Know before you sign by Theresa Grant Real Estate Columnist

Know before you sign by Theresa Grant Real Estate Columnist By Theresa Grant Real Estate columnist As an option to purchasing a cottage, many people purchase a trailer. There are a few different types but if you are purchasing a trailer as opposed to buying a cottage, chances are you are going to purchase one in an established trailer park. I myself had a great trailer for many years in a park in Trent River, a little hamlet next to Havelock, Ontario. That is the most common scenario for trailers. There are a few others and that is what I am going to shed some light on here today. When you head out of the city in any direction you eventually find yourself in beautiful farm country of some sort. With so many lakes and rivers in Ontario there are thousands of parcels of land for sale in the province. Some large others small. Some with water on the property or adjacent to a lake river or stream. A new build is often attractive to people who feel they cannot afford to purchase an established property. In that scenario, you buy the land and then at some point, and there is usually no time limit, you build your house on your land. Some one came to me recently and told me that they had done exactly that. They had purchased a beautiful large vacant waterfront lot in a small hamlet east of Oshawa. The lot was fully serviced, meaning it had hydro and water available. The couple were thrilled that they had this beautiful lot. They purchased a 40-foot house trailer and had it delivered to the lot. After some settling in, everything looked gorgeous. They soon received notice from the township that there were no trailers allowed on the property. They were devastated. They were on the hook for the trailer because they had just purchased it. They also were the owners of the parcel of land. They had no idea that there would be such a problem given that they were the owners of the land. They had seen other trailers in other areas sitting nicely at the water’s edge and never thought that they would have this issue. There was in fact a bylaw for that area that there were no trailers allowed on a vacant lot. Not even while you build your house. The morale here is to never assume that what is perfectly okay in one area is alright in another. Not even in the same area. I would personally go to the city or town office with the paperwork of the lot or parcel I was planning to purchase and have them sign off on what is or isn’t allowed before I would sign on the dotted line. Too many people sign first and ask questions later. This can get very expensive if you try to fight it or try to get a variance for your property. In the end your best bet is always to do your home work.