Buying, Selling & Market Trends
The Home Selling Process in Ontario: A Step-by-Step Guide
Selling a home in Ontario follows a set sequence, from engaging a brokerage under a written listing agreement through to closing with a real estate lawyer. This guide walks sellers through each stage — representation, listing agreements, offers and conditions, and closing — in the order they happen, without predicting prices or advising on strategy.
Selling a home in Ontario follows a set sequence: you engage a real estate brokerage under a written listing agreement, prepare and price the home with your representative, list and show it, negotiate offers, satisfy any conditions, then close through a real estate lawyer who transfers title, discharges the existing mortgage, and releases keys.
What Are the Steps to Selling a Home in Ontario?
Selling a home in Ontario generally moves through the same stages, in roughly this order, though the exact path can vary with your representative’s process and the specifics of your sale.
- Engage a real estate brokerage and sign a listing agreement.
- Prepare and price the home with your representative.
- List the property and market it to buyers.
- Host showings and gather feedback.
- Review and negotiate offers.
- Satisfy or waive any conditions in the accepted offer.
- Close: your lawyer transfers title, and you hand over the keys.
The sections below walk through each stage and the decisions and documents involved. Preparing and staging a home, and how a listing price gets set, are big enough topics that CRESI covers them in their own guides — this one focuses on the process end to end.
How Do I Engage a Real Estate Brokerage and Salesperson in Ontario?
In Ontario, real estate services are governed by the Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA), and a seller typically works with a brokerage under a representation agreement, with a specific salesperson (or salespersons) designated within that brokerage to represent them.
Most sellers start by interviewing a few salespersons or teams before choosing one to work with. Useful things to ask about include their track record and local market knowledge, how they communicate and manage their time, the marketing plan they’d use for your home, and their process from listing through to closing.
Once you choose a salesperson, TRESA sets out how that working relationship is structured. A brokerage and seller can enter a representation relationship in writing, orally, or by implication — practices vary. In practice, sellers formalize this through a listing agreement, a written contract that authorizes the brokerage to market and sell the property and sets out its compensation (covered next). Brokerages can also operate under different representation models under TRESA; under one common model, “designated” representation, a particular salesperson or salespersons are designated to act for a particular client, rather than the brokerage as a whole acting for everyone. The exact rules around representation, including what a brokerage must disclose to you and how it may act if it’s also working with the buyer’s side, are set by RECO (the Real Estate Council of Ontario) and are worth confirming directly. Ask your salesperson to walk you through how representation works for your specific transaction.
What Is a Listing Agreement, and What Does It Cover?
A listing agreement is the written, binding contract between a seller and a real estate brokerage that authorizes the brokerage to market and sell the property. Its term and its other terms, including the brokerage’s compensation, are all negotiated between the seller and the brokerage, not fixed by any outside body.
| What it is | Who decides | |
|---|---|---|
| Term | How long the brokerage has the right to represent the sale | Negotiated between seller and brokerage |
| Marketing terms | What the brokerage will do to promote and show the home | Negotiated between seller and brokerage |
| Commission | How the brokerage is compensated if the home sells | Negotiated between seller and brokerage |
Commission is one of the most misunderstood parts of the listing agreement. It is fully negotiable and is not set, recommended, or capped by any real estate board, association, or regulator — it’s simply the figure the seller and brokerage agree to and record in the listing agreement. If you’re unclear on how compensation works, or how it might be shared with a buyer’s representative, raise it directly with your listing salesperson before signing.
How Is My Home’s Listing Price Set?
A home’s listing price is set by the seller together with their representative, typically informed by a comparative market analysis — a review of recent sale prices of similar nearby properties — rather than by any single formula or online estimate.
Beyond naming comparable sales data as the standard input, this guide won’t speculate on how a particular home should be priced or what it’s likely to sell for; pricing strategy, and the misconceptions sellers often bring to it, are covered in CRESI’s companion guide on that topic. Treat the listing price as a conversation to have directly with your own representative, using current, local data at the time you list.
Should I Complete a Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS)?
Completing a Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS) is optional in Ontario — a seller can choose to fill one out, decline to provide one, or discuss the choice with their representative and lawyer before deciding.
The SPIS is a standard form in which a seller answers questions about the property’s condition, history, and known issues. Some sellers and their representatives see value in completing one to support a transparent sale; others prefer not to complete one at all, given the disclosure it can create. There’s no requirement in Ontario to complete an SPIS, and the right choice depends on the specific property and your own circumstances. Discuss the decision with your real estate representative, and ask a real estate lawyer about the implications either way before you decide.
What’s the Difference Between Latent and Patent Defects?
A patent defect is a problem with the property that would be visible or discoverable through a reasonable inspection, while a latent defect is a hidden problem a buyer couldn’t reasonably discover on their own — and a seller’s disclosure obligations for each are treated differently.
Generally, buyers are expected to satisfy themselves about a property’s visible condition through their own inspection, and sellers aren’t typically obligated to volunteer information about problems a reasonable inspection would reveal. Latent defects sit differently: hidden issues that a seller actually knows about, particularly ones that could make the property dangerous or unfit for habitation, raise disclosure questions that don’t apply the same way to patent defects.
This is a genuinely legal question, and where the line falls depends on the specific facts of a sale. Talk to a real estate lawyer before you list, and be candid with your representative about anything you know regarding the property’s condition so they can advise you on how to handle it.
How Are Offers on My Home Reviewed and Negotiated?
Once a home is listed, any offer received is reviewed with your representative and can be accepted, rejected, or countered. Each offer includes an irrevocable period during which it stays open, and a deal becomes “firm” only once every condition in the accepted offer has been satisfied or waived.
An offer to purchase sets out the price and terms a buyer is proposing, along with an irrevocable date and time — the window during which the offer remains open for you to accept. You aren’t obligated to accept any particular offer, including the highest one; price is only one of several terms, alongside conditions, deposit, closing date, and inclusions, that your representative can help you weigh.
Most offers include one or more conditions, commonly financing and/or a home inspection, that must be satisfied or waived before the deal becomes firm. When there’s more than one offer on the table, TRESA requires your brokerage to tell every person who submits an offer how many competing offers there are — that part isn’t optional and isn’t a seller’s choice. Beyond the number, you can direct your brokerage in writing to share some, all, or none of the content of those competing offers with the other offerors; information that would identify another buyer is never shared, no matter what direction you give. Ask your representative which written direction you want to give for your sale — the specifics are set by RECO and worth confirming directly.
What Happens During the Conditional Period After I Accept an Offer?
Once an offer is accepted, the transaction typically enters a conditional period during which the buyer works to satisfy any conditions in the offer — commonly a home inspection and financing — before the deal becomes firm and moves toward closing.
During this period, the buyer, and any specialists they bring in such as an inspector or contractor, will typically need reasonable access to the property. If a home inspection turns up issues, the buyer’s side may come back with a request for repairs, a price adjustment, or another change; your representative will help you weigh and respond to that request. If the offer included a financing condition, the buyer’s lender may also require an appraisal to confirm the property supports the loan amount.
If every condition is satisfied, or the buyer waives them, the deal becomes firm and moves toward closing. If a condition can’t be satisfied and isn’t waived, the agreement can come to an end under the terms set out in the offer — ask your representative how that applies to your specific transaction.
What Happens as Closing Approaches, and on Closing Day?
As closing approaches, your real estate lawyer prepares and reviews the closing documents, arranges for your existing mortgage to be discharged, and calculates the statement of adjustments. On closing day, your lawyer completes the transaction, title is transferred to the buyer, and you hand over the keys.
Once a deal is firm, your representative confirms the closing date and any remaining agreed-upon items with the buyer’s side. Buyers typically arrange a final walk-through shortly before closing to confirm the property’s condition matches what they agreed to purchase.
From there, closing is primarily handled by your real estate lawyer. They review the documents, calculate the statement of adjustments (the accounting between buyer and seller for items like prepaid property tax), and coordinate with your mortgage lender to arrange the discharge of your existing mortgage. On closing day, sale proceeds are released, title is officially transferred to the buyer, and you turn over the keys, typically through your representative or lawyer’s office. For anything specific to your mortgage discharge or the figures on your statement of adjustments, your lender and your lawyer are the right people to ask.