Should a lawyer review my pre-construction agreement before I sign?

Yes. And the timing is the whole point.

A condominium buyer can sign on Saturday and have a lawyer review the agreement during the 10-day rescission period. A freehold buyer has no such luxury, there is no cooling-off period, so a review after signing tells you what you are stuck with rather than what you should change.

What the review is for

A pre-construction agreement is not a resale agreement. It is typically 40 to 80 pages, drafted entirely by the builder’s counsel, and it allocates risk toward the builder in ways that are legal, standard, and worth knowing about. A lawyer is looking for:

• The deposit schedule, amounts, dates, and what happens if you miss one.
• The HST clause, whether the price is HST-inclusive and what you are indemnifying the builder against. This is routinely the largest single number in the agreement after the price. Why it matters.
• Closing date provisions, how many times the builder may extend, and on what notice.
• Development charges and levies, whether they are capped, and at what. More.
• Adjustments on closing, the list of items you will be billed for beyond the price. More.
• What the builder may change, substitutions of materials, finishes, lot grading, elevations.
• Assignment rights, whether you can sell your position. More.
• Whether a POTL is involved and what fee comes with it. More.

What it costs, and against what

A pre-signing review of a builder agreement typically runs a few hundred dollars. Set that against:

• A purchase price commonly over $1,000,000.
• A contingent HST liability of up to $80,000.
• Closing adjustments that can run tens of thousands.
• No ability to withdraw once signed.

It is the highest-return few hundred dollars in the transaction, and it is the step most often skipped because the sales centre closes at six and the lot is “going tonight.”

About that pressure

You will often be told the lot cannot be held. Sometimes that is true. Here is the thing worth knowing: builders release low-rise in phases, and there is almost always another phase. A lot you have not had reviewed is not a bargain.

Where a release genuinely is time-sensitive, the answer is to have your lawyer identified and briefed in advance, before you are standing at a sales centre, so a review is a same-day phone call rather than a week’s delay. That is part of what representation is for.

One thing a lawyer will not do

They will not tell you whether the home is well priced, whether the lot is good, or whether the builder delivers. That is a market question. Bring both, legal review on the paper, market judgment on the deal.