Commercial MLS® listing in Ontario, for sale or lease

What's included

• Your property on the MLS® System as a Commercial listing, through PropTx, which feeds TRREB and other Ontario boards
• Sent on to realtor.ca, where agents and their clients search commercial property
• The Type and Category you choose (Office, Commercial Retail, Industrial, Store W Apt/Office, Investment, Land, Farm) and the matching TRREB fields
• Up to 40 photos, your description, the price and the full property details
• Showing requests from buyers' and tenants' agents sent straight to you, and realtor.ca inquiries forwarded to you
• Price, photo and detail changes while you're listed, plus the sold or leased update

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What sellers say

Flat fee MLS® prices

Plus 13% HST on Ontario listings; no tax on Alberta listings. The monthly plan can be cancelled any time.

How a flat fee commercial MLS® listing works

A flat fee commercial listing is a limited-service MLS® listing: you sign a listing agreement with a licensed Ontario brokerage, it enters your property on the MLS® System as a Commercial listing, and you handle the showings, questions and offers yourself. The fee is set in advance instead of a percentage of the price or the rent.

1. Start your listing and pay. Choose Commercial for Sale or Commercial for Lease when you start your listing, then pick a plan: $69.99 a month, $99.99 for 2 months, $119.99 for 3, $149.99 for 6, or $239.99 for MAX.
2. Answer the commercial questions. A guided form asks only what TRREB requires for your Type of property (more on that below), then your photos, your ID and proof of ownership.
3. Sign and we list it. You sign the listing agreement online; we enter the listing on the board and email you the MLS® number when it's live.
4. Agents contact you. Showing requests and realtor.ca inquiries come to you. You meet the buyer or tenant, negotiate and sign with your lawyer's help, then tell us it's sold or leased from your account.

What we need from you for a commercial listing

TRREB's commercial form asks different questions from a home listing, and the required set changes with the Type you pick. The form only shows what your Type needs, and it flags anything missing before you sign. Have these ready:

• Your photo ID and proof of ownership (or authority to list for a company), as for any listing
• Zoning: the municipal zoning code, e.g. "C1" or "GC - General Commercial" (it's on your tax bill, MPAC notice or the municipality's zoning map)
• Total area in square feet, square metres, acres or hectares, and whether it's divisible; then the office/apartment, retail and industrial areas that apply
• For a sale: the price, whether HST applies to it, the PIN and roll number (ARN), property taxes and the year, and the possession timing
• For a lease: the lease price and how it's quoted (per month, or per square foot net or gross), and the minimum and maximum lease term in months
• Building details your Type needs: e.g. shipping doors, clear height and rail access (industrial), elevator (office), sewers (land), utilities, water and parking
• Up to 40 photos and a plain description with no phone numbers or emails (the board rejects them)

Choosing the TRREB Type and Category

On TRREB's commercial form you pick a Type, and the Type decides which Categories you can choose. You choose both yourself, from the same drop-downs agents use, because you know how the property is zoned and used. Then, for most Types, you pick the Current or Best Use from TRREB's list.

Store with an apartment, and other mixed-use buildings

A storefront with an apartment or office above is its own TRREB Type, Store W Apt/Office, for sale or for lease. Enter the whole building as the Total Area, the apartment or office part as the Office/Apartment Area, and the store as the Retail Area, so agents see both uses at a glance.

If the apartment is rented, the tenancy stays in place through a sale; residential tenants keep their rights under Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act whoever owns the building. HST can apply differently to the commercial and the residential parts of a sale, so ask your accountant or lawyer how it works for yours before you set the price (CRA's GST/HST Memorandum 19-1, Real Property, covers the rules).

A plaza or multi-unit retail building is listed under Commercial Retail (Multi-Use) or Investment instead; pick the one that matches how the property earns its income.

Already listed your building as a home? Clone it

If you've paid for a residential listing with us and the property is zoned for commercial use, you can clone it as a commercial sale or lease from your account (each listing has a "Clone" link). The clone copies the answers the commercial form still uses, such as the address, descriptions, taxes and photos (as its own copies), and carries the house size over as the Total Area for you to check.

A clone is paid like a new listing, by checkout or with a credit, and you confirm it's zoned for commercial before it's created. The same works between sale and lease: clone a commercial listing for sale to offer the same space for lease too. Your ID, consents and signature are never copied; you sign the new listing yourself.

The commission you offer a co-operating brokerage

Your fee to us covers the listing. Separately, you set the commission paid to a co-operating brokerage that brings the buyer or tenant who completes. It's structured and firm: never $0, and never "negotiable" or "TBD". If a buyer or tenant comes to you with no agent, there's no co-operating commission to pay.

Commercial listings can offer it three ways: a percentage (of the sale price, or of one month's rent on a lease), a flat dollar amount, or commercial terms written out in up to 50 characters, such as "4% of net rent yrs 1-5, 2% after + HST" or "$2.50/sq ft/yr of term + HST". What you write is exactly what's paid. Our guide to commercial real estate commission in Ontario explains how these are usually worked out.

Commercial listings we can't take

We list Ontario commercial property for sale and for lease. We don't list a business for sale (TRREB's "Sale Of Business" Type), with or without the property, because selling a business involves its assets, staff and contracts, not only real estate.

You can still sell the building a business operates in, or lease the space, as a commercial listing. If you're not sure which Type fits, choose the one that matches the zoning and how the space is used today; we check every listing before it goes on the board and tell you if anything needs changing.

Every commercial guide

Pick the guide that matches what you're doing:

• List commercial property for lease: landlords leasing office, retail or industrial space
• Office and retail space for lease by owner: pricing per square foot, net vs gross, TMI
• Industrial and warehouse listings: clear height, shipping doors and rail
• Sell commercial property without a realtor: selling the building yourself, with a lawyer
• Commercial real estate commission in Ontario: what agents charge and how a flat fee compares
• Flat fee commercial realtor in Ontario: when a flat fee fits and when a full-service agent is worth it

Is a flat fee commercial listing right for you?

It suits owners who know their building, can show it or send someone, and can read an offer or a lease with their lawyer. Many commercial owners are landlords with one or two spaces to fill, or sellers who already have a lawyer and an accountant; for them, the MLS® System is the reach they're missing, not the advice.

It's a harder fit for a portfolio sale, a property that needs a market study or a rezoning case, or an owner who wants someone else to prospect tenants and run the negotiation. A full-service commercial agent is worth the commission then. Our brokerage's part is the listing and its upkeep; you stay a client of the brokerage for that limited service, and the showings and the deal are yours.

Questions