Buying pre-construction is not harder than buying resale, but it is front-loaded differently: the decisions that cost money are made in the first ten days, and most of them are about the agreement rather than the unit. What follows is the sequence, and what to do at each point.

1. Set the budget before you look

Start with a mortgage estimate from a lender, not with a price list. Two things follow from the number: which releases you can act on, and whether you are buying to occupy or to hold. That answer changes the closing costs — the HST new housing rebate treatment differs between an owner-occupier and an investor, and it is worth knowing which one you are before you sign, not after.

Ask the lender specifically about pre-construction. A pre-approval today does not commit anyone to a mortgage on a unit closing several years from now, and the qualifying rate at final closing is the one that matters.

2. Assess the builder before the building

Renderings are marketing; the builder's record is evidence. Look at their completed projects and their current pipeline: delivery dates against the dates originally promised, cancellations, and anything in the courts. Ontario builders are licensed by the HCRA, and the Ontario Builder Directory carries licence status and history — read it before you read the brochure.

Then the location, on the ordinary tests: transit that is running rather than announced, employment, schools, and what else is approved to be built nearby. A protected view is worth something; a view across a site with an active application on it is not.

3. Get the package early

Allocation runs in stages, and the earlier stages get the better inventory and the better incentives. Ask your agent for the price list, floor plans and the incentive sheet as soon as they exist. The order in which a project releases stock varies by builder — there is no fixed rule about when the general public gets in — so the practical answer is to be in the conversation early rather than to wait for a public launch.

4. Compare units on the terms that persist

Price per square foot is the start, not the answer. Compare ceiling height, exposure, floor level, outdoor space, and what is directly outside the window at the height you are buying. Then check the maintenance fee estimate per square foot, whether parking and locker are included or extra, and whether they are even available to your unit type — in downtown projects they frequently are not.

Read the deposit schedule as part of the price. Pre-construction deposits are staged over a period of years rather than paid at once, and the schedule differs by project: what matters is the total percentage, the dates, and how much falls due at occupancy.

5. Submit the worksheet

A worksheet records who you are and which units you want, in order of preference. Builders ask for several choices because allocation is not guaranteed and units go in the order requests arrive. Accuracy and speed both count here, and this is the one step where your agent's relationship with the builder does real work.

6. Sign, and start counting days

Once allocated, you receive an agreement of purchase and sale to sign, usually electronically. From that point the Condominium Act gives you a ten-day cooling-off period: ten calendar days, not business days, during which you may rescind without penalty and get your deposit back. Note the date you signed and count from it.

7. Put a lawyer on it inside those ten days

This is the step that pays for itself. A real estate lawyer reads the agreement for the terms that will cost you later:

  • Development charges and levies. Ask for a cap. Uncapped, these are an open-ended liability payable on closing, and they have moved a long way in recent years.
  • Assignment rights. Whether you may assign at all, what the builder's consent fee is, and whether you may market the unit publicly. If you might sell before occupancy, this clause is the whole question.
  • Leasing during interim occupancy. Whether you may rent the unit out in the months between occupancy and final closing.
  • The statement of critical dates and the builder's rights to extend them.
  • HST treatment and which rebate the price assumes.

Amendments have to be negotiated inside the cooling-off period. After it, you are asking a favour rather than making a condition.

8. Satisfy the conditions

Typically post-dated cheques or pre-authorised debits covering the deposit schedule, and a mortgage pre-approval letter. The deadlines are set in your agreement and they are short — ask your agent for the exact dates rather than assuming a norm. Missing one can put the agreement at risk.

9. Firm, then wait

After the ten days the agreement is firm. Some agreements contain a later exit for a fee; most do not, and none should be relied on. From here the sequence is: deposits on schedule, then interim occupancy, then final closing.

Interim occupancy is the part buyers are least prepared for. You take possession and pay the builder a monthly occupancy fee — roughly interest on the unpaid balance, plus estimated taxes and common expenses — while not yet owning the unit and not yet paying down a mortgage. It can run for months. Budget for it.

Ahead of final closing, arrange the mortgage in earnest and hold your rate. Then the deed transfers and the unit is yours.

Where this goes wrong

Almost always in step seven, and almost always because the ten days ran out while someone was thinking about it. The agreement is the product. The unit is what the agreement describes.

We work through this with buyers across the GTA — see what we do on pre-construction, read the cooling-off period and deposit protection in more detail, or tell us the number you can put down and when.