The scope of legal work involved in a commercial real estate transaction varies from transaction to transaction, but, in general, will include:

• An initial out-of-office appointment to discuss your upcoming transaction.
• A review of your Agreement of Purchase and Sale.
• A review of your status certificate (commercial condominium units only).
• A review of your mortgage instructions (if applicable).
• A full title search of your commercial property.
• The drafting of all necessary closing documents.
• A second out-of-office appointment to sign your closing documents.
• The registration of your mortgage and/or deed.
• The delivery/disbursement of closing funds.

Because each commercial real estate transaction is complex and unique, it’s impossible for us to give you a definitive quote for our legal fees at the outset. However, if you’d like us to provide you with an approximation based on the facts specific to your situation, please send us a detailed description of your proposed commercial real estate transaction.

Disbursements are third-party charges required to complete your transaction and are payable over and above the legal fees referred to in the previous paragraph.

Because disbursements vary from one corporate/commercial transaction type to the next, the following is merely a list of approximate amounts:

• $200.00 for your title search.
• $500.00 for your title insurance (this varies quite a bit with a property’s location, type, and purchase/mortgage amount).
• $100.00 for your status certificate (commercial condominium units only)
• $56.00 for a London tax certificate
• $90.00 for a London building/zoning report
• $40.00 for a London fire department report
• $75.00 for the registration of your deed.
• $75.00 for the registration of your mortgage (if applicable).
• $12.00 for a writ search for each purchaser/seller/borrower.
• $25.00 software charge.
• $35.00 mortgage software charge (if applicable).
• $20.00 for faxes, photocopies, and postage.
• $35.00 courier charge (if applicable).
• $50.00 bank charge (this is a high estimate, as bank charges vary quite a bit from transaction to transaction).

Land Transfer Tax is a tax paid by a purchaser of commercial real estate when the deed is registered by the lawyer. The government automatically withdraws this amount from the lawyer’s bank account when the transaction is completed.

To calculate the amount of Land Transfer Tax you’ll need to pay to purchase a piece of commercial real estate, follow this link.