How to Buy a House in Ontario

Step 1–3: Get your finances in order and find a REALTOR®

1. Pull your credit report from Equifax and TransUnion and clean up obvious issues — see our credit-score guide for the thresholds Canadian lenders use.
2. Get a real mortgage pre-approval (not just a rate hold) from a lender or broker. A pre-approval reviews your full financial picture and tells you a maximum price; a rate hold only locks a rate.
3. Confirm your closing-day cash need: down payment + LTT + legal + adjustments + moving + a 3–6 month reserve. The reserve matters — lenders test for it, and you’ll need it.
4. Interview two or three REALTORS® on the same script and sign a buyer-representation agreement with the one you trust. Our buyer-agent page covers what real representation looks like.

See our walkthrough on how to pick a real estate agent for the interview script we use ourselves with prospective clients in reverse.

Step 4–5: Identify your area and view properties strategically

Narrow by neighbourhood, school catchment, commute, and transit. Plan to view 8–15 properties before writing your first offer — fewer and you don’t know the market; many more and you’re indecisive. Tour at different times of day to assess noise (highway, transit, schools, nightlife) and natural light. Walk the block at 7am, 7pm, and 11pm before you commit — nothing reveals a neighbourhood like its evening soundtrack.

Browse active homes for sale in Toronto to start, or filter by city for the other GTA municipalities we cover. Once you’ve narrowed to a few neighbourhoods, ask your agent for a 90-day sold-comparables report — it’ll show you what’s actually trading, not just what’s asking.

Step 6: Write the offer (OREA Form 100)

In Ontario, residential offers are written on the OREA Form 100 Agreement of Purchase and Sale, with custom Schedules attached. The key terms are price, deposit (typically 5% of purchase price, due within 24 hours of acceptance), completion date, irrevocability period, and any conditions (financing, inspection, status certificate review for condos, sale-of-buyer’s-home, etc.). Your REALTOR® drafts the offer; your lawyer reviews on close.

Common Schedule clauses to consider: chattels and fixtures included (specify each appliance), rental items excluded (HWT, alarm, water softener), inspection of survey, vendor representations on UFFI/asbestos/leaks, and condition for review of the status certificate (condos). Your agent should walk you through every clause before you sign.

Step 7: Satisfy conditions within their windows

• Financing condition: usually 5–10 business days; lender confirms full underwriting, including appraisal and any insurer requirements (CMHC/Sagen/Canada Guaranty).
• Inspection condition: 5–7 business days for a registered home inspector to walk the property. Budget $400–$700 in the GTA.
• Status certificate (condos): 7–10 business days for your lawyer to review reserve fund, special assessments, financial statements, and rules. The seller pays the certificate fee ($100 per CCA limit).
• Sale of buyer’s home: sometimes negotiated when the buyer needs to close on their existing property first — includes an escape clause for the seller.
• Solicitor’s review: some buyers add a 1–2 day post-acceptance lawyer review on complex deals.

Conditions waive (or fail) by formal written notice within the window. Missing the window means the condition is automatically deemed waived, and you’re firm on the deal whether you wanted to be or not. Calendar every condition end-date the moment the offer is accepted.

Step 8–9: Closing and possession

Your lawyer handles title search, title insurance, mortgage instructions, statement of adjustments, and the trust transfer of funds. On closing day the lawyer registers the transfer; you receive keys (or get them from the listing agent) once registration is confirmed by Teranet — typically by 2–4 p.m. on the closing date. Plan to take the day off and have a contingency plan for movers in case closing runs late, which it sometimes does.

Bring two pieces of government ID to your lawyer’s office for signing about a week before closing, and bring certified funds for your closing-day cash requirement. Wire transfers are increasingly common — confirm trust account details by phone, not email, to avoid wire fraud (a real and rising risk in Ontario closings).

Closing costs to budget for in advance

• Provincial Ontario Land Transfer Tax — marginal rates by price bracket, payable at closing through your lawyer.
• Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax (inside the City of Toronto only) — stacked on top of provincial LTT, with additional brackets above $3M.
• Legal fees and disbursements ($1,800–$2,800 for standard residential resale).
• Title insurance ($250–$700+, one-time).
• HST on a new build only (resale homes are exempt; new-housing rebates may apply for owner-occupied).
• Property tax and utility adjustments on the statement of adjustments.
• Mortgage default insurance premium if down payment <20% — added to mortgage principal, not paid upfront.

Use our land transfer tax calculator for a property-specific estimate, and read more on sales tax on home purchases for the HST and resale exemption rules.

Common first-time-buyer mistakes to avoid

1. Skipping the pre-approval and writing offers on a rate hold — you don’t actually know what you qualify for, and an offer that fails financing damages your reputation in a multi-offer market.
2. Underestimating closing costs — budget 1.7–2% of purchase price beyond down payment for closing day.
3. Skipping the lawyer review of the status certificate — the cheapest insurance against a $40,000 special assessment surprise three months after closing.
4. Falling in love with the first house you see — view at least 8–15 before writing.
5. Not knowing your minimum down payment — 5% on the first $500K, 10% on $500K–$1.5M, 20% above $1.5M, and 20% on most investment properties regardless.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do I need for a down payment in Ontario?

5% on the first $500,000 of purchase price and 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5M. Above $1.5M, the minimum is 20% — and 20% is required on most investment properties regardless of price.

What’s the difference between a pre-approval and a rate hold?

A rate hold guarantees a rate for a period (typically 90–120 days); a pre-approval reviews your full financial picture and indicates a maximum price. Make sure you have a real pre-approval, not just a rate hold, before writing offers.

Do I need an inspection in a competitive market?

It’s a calculated risk. In multi-offer situations, buyers sometimes drop the inspection condition to win the bid. A pre-offer inspection (where the seller permits) can give you the same information without the conditional clause — it’s the safest middle path.

How long does closing actually take?

From accepted offer to keys, typically 30–90 days. Conditions are satisfied within the first one to two weeks; the balance is the agreed closing date written into the offer.

Can I back out of an Ontario residential offer after signing?

Only if a condition fails within its window, or by mutual release. Once conditions are waived (or expire), the deal is firm and binding. Pre-construction condos have a 10-day statutory cooling-off period; resale homes do not.