Buying a home or condominium in the GTA

We act for buyers on completed homes and condominiums across the Greater Toronto Area. The offer is the visible part; the work that changes the outcome is the pricing and the diligence that come before it.

What decides the price

Not the asking price, which is a marketing decision and increasingly a strategic one. We price from closed sales in the same building, the same stack and the same exposure, adjusted for floor and finish — and against the MLS HPI benchmark for the district, which is mix-adjusted and therefore tracks what a comparable unit is worth rather than what happened to sell.

Every district we cover publishes its current benchmark, sales and days on market on this site: Toronto and the GTA, updated monthly from TRREB. Those are the same numbers we use when advising you, not a separate marketing set.

What the diligence is for

The status certificate on a condominium. Reserve fund balance against the study, special assessments taken or pending, litigation, arrears, and the rules on leasing and pets. A low maintenance fee against a thin reserve is a bill you have not received yet.
An inspection on freehold, and on any condominium townhouse where you own more than the airspace.
The building itself. What has sold there recently, what is sitting, and whether the units competing with yours are in the same part of the building.

Conditions

Financing, inspection and status certificate review, where the market allows them. Where it does not, you should know exactly what waiving each one costs you before you do it — not as a general warning, but as a number and a named risk. A deposit is at stake and in Ontario it is meaningful money.

Closing costs, in writing

Land transfer tax at the provincial level and, inside the City of Toronto, again at the municipal level. Legal fees and disbursements. Title insurance. Adjustments for taxes and common expenses. First-time buyers may be eligible for rebates at both levels — worth confirming early, because it changes the cash you need on closing rather than the price you offer.

Commission

2.5 per cent on the buy side. On most resale transactions the seller's listing agreement already provides for the co-operating brokerage's commission, so in the ordinary case a buyer pays us nothing directly. Where that is not the case we will tell you before you view anything, in writing.

Commission is negotiable. It is not set by any board, association or regulator, and any brokerage that tells you otherwise is wrong. If our number does not work for you, say so and we will have the conversation.

Also

If the building you want has not been built yet, that is pre-construction, and it runs on different rules — the agreement is negotiable for ten days and matters more than the unit. An assignment is sometimes the cheaper way into the same address. Selling at the same time is selling, and the order of the two is worth planning rather than discovering.

Tell us what you are looking for, and when.

Six stages, from the first conversation to the keys.

A resale purchase moves quickly once it starts — conditions run in business days, not weeks. Here is the sequence and what you should have in writing at the end of each stage.

Brief

Budget from a lender rather than a calculator, deposit available on 24 hours’ notice, and the closing costs written down — land transfer tax at both the provincial and Toronto levels, legal fees, adjustments.

Represent

The RECO Information Guide before anything else, then a written representation agreement setting out what we do for you and how we are paid. TRESA requires the guide first; we would rather you read it.

Shortlist

Units priced against closed sales in the same building and exposure, not against list prices. Days on market and active inventory for the district tell you whether conditions are realistic here.

Diligence

Status certificate for a condominium — reserve fund, special assessments, arrears, litigation, leasing and pet rules — or an inspection for freehold. Both read before the offer where the market allows it, and as a condition where it does not.

Offer

Agreement of purchase and sale, deposit delivered to the listing brokerage’s trust account inside the time the agreement states, and an irrevocable period short enough to keep your position.

Close

Conditions waived or the deal ends, then your lawyer on title, requisitions and adjustments. Keys on the closing date, not before.