Selling

How Selling a Home Works in Ontario: The 8 Steps from Prep to Possession Day

Selling is eight steps too, and the seller’s job is different from the buyer’s: you decide the pricing strategy, you control what buyers see, and you carry most of the transaction’s costs. This guide runs the process in order with the Toronto-specific decisions — list-low-and-hold or price-at-value, staging, offer night — and ends with the number that matters: what you actually walk away with.

Updated October 22, 2026 · TORE.ca editorial

1. 1.Step 1 — Know your number and your timing (4–8 weeks before listing)

   Start with value, not with an agent. The TORE.ca home valuation tool gives a range from comparable active listings; a licensed agent’s comparative market analysis (CMA) refines it with recent sold prices, which only TRREB members can pull. Get two or three CMAs — they are free, and the spread between them tells you how uncertain the number is.

   • Timing: Toronto’s strongest listing windows are mid-February to May and September to early November. Late December and the first half of January are the weakest; July and August are slow for houses, steadier for condos.
   • Mortgage: ask your lender for the discharge statement — the balance plus the prepayment penalty (three months’ interest on a variable; the greater of that or the IRD on a fixed, which can be tens of thousands). If you are buying another home, ask about porting the mortgage to avoid the penalty.
   • Sequence: in a balanced market most Toronto sellers buy first with a longer closing, then sell; in a hot market, sell first. A sale conditional on the sale of your home is rarely accepted in Toronto.

2. 2.Step 2 — Choose representation and sign the listing agreement

   A Listing Agreement (OREA Form 200 for freehold, 201 for condos) appoints a brokerage, sets the term (60–120 days is normal; ask for 90), the list price, the total commission and how it is split with a buyer’s brokerage, and the holdover period (the agent is still paid if a buyer they introduced closes within X days after expiry — negotiate it down). Under TRESA your listing agent is your designated representative; if the same brokerage brings the buyer, two different agents can represent each side.

   Commission in Toronto is negotiable. The traditional total is 5% plus HST, split 2.5% / 2.5%; 4% totals (2% + 2% or 1.5% + 2.5%) are common, and flat-fee and discount brokerages exist. The buyer-side share is the one buyers’ agents see on MLS — cutting it below the neighbourhood norm can reduce showings. Decide the total you will pay, then how to split it.

   • Written direction on pre-emptive ("bully") offers: whether you will look at them before the offer date (RECO Bulletin 4.3).
   • Written election on the offer process under TRESA: traditional blind, or open (competing offers’ terms disclosed to all bidders).
   • Exclusions: anything you are taking that a buyer would assume stays (light fixtures, the EV charger, the shed).

3. 3.Step 3 — Prepare the home (2–4 weeks)

   • Repairs an inspector would flag: dripping taps, GFCI outlets, loose railings, grading against the foundation, that window that does not lock. Small items cost hundreds and remove thousands from offers.
   • Declutter and depersonalize — half the closet, half the furniture, no photos. Buyers need to see themselves in it.
   • Staging: in Toronto, professional staging is standard for freehold listings over $1 million and increasingly for condos. $2,500–$8,000 for a full stage of a vacant house; $1,000–$2,500 for a partial stage of an occupied condo. Most agents include a staging consultation; some include the staging itself in their commission.
   • Paperwork buyers will ask for: survey, permits for renovations, utility bills, warranties, condo status certificate ordered in advance ($100, 10 days — have it ready for offer night so buyers can go firm).
   • Pre-listing inspection ($450–$800): optional, but a clean report you can hand to buyers reduces conditional offers in a competitive situation.
   • Photography, floor plans, video and the feature sheet: the brokerage arranges them; confirm what is included.

4. 4.Step 4 — Price it: at value, or below with an offer date

   This is the most consequential decision you make. Two strategies, and the right one depends on the property and the week:

   • List at value, offers anytime: honest price, negotiation expected, works in any market, typical for condos and for most of the 905. Expect to sell at 97–100% of list after negotiation in a balanced market.
   • List below value with an offer date ("holding offers"): aims to create competition and a market-set price in one evening. Works for well-located freehold in the central 416 when buyer demand is strong. Fails visibly when it produces one offer or none — the listing is terminated and relisted at a realistic price a week later, which buyers notice.

   A good agent will show you recent sales in your pocket of the city under each strategy — list price, sold price, days on market — before you decide. Ask for that comparison explicitly. If you hold offers, set the date 5–7 days after listing with two weekend open-house slots in between, and decide in advance (in writing) whether you will look at bully offers.

5. 5.Step 5 — Showings and open houses (1–3 weeks)

   The listing goes live on MLS and syndicates to TORE.ca and every other portal within hours. Showings are booked through the brokerage; a lockbox lets buyers’ agents show without you present — be out of the house for every one. Open houses on the first weekend are standard in Toronto. Your agent should report feedback after each showing and the running count of interested parties; under RECO’s rules, anyone who expresses interest must be notified if you decide to consider an early offer.

   If a week passes with showings but no offers on a priced-at-value listing, the market is telling you something: adjust the price within 10–14 days rather than letting the listing go stale. Days-on-market is visible to every buyer and reduces leverage the longer it runs.

6. 6.Step 6 — Offers, negotiation and acceptance

   • Offers arrive electronically. Your agent presents each one; by law they must tell every buyer how many written offers exist, and must keep a copy or summary of every offer received.
   • You can accept one, reject all, counter one, or send some back asking for improvement. A counter (sign-back) gives that buyer exclusivity until the irrevocable expires; you cannot accept another offer while a counter is outstanding.
   • Weigh terms, not just price: a firm offer at $1,290,000 is often worth more than a conditional one at $1,310,000. Deposit size, closing date, and whether the buyer is pre-approved all matter.
   • Acceptance is signing within the buyer’s irrevocable. The deposit (typically 5%) arrives within 24 hours into the listing brokerage’s trust account.
   • Conditional deals (financing, inspection, status certificate): the buyer has 3–10 business days to waive. Keep showing the property — a conditional deal can collapse, and some sellers accept back-up offers in writing.

7. 7.Step 7 — Your lawyer, the discharge, and the closing

   Retain a real-estate lawyer as soon as the deal is firm. They obtain the mortgage discharge statement and payout, respond to the buyer’s lawyer’s title requisitions, prepare the transfer, and on closing day receive the funds, pay out your mortgage and commission, and send you the balance. Seller legal fees in Toronto are typically $900–$1,800 plus HST plus disbursements; the discharge registration is about $80–$90 and lenders charge a discharge fee of $200–$400.

   • Leave the home in the condition the agreement requires — broom-swept, chattels in place, keys and garage remotes for the lawyer. The buyer does a walkthrough the day before or morning of.
   • Cancel insurance effective the day after closing (not the day of). Arrange final meter readings and utility closures for closing day.
   • Condo: the corporation issues the status certificate updates and confirms no arrears; the management company handles the move-out elevator booking.

8. 8.Step 8 — Net proceeds, and what you must report

   What you walk away with

   Sale price, minus: mortgage payout and penalty; commission plus 13% HST on the commission; legal fees and disbursements; adjustments (property tax or condo fees the buyer reimburses you are credits; anything you owe is a debit); and any agreed repairs or credits. Example: a $1,200,000 Toronto semi with $450,000 owing on a variable mortgage, 4.5% total commission, and $1,500 of legal costs nets roughly $1,200,000 − $450,000 − $5,000 (penalty) − $54,000 (commission) − $7,020 (HST on commission) − $1,500 − $300 (discharge) ≈ $682,200. Sellers pay no land transfer tax in Ontario.

   The CRA

   • Principal residence: the gain is tax-free, but since the 2016 tax year you must report the sale on Schedule 3 and Form T2091 of your return for the year of sale, even if fully exempt. Failing to report can cost the exemption and draws a late-filing penalty of up to $8,000.
   • Anti-flipping rule: since January 1, 2023, a residential property owned less than 365 days is taxed as business income (100% inclusion) rather than as a capital gain, and the principal-residence exemption is denied, unless a listed life event applies (death, separation, job relocation, illness, insolvency and others).
   • Not your principal residence (a rental, a cottage you did not designate): capital gain, 50% inclusion, reported on Schedule 3; recapture of any capital cost allowance claimed.
   • Non-resident sellers: the buyer must withhold 25% of the price unless you obtain a clearance certificate (CRA Form T2062) — start the application the day you list; it takes months.

Rules cited: Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 and O. Reg. 579/23 (listing agreements, designated representation, offer disclosure, record-keeping); RECO Bulletin 4.3 (pre-emptive offers); OREA Forms 200/201 (listing agreements); Income Tax Act s.40(2)(b) and CRA principal-residence reporting (Schedule 3, T2091, since 2016; late-designation penalty); Income Tax Act s.12(12)–(14) residential property flipping rule (effective January 1, 2023); Income Tax Act s.116 (non-resident vendor withholding, T2062); Interest Act s.10; Excise Tax Act (HST on commission). Commission percentages, staging and legal fee ranges are Toronto market norms, not statutory. Net-proceeds example is illustrative.