Residential
Detached to condo, street by street.
Residential covers the widest range of any property type CRESI works with — detached houses, semis, townhomes, and condos — and each comes with its own considerations. Here's what CRESI brings to a residential purchase, and what a condo specifically adds.
Talk to an agentWhat residential covers
Residential real estate spans four broad property types across Ontario, each with a different ownership structure and a different set of questions worth asking:
- Detached homes — a standalone structure and its own lot, the most common form of freehold ownership.
- Semi-detached homes — a structure sharing one wall with a neighbouring unit, freehold on each side.
- Townhomes — attached row-style units, freehold in most Ontario developments, though some are held under a common-elements condominium structure — worth confirming for any specific listing.
- Condos — individual unit ownership with shared common elements governed by a condominium corporation, covered in its own section below.
Our home buying process guide walks through the purchase sequence — pre-approval, representation, offer, conditions, closing — that applies across all four.
Neighbourhood knowledge
A property’s own condition and features are only part of what it’s worth living with or owning. Where it sits matters too: which school catchment it falls in, how close it is to transit and day-to-day amenities, and how that specific area’s pricing has moved over time relative to the broader Ontario market. That kind of street-by-street knowledge is exactly what a public listings search can’t hand you on its own — it’s local pattern recognition built up over time, not a number attached to any single property.
What a condo purchase adds
Buying a condo carries everything a freehold residential purchase does, plus a layer specific to condominium ownership:
- The status certificate — the condominium corporation’s disclosure package for a resale unit: its budget, reserve fund standing, arrears, insurance, rules, and any pending litigation or special assessments, as of the date it’s issued. A resale condo agreement is typically conditional on your lawyer reviewing and approving this certificate within a set period. Our status certificate guide covers what’s in the package, how the review condition works, and what your options are if it reveals a problem.
- The reserve fund — condominium corporations in Ontario are required to maintain one or more reserve funds, built up through owners’ monthly contributions, specifically for the eventual major repair or replacement of common elements like the roof, building envelope, elevators, and mechanical systems (as of 2026-07-29). The status certificate’s reserve-fund statement is where you see whether contributions are tracking what a professional reserve fund study recommends — a meaningful signal, covered in depth in the guide above.
- Monthly common expense fees — the ongoing cost of condo ownership beyond your mortgage, covering building operations, maintenance, and the reserve fund contribution.
For the fuller resale-vs-pre-construction picture — deposit protection, when a mortgage actually starts, and what the rescission period does and doesn’t cover — see our condo buying questions guide.
Buying new instead of resale?
Everything above describes a resale purchase. Buying directly from a builder is a different process with its own deposit structure, timeline, and risk profile — see Pre-Construction for how that works.
Looking for something specific?
This page covers the residential purchase itself, across property types. For what’s actually for sale right now, see Live Listings to search current Ontario listings on the RE/MAX portal. If you’re selling rather than buying, see Buy & Sell for the full process from valuation to closing. First purchase? See First-Time Buyers.
Ready to talk?
Tell us what you’re looking for — detached, semi, townhome, or condo, and which part of Ontario — and CRESI, RE/MAX Hallmark, will help you find it.
Common questions
Frequently asked
- What's the difference between buying a detached home, a semi, a townhome, and a condo?
- Detached, semi-detached, and townhome purchases are all freehold — you own the structure and the land it sits on outright, subject only to any easements or covenants on title. A condo purchase is different: you own your unit, but common elements (the building, grounds, amenities) belong to the condominium corporation, funded by the monthly fees all owners pay. See What a condo purchase adds below.
- How does neighbourhood knowledge actually factor into a residential search?
- Beyond a property's own features, where it sits matters — school catchment boundaries, proximity to transit and amenities, and how an area's pricing has trended over time all shape both what a property is worth and how it might suit your household. We bring that local, street-by-street knowledge to a search rather than leaving you to work it out from a listing alone.
- What is a status certificate, and why does it only apply to condos?
- A status certificate is the condominium corporation's disclosure package for a resale unit — covering the corporation's budget, reserve fund standing, arrears, insurance, and any pending litigation or special assessments, as of the date it's issued. Freehold properties (detached, semi, townhome) have no condominium corporation and no equivalent document. See our dedicated status certificate guide for what's in it and how the review works.
- What's a reserve fund, and why should I care about it as a buyer?
- A condominium corporation is required under Ontario's Condominium Act to maintain a reserve fund, funded through owners' monthly common expense contributions, set aside for the eventual major repair or replacement of common elements — the roof, building envelope, elevators, and similar shared systems (as of 2026-07-29). Whether a fund's contributions are keeping pace with what the building will actually need is one of the most consequential things a status certificate discloses, and it's worth understanding before you rely on one.
- I'm looking at both a house and a condo — can CRESI help either way?
- Yes — the same agent can walk you through both, since the search, offer, and closing process overlaps heavily between them. The condo-specific pieces (status certificate, reserve fund, condo fees) are additions to that process, not a separate one. See our condo buying questions guide for the full resale-vs-pre-construction picture.