Buying

How Buying a Home Works in Ontario: The 8 Steps, in Order, with Timelines

Buying a home in Ontario is eight steps that happen in a fixed order, and most of the stress comes from not knowing which step you are on. This guide lays them out as a timeline — what happens, who does it, what it costs and how long it takes — from the first mortgage conversation to the day you get the keys. Where Toronto works differently from the rest of the province, it says so.

Updated October 22, 2026 · TORE.ca editorial

1. 1.Step 1 — Get pre-approved (2–3 months before you want to buy)

   A mortgage pre-approval is a lender’s written statement of how much it will lend you, at what rate, held for 90–120 days. It applies the real rules — the stress test at the higher of 5.25% or your rate plus 2 points, the 39%/44% debt-service ratios for insured files — to your actual income, debts and credit. It is free, non-binding, and the single most useful document in the process: it sets your ceiling, locks a rate against increases, and tells sellers your offer will close.

   • Documents: two years of T4s or NOAs, recent pay stubs, proof of down payment (90-day history of the accounts), ID, and details of debts.
   • Decide here whether you are under or over 20% down — it changes the insurance premium, the $1.5 million cap and the amortization options.
   • Use the TORE.ca affordability calculator for a first estimate, then get the written pre-approval from a bank, credit union or broker.

2. 2.Step 2 — Choose an agent and sign a representation agreement

   Since December 1, 2023 (TRESA), your agent is your designated representative and owes you duties the listing agent does not. Before showing you homes, the brokerage will have you sign a Buyer Representation Agreement — it sets the term, the area, and the commission the brokerage expects (normally paid out of the seller’s commission, so no cost to you on a typical resale). Read the term and the holdover clause; a 60–90 day term is reasonable, and you can ask to limit it to specific neighbourhoods.

   You can also proceed as a self-represented party. The listing agent must then give you RECO’s information guide and tell you in writing that they do not represent you. On a competitive Toronto purchase, going without representation is rarely a saving.

3. 3.Step 3 — Search and view (2 weeks to 6 months)

   TORE.ca syncs the TRREB MLS feed every 15 minutes, so new listings appear here within minutes of being posted. Set the price filter to your real ceiling — in Toronto, remember that the list price on freehold homes is often a marketing number below expected value (see the bidding-wars guide), so search above your budget as well as below it.

   • View in person. Photos are wide-angle; a 600-square-foot condo and a 750-square-foot condo photograph the same.
   • For houses: lot size and frontage, roof age, electrical (knob-and-tube and 60-amp service affect insurance), basement moisture, parking legality.
   • For condos: fees and what they include, the building’s age and reserve fund, parking and locker ownership, rental ratio.
   • Visit at different times of day — traffic, noise and light all change.

4. 4.Step 4 — Make an offer and pay the deposit (24 hours)

   Your agent drafts an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (OREA Form 100 for freehold, Form 101 for condos) with your price, deposit, closing date, conditions and irrevocable time. The seller accepts, rejects or signs back a counter. In Toronto a competitive freehold listing usually has an offer date; see the bidding-wars guide for how that evening works.

   • Deposit: Toronto convention is 5% of price, due within 24 hours of acceptance by bank draft or wire to the listing brokerage’s trust account. It is credited to your down payment on closing — and forfeited if you fail to close without legal cause.
   • Conditions: financing (3–5 business days), home inspection (3–5 days), status certificate review (condos; 2–3 business days after receipt). Each gives you an exit with your deposit back if not satisfied. In competitive situations buyers often do this work before offering and go firm.
   • Irrevocable: how long the other side has to respond. Hours, on offer night; a day or two otherwise.

   Once both sides have signed within the irrevocable, you have a binding agreement. Everything after this point is execution.

5. 5.Step 5 — Satisfy or waive conditions (3–10 business days)

   • Financing: send the signed agreement and MLS listing to your lender. They confirm the pre-approval against the property — and may order an appraisal ($300–$500), especially on uninsured mortgages. If the appraisal comes in under the price, you cover the difference in cash or walk away (if you still have the condition).
   • Inspection: $450–$800 plus HST for a Toronto house, 2–4 hours on site. You receive a written report; you can waive, renegotiate, or walk. Toronto inspection reports are advisory — there is no legal "pass/fail."
   • Status certificate (condos): the seller orders it; the corporation has 10 days; your lawyer reviews it and you waive or walk within the clause’s window.
   • Waiver: each satisfied condition is formalized with a Notice of Fulfillment or Waiver (OREA Form 123/124). When the last one is signed, the deal is "firm" — the listing changes to Sold Conditional, then Sold.

6. 6.Step 6 — Retain a lawyer and budget closing costs (immediately after firm)

   Ontario requires a lawyer to close. Retain one as soon as the deal is firm — they need 2–3 weeks for a standard closing. They will search title, review the survey (if any), arrange title insurance, prepare the statement of adjustments, receive your mortgage funds and the balance of your down payment in trust, pay land transfer tax, register the deed and mortgage, and give you the keys.

   • Legal fee and disbursements: about $1,200–$2,500 plus HST plus $300–$600 disbursements in Toronto.
   • Land transfer tax: Ontario tax everywhere; plus the Toronto municipal tax inside the city — $32,950 combined on a $1,000,000 home before the first-time buyer rebate of up to $8,475. See the land transfer tax guide.
   • Title insurance ($300–$600), PST on the mortgage-insurance premium if under 20% down, adjustments for prepaid property tax and condo fees. Full list in the closing costs guide.
   • Home insurance: your lender needs proof of a policy effective on closing day before it will fund.

7. 7.Step 7 — Mortgage funding and the final week

   • Mortgage instructions: your lender sends them to your lawyer about a week before closing. You sign the mortgage documents at the lawyer’s office (or electronically) 2–5 days before closing.
   • Final walkthrough: the day before or morning of closing, confirm the home is in the condition the agreement requires, chattels are present, and nothing has been damaged.
   • Funds: you deliver the balance due (down payment less deposit, plus closing costs) to the lawyer’s trust account by certified cheque, bank draft or wire, usually 1–2 days before closing. Confirm wire instructions by phone — wire fraud targeting real-estate closings is real.
   • Utilities and address: arrange hydro, gas, water and internet to start on closing day; mail forwarding; update your driver’s licence within six days of moving (Ontario rule).

8. 8.Step 8 — Closing day

   On closing day the lawyers exchange documents and funds electronically through Teraview, the deed and mortgage are registered, and the seller’s lawyer releases the keys to yours — typically by early afternoon, sometimes late in the day if the seller is closing a purchase the same day in a chain. You do not attend. Your lawyer calls when it is done; keys are picked up at their office or left in a lockbox by arrangement.

   What to do on day one: change the locks, photograph meter readings, locate the main water shut-off and electrical panel, and file the closing documents (deed, mortgage, statement of adjustments, title policy) where you can find them — you will need them when you sell.

9. 9.The whole timeline on one page

   • T-90 days: pre-approval; representation agreement; start searching.
   • T-30 to T-60: offer accepted; deposit within 24 hours.
   • T-25 to T-50: conditions satisfied (3–10 business days); deal firm; lawyer retained.
   • T-7: mortgage instructions to lawyer; sign mortgage documents.
   • T-2: deliver closing funds to lawyer; arrange insurance and utilities.
   • T-1 / day of: final walkthrough.
   • Closing day: registration; keys.
   • T+1 to +30: first mortgage payment date set by lender (often the 1st of the following month, with an interest adjustment for the gap).

   Typical Toronto resale: 30 to 90 days from accepted offer to keys, with 60 the most common. Pre-construction is a different process entirely — see the pre-construction guide.

Rules cited: OSFI Guideline B-20 and Department of Finance insured-mortgage rules (stress test, GDS/TDS, $1.5M cap, amortization); Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 and O. Reg. 579/23 (designated representation, self-represented parties, buyer representation agreements); OREA Forms 100/101 (APS), 123/124 (fulfillment/waiver); Ontario Land Transfer Tax Act and Toronto MLTT by-law; Land Registration Reform Act and Teraview electronic registration; Highway Traffic Act (address change within 6 days). Timelines, fees and deposit percentages are Toronto market norms, not statutory requirements.