M&F 2026-0147 · Client: J. Sample · Updated 2026-09-25
In the matter of the purchase of
18 Larchwood Road, Bellwood
Handled by Daniel Fenn, Partner · Opened 2026-09-08
Next: the draft statement of adjustments, sent to you on Friday, October 2, 2026. Daniel prepares it; you read it before we meet to sign on October 13.
1.1 Where it stands
Every step of a BC purchase, in the order it happens. Done, in hand now, and still to come.
- 1.
Done 2026-09-08
Offer received, fee confirmed in writing
You sent the accepted offer. The same day, we wrote back with our fee, fixed, and every DisbursementsOut-of-pocket costs a lawyer pays on your behalf and passes on at cost: registry fees, searches, courier.They are not the lawyer's fee. We list them before you sign anything and show each one on the bill.Every term, defined the file will need.
- 2.
Done 2026-09-08
Conflict check cleared, file opened
We confirmed we act for no one else in this purchase, then opened this file in your name.
- 3.
Done 2026-09-10
Title searched and reviewed
We pulled the title from the Land Title Office and read every charge on it. One right of way stays with the land; our letter of September 11 explains it.
- 4.
Done 2026-09-21
Lender instructions received
Your lender told us exactly how the mortgage must be drawn. We are preparing it to match, line for line.
- 5.
Now · due 2026-10-02
Statement of adjustments drafted
The Statement of adjustmentsThe page of sums on a property deal: price, deposit, taxes and fees, split to the day between buyer and seller.Every term, defined works out who pays what on completion day, split to the day: property taxes, utilities, and your deposit counted toward the price. The draft comes to you before you sign anything.
- 6.
Expected 2026-10-13
Signing appointment
At our office, about forty-five minutes. Daniel explains each document before you sign it.
- 7.
Expected 2026-10-14
Funds received in trust
Your balance arrives by wire. Your lender's mortgage advance follows once the documents are signed.
- 8.
Expected 2026-10-16
Registration at the Land Title Office
On completion day we file the transfer and your mortgage electronically, then pay the seller once they register. The house is yours on the record.
- 9.
Expected 2026-10-17
Keys released
Once the seller's lawyer confirms payment, the realtor hands you the keys.
- 10.
Expected 2026-10-30
Final report and trust reconciliation
Our report to you: the title in your name, the final account, and the trust ledger balanced, with anything left over sent back to you.
1.2 Waiting on you
What the file needs from you, by when, and why. Each one lets a step go ahead.
Needed by 2026-10-02
A copy of your photo ID, front and back
We are required to confirm who you are before we act on a purchase. Bring the original to the signing as well.
Needed by 2026-10-09
The fire insurance binder, naming your lender
A one-page note from your insurer that the house is covered from completion day. Your lender will not advance the mortgage without it.
Needed by 2026-10-09
Your signed acknowledgment of the right of way
One page saying you have read our letter of September 11 about the town's water line. Sign it, photograph it, send it.
Needed by 2026-10-14
The balance of your purchase funds, by wire
The exact figure comes with the statement of adjustments. Before you wire anything, phone us to confirm our account details. We never change them by email.
Received 2026-09-14
Your mortgage commitment letter
So the mortgage documents match what your lender approved.
1.3 Money in trust
Every dollar we hold for you sits in our Trust accountA separate bank account where a lawyer holds clients' money. It is not the firm's money, and the rules for it are strict.Every dollar in and out is recorded against your file, and you can ask to see the ledger at any time.Every term, defined, recorded against this file the day it moves.
This money is yours until a bill is approved and paid from it.
2026-09-04Your deposit, held by the realtor
$30,000.00
It sits in the realtor's trust account, outside ours. On the statement of adjustments it counts toward the price.
| Entry | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-09Received from you by e-transfer, toward disbursements | +$500.00 | $500.00 |
| 2026-09-10Paid: title search, Land Title Office | −$35.00 | $465.00 |
| 2026-09-22Paid: property tax certificate, Town of Bellwood | −$50.00 | $415.00 |
| Held for you | $415.00 | |
Before completion, your balance and your lender's mortgage advance arrive here. On completion day they go out to the seller's lawyer and, for the property transfer tax, to the province. Each move appears on this page the day it happens.
1.4 Account, estimated
A flat-fee purchase has one account, not monthly bills. Here is every line it will carry, as it stands today.
Final account issues on completion
Our fee, flat
$1,200
Fixed in writing on September 8, 2026, inside our published range of $1,200 to $1,500.
Fixed
GST, 5% of our fee
$60
Federal tax on legal services.
On our fee
PST, 7% of our fee
$84
Provincial tax on legal services in BC.
On our fee
Disbursements, at cost
Title and plan searches
$35
Pulled from the Land Title Office at the start and again before completion.
Paid from trust 2026-09-10
Registering the transfer
$87.37
The Land Title Office's filing fee plus its electronic transaction charge.
Estimated
Registering the mortgage
$87.37
The same filing fee again, for the lender's charge.
Estimated
Property tax certificate
$50
Confirms the seller's taxes are paid. Priced by the municipality, about this.
Paid from trust 2026-09-22
Title insurance
$200 to $350
Usually required by the lender. The premium depends on the price and the insurer.
Estimated
Courier and trust wire fees
$60
Moving documents and money on completion day.
Estimated
Payable to us
$1,863.74 to $2,013.74
Paid to government, through us
Property transfer tax
$11,000
Provincial tax on the purchase: 1% of the first $200,000, 2% up to $2 million, 3% above that. Paid through us on completion.
From your funds on completion
Total through this file
$12,863.74 to $13,013.74
The same sums as our estimate builder, for a $650,000 house in town with a mortgage. Nothing is paid from trust toward this account until you have seen it.
1.5 Letters
What Daniel tells you by phone, he also puts in writing here, newest first.
2026-09-25 · M&F 2026-0147
Your signing appointment
Dear J. Sample,
I have booked you in for Tuesday, October 13, at 10:30, at our office on Dominion Avenue. It takes about forty-five minutes.
By then the statement of adjustments will be final, so every number you sign is the real one. Bring two pieces of ID, one with a photo. If the time does not suit you, call the office and we will move it.
Daniel Fenn
2026-09-22 · M&F 2026-0147
Your insurance binder
Dear J. Sample,
Your lender's instructions arrived yesterday. Among them: proof that the house is insured from completion day, with the lender named on the policy as mortgagee. That means the lender is paid first if the house is ever lost.
Ask your insurer for a binder. They know the word, and it takes them a day or two. Please send it by October 9 so nothing waits on it at the end.
Daniel Fenn
2026-09-11 · M&F 2026-0147
The right of way on your title
Dear J. Sample,
I have read the title to 18 Larchwood Road. One charge stays with the land: a right of way for the Town of Bellwood, registered in 1974, over the back six metres of the lot, where the town's water main runs.
In plain terms, the town may come onto that strip to reach and repair the pipe, so you should not build anything permanent on it. A garden is fine. Your lender has no concern with it, and it is common on older lots on this side of town.
If you had plans for a garage or a shop at the back, phone me before completion and we will talk it through. Otherwise, please sign the one-page acknowledgment so the file shows you have read this.
Daniel Fenn
1.6 Key dates
The dates your contract and your lender fix. Everything on this file works back from them.
- Signing appointment
2026-10-13 · 10:30
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
At our office, with Daniel. Bring two pieces of ID, one with a photo.
- Your funds due in trust
2026-10-14
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Two days before completion, so a slow wire never holds up the day.
- Completion dateThe day a property sale closes: the money moves, the title transfers, and the documents are registered.Possession, when you get the keys, is usually a day or so after.Every term, defined
2026-10-16
Friday, October 16, 2026
The money moves, the transfer registers, and the house becomes yours on the record.
- Adjustment dateThe day a home's running costs switch from the seller to the buyer: property taxes, utilities, strata fees.Usually the same day as possession. The statement of adjustments works out the sums.Every term, defined
2026-10-16
Friday, October 16, 2026
Property taxes and utilities switch from the seller to you. Your contract sets it on completion day.
- Possession
2026-10-17
Saturday, October 17, 2026
The keys, the day after completion, at the time your contract sets.