	Completion Date	Possession Date	Adjustment Date
What happens	Money moves and title transfers	You get the keys	Costs are split between buyer and seller
Who is busy	Lawyers, notaries, lenders	You and the movers	Your notary, on paper
Typical timing	A weekday, usually Monday to Thursday	Usually the next day, around noon	Usually the same day as possession
Are you there?	No, you are done a few days earlier	Yes	No

The normal pattern on the North Shore: complete on a Thursday, take possession Friday at noon, adjust as of the possession date. Everything else is a variation on that. If you are earlier in the process, our step by step timeline of buying a home in North Vancouver shows where these three dates sit in the wider sequence.

Residential home ready for completion day

Completion Day: Where the Money Actually Moves

You are not doing anything on completion day. Your work happened three to five days earlier, when you met your notary, signed the mortgage documents and the transfer, and delivered your down payment plus closing costs in certified funds.

On the day itself:

Your lender advances the mortgage to your notary’s trust account
Your notary confirms the funds and registers the transfer at the Land Title Office
Registration confirms, and your notary releases the money to the seller’s lawyer
The seller’s lawyer pays out the seller’s mortgage, the real estate commissions, and any liens, then sends the balance to the seller

You legally own the property from the moment of registration. You still do not have the keys, because the seller is contractually entitled to stay until possession. The short window between the advance and registration is one of the things title insurance in BC is designed to cover.

Two practical rules. Do not schedule completion for a Friday if you can help it, because a problem on a Friday becomes a weekend problem. And do not schedule it for the last business day of a month unless you must, since that is when the whole industry closes and everything runs slower.

Bright home interior ready for buyer possession

Possession Day: When You Get the Keys

Possession is when the property must be vacant, cleaned, and available to you. The standard contract language is “12:00 noon” on the possession date, though the parties can set any time.

What actually happens: your agent picks up the keys once the seller’s agent confirms funds have been released, and you do your final walkthrough.

The buyer’s protection here is the standard clause requiring the property to be in substantially the same condition as when you viewed it, with all included items present. Which is why the walkthrough matters. Check that the appliances listed in the contract are the appliances in the kitchen, that nothing has been damaged in the move out, and that you have every key, fob, garage remote and mailbox key.

If something is wrong, call your agent and your notary immediately, before you move a single box in. Once you take possession and move in, your leverage drops to near zero.

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Home interior associated with property closing adjustments

Adjustment Date: How Property Tax, Strata Fees and Utilities Get Split

The adjustment date is the accounting line. Everything before it belongs to the seller, everything from it on belongs to you. It is usually the same as the possession date.

The document that does this is the Statement of Adjustments, prepared by your notary. What appears on it:

Property taxes. BC taxes are billed for the calendar year and due at the start of July. If the seller already paid the year in full and you take possession August 1, you owe them for August through December. On a $6,400 North Vancouver bill, that is roughly $2,650 credited to the seller. If taxes are not yet paid, you get a credit instead and pay the whole bill later. Our breakdown of property tax rates in North Vancouver shows where that annual number comes from.

The Home Owner Grant. If the seller was eligible and claimed it, it reduces the amount being prorated. If you are eligible and it has not been claimed, that has to be sorted out. This is a routine source of confusion, so raise it with your notary. If the seller was enrolled in BC property tax deferment, the balance has to be cleared before the transfer can register at all, which is a sequencing issue rather than an adjustment.

Strata fees. Paid monthly in advance. If the seller paid September’s $450 fee and you take possession September 15, you reimburse roughly half. What that fee covers is set out in our guide to strata fees.

Utilities. Municipal water, sewer and garbage are billed annually or quarterly and get prorated. Hydro and gas do not appear, because you open your own accounts.

Your deposit. Credited against what you owe, so the balance due is the purchase price less the deposit less the mortgage.

Property transfer tax and legal fees. Added on your side. See how BC property transfer tax is calculated for the exact figure on your price.

A quick example on a $1.3 million North Vancouver townhome with a September 15 possession:

Line	Amount
Purchase price	$1,300,000
Less deposit	($65,000)
Less mortgage advance	($1,040,000)
Property transfer tax	$24,000
Property tax adjustment to seller	about $1,300
Strata fee adjustment to seller	about $225
Legal fees and disbursements	about $1,700
Cash required on completion	about $222,225

That number is why the statement of adjustments should be reviewed several days before completion, not the day of. It also sits well above the minimum down payment most buyers budget for.

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What Happens If Your Lender Funds Late

It happens, and usually it is not catastrophic.

If funds do not arrive in time to register, your notary cannot complete. The contract technically puts you in breach, and the seller could claim damages, but in practice the two lawyers speak, everyone agrees to complete the next business day, and the seller may be entitled to interest for the delay.

What makes it ugly is a chain. If the seller is using your money to complete their own purchase that same day, your delay cascades. That is the situation where late funding turns into real cost and real stress.

How to avoid it:

Get final, unconditional lender approval well before subject removal, not conditional approval
Send your notary every requested document the day it is asked for
Deliver your funds in certified form at least two business days early
Avoid month end and Friday completions
If you are buying and selling, tell both notaries at the start so the sequencing is deliberate

Because a pre approval is not final approval, the gap between the two is where most late funding starts. See what a mortgage pre approval actually commits a lender to.

Choosing Your Dates When You Are Buying and Selling at Once

The hardest scheduling problem in residential real estate, and one of the few places where the dates on an offer are worth more than a small price concession.

Approach	How it works	Trade off
Sell first, then buy	Complete the sale, then complete the purchase a few days or weeks later	Safest financially. May need temporary housing and storage
Same day both	Sale completes in the morning, purchase in the afternoon	No double carrying cost. Very tight, and one delay breaks it
Buy first, then sell	Own both for a period, using bridge financing	Least stressful to move. Costs bridge interest and needs lender approval

The most common workable compromise on the North Shore: complete your sale one to three business days before your purchase, with a short gap to absorb a funding delay. If you need the sale proceeds for the purchase, ask your lender about bridge financing before you write anything. It is inexpensive relative to the stress it removes, but it must be arranged in advance. The wider decision is covered in buying first versus selling first as a North Vancouver homeowner.

Sequencing two transactions is exactly the kind of thing that looks fine on paper and falls apart in the last week. Navid Hakimi works through this with North Shore clients before either offer is written, so the dates on both contracts are built to fit each other and not just to please the other side.

The Week Before Completion: Your Checklist

Confirm final lender approval is unconditional and funds are instructed
Sign at your notary, three to five business days before completion
Deliver certified funds, at least two business days early
Review the statement of adjustments line by line and ask about anything unclear
Set up home insurance, effective on the completion date, and send the binder to your lender
Open hydro and gas accounts for the possession date
Book the elevator with the strata if you are moving into a building
Confirm the key handover time and location with your agent
Do the final walkthrough before you move anything in
Claim your Home Owner Grant, if you are eligible, before the tax due date

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the completion and possession dates usually the same?

No. Possession is normally the next day, giving funds time to move and the seller time to vacate.

What time do I get the keys?

Usually noon on the possession date, unless the contract says otherwise.

Who pays property tax for the year I buy?

It gets prorated on the adjustment date. Whoever owns the property on a given day pays for that day.

Can I do a final walkthrough?

Yes, and you should, right before you take possession. Do it before moving anything in.

What if the seller has not moved out?

Contact your agent and notary immediately. You may be entitled to damages, and there are remedies, but they are far easier to pursue before you take possession.

Can I change the completion date after the contract is signed?

Only by mutual written agreement through an addendum. Neither side can move it unilaterally.

When do I need my home insurance to start?

On the completion date. Your lender will not advance funds without proof of coverage.

What is a statement of adjustments?

The notary’s accounting of the transaction, showing exactly what you need to bring and what the seller receives.

Why can’t I complete on a Saturday?

The Land Title Office is closed. Completion must be a business day.

Do I get the Home Owner Grant in the year I buy?

If you are eligible and it has not already been claimed for that property that year. Confirm with your notary and municipality.

Setting Dates on an Offer? Let’s Sequence Them Properly

Dates are one of the most negotiable parts of an offer and one of the least considered. A seller who needs three extra weeks will often give more on dates than on price, and a buyer who understands the sequence avoids the week of panic that comes from a Friday month end completion.

Navid Hakimi builds date structures into North Shore offers deliberately, especially for clients buying and selling at the same time, so the calendar works for you instead of against you.

Reach out before you write your next offer and get the timeline built properly from the start.

General information current as of September 2026. Your contract governs; confirm details with your lawyer or notary.

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Table of Contents

Completion, Possession and Adjustment: The Difference in One Table