Satisfying and Waiving Conditions

If your accepted offer was conditional, you need to try to satisfy your conditions.

Financing: If you included a financing condition, you need to confirm your financing before waiving this condition. Before you waive your financing condition, your lender (or mortgage broker, if you’re working with one), will need documents related to the property you’re buying. They will likely need:

a copy of your accepted Offer to Purchase
the listing sheet for the property you’re purchasing
copy of the Real Property Report for the property (single family home/bareland condo)
current title for the property

Make sure you carefully review the mortgage commitment provided by your lender. Lenders sometimes include various conditions in such a commitment. If your lender includes conditions, carefully consider whether you are ready to waive your financing condition on the Offer to Purchase.

Home inspection: If you included a home inspection condition in your Offer to Purchase, it’s time to hire a home inspector. Home inspectors in Alberta need a Home Inspector’s Licence through Service Alberta. A home inspection is a professional opinion on the condition of a property based on a non-invasive examination of its features and components.

The home inspector will give you a written report of their findings. This report will give you a sense of the condition for a number of major components, which typically will include electrical, heating/air conditioning, roof, and foundation. The home inspector will also attempt to determine if the property has any moisture problems, but they base that assessment only on what is visible.

It’s not unusual for a home inspection to uncover issues. Talk about the report with the home inspector and with your real estate professional.

Remember that when you include a home inspection as a condition, that condition only covers a home inspection by a home inspector. If you would like additional inspections to occur, you need to include them as conditions in your Offer to Purchase.

Condominium document review: If you’re buying a condominium, you will likely include a condominium document review condition. Condominium documents relate to the operation of the condominium corporation. When you’re buying a condominium, you’re buying into the corporation, common property, and shared responsibilities. You want to ensure the condominium corporation is financially stable, managed well, and that the property is well maintained. The seller is required to provide you with a number of condominium documents. These include but are not limited to:

current operating budget and fee schedule
current balance sheet
recent audited financial statements
reserve fund study and plan
registered bylaws
AGM meeting minutes
six months of Board meeting minutes
insurance certificate
management contract
post-tension cable report (if applicable)
any age restrictions in place
engineering reports
parking details
registered condominium plan
listing sheet
offer to purchase

There are licensees who will, for a fee, do this review for you, provide you with a summary of the documents, and identify areas about which you might have concern. That review can uncover financial difficulties, unacceptable bylaws (for example, restrictions as to size, number or type of pet), or necessary maintenance. Your reviewer will discuss their findings with you – highlighting anything of concern. While you want to ensure the unit itself is what you’re looking for, and that it will serve your purposes as a home, you also want to make sure you’re comfortable with the way the corporation is run.

Conditions are met

If you meet all of your conditions and you’re prepared to proceed with your purchase, your real estate licensee will provide you with a waiver to sign.

If you do not waive all of your conditions, your accepted Offer to Purchase is null and void. The seller has no further obligations to you and you have no further obligations to the seller.

If you waive your conditions, and end up not proceeding with the purchase, you could lose your deposit and may be subject to legal action. Only waive your conditions if and when you’re confident you’re going to proceed with the transaction.