Real Estate Legal Fees to buy and sell property

Legal Fees

The fees charged by a law firm are directly correlated to the work done by the lawyer and his/her team in the preparation of the documents necessary to purchase or sell your property.

A lawyer’s fee should not be the sole determining factor as to what lawyer you should or should not use.  When making a decision as to what lawyer to use, you should consider whether or not you will be dealing directly with that lawyer or one of their assistants or conveyancers.  If you are paying for a lawyer’s fee, you will want to be dealing with the lawyer.  You will also want to consider the lawyer’s breadth of knowledge in the subject area.

Keep in mind that you are dealing with one of the most valuable assets you will ever buy or sell in your lifetime.  The difference between $100 - $200 in legal fees should not be the sole determining factor.

We, at the Edmonton Law Office, offer some of the most competitive and reasonable legal fees out there, especially given our knowledge in Real Estate Law and our willingness to work directly with our clients.

Below is a list of the fees you can expect to incur on your transaction.

Disbursements

Almost everyone has this preconceived notion that a lawyer’s fees include disbursements; they do not.  Fees are charged by the lawyer for the lawyer’s work.  Disbursements, on the other hand, are almost always charged by third parties.

In most real estate transactions, the disbursements you will likely incur include things like registration of your transfer of land and registration of your mortgage.  The Alberta Land Titles Office charges you a fee for registering each of these onto the Certificate of Title.  In addition, property tax searches are required in the completion of your transaction; this means that the City or municipality is going to charge you a fee for obtaining a copy of this document.  The same applies when you obtain a certified copy of title or do a title search at the Alberta Land Titles Office.

Below is a list of disbursements you can expect to incur on your transaction.