August 28, 2026 | Selling
How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House in Ontario? (And Why a Cheap Agent Costs You More)
Updated October 2026 · By Xerxes Bharucha, Broker · Team Rajpal, Re/Max Key2 Real Estate., Brokerage, Seaton, Pickering
Quick answer: Most of the cost of selling comes out of your sale on closing day, not out of your pocket upfront. The biggest part is the real estate commission, which pays for marketing your home, negotiating the price and getting the deal to closing. The smaller costs are your lawyer, paying off your mortgage, getting the home ready and moving. All in, most Ontario sellers spend about 5% to 7% of the price, and sellers don’t pay land transfer tax.
But the cost isn’t the number that matters most. What you walk away with is. On 33 Pickering streets we studied, sellers who paid a little more in commission walked away with about $30,000 more. We show you how below.
How much does it cost to sell a house in Ontario?
Here’s every cost, using a $900,000 Pickering home as the example.
| Cost | Typical range | On a $900,000 home |
|---|---|---|
| Real estate commission (both agents, combined) | About 4% to 5% | $36,000 – $45,000 |
| HST on the commission (13%) | 13% of the commission | $4,680 – $5,850 |
| Lawyer fees | Flat fee, plus HST | $900 – $1,500 |
| Mortgage discharge fee (if you have a mortgage) | Set by your lender | $200 – $400 |
| Staging (optional) | Depends on the home | $0 – $6,000 |
| Repairs, painting and cleaning | Depends on condition | $500 – $3,000 |
| Moving | Local move | $1,000 – $2,500 |
| Total | About 5% to 7% | About $43,000 – $64,000 |
Not included: a mortgage penalty if you break your mortgage early (see below), and bridge financing if you buy before you sell.
Who pays the real estate commission in Ontario?
In Ontario, the seller has traditionally paid the commission, and that’s still common today. One total fee is split between two brokerages: the one that lists your home, and the one that brings the buyer. Commission is negotiable, and HST is charged on top of it.
What does the commission actually pay for?
Most sellers picture the commission as the agent’s take-home pay. It isn’t. It’s what the agent’s business earns from your sale, and running that business costs real money.
Before a professional agent sees a dollar, the commission has to cover:
- The costs of running the business: brokerage fees, licensing, insurance, staff salaries, marketing, and finding the next client.
- The costs of selling your home: professional photos, staging, open houses, signs and advertising.
What’s left after all that is profit. That profit is taxed as personal income, and only then does the agent get paid.
Why this matters to you: there are tens of thousands of realtors in the GTA. Most sell only a few homes a year, while a small group of experienced agents handles a large share of the sales. When you choose an agent, you’re not just paying a fee. You’re deciding how much gets invested in selling your home: the photos, the staging, the marketing, the negotiating. An agent who cuts their fee usually has to cut those things too.
So the real question isn’t “what’s the lowest commission?” It’s “what will this agent do to get me the highest price?“
What are the lawyer fees for selling a house in Ontario?
You need a real estate lawyer to sell in Ontario. Expect about $900 to $1,500, plus HST. That covers paying off your mortgage on closing day, preparing the documents and transferring the home to the buyer. Estate sales or homes with a lien can cost more. Our post on legal fees for selling a house in Ontario has the details.
Do you pay a penalty to pay off your mortgage when you sell?
Your lender charges a small discharge fee (often $200 to $400) to remove the mortgage from your home. A prepayment penalty is different. You only pay it if you break your mortgage before the end of its term. On a variable rate, it’s usually 3 months of interest. On a fixed rate, it can be much more. Ask your lender for a payout statement before you list.
Buying another home? You may be able to avoid the penalty by porting your mortgage. Porting means taking your current mortgage, with its rate and the time left on its term, with you to your new home. Here’s how it usually works:
- Your mortgage has to allow it. Most fixed-rate mortgages can be ported. Many variable-rate mortgages can’t, so check your terms.
- You have to qualify again. The lender checks your income and the new home, just like the first time.
- There’s a time limit. Your sale and your purchase usually have to close within a set number of days of each other. It depends on your lender.
- Need to borrow more? The lender can add the extra amount at today’s rate and blend it with your current rate.
Porting can save you thousands, but only if it’s planned before you sign anything. Selling and buying? Call or text Team Rajpal · 647.372.2997. We’ll connect you with a mortgage broker who can check whether your mortgage can move with you, and we’ll time your sale and purchase so it works.
Do sellers pay land transfer tax or capital gains tax in Ontario?
Land transfer tax: no. The buyer pays it.
Capital gains tax: usually not on the home you live in. If it was your main home every year you owned it, the gain is generally tax-free. You still have to report the sale on your tax return. A rental or investment property is different: talk to your accountant.
Is the cheapest agent really the cheapest?
We’ve seen this many times. A seller interviews several agents and picks the one with the lowest fee, or what looks like the lowest fee. Then the home doesn’t sell. Sometimes it doesn’t get a single offer.
Every week it sits, it builds a history. Buyers and their agents can see how long a home has been listed and every time it’s been relisted. They start to wonder: what’s wrong with this house?
Here’s a real example from Fall Harvest Crescent in Seaton. A 3-bedroom freehold end-unit townhouse was listed with two other brokerages before it came to us:
| When | Who listed it | List price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2023 | Another brokerage | $799,999, then raised to $988,800 | Expired after 4 months. No sale. |
| June 2025 | A different brokerage | $839,000, then $819,000 | Taken off the market after 7 weeks. No sale. |
| May 2026 | Team Rajpal | Priced for today’s market | Sold June 30 for $740,000, just over our asking price |
That’s almost 6 months on the market across two tries, and no sale. We had it sold in about 6 weeks. The difference wasn’t luck. It was pricing it right for the market, and a plan to get buyers through the door.
What those failed tries really cost
Here’s the part most sellers never see. While this home sat unsold in the summer of 2023, two very similar homes on the same street (3-storey, 3-bedroom townhouses on Fall Harvest Crescent) sold for $950,000 and $960,000. This one was priced at $988,800, above both of them, and didn’t sell.
| What happened | |
|---|---|
| July and August 2023: two similar homes on the same street sold | $950,000 and $960,000 |
| Summer 2023: this home, priced above both | No sale |
| Commission paid on the two failed listings | $0 |
| June 2026: this home finally sold | $740,000 |
| Gap between what the neighbours got and what this home sold for | About $210,000 |
The failed listings cost the sellers nothing in commission. But even if they had paid a full 5% commission plus HST to sell in 2023, they would have walked away with about $198,000 more than they did in 2026.
The biggest cost of selling wasn’t the agent’s fee. It was the wrong price and the wrong plan, while the market moved on without them.
Source: TRREB MLS® sales history for Fall Harvest Crescent, Pickering, 2023 to 2026, via REALM. The 2023 comparison assumes a 5% commission plus HST on a $950,000 sale and the same on the 2026 sale.
And it’s not just one house. We looked at every home listed on 33 Pickering streets from January 2025 to August 2026. Half sold on the first try. The other half were taken off the market and listed again. Here’s what that meant for a typical home asking $880,000:
| Sold the first time (5% total commission) | Needed a relist (4% total commission) | |
|---|---|---|
| Asking price | $880,000 | $880,000 |
| Typical sale price | $875,461 | $832,730 |
| Buyer’s agent commission (2.5% + HST) | −$24,732 | −$23,525 |
| Listing commission | 2.5% + HST: −$24,732 | 1.5% + HST: −$14,115 |
| Typical days on the market | 22 | 89 |
| What the seller kept | $825,997 | $795,091 |
The seller who paid 5% kept $30,907 more than the one who paid 4%. The extra point of commission cost about $9,944. Selling the first time was worth about $42,731.
The honest way to read this: a lower commission doesn’t make a home fail. Plenty of homes sell the first time at every fee level. But on these streets, selling the first time is a coin toss, and the extra point pays for itself if it makes a first-time sale even a little more likely. The real question is which side of that coin toss your agent puts you on.
Source: TRREB MLS® System via PropTx. Every listing on 33 Pickering streets, January 2025 to August 2026, counting each home once. Your own numbers will differ.
Experienced sellers ask a different question. Not “what’s the commission?” but “how much will I walk away with?” Two things to remember:
- Your agent isn’t paid until your home sells. The photos, staging, marketing and open houses are paid for upfront by the agent’s business, with no guarantee.
- You decide which offer to accept, not your agent. You stay in control of the price the whole time.
Our #1 tip: hire a full-time professional
Would you hire a lawyer who only practises law once or twice a year? See a doctor who only treats a patient once or twice a year? Get on a plane with a pilot who only flies once or twice a year?
So why hire an agent who only sells one or two homes a year?
The biggest myth in real estate is that “a home sells for whatever it sells for” and the agent has no effect on the final price. That isn’t true. Market value is real, but it’s a range, not one number. A professional knows that range, and has a plan to get you to the top of it, so every dollar of your equity ends up in your pocket.
Interview full-time professionals. Ask each one for their plan to sell your home, not just their fee.
Cost to sell a house in Ontario: FAQ
How much does it cost to sell a house in Ontario?
Usually about 5% to 7% of the sale price, all in, and most of it comes out of the sale on closing day rather than upfront. The biggest part is commission plus HST. The rest is your lawyer, your mortgage payout, getting the home ready and moving.
Who pays the real estate commission in Ontario?
Traditionally the seller, and that’s still common. The total is split between the listing brokerage and the buyer’s brokerage. Commission is negotiable, and 13% HST is added on top.
Do sellers pay land transfer tax in Ontario?
No. Land transfer tax is paid by the buyer.
Do I pay capital gains tax when I sell my home in Ontario?
Usually not, if it was your main home every year you owned it. You still have to report the sale on your tax return. Rental and investment properties are different, so talk to your accountant.
How much are lawyer fees when selling a house in Ontario?
Usually about $900 to $1,500, plus HST. Estate sales or homes with a lien can cost more.
Do I pay a penalty if I sell before my mortgage term ends?
Often, yes. On a variable rate it’s usually 3 months of interest. On a fixed rate it can be much higher. Ask your lender for a payout statement before you list, or ask about moving your mortgage to your next home.
Is the agent with the lowest commission the cheapest choice?
Not always. What matters is how much you walk away with. A home that sells for more, sooner, can leave you with more money even after a higher fee.
Thinking of selling in Pickering, Ajax or Whitby?
We’ll show you what your home could sell for and exactly what you’d walk away with, before you sign anything. Thinking about timing? Read whether now is a good time to sell in Ontario. If you’re looking for a realtor in Pickering, start here.
Call or text Team Rajpal · 647.372.2997
Sources: commission from WealthNorth (September 2026); lawyer fees from Team Rajpal’s recent sales; sales history from TRREB MLS® via PropTx.
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