— We take our content seriously. This article was written by a real person at BREL.
It’s been almost 11 years to the day that I first wrote this blog.
Today, July 16 2024, Toronto experienced another significant rainfall event. If you’re a Buyer or Seller with a pending sale during a flood, you’re probably worried. Read on for important information about your rights and obligations).
Advice For Buyers Post-Flood
If you haven’t yet closed on your new house, rest assured: the Sellers owe it to you in the same condition that you saw it in. If there is water to be pumped out, drywall to be replaced or newly uncovered leaks, it’s the Seller’s responsibility to fix them.
- Call your REALTOR and ask them to confirm if your soon-to-be house had any water damage last night (ideally have that confirmed in writing). If there was any damage, get details and find out the remediation plan.
- If you have any buyer visits left, consider going to visit the house today or tomorrow. While you should always save one visit for the day before closing, it’s important for you to see for yourself what happened if at all possible.
- Don’t panic! Your REALTOR and lawyer (unfortunately) are experienced in dealing with this kind of thing and pre-close issues (unfortunately) happen more frequently than you’d imagine.
Advice For Sellers Post-Flood
If you’ve already agreed to sell your house but have yet to close and a big flood happens in your neighbourhood, you have some important work to do. You are responsible for fixing any problems resulting from the flood – essentially, your Buyer should be getting your house in the same condition it was in when they agreed to purchase it.
- Take the time to carefully inspect your house. Look for water, leaks, damaged drywall or floors. Water damage may not be confined to the basement, so take the time to look through your entire house.
- Call in the professionals if need be – we like The New Canadians for post-flooding remediation and water-proofing. If you haven’t already, check out our blog on what to do if your basement is wet.
- Let your REALTOR know what’s going on (and if you have a serious problem, it won’t hurt to call your lawyer).
- Be prepared to disclose what’s going on and recognize your requirement to fix things – dealing with this now is way easier than dealing with it three months from now when there’s black mold and thousands of dollars in damages.
Stay dry Toronto!
