Assignments
These are some of the units available.
For more assignment deals please contact us at the office.
• When a Buyer agrees to buy a condo from a builder during the pre-construction phase, they sign a pre-construction purchase contract (with a price, terms and conditions, a deposit, etc.)
• When the new condo is built and ready to be moved into, there is a period of ‘interim occupancy’, where the Buyer can take possession (in other words, move into the unit). During the period of interim occupancy, the Buyer does not yet own the condo; they simply pay the builder an amount roughly equal to what their mortgage payment + condo fees + taxes will equal. No transfer of land has yet occurred, and no mortgage has yet been given.
• Once a building has passed all the city inspections and gone through all the processes to become a legal entity, condominiums are officially registered. During this registration period, condo ownership is transferred to the Buyers, mortgages come into effect and Buyers officially become owners (a.k.a. the closing). The period between occupancy and registration (i.e. the interim occupancy period) can be anywhere from 3 months to 2 years–though registration typically happens 4-8 months after people begin to move in for the interim occupancy period.
• Sometimes, Buyers of pre-construction condos change their minds and want to sell their condo either before the occupancy period or before the official close. Their life circumstances may have changed, or they may have been speculative investors who never intended on actually taking possession of the unit. Because they don’t yet own the condo, they can’t actually sell it. What they can do however is sell their contract (their agreement with the builder to buy a unit) to another Buyer. This is what we call an assignment.
What is a condo assignment?
With an assignment, the Seller is actually selling their interest in a property (in other words, their contract with the builder). They aren’t selling the actual condo (as they don’t own it yet); they are selling their promise to purchase a property.
When you purchase an assignment, you are essentially stepping into the shoes of the original purchaser. You can’t renegotiate the price or terms of the contract, you are simply taking over the contract as it already exists.
It’s important to note that some builders won’t allow their original purchasers to assign contracts, or will only do so for a fee (we’ve seen assignment fees from $750 to $7,000). Builder approval to assign a contract is almost always necessary.
