Sell your house privately in Ontario: 7 steps

How to sell your house privately in Ontario, step by step

Selling privately takes the same seven steps as any sale; you just do them yourself, with a lawyer for the legal side. Most of the work is up front: the price, the photos and the paperwork. Once the house is on the market, it's mostly showings, questions and reading offers with your lawyer.

1. Line up a real estate lawyer. Ask for a written quote for a sale (a fee plus disbursements) and how they want offers sent to them. Tell them if there's a second mortgage, a line of credit on the house or more than one owner.
2. Set your price from sold prices, not asking prices. Look up what similar houses on your street and nearby sold for in the last few months on HouseSigma or a similar site. Price too high and the listing goes stale; an appraisal (a few hundred dollars) is an option if you're unsure.
3. Get your house in front of buyers. A sign and a Facebook or Kijiji post reach neighbours. A flat fee MLS® listing reaches buyers searching realtor.ca and every buyer's agent, which is where most Ontario buyers look. Use bright, wide photos of every main room and the outside, and hold an open house if you like.
4. Prepare the paperwork. Have your property tax bill, utility costs, survey (if you have one), any permits for renovations, and for a condo the status certificate request ready before the first showing. See the list below.
5. Run showings safely. Confirm each showing ahead of time, ask for the buyer's name or their agent's brokerage, put away valuables and medication, and don't show alone if you can avoid it. Buyer agents book through the showing system and are with their clients.
6. Review and negotiate offers. Read every offer with your lawyer: the price, the deposit, the conditions (financing, inspection), the closing date and what's included. You can accept, sign it back with changes, or let it expire.
7. Close with your lawyer. Once the conditions are removed, your lawyer handles the rest: the statement of adjustments, the mortgage payout, the transfer and the keys. You get the money on closing day, less your mortgage and costs.

Can I sell my house in Ontario without an agent or a REALTOR®?

Yes. No Ontario law says a seller has to hire a listing agent. You can sell to a stranger, a neighbour or a relative, as a for sale by owner (FSBO) seller, and do the marketing, showings and negotiating yourself. What you do need is a real estate lawyer for the offer and the closing.

Your lawyer registers the transfer of your house to the buyer, pays off your mortgage and sends you the balance on closing day. Hire one at the start, so they can look over the offer before you sign it, not after.

A private sale also doesn't mean you have to stay off the MLS® System. A flat fee listing puts your house on realtor.ca where buyers' agents look, while you still run the sale. If you want that route, getting your house on the MLS® System in 4 steps covers the documents, the costs and what happens once you're live.

Getting your house ready to sell

First impressions decide whether a buyer books a second visit, and private sellers don't have an agent's stager or photographer. A weekend of fixing, clearing and cleaning usually does more than any renovation. Do it before the photos, because the photos are what most buyers see first.

• Fix the small things buyers notice: dripping taps, loose handles, burnt-out bulbs, scuffed paint, a sticking door.
• Declutter and depersonalise: clear counters and closets, pack away photos and collections, so buyers can picture their own things.
• Clean deeply, including windows, grout and the furnace room. Fresh air beats air freshener.
• Stage the main rooms with what you own: fewer pieces, lamps on, beds made. Paid staging is optional.
• Think about a pre-listing inspection. It costs a few hundred dollars and lets you fix or disclose problems before a buyer's inspector finds them.
• Take the photos in daylight, every main room plus the outside, landscape, with the lights on.

The paperwork for a private sale in Ontario

Buyers and their lawyers ask for the same documents in almost every sale, and having them ready before the first showing makes your house easier to buy. Gather these early, keep copies in one folder, and let your lawyer tell you which ones they need from you and which they'll order themselves.

• Agreement of Purchase and Sale. If the buyer has an agent, the offer usually comes on the standard OREA form. If the buyer has no agent, your lawyer can prepare the agreement or review the buyer's.
• Proof of ownership and photo ID for every owner on title. Your lawyer will ask for both.
• Your mortgage details, so your lawyer can order the payout statement.
• Property tax bill and utility costs for the last year. Buyers ask for these early.
• A survey or reference plan, if you have one. Not required, but buyers' lawyers like to see it.
• Permits and warranties: building permits for additions or finished basements, and any transferable warranties (roof, furnace, windows).
• For a condo: the status certificate. Order it from your condo corporation; in the Condo Authority of Ontario's words, corporations "can charge up to $100 including all applicable taxes to provide it and must provide them within 10 days". Buyers usually make their offer conditional on their lawyer reviewing it.
• Rental equipment contracts, such as a rented water heater or furnace. The buyer takes them over, so they belong in the agreement.

What you have to tell buyers

In Ontario you must not hide problems. RECO's Bulletin 7.4 puts the rule simply: "A seller must disclose latent defects." Tell buyers in writing about any you know of; covering up a problem can let the buyer sue after closing.

RECO defines a latent defect as one "that would make a property unfit for habitation, dangerous, or potentially dangerous, and is generally not apparent to someone exercising reasonable care in the inspection of the property", such as a structural problem or past flooding behind finished walls.

Problems anyone could see on a normal viewing are the buyer's to check, but don't hide them either.

A Seller Property Information Statement (SPIS) is optional. Many lawyers suggest answering buyers' questions in writing instead, because a wrong answer on a form can cause trouble later. Ask your lawyer which they prefer before you fill anything in.

What it costs to sell your house privately

Selling privately removes the biggest cost, the listing commission, but not all of them. The table shows who pays what in an Ontario sale. Your lawyer sets out the final numbers in the statement of adjustments; the resale home itself usually carries no HST (CRA, GI-004).

To compare, work out the commission you'd pay with an agent on your own price, with HST.

Special situations

A few situations add steps to a private sale: tenants in the house, selling to someone you know, selling for an estate, and more than one owner or a spouse. None of them stops you selling privately, but each one changes what your lawyer needs and when, so raise it with them first.

Selling with tenants in it. A sale doesn't end the tenancy. If the buyer or their family wants to move in, and the house has three units or fewer (or it's a condo unit), the buyer asks you in writing to give notice. The tenant gets at least 60 days, ending on the last day of a rental period, under the Residential Tenancies Act. You, as the landlord who serves the notice, must pay the tenant one month's rent as compensation by the termination date (Landlord and Tenant Board guideline). Otherwise the buyer takes over the lease. Our guide to selling a house with tenants covers showings, ending a lease by agreement and timing.

Selling to family or a friend. You don't need any listing, but you still need a lawyer, and each side should have their own. Selling well below market value can have tax consequences, so ask an accountant.

Selling as an executor. The estate trustee signs, and your lawyer may need a certificate of appointment (probate) before closing. Start that early.

More than one owner. Every owner on title signs the agreement and the transfer. If it's your family home, a married spouse who isn't on title usually has to consent too, under section 21 of Ontario's Family Law Act.

Selling privately vs with a listing agent

A listing agent prices the house, writes the listing, hosts showings and negotiates for you, for a percentage of the price. Selling privately, you do those things and keep that percentage. A flat fee MLS® listing sits in between: you do the selling, but your house is on the MLS® System and realtor.ca like any agent's listing.

Companies that help you sell your house yourself work differently, too: see how PropertyGuys works compared with us.

For the full list of ways to sell by owner, and the Ontario tax and closing rules in one place, see for sale by owner in Ontario.

There's a middle route too: you can list on MLS® without a realtor through a flat fee brokerage, and still sell privately.

If you want buyer agents to see it, you can pay a flat fee instead of a commission to get on the MLS® System and still sell it yourself.

Before you decide, check what commission costs in Ontario on a home like yours, including the 13% HST.

Risks of selling privately, and how to handle them

Selling privately saves the listing commission, but it moves the agent's risks onto you. Most are easy to manage once you know them. These are the common ones and what sellers do about each; if several of them worry you, a full-service agent may be worth the commission.

If you want buyer agents to find your home too, a mere posting on the MLS® System keeps the sale in your hands for a flat fee.

• Fewer buyers see it. A sign and online ads miss buyers who search with an agent. A flat fee MLS® listing closes that gap.
• Pricing it wrong. Price from comparable sales, not asking prices; an appraisal costs a few hundred dollars.
• Disclosure. Tell buyers in writing about latent defects you know of, and let your lawyer check what you write.
• Negotiating against an agent. Read every offer with your lawyer before you sign; you can check a buyer agent's registration on RECO's public register.
• Safety and fraud. Confirm showings in advance, don't show alone, and never accept a deposit or funds outside the lawyers' trust accounts.

Questions

What's included

• Your house on the MLS® System through PropTx, which feeds 14 Ontario boards, including Toronto (TRREB), Ottawa, London, Niagara and Oakville-Milton
• Your house on realtor.ca, typically followed by MLS®-fed sites such as HouseSigma, Zolo and Condos.ca
• Up to 40 photos, your description, your price and the full property details
• Showing requests from buyer agents sent straight to you to confirm, and realtor.ca inquiries forwarded to you
• Price, photo and detail changes while you're listed, plus the conditional and sold updates

Flat fee MLS® prices

Plus 13% HST. The monthly plan can be cancelled any time.

What a private sale can save you

Enter your asking price to compare a typical listing agent's commission, with 13% HST, against a flat fee MLS® listing. The difference is what selling privately can save you. You still choose what to offer a buyer's agent, and that's only paid if their buyer buys.

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