Buying Canadian property as an American

1988RedT2 said:

Curtis said:

According to the lawyer I spoke with, it requires both parties to have separate lawyers.  For a $3000 property, it doesn't seem like much of a bargain for $2500 to two lawyers.

I have put in a couple calls to the Land Registry office to see if there is a way to do it sans barrister.

Seriously?  At my last closing, I don't think I paid my lawyer more than maybe $400?

I see it varies a good bit by state.  By all means, shop it, but it's probably determined by the requirements of the locality.

Yeah, we paid $350 for our lawyer here in Chicagoland. Most expensive quote that we got was $500. For an easy deal like this, it should be straightforward and not worth more than 2 hours time. What is their rate?

That large figure may include title insurance, recording fees, and whatnot.  Curtis, was that an all-inclusive package deal?

More or less.  Real estate lawyers do a flat fee up here for their services.  Seller's representation does the title search, lien check, etc.  Buyer's representation does all the paperwork and sees it through until you have a title in your hand.

Typical rates were around $1500 for buyer, $1000 for seller.

Bargain... if you're buying a $1.8M property.

One of the issues is that there is exactly one real estate lawyer in a 30 mile radius.  Have to go to Kingston or Carleton Place for another one.  Very low population density around here

In reply to Curtis :

There is/was a real estate laywer in Tweed, unless that is the one you were refering to.

Land Registry is a provincial function so Ontario may be different, but  here in BC you can use a Notary for land transactions. They’re usually less than half what a lawyer charges to get his assistant to do it for him. When lawyers are demanded, it’s usually the lender doing the insisting, which shouldn’t be an issue for you.

Good to know about the lawyer in Tweed. That's not terribly far, and also on the way to Nappanee which has one of my favorite restaurants :)

Curtis said:

Keith Tanner said:

Where's the property? I'm going to be in that neck of the woods later this month.

Honestly, I'd write to the editors of Cottage Life. They'd probably have an article out about it :)

Near Clarendon ONT.  Near Sharbot Lake/Perth.  It's really a postage stamp of land with no utilities (but I could add electric if my solar doesn't keep up).  It's a 1/4 acre or less and I'm trading a camper worth about $3500 for it.  Just a thing to have.  It's an opportunity to own property for a signature.  The future of this campground I'm in is uncertain and I've been coming to this lake for 46 years.  I want to have a backup plan.

You could be my cottage neighbour . . . And you will be close to the epic Calabogie Motorsports Park. 

captdownshift said:

All I can think of is registering forbidden JDM goodness in Canada...

 

 

Let me know how things turn out. 

....

Stop giving me ideas.

I mean, there are probably regulations in place to prevent someone registering a car to a dropbox or something, but ideas, man!

Zombie thread, but timely.

I still haven't been successful.  There is only one thing standing in the way.

They guy who owns it is a friend of mine whom I have known since we were in diapers.  He was born (using fake names) James Strick.  When he was 4, his mom remarried and the new "dad" adopted the kids and changed his name to James Stuart.  He grew up as Stuart, got a driver's license, got this property, arrested for shoplifting once... all as Stuart.  Then he was diagnosed with Epilepsy.  Surrendered his driver's license, bought an old motorhome, parked it on his property, and he makes a living by doing odd jobs in the area.  Since he couldn't really get to town, he let his health card lapse as well.

Fast forward to last summer when we were planning this land transaction.  We went to Perth to the Service Ontario office.  He was going to get an ID and renew his health card.  When he gave his SIN, everything came up Strick.  They were able to pull up a picture of his old driver's license and it said Stuart, but they couldn't give him a copy of it because he couldn't prove he was Stuart.  He even went to RCMP to have them search his prints, DNA, photo, the works.... knowing that it could land him in jail because he never settled up with the shoplifting charge.  It came back James Strick, no criminal record.  He's 52 and lived his entire life as Stuart.  Now they say he's Strick.

Since his adoption was done in the analog times, we're thinking he slipped through the cracks.  Analog driver's license, analog criminal system when he shoplifted, analog system when he got the property.  Then when everything went digital, he was put in the computer as Strick.  He has no family now, no connections, so it's not like he can call his mother and ask for a copy of the adoption papers.  He has one uncle who refuses to talk to him, but it wouldn't do any good anyway.

So James Stuart owns the property, but all he can prove is that he is James Strick.  We asked both of our respective lawyers what to do and they both looked at us and kinda rolled their eyes like they didn't believe us.  Like we were trying to do some shady deal.

can James Strick file paperwork to change his digital era legal name to James Stuart?  this seems like a non-issue since he wouldn't be changing his SIN.

Maybe get a copy of his mother and step fathers marriage license, then go plead your case.  I'm not sure where you would plead it in Canuckistan.  

In reply to ShawnG :

I have been to Dildo some where i have a pic of me smiling leaning on the hwy sign

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

If you use Facebook join a group called DNA Detectives. It's a group dedicated to helping adopted folks find their biological parents, but I'll bet someone there can give some insight into how to handle your buddy's identity problem.

Oooh.... good idea!  Although he needs to prove that he isn't what his DNA suggests... but they might have some solutions.  They might at least have someone in a research department who can find the actual paperwork when he was adopted by a Stewart.

Edit:  just sent a join request.

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Oooh.... good idea!  Although he needs to prove that he isn't what his DNA suggests... but they might have some solutions.  They might at least have someone in a research department who can find the actual paperwork when he was adopted by a Stewart.

Edit:  just sent a join request.

He was a "Stuart" earlier in the thread...

Can't you just buy something?  Does it always have to be drama?

secretariata (Forum Supporter) said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

Oooh.... good idea!  Although he needs to prove that he isn't what his DNA suggests... but they might have some solutions.  They might at least have someone in a research department who can find the actual paperwork when he was adopted by a Stewart.

Edit:  just sent a join request.

He was a "Stuart" earlier in the thread...

Can't you just buy something?  Does it always have to be drama?

I work at a theater.  Drama just comes naturally.