What Is A Calgary Residential Real Property Report?
A Real Property Report for Calgary Residential Real Estate is a legal document that shows the property boundaries and anything on the property, like homes, decks, garages, pools, sheds, etc. It includes a visual scale drawing and remarks from the survey company. Homebuyers need to know what they are buying that is not visible. Is the fence or garage on your property or your neighbours? Sellers are required by the Offer to Purchase contract to supply the buyers with a copy of the RPR. Unless it’s a bank-owned or court-ordered foreclosure.
A Real Property Report only protects you if you look at it and understand what you are buying along with the house. There could be problems on the RPR you do not want anything to do with. There could be a Utility Right-of-Way from a gas company that prevents you from ever building a garage. There are a lot of garages that extend onto the City of Calgary’s property in back lanes. The City will charge you a fee for an encroachment agreement or tell you to move it. You need a Stamp of Compliance from the City to know what you are getting with the house purchase. If there are no changes to the footprint or no bylaw changes, the RPR is good. When the City passed a new bylaw requiring window wells to be on the RPR, it created a huge headache for homeowners that had to get updated RPR’s before selling.
The RPR includes Legal address, lot dimensions, joining properties, easements, encroachments, utility right of ways, permit stamps, surveyor comments, etc. You should be able to spend less than $1,000 on a Real Property Report. It is good to get a few quotes as there is a lot of companies competing for business.
Problems can sometimes be resolved. Buyers know accurate locations and dimensions of buildings, improvements, rights-of-way, and encroachments relative to their property’s boundaries. Financing sometimes requires verified survey information. Development and building permits will require a Real Property Report.
Calgarians can start with the Alberta Land Surveyor’s Association. The ALSA website answers the above questions in greater detail. They also have the member companies listed for you to call and get some quotes. You can also ask me or any other Realtor or a Real Estate Lawyer to refer you to a good RPR company. We work with many and have a shortlist we can send you anytime.
