To fill out OREA Form 100, the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, work through it in order: identify the parties and property with full legal names and the registered legal description, enter the purchase price and deposit terms, set the three governing dates (irrevocability, completion, and requisition), list every chattel included and fixture excluded by name, note any rental equipment the buyer will assume, and attach conditions in Schedule A using OREA’s standard clauses.1Ontario Real Estate Association. OREA Standard Forms and Clauses Licensed agents prepare the form through transaction software, but knowing what each field does protects you on either side of the deal.
Getting a Copy of the Form
Form 100 is proprietary to the Ontario Real Estate Association and distributed through licensed brokerages and local real estate boards. Blank copies aren’t available for public download. If you’re doing a private sale without agents, a real estate lawyer can draft a purchase agreement that covers the same ground.
Parties and Property
The top of the form captures who is buying, who is selling, and exactly which property is changing hands. Use full legal names as they appear on government-issued identification. A mismatch between the name on the agreement and the name on title creates problems at the land registry and can delay or block the transfer.
The property section asks for both the municipal address and the legal description. The municipal address is the street number, name, and city. The legal description is the land registry’s identifier for the parcel, usually a lot and plan number such as “Lot 14, Plan 1234.” You can find it on a previous deed, on the property tax bill, or by searching the Ontario land registry.
The form also asks for frontage, the width of the lot measured along the street. Get this right. A buyer who later discovers the lot is narrower than what the agreement stated has grounds for a legal dispute.
Purchase Price and Deposit
The purchase price goes in its own clearly marked field. Below that, the form asks for the deposit amount and when it will be delivered. You have two standard options: “herewith,” meaning the deposit accompanies the offer, or “upon acceptance,” which gives the buyer a short window (typically 24 hours) to deliver funds after the seller signs.
Ontario has no legally required minimum deposit. Most residential deposits fall between two and five percent of the purchase price, and higher in competitive markets like Toronto. The deposit is credited toward the purchase price at closing, so it reduces the balance owing on completion day rather than being an extra cost.
Once the brokerage receives deposit funds, Ontario regulations require the money to be placed in the brokerage’s trust account within five business days.2Ontario.ca. O. Reg. 567/05 General The listing brokerage holds the deposit in trust until closing. If the deal collapses and the parties can’t agree on who keeps the money, it stays in trust until a court order or mutual release directs its release. Failing to deliver the deposit on time is itself a breach of contract and can cost you the deal.
The Three Dates That Control the Deal
Three dates drive the timeline of every Form 100 agreement, and getting any of them wrong can void the deal or leave you exposed.
Irrevocability Date and Time
The irrevocability line sets the deadline by which the other party must accept the offer. If you’re the buyer and you set this to 11:59 p.m. on June 5, the seller has until that exact moment to sign. If the deadline passes without acceptance, the offer is dead and your deposit is returned. A common window is 24 to 48 hours, though in a fast-moving market sellers sometimes see offers with much tighter deadlines. Setting it too short can backfire, since the seller may simply ignore an offer that doesn’t give them time to review it with their lawyer.
Completion Date
The completion date is the day ownership officially transfers and the remaining purchase funds are paid. Most deals close 30 to 90 days after the agreement is signed, which gives both sides time to arrange financing, conduct a title search, and prepare closing documents. Your lawyer and the seller’s lawyer coordinate the exchange of funds and registration of the transfer on this date. If either side isn’t ready, the consequences range from a delayed closing to a full breach of contract.
Requisition Date
The requisition date is the deadline for your lawyer to search the title and raise any objections, such as unpaid liens, easements the seller didn’t disclose, or other problems that affect ownership. Setting this date at least 14 days before closing gives enough room to resolve issues or, if something serious turns up, to walk away. After the requisition date passes, you’re generally deemed to have accepted the state of the title as it stands, with limited exceptions. If your lawyer uncovers a problem and the seller can’t fix it, you have a window (the earlier of 30 days after the requisition date or five days before closing) to object in writing and void the agreement.
Chattels, Fixtures, and Rental Items
This is where most post-closing arguments start. Form 100 has separate fields for chattels included (moveable items the seller is leaving behind) and fixtures excluded (items attached to the property that the seller intends to remove).
The general rule: anything bolted, screwed, or built into the home is a fixture and transfers with the property unless specifically excluded. Anything you could pick up and carry out is a chattel and does not transfer unless specifically included. The problem is that reasonable people disagree about where the line falls. A dishwasher plugged into an outlet might be a chattel; one hardwired into the electrical panel is almost certainly a fixture.
Spell out every item that matters. If you want the fridge, list it under Chattels Included. If the seller is taking the dining room chandelier, it goes under Fixtures Excluded. Vague language like “all appliances” invites disputes. Name brand and location if there could be any confusion.
The form also has a section for rental items, meaning equipment the seller doesn’t own but has been renting, like a water heater, furnace, or HVAC unit. The standard language asks the buyer to assume the rental contract. Read the rental terms carefully before agreeing. These contracts sometimes carry buyout penalties of several thousand dollars and auto-renew for long terms. If the form lists rental items, ask your agent to get a copy of the actual rental agreement before you commit to assuming it.
Adding Conditions in Schedule A
Most residential offers include conditions that must be satisfied before the deal becomes binding. Schedule A is the overflow page where agents attach these additional terms using OREA’s standard clause library, which contains over 300 clauses covering specific situations.1Ontario Real Estate Association. OREA Standard Forms and Clauses The three most common conditions are:
- Financing: the buyer has a set number of days (often five to ten) to secure a firm mortgage commitment from a lender. A pre-approval letter is not the same as final approval. The lender still needs to appraise the property and verify your financial situation.
- Home inspection: a professional inspector examines the property and the buyer reviews the report. If serious problems surface, the buyer can renegotiate, request repairs, or walk away before the condition deadline.3Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Making an Offer to Purchase a Home
- Status certificate (condos only): for resale condominium units, the buyer’s lawyer reviews the condo corporation’s financial health, reserve fund, and any pending special assessments or lawsuits. A condo with a depleted reserve fund can hit owners with five-figure special assessments shortly after closing.
Each condition has its own deadline stated in Schedule A. Every condition also specifies who benefits from it (usually the buyer), because only the benefiting party can waive it.
Fulfilling or Waiving Conditions
A conditional agreement is not yet a binding contract. It only becomes enforceable once every condition is either fulfilled or waived in writing before its deadline. The standard process uses a Notice of Fulfillment, a written confirmation that each condition has been satisfied as drafted. All parties should sign the notice to eliminate any ambiguity about delivery and timing.
A waiver is different. If you waive a condition, you’re giving up the protection it provided — for example, proceeding without a satisfactory home inspection because you’ve decided to accept the risk. Waiving is your right as the benefiting party, but it removes your exit route for that issue.
Missing the deadline is where deals die. If the notice or waiver is not properly delivered within the timeframe spelled out in the agreement, the contract can become void. This isn’t something you fix after the fact with a phone call. Treat every condition deadline as a hard cutoff and confirm delivery in writing, ideally through your agent’s transaction platform so there’s a timestamped record.
Signing and Confirmation of Acceptance
Once the form is complete, the buyer’s agent delivers it to the listing agent for presentation to the seller. If the seller wants different terms, such as a higher price, a later closing date, or fewer conditions, they counter-offer by marking up the document and initialing the changes. This back-and-forth continues until both sides agree or one walks away.
The deal crystallizes at the Confirmation of Acceptance, where the last party to agree signs and records the exact date and time. That timestamp matters because it starts the clock on every deadline in the agreement. Signed copies are distributed immediately to both brokerages and both lawyers, who use the completed Form 100 to prepare closing documents and coordinate the fund transfer.
Electronic Signatures
Ontario’s Electronic Commerce Act allows electronic signatures on real estate documents, including agreements that create or transfer interests in land.4Ontario.ca. Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 Most agents use platforms like DocuSign or similar software that provide encrypted, timestamped signature trails. One important rule: no one can be forced to accept an electronic document without their consent. If the other party insists on wet-ink signatures, you’ll need to accommodate that. Including a counterparts clause in Schedule A, allowing each party to sign separate copies, smooths over any logistical issues with remote signing.
Identity Verification
Expect to hand over government-issued photo identification early in the process. Real estate brokerages are reporting entities under federal anti-money-laundering law, and FINTRAC rules require agents to verify the identity of every person involved when funds are received or paid in any amount in connection with a real estate purchase.5Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. When to Verify the Identity of Persons and Entities – Real Estate This happens outside the form itself but runs alongside the paperwork.
Common Mistakes When Filling Out the Form
- Vague chattel and fixture lists. “All window coverings” means different things to different people. Name every item you care about, including brand and location in the home if there could be any confusion.
- Ignoring rental equipment. Assuming a water heater or furnace is included in the price when it’s actually rented can saddle you with years of payments and a steep buyout fee. Check the Rental Items section carefully.
- Missing condition deadlines. If your financing condition expires at midnight on Tuesday and your mortgage broker hasn’t delivered a commitment letter, you need to either get an extension signed or waive the condition before the deadline. Letting it lapse silently can void the entire agreement.
- Setting the requisition date too close to closing. A title search that turns up a lien two days before closing leaves no time to resolve it. Build in at least two weeks of buffer.
- Skipping the status certificate on a condo. A condo corporation with a lawsuit pending or a reserve fund study recommending a large special assessment can cost tens of thousands after you move in. The status certificate is where those risks show up.