Buyer's guide
Ready to buy a property? Even if this is not your first purchase, this guide will help you make sure you have all the information you need.
Rest assured
Whether you are looking for a single-family home, a co-ownership property or an income property, you’ve come to the right place! The Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage immobilier du Québec (OACIQ) is your best ally. Our role, entrusted to us by the Government of Quebec, is to enforce the Real Estate Brokerage Act which protects you when you engage in a real estate transaction using the services of a broker.
Overview of the guide
This guide, the result of many years of experience in answering your questions, is intended to be concrete and practical. It summarizes what you need to know at each step and in the most common situations when buying or selling a residential property, in the form of clear, simple and direct answers.
Whether this is your first home purchase or whether you’ve been through this process before, making sure you get the support and advice you need throughout this exercise is a wise decision. Moreover, doing it this way enables you to benefit from the protection mechanisms provided under the Real Estate Brokerage Act.
You have found a property you would like to buy?
You are now ready for your broker to draft a Promise to purchase. By so doing, you undertake to purchase the seller’s property at the price and under the conditions indicated in your offer. By accepting your promise to purchase, the seller undertakes to sell it to you, probably subject to certain conditions on both parts (financing, inspection, etc.).
Once the Promise to purchase or the Counter-proposal to the promise to purchase has been accepted, you must make sure all the conditions they contain are fulfilled, including the pre-purchase inspection, receiving all the documentation concerning the property, and obtaining your mortgage financing. It is important to understand clearly the steps to fulfilling the conditions contained in your promise to purchase and to make sure you meet the deadlines.