Congratulations on the sale of your property! The lion’s share of work is over, but there’s some remaining tasks to handle and plan for. This guide will help in achieving a smooth transfer to the new buyer(s) and prevent legal issues on possession date.

Financing 

If you have financing in place on this property, you will have to notify the lender or financial institution that you’ve sold and send them a copy of the required paperwork. We’d be happy to take care of that if you can provide us with the name and email address of the contact person you deal with and we will CC you a copy as well. 

Lawyer 

A lawyer must be chosen to facilitate the transfer of property to the buyer and collect funds on your behalf. We can recommend one to you or you can please let us know which one you’re hiring as soon as possible. Try to choose a lawyer who specializes in real estate. 

Rentals and Contracts 

Some properties have items attached to the property that are financed or under contracts such as:

• Alarm equipment and monitoring (or one or the other)

• Furnace and hot water heater rentals or financing 

• Yard lights (rural)

• MB Hydro loans for certain aspects of the property

While we have likely dealt with the responsibilities of these in the offer to purchase, you should begin to carry out the proper procedures to address these prior to the possession date. Let us know if you have any questions or require assistance with this. 

Services And Utilities 

It’s best to prepare now, for canceling, transferring and notifying property services of your sale. 

For City of Winnipeg (waste and water), Manitoba Health (health card etc.), Red River Co-Op membership and University of Manitoba, please visit the Manitoba Address Change website:

www.manitobaaddresschange.ca

For rural moves, contact your local municipality office to cancel any services they provide you.

For Manitoba Hydro account changes, visit Manitoba Hydro’s moving website:

www.hydro.ca/accounts_and_services/moving/

For phone and internet you can try visiting the following or check your latest bill for account support:

Shaw/Rogers internet and home phone - www.shaw.ca/moving

Rogers mobile phone - visit your online account at www.rogers.com or call Rogers at 1-877-381-0103 (7am to 10pm EST, 7 days a week)

Bell/MTS internet, home phone and alarm - visit your MyAccount and click on the Move My Services link or call 204-225-5687 (have your account number handy)

Bell Mobility - www.support.bell.ca/how_to_move_my_bell_services

Telus - log into you MyTelus account and edit your profile to change your address at www.telus.com

If we haven’t listed your T.V., internet or phone provider, check your equipment as there is usually contact information on there. If not, let us know who you use and we can help.

Mail

Canada Post offers the ability to have mail forwarded to a different address for an amount of time that you decide. This is handy, in that it gives you an amount of time to make sure you’ve changed your address on all your accounts and services, such as bank accounts, credit cards, charities, schools, friends and family etc. 

Visit: Services to help you manage your mail | Personal | Canada Post

For postal box cancellations or transfers, please refer to this Canada Post postal box site.

The Time Before Possession Date

The time before possession date can be hectic and exciting; much like when the property was for sale. During this time, it's important to keep the property in substantially the same condition as it was at the date of the offer you accepted. This is stated in the offer to purchase. Therefore it is wise to continue to do the following:

• Continue to maintain and clean the property

• Dispose of unwanted personal property and garbage

• Cut grass, weed and keep the exterior tidy

• Repair any damage the occurs during this time inside and outside

• Fix or replace any appliances and mechanicals if they break down during this time 

• Heat the property in the winter (if it’s vacant)

If something happens to the home prior to possession, feel free to reach out as we can help with deciding the best course of action to take. Unwanted personal belongings typically should not be left with the property for possession date but if there’s items your curious about leaving behind (extra paint, yard tools etc.), please let us know and we will check with the purchasing Realtor.

Last Days of Ownership

After meeting with your lawyer to sign paperwork and deliver keys, usually a week or so prior to the possession date, there are some simple practices to avoid problems on the day of possession:

• Only bring one complete set of keys to the lawyer

• Place all extra keys, garage door openers in a visible place for the new buyers such as the kitchen counter

• A show of good faith is to write out a small information sheet explaining any quirks or proceedures you may know of in caring for the property, such as where the outside water tap shut-offs are etc. 

• If you’ve saved manuals and invoices from mechanicals, appliances and work related to the property you should also leave those behind for the buyer(s). 

• Have the alarm turned off for possession date with the code written down by the keys if other arrangements haven’t been made.  

• Try to read your electrical, gas and water meters the day before possession and report them to the providers.

Moving

This is a big one and every situation is different, but here are some notes to hopefully help your move. 

Book your moving people as soon as possible, as it seems that there are never enough of them. Try to get multiple quotes to compare the value of each. Booking a midweek move can be advantageous for availability and cost of a moving company. 

In the beginning of planning a move:

• Start gathering boxes and packing supplies!

• Try to eliminate dead weight; belongings you no longer use or that are unnecessary to bring along. Not only is this freeing, but will save you money in transporting your things

• If relocating out of province, obtain your medical, dental, immunization and school records

• Start by packing the things you’re not using on a regular basis such as collection, off season clothing etc. and label boxes clearly for a smoother unpacking process.

Well, that should be the bulk of it! Every sale is different so if something is unique to your situation, we can sort it out together. Just give us a call or email.

Thank you again for the opportunity to assist you in selling your property.

Please pass our service on to your friends and family.