Seller's guide
How selling a home works in Ontario, from pricing to handing over the keys.
Before you sell
Start with why you are moving and where you are going. Your reason sets your timeline, and your timeline shapes the price and the plan.
Then find out what the home is worth. A free home evaluation compares it with recent sales nearby and gives you a realistic range.
If the home is your principal residence, any gain on the sale is generally not taxed. Rental and investment properties are treated differently, so ask your accountant.
Buy first or sell first?
Sell first and you know exactly what you have to spend. The risk is needing somewhere to stay if the closing dates do not line up.
Buy first and you know where you are going. The risk is carrying two homes for a while.
Most people reduce the risk with a long closing on the sale, a condition on the purchase, or bridge financing from their lender. We help you plan the dates before either home goes firm.
Choosing your agent
Ask any agent you interview the same questions:
- What have homes like mine sold for nearby, and what would you list mine at?
- How will you market it, and to whom?
- Who will I actually deal with day to day?
- What do you charge, and what does that include?
Be wary of the highest suggested price. A home priced too high sits, and homes that sit sell for less.
Your team and what each person does
- Your real estate agent
- Prices and markets the home, runs showings, and negotiates every offer.
- Real estate lawyer
- Reviews the agreement, pays out your mortgage and transfers the title on closing.
- Your lender
- Tells you the balance owing and any penalty for paying the mortgage out early.
- Stager and photographer
- Prepare the home and capture it so the listing shows it at its best.
Offers and closing
Each offer states a price, deposit, closing date, inclusions and conditions. Price matters, and so do the terms: a firm offer with a closing date that suits you can beat a higher one that might fall through.
You can accept, reject or sign back a counter-offer. Once conditions are met, the sale is firm.
Before closing, your lawyer prepares the documents and you cancel utilities and insurance for closing day. On closing, the buyer's funds pay off your mortgage, legal fees and commission, and the rest goes to you.
Common real estate terms
- Listing agreement
- Your contract with the brokerage to sell the home.
- Comparables
- Recent sales of similar homes, used to set your price.
- Sign-back
- A counter-offer from one side to the other.
- Conditional sale
- A sale that depends on something, such as the buyer's financing.
- Adjustments
- Amounts settled on closing for costs you prepaid, such as property tax.
- Discharge
- Paying off your mortgage and removing it from the title.