Real estate law
Looking for a real estate lawyer in Scarborough? Mayo Law supports buyers, sellers, investors, landlords, tenants, and business owners with residential and commercial real estate matters across Scarborough and the Greater Toronto Area. From purchase agreements and title review to refinancing, commercial leases, contract issues, and closing day, our team helps ensure every legal detail is handled properly from the start.
Why choose us?
About us
Client success
Yes. Every residential and commercial real estate closing in Ontario must be handled by a lawyer — this applies to Scarborough, including Agincourt, the Scarborough Bluffs, Malvern, Cliffside, and West Hill. Your lawyer registers the transfer, reviews title, coordinates with your lender, and ensures funds move correctly through statutory trust accounts on closing day.
Yes. Scarborough is part of the City of Toronto, so buyers pay both the Ontario Land Transfer Tax and the Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax. Combined, this typically adds 3 to 4 percent of the purchase price in tax. First-time homebuyers may qualify for partial rebates on both taxes. Your lawyer calculates the exact amount and includes it in your statement of adjustments.
No. Real estate closings in Ontario happen electronically through Teraview, so your lawyer’s physical office location does not affect the closing. What matters is that the lawyer is licensed by the Law Society of Ontario and handles GTA transactions regularly. We serve Scarborough clients from our downtown Toronto office at 100 King Street West.
For a typical Scarborough residential purchase, expect legal fees of $1,200 to $2,500 plus disbursements (title search, title insurance, registration, courier, software fees) of approximately $1,000 to $2,500. Multi-unit residential investments and properties with multiple existing tenancies sometimes carry additional fees due to the rent roll and tenant assumption work involved. We provide a clear written fee quote at the start of every file.
Yes. Scarborough has a strong inventory of duplex, triplex, and small multi-unit residential properties suitable for investors. We handle the additional layers that come with these transactions: rent roll review, tenant assumption notices, last month’s rent and security deposit assignment, capital cost allowance coordination with your accountant, and corporate ownership structuring where appropriate.
Scarborough is geographically large and diverse, with very different sub-markets: the older residential neighborhoods of Cliffside and the Bluffs, the dense Agincourt corridor, the planned communities of Malvern, and the older industrial-residential mix in West Hill. Title work is generally routine on newer properties but older parts of Scarborough occasionally surface unregistered easements, undischarged historical mortgages, and survey-related issues that need pre-closing resolution.
Properties along the Scarborough Bluffs have specific considerations: setback requirements from the bluff edge, conservation authority approvals for any renovation or building work, erosion-related title issues, and TRCA regulations that affect future use. We review these on a per-property basis as part of the title search and due diligence — they don’t typically prevent closing, but the buyer needs to understand them before signing the final acknowledgments.
Non-resident purchases of residential property in Ontario are subject to the Non-Resident Speculation Tax (currently 25 percent), which applies to foreign nationals, foreign corporations, and taxable trustees on top of the standard Ontario and Toronto land transfer taxes. There are also FINTRAC source of funds reporting obligations and cross-border tax considerations. Our cross-border practice handles these layered issues regularly.
Get in touch
