owner, and then start mortgage payments to our banks (principal + interest), plus maintenance fee & property tax.
By the way, did you get the time frame of July from Norstar directly?
Hope this helps.