Investor Encyclopedia

Agreement of Purchase and Sale

Agreement of Purchase and Sale: a practical Canadian real estate investor guide to underwriting use, deal risk, common traps, and Realist.ca implementation.

Definition

Agreement of Purchase and Sale is a real estate term investors use to assess closing certainty, enforceability, tenant risk, title risk, and whether the investor can actually get the asset/control promised in the spreadsheet.

Example

An investor reviewing a Canadian property tags agreement of purchase and sale as a diligence item, links it to source documents, and reruns the model if the answer changes purchase price, closing certainty, rent, financing, capex, or exit value.

Why It Matters

Agreement of Purchase and Sale matters because it changes closing certainty, enforceability, tenant risk, title risk, and whether the investor can actually get the asset/control promised in the spreadsheet. The mistake is treating it as paperwork when it is really a deal constraint.

Investor Interpretation

Use agreement of purchase and sale as a decision filter: if it cannot be verified, priced, insured, financed, or managed, the right move is a lower offer, stronger condition, larger reserve, or a walk-away.

Realist Tie-In

Realist.ca can make Agreement of Purchase and Sale searchable, connect it to related guides, attach it to saved deal analyses, and surface the right checklist/calculator beside listings, underwriting pages, and investor lead magnets.