The cooling-off period is not a general right to cancel
It applies to new condominiums, it runs once, and then it closes. After it lapses you are bound by the agreement, and walking away is a legal problem rather than a change of mind.
Services
Pre-construction, from release to closing.
I get buyers in front of builder releases across the GTA and then read the agreement with them before anything is signed. A rendering is a promise. The contract is what you actually buy.
The process
How it actually runs.
In the order it happens, for someone who has never bought this way before.
Register before you walk into a sales office
Builders record who introduced you, usually the first time you sign in. Tell me before you visit, so I can register you, get you in front of releases as they open, and stay in the file.
Have your financing looked at early
A lender views a purchase completing years out differently from a resale closing next month. What matters now is the deposit schedule: money leaves on fixed dates long before any mortgage funds.
Choose from what the release actually offers
You are choosing a floor plan, an exposure, a level, and whatever parking or storage is available. Read what is standard against what is an upgrade, and check where the mechanical bulkheads land.
Sign the agreement of purchase and sale
The agreement is the product. It sets the deposit instalments and their dates, the occupancy and closing mechanics, what the builder may change, and what you may do with the contract. Deposits are held in trust, with statutory protection subject to limits.
Use the cooling-off period
On a new condominium in Ontario you have ten days from receiving the signed agreement and disclosure statement to cancel for any reason and have your deposit returned. Use it: send the package to a real estate lawyer the day you sign.
Keep reading the mail
The quiet years are not empty. Amendments, disclosure updates and revised occupancy notices arrive by mail, and some carry deadlines. Send anything you do not understand to me and to your lawyer when it lands.
Interim occupancy, if you bought a condominium
You can be handed keys before the building is legally registered. Until it is, you pay a monthly occupancy fee: interest on the unpaid balance, estimated municipal taxes, and your share of common expenses. It is not a mortgage payment and builds no equity. Freehold homes skip this and close once.
Do the pre-delivery inspection properly
You walk the home with a builder representative and list every deficiency on the inspection form. That form is the record your warranty claims are measured against, so note anything wrong, cosmetic items included.
Close
The condominium registers, or the freehold closing simply arrives. Your mortgage funds, title transfers, your lawyer settles the adjustments. Plan for land transfer tax, development levies as the agreement handles them, utility hookups, the warranty enrolment fee, HST treatment and legal fees.
Know how the warranty works
New homes in Ontario carry the Tarion statutory warranty. Coverage runs in tiers, from defects in work and materials at the short end to major structural items at the long end, each with firm reporting windows.
Before you sign
What people get wrong.
None of this is unusual or hidden. It is simply in the paperwork, and the paperwork is long.
Occupancy fees are not mortgage payments
Nothing paid during interim occupancy reduces what you owe. Budget for that period as a housing cost of its own, on top of the deposits already paid.
Assignment is a permission, not a right
Selling your contract before closing is possible only if the agreement allows it, and it usually carries consent requirements, a fee, limits on marketing, and tax consequences worth raising with an accountant first.
Dates move
Occupancy and closing dates are projections until the agreement makes them firm, and it sets out how the builder must notify you. Do not give notice on a lease or a sale against a tentative date.
The quoted price makes assumptions about HST
New-build pricing generally assumes the buyer qualifies for the new housing rebate and assigns it to the builder. If your plans change and you do not occupy the home as intended, that assumption changes.
Renderings are marketing
Model suites are furnished to sell and often carry upgrades. The agreement lets the builder substitute materials of comparable quality. What you are owed is what the schedules describe, so read them.
Where I work, and what else I do.
If you are weighing a new build against something already standing, read the area page for the town you are considering — or start from the homepage.
Send me the agreement.
Whether you are still deciding or already holding a package, I will go through it with you in plain language and tell you what I think — including when the terms do not work for you.
Farhan Amdani (Samiullah)
Realtor® · Durrani Real Estate Group
Century 21 Property Zone Realty Inc.