Waiver or amendment: what actually firms a deal

When your conditions are satisfied, the deal gets firmed up with paperwork. Which paperwork depends on whether anything about the agreement is changing, and the difference matters more than most people are told.

A waiver ends the conversation

You are saying: I had a condition, I am satisfied, I am giving up my right to walk away on that basis. Nothing about the price, the closing date or the terms changes. The deal you signed is the deal you have, and once the last condition is waived, it is firm.

This is the clean path and it is what happens on most transactions.

An amendment reopens it

An amendment changes the agreement. A different price, a different closing date, a credit at closing, something added or removed. And here is the part people miss: an amendment has to be agreed to by the other side. Until they sign it, you do not have a deal on the new terms.

That means asking for an amendment is a negotiation, not an announcement. A seller can say no. A seller can counter. On rare occasions a seller decides they would rather take their chances back on the market.

A waiver closes the door behind you. An amendment opens it again, and you do not control who walks through.

Why your lawyer needs to see amendments

Anything that changes price, closing date or what is included has consequences for your lawyer's work, your lender's paperwork and sometimes your land transfer tax. A price change after the fact can raise questions with a lender who has already committed based on the original number.

Send amendments to your lawyer. Not after closing. Now.

The practical version

If you take one thing from this: know which one you are signing, and know whether you still need the other side to say yes.

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Written by Mike Elsey, Broker, Royal LePage Real Estate Associates, Brokerage. General information about the process in Ontario, not legal, financial, tax, insurance or inspection advice.