Ian Charlebois
| Charlebois Real Estate & Mortgages
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Relocation · Posting moves
Government transfers, Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP postings, foreign service rotations and corporate moves all come with a report date that won’t move. My team plans the sale, the purchase and the mortgage around it, so you arrive with a home lined up and leave without loose ends.
Who we help
Since 2008, my team and I have sold more than 3,000 properties. Relocation buyers and sellers need the same things: decisions made quickly, from a distance, with the money and the dates worked out together.
Departmental moves, promotions and assignments into or out of the National Capital Region, with timing built around your start date and your relocation policy.
Postings to and from bases across Ontario. We work to your posting message, house-hunting trip and move dates, and the rules of your relocation program.
Transfers to and from headquarters and divisions across Canada, where the window between notice and reporting is often short.
Leaving for a posting abroad or coming home to Canada: selling or renting out your home, and buying again from another time zone.
Employer-sponsored moves and new roles anywhere in Ontario, coordinated with your company’s relocation benefits.
The process
Most relocations involve three moving parts: the home you’re leaving, the home you’re buying and the mortgage that connects them. We plan all three on one calendar.
Your report date doesn’t move. Everything else gets planned around it.
Timeline
It depends on your dates, your equity and your relocation policy. Selling first removes the risk of carrying two homes. Buying first secures the next place. Bridge financing can cover a short gap between closings. We model both orders with your numbers.
Mortgages
The mortgage is usually what decides whether a relocation runs smoothly. Our mortgage team arranges financing across Canada, so the same people can look at the home you’re leaving and the one you’re moving to, wherever each one is.
We confirm what you can borrow and request a rate hold before your house-hunting trip, so you can make a firm offer when you find the right home.
Many mortgages can move with you to the new home. We check your terms, compare porting with a new mortgage, and show you the difference in real numbers.
Breaking a mortgage early can be expensive. We estimate the penalty before you list, and check whether your relocation benefit may help with it.
If your purchase closes before your sale, a bridge loan can cover the gap so you don’t have to time both on the same day.
If you plan to return, we can look at refinancing and renting the home rather than selling it.
Allowances, a new salary or a contract abroad can each be treated differently by lenders. We ask the right questions up front so your approval holds.
Your policy
Every program sets its own rules. The Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP, the core public service, Global Affairs Canada and most employers each have their own relocation policy or directive, and some are administered by a relocation services company.
We’re experienced with posting timelines, and we work alongside the relocation counsellor or provider your program assigns.
Your policy, not your realtor, decides which costs are reimbursed.
Send us the answers, and we’ll build the sale, the purchase and the mortgage around them.
Where to live
Where you work matters as much as the house. A few starting points by workplace:
Centretown, the Glebe, Sandy Hill and Old Ottawa South, many of them walkable or a short ride to the office.
Hintonburg and Westboro, close by on the west side.
Nepean, Kanata and Stittsville to the west.
New Edinburgh, Rockcliffe Park and Vanier to the east.
Orléans and Alta Vista.
Commute times change with traffic and transit routes, so we check yours for each home on your shortlist. See all the neighbourhoods we serve.
When the posting takes you away, we plan the sale around your move-out date and your next closing. Our real estate brokerage works across Ontario, so a move to Toronto, Kingston or another Ontario city can be handled by the same team at both ends. Moving to another province? We sell your Ontario home, and our mortgage team can still arrange the financing for the purchase where you’re going. Moving to the U.S.? I introduce you to an agent from my U.S. referral network, and our cross-border accounting partners cover the tax side. See buying U.S. property, financing a U.S. home and U.S. tax and estate basics.
Questions
As soon as you know. Even a few extra weeks gives time to arrange a pre-approval, prepare your current home for sale and shortlist homes before your house-hunting trip. A Clarity Call is a 15-minute video call, and there is no obligation.
Yes. With a pre-approval in place, we can shortlist homes against your commute and budget, walk you through them by video and help you make an offer during or before your trip. Many buyers still want to see the home in person, and we plan the trip so that time is spent on the best options.
It depends on your dates, your equity and your relocation policy. Selling first removes the risk of carrying two homes. Buying first secures the next place. Bridge financing can cover a short gap between closings. We model both orders with your numbers.
Often, yes. Many mortgages can be ported to a new home, sometimes with a blended rate if you borrow more. We check your terms and compare porting with a new mortgage, including any penalty for breaking the current one.
Each program and employer has its own rules, so confirm with your relocation counsellor before you sign a listing or a purchase agreement. Tell us what is covered and what documents are needed, and we will work within it.
We are experienced with posting timelines and work alongside the relocation counsellor or provider assigned to you. We are an independent brokerage, not a relocation company, so we will always tell you to confirm your benefits with your own program.
It depends on how long you expect to be away, the costs of carrying the home and whether you plan to return to it. We can show you a likely sale price, a likely rent and the mortgage options for each, and our property management team can look after the home while you are away.
No. Our real estate brokerage works across Ontario and our mortgage team works across Canada. Ottawa is home base, and moves to or from Toronto, Kingston and the rest of Ontario are handled by the same team.
Yes. We sell or rent out your Ontario home, I introduce you to an agent from my U.S. referral network in the city you’re moving to, and our mortgage team arranges the financing. Our cross-border accounting partners cover the tax side. See buying U.S. property, financing a U.S. home and U.S. tax and estate basics.