I am a realtor and want to get due diligence done on the land my client is buying. How you can assist?

Great question. 49% of residential properties in the GTA have boundary issues that can flare up into full-blown disputes after a house sale. Interestingly, Title Insurance does not cover most of these issues, so all too often homeowners are left in a bad situation.

As the buying agent you have an opportunity to help your client identify whether or not there may be issues like these that your client would want to consider in their decision. Your best tool is an existing survey (you can search our database here). The existing survey will tell you where the boundary is in relationship to the house, and give you measurements that allow you to approximate when’re the boundary is. At that point you can ask yourself, “does the fence look like it’s on the line? Does anything look like it’s encroaching on the property line?”. You’re just looking for suspicions here. If you do feel there’s something potentially untoward, then you can call in the boundary experts - surveyors.

Your other tool is the Buyer’s Package. This document pulls official documentation from the Province of Ontario (Parcel Register, Easement Instruments) and offers you and your client an easy-to0understand account of the status of the land and any encumbrances on it. Especially important in this are any easements on title. This can by purchased here.