Here is what it actually cost to buy a $900,000 home in Calgary: a $45,000 deposit, a $675,000 mortgage, a bank draft for $183,885.39 at the lawyer’s office, and $1,897.25 in legal fees and disbursements. Those are real numbers from a real Calgary purchase, and this post walks through every line.
Most closing cost guides give you ranges. This one gives you an actual statement of adjustments. And full disclosure: the buyers were us. I bought this Wildwood bungalow myself, for $900,000 with 25 per cent down, so every number below comes straight from my own closing documents. Nothing has been changed.
The quick version
- Purchase price: $900,000 for a bungalow in Wildwood, bought with 25 per cent down ($225,000)
- Deposit: $45,000, paid on acceptance and credited against the down payment
- Bank draft at the lawyer: $183,885.39, covering the remaining $180,000 of the down payment plus every adjustment and fee
- Legal fees and disbursements: $1,897.25 all-in, including title transfer and mortgage registration
- Property taxes: prorated to the exact day. We credited the sellers $142.11 and paid the $1,646.03 balance of the year’s taxes
- Timeline: conditions satisfied, then a 90-day runway to possession, with the lawyer appointment a few days before closing
That is the whole picture in six bullets. The rest of this post is how each number came to be, and what we set up in advance so possession day was uneventful.
How the purchase ran, start to finish
- Offer accepted: we negotiated the price and terms with the sellers, then delivered a $45,000 deposit to the brokerage, held in trust. The deposit counts toward the down payment. It is not an extra cost
- Conditions period: the offer was conditional on a property inspection and financing. Both were satisfied and the conditions were waived, making the sale firm. The inspection fee, and an appraisal fee if your lender requires one, is paid at this stage, so it never appears on the lawyer’s statement
- The 90-day runway: possession was set for late August, about 90 days after the deal went firm. Longer possessions like this give everyone room to plan
- One month out: we set up utilities, home insurance, and property tax payments. More on each below
- A few days before closing: we met with the lawyer, signed the mortgage and transfer documents, and delivered the bank draft
- Possession day: the lawyers transferred funds, title changed hands, and we got the keys
What does the real estate lawyer actually do?
The lawyer is the hub of closing. They receive the mortgage instructions from the lender, search the title, prepare the statement of adjustments, register the transfer of land and the mortgage at Alberta Land Titles, and on closing day send the money where it needs to go. On this file, that meant $855,142.11 to the sellers’ lawyer.
One thing worth knowing: the lawyer sometimes does not receive mortgage instructions from the lender until a couple of days before closing. That means the final “here is exactly what to bring” email can land with only days to spare. A bank draft for $183,885.39 is not something most people can produce in an hour, so have the funds sitting in one account, ready to draft or wire, at least a week before possession day.
What is a statement of adjustments?
The statement of adjustments is the document that makes the purchase price fair to the day. The sellers had already paid $3,238.00 toward the year’s $4,884.03 property tax bill, but they only owned the home for part of the year. The lawyer prorated their share to the exact day of possession: $3,095.89, so we credited them the $142.11 difference. We then paid the remaining $1,646.03 of the year’s taxes through the lawyer.
Do not be surprised when small debits or credits like this show up. If the sellers prepaid their taxes, you owe them back the overpaid portion. If they were behind, the credit runs the other way. On a condominium purchase there is usually a condo fee adjustment too. Fees are paid monthly in advance, so the buyers typically credit the sellers for the prepaid balance of the month. We covered the condo-specific side of closing in our breakdown of condo closing costs in Calgary. One other line you may see on some files: an interest adjustment, if the mortgage funds a day early or late. None appeared here, which is typical when the timing runs clean.
What we were asked to bring
The law firm’s instructions before the signing appointment were specific. Four items:
- Two pieces of ID: one photo ID (driver’s licence or passport) plus a secondary piece, such as a bank credit card or birth certificate
- The bank draft: $183,885.39, payable to the law firm in trust
- A void cheque: for the account the mortgage payments would come from
- An insurance binder: proof the home was insured effective possession day, naming the lender as first loss payable. The lender will not fund the mortgage without it
The draft amount included a $200 contingency holdback for any incidentals not accounted for in the estimate. Unused funds come back to you after closing, and ours came back as promised.
Where the $183,885.39 came from
- Balance of the down payment: $180,000, which is the $225,000 down payment minus the $45,000 deposit already paid
- Property tax adjustment: $142.11 credited to the sellers
- Balance of the year’s property taxes: $1,646.03
- Contingency holdback: $200, refundable
- Legal fees and disbursements: $1,897.25
Those five lines add up to the bank draft exactly. The takeaway: on this purchase, everything beyond the down payment came to about $3,885. On a $900,000 resale home, that is well under half a per cent. The down payment is the mountain. The closing costs are a foothill, as long as you see them coming.
Three costs that were not on the statement
- Land transfer tax: Alberta does not have one. Buyers arriving from Ontario or BC often budget tens of thousands for this. Here, the land titles registration fees below are the whole story
- Realtor commissions: in a typical Alberta purchase, the seller pays both agents’ commissions. Nothing appeared on our side of the ledger, and nothing will appear on yours as a buyer in a standard deal
- Mortgage default insurance: with 25 per cent down, there was no CMHC premium. Below 20 per cent down, that premium gets added to the mortgage, and at this price point it would have added tens of thousands
Legal fees and disbursements, line by line
- Legal fee: $895 plus GST for the purchase and mortgage work
- Title transfer registration: $410 at Alberta Land Titles
- Mortgage registration: $252.50
- Everything else: about $283 in small disbursements, including the tax certificate, title searches, couriers, and file costs
Total: $1,897.25. One note for anyone budgeting from these numbers today: Alberta has since increased its land titles registration levy. The same two registrations now cost $950 and $725, about $1,000 more than this file paid. The current fee structure is on the Alberta Land Titles website. Also worth knowing: GST applies to the lawyer’s fee and disbursements, not to the price of a resale home.
What to set up before possession day
We handled all of this about a month before possession, mostly online.
- Utilities: transfers scheduled for possession day, done online in an afternoon
- Home insurance: the insurer asked for the MLS listing, the electrical panel details, the age and type of the roof, the plumbing type, the siding and window types, and whether the home had a backwater valve. Having the listing and inspection report handy makes this a 20-minute phone call instead of three
- Property taxes: we registered for the City of Calgary’s Tax Instalment Payment Plan (TIPP), which spreads the annual bill into monthly payments. The current year’s taxes were already settled through the lawyer, so TIPP simply takes over from there
- The pre-possession walkthrough: written into the contract. The sellers had agreed to a professional move-out clean and professional carpet cleaning, with receipts as proof, and the walkthrough confirmed the home was in substantially the same condition as when viewed. We write this into almost every contract, and we recommend you do too
What we tell friends about closing
Get everything to your mortgage broker or lender well in advance, and clear every outstanding financing item early. Even after you have waived your financing condition, the lender will not send instructions to the lawyer until its own file is complete, and late instructions are the single most common cause of a scramble in closing week.
Use a lawyer with deep real estate experience. Expect small tax debits or credits on the statement of adjustments rather than being surprised by them. And have your closing funds ready for a bank draft a week before possession, so the last few days are about picking up keys, not standing in line at a branch.
If you are working out your own numbers, our full guide to closing costs in Calgary covers every line item, and our mortgage calculator will give you the payment picture. And if you want us to walk a real budget for a real home you are considering, reach out. Walking through the numbers is our favourite part of the job.
Frequently asked questions about buying costs in Calgary
The balance of your down payment plus adjustments and legal costs. On this $900,000 purchase with 25 per cent down and a $45,000 deposit already paid, the bank draft was $183,885.39, of which only about $3,885 was costs beyond the down payment.
The document your lawyer prepares that prorates costs between buyer and seller to the exact day of possession. Property taxes are the most common adjustment, and on condo purchases the monthly condo fees are typically adjusted too.
Usually a few days before closing, to sign the mortgage and transfer documents and deliver the bank draft. Lenders sometimes send mortgage instructions only days before closing, so have your funds ready to draft at least a week ahead.