How Much Does It Cost to Sell a House in Ontario? Complete 2026 Seller Cost Guide

You sold your GTA home for $1,000,000. So how much money actually lands in your bank account?

Definitely not $1 million.

Before the seller receives the remaining proceeds, there may be a mortgage to pay off, real estate fees, HST, legal costs, mortgage penalties, adjustments, and other expenses. If the property is an investment property rather than your principal residence, taxes may also need to be considered.

This is why sellers shouldn’t only ask:

“How much can I sell my house for?”

A better question is:

“After selling my house, how much money will I actually walk away with?”

Here’s a practical breakdown for homeowners selling in Toronto, Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan and across the GTA in 2026.

1. Your Remaining Mortgage Balance

For many homeowners, this will be the largest amount deducted from the sale proceeds.

Suppose you sell your home for:

$1,000,000

but still owe:

$400,000 on your mortgage.

That $400,000 isn’t profit. The mortgage generally needs to be paid out as part of the sale and the lender’s charge removed from the property.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada confirms that a mortgage discharge is required when selling a mortgaged property.

So before estimating how much cash you’ll receive from a sale, one of the first numbers you should check is your current mortgage payout amount, not simply the original mortgage amount.

2. Mortgage Prepayment Penalty

This one surprises a lot of sellers.

You may owe $400,000 on your mortgage—but paying $400,000 doesn’t necessarily end the story.

If you’re selling before your mortgage term expires, your lender may charge a prepayment penalty.

The amount depends on your mortgage contract and lender.

For example, the calculation can differ depending on whether you have a variable-rate or fixed-rate mortgage and the specific terms of your loan.

Before listing your home, consider contacting your lender and asking:

“If I sold my property today, what would my total mortgage payout and penalty be?”

That number can make a meaningful difference to your net proceeds.

3. Mortgage Discharge Fees

After the mortgage is paid, the lender’s registered interest in the property also needs to be discharged.

According to the federal government, lender mortgage discharge fees can range from nothing to approximately $400, depending on the lender and applicable rules. There can also be professional costs associated with completing the discharge.

This isn’t usually the biggest expense in a sale, but it’s another cost sellers sometimes forget when calculating their final proceeds.

4. Real Estate Commission

If you use a real estate brokerage to sell your home, compensation is another major selling expense.

There isn’t one mandatory real estate commission rate that applies to every Ontario transaction. Compensation can vary and should be clearly set out in the listing agreement.

For illustration only, suppose a seller agrees to total real estate fees equivalent to 5% of a $1 million sale price.

That would equal:

$50,000 before HST.

But that is an example, not a required Ontario rate.

The federal government’s home-selling guidance notes that real estate commissions are negotiable and can vary depending on location and the arrangement.

When interviewing a brokerage, sellers should look beyond the percentage and ask what they’re actually receiving:

marketing, photography, video, staging support, advertising, open houses, negotiation, offer management and overall selling strategy.

The cheapest service isn’t necessarily the service that produces the highest net result.

5. Don’t Forget HST on Real Estate Services

Another number sellers sometimes overlook is HST.

If you’re estimating real estate fees, don’t simply calculate the agreed fee and stop there.

Applicable HST on professional services also needs to be considered.

Using our hypothetical $50,000 fee example:

$50,000 + applicable HST

will be higher than the $50,000 sellers sometimes put into their initial calculation.

When estimating your selling costs, ask for the total including applicable taxes, rather than looking only at the base fee.

6. Real Estate Lawyer and Closing Costs

A lawyer normally handles the legal side of your sale.

That can include reviewing transaction documents, dealing with title matters, preparing the statement of adjustments, coordinating mortgage payout/discharge and distributing the sale proceeds.

Legal fees aren’t a single government-set amount and vary depending on the lawyer and complexity of the transaction.

The federal government specifically identifies legal fees and the statement of adjustment as standard costs sellers should expect.

When requesting a quote, ask whether it includes:

legal fees + disbursements + applicable taxes + mortgage discharge-related work.

That gives you a much more useful estimate than simply asking, “What’s your legal fee?”

7. Property Tax and Other Closing Adjustments

Selling your house doesn’t mean everything simply stops on closing day.

Your lawyer prepares adjustments to account for certain amounts that have already been paid or remain owing.

Property taxes are a common example.

Suppose you already paid property taxes covering a period extending beyond the closing date.

Depending on the circumstances, the buyer may effectively reimburse the appropriate portion through the closing adjustments.

Conversely, amounts still owing can affect the closing statement.

Toronto, for example, provides tax and utility certificates showing the current status of property taxes and utility accounts for real estate transactions.

This is why the final amount deposited into your bank account may not exactly match a simple:

Sale price − mortgage − commission

calculation.

8. Repairs Before Selling

Now we move from closing costs to optional selling expenses.

You don’t legally have to renovate your entire house before selling it.

But preparing the property may help it compete more effectively.

Typical expenses could include:

• Painting
• Minor drywall repairs
• Landscaping
• Carpet cleaning
• Deep cleaning
• Light-fixture replacement
• Small plumbing repairs
• Decluttering
• Touch-ups

The federal government’s seller guidance specifically identifies repairs, renovations and cleaning as potential costs of selling a home.

But sellers should be strategic.

Spending $40,000 renovating something buyers don’t value isn’t automatically better than spending $4,000 addressing the property’s most visible weaknesses.

Before renovating, ask:

Will this actually improve my selling price or marketability?

9. Staging, Photography and Marketing

Depending on your brokerage and selling strategy, you may also encounter expenses related to:

staging, photography, video, floor plans, cleaning and marketing.

Some brokerages may include certain services in their listing package, while others may charge separately.

The federal government lists staging among the potential expenses associated with selling a home.

For GTA sellers, presentation can be particularly important when buyers have many competing listings to choose from.

But again, ask what is included before assuming you’ll need to pay for everything separately.

10. Moving and Storage

This sounds obvious, but sellers often leave it out of their calculation.

You still need to move.

Depending on the size of your home and circumstances, that could include:

movers + packing materials + storage + temporary accommodation + furniture disposal + cleaning

The federal government also includes moving costs among the potential expenses sellers should budget for.

If you’re selling first and buying afterward, temporary storage or accommodation may also need to be factored into your plan.

11. Do You Pay Capital Gains Tax When Selling Your Home?

This is one of the biggest questions Canadian homeowners ask.

If the property was solely your principal residence for every year you owned it and the applicable requirements are satisfied, the gain is generally eligible for the principal residence exemption.

That means you generally don’t pay tax on the gain simply because your home increased in value.

However, there’s an important point people sometimes miss:

You still have to report the sale.

CRA requires the disposition and principal-residence designation to be reported on your income tax return to claim the exemption.

So:

“No capital gains tax” does not mean “nothing needs to be reported.”

12. What If You’re Selling an Investment Property?

Now the situation can be very different.

If you’re selling:

• A rental condo
• An investment house
• A cottage or secondary property
• A property that wasn’t your principal residence for the entire ownership period

there may be taxable capital gains or, depending on the facts, business income considerations.

CRA also warns that if a property was purchased primarily with the intention of reselling it for profit, the resulting profit may be treated as business income rather than a capital gain.

This is an area where your REALTOR® shouldn’t be replacing your accountant.

If the property has been rented, used for business, changed from a principal residence to rental use, or bought for resale, speak with a qualified tax professional about your specific situation.

13. Selling a Condo? There May Be Additional Items

Condo sellers should also think about condominium-specific documentation and transaction requirements.

For example, a buyer may request a status certificate during the transaction.

There may also be issues involving:

maintenance-fee adjustments, outstanding amounts, parking/locker information, special assessments or condominium documentation.

If you’re selling a Toronto, Markham, Richmond Hill or Vaughan condo, it’s worth preparing the relevant condominium information early rather than waiting until an offer arrives.

So, If You Sell a $1 Million Home, How Much Do You Actually Keep?

Let’s put everything together.

Imagine an Ontario homeowner sells for:

$1,000,000

and still owes:

$400,000

Here’s a simplified illustration:

Notice something important?

The house sold for $1 million, but the seller isn’t walking away with anything close to $1 million.

And this example doesn’t even include a mortgage penalty, legal costs, moving expenses or other applicable adjustments.

That’s why sale price and net proceeds are two completely different numbers.

What If You Don’t Have a Mortgage?

Now imagine exactly the same $1 million property—but the mortgage has already been paid off.

Suddenly, your net proceeds could be hundreds of thousands of dollars higher.

That’s why two neighbours can sell identical homes for exactly the same price and walk away with completely different amounts.

One seller may have:

No mortgage + principal residence

while another has:

$600,000 mortgage + prepayment penalty + investment-property tax considerations.

Same sale price.

Completely different financial outcome.

Selling in Toronto vs. Markham, Richmond Hill or Vaughan

For sellers, the basic categories of selling costs are broadly similar across the GTA.

But your property value, property type, mortgage situation, municipal accounts, condo status and preparation strategy can all change the final number.

A downtown Toronto condo seller may have very different considerations from someone selling a detached home in Markham.

Likewise, a Richmond Hill investment-property owner may face very different tax questions from a homeowner selling their longtime principal residence in Vaughan.

This is why a useful seller estimate should be based on your actual property, not a generic online percentage.

Before You List: Ask These 7 Questions

Before putting your GTA home on the market, try to get answers to these questions:

1. What is my home realistically worth today?
2. What is my exact mortgage payout amount?
3. Will I face a mortgage prepayment penalty?
4. What real estate fees and HST will apply?
5. What should I budget for legal and closing costs?
6. Should I spend money preparing or staging the property?
7. Are there any tax implications in my situation?

Once you have those numbers, you can calculate something much more useful than your home’s selling price:

Your Estimated Net Proceeds

That is especially important if you’re planning to use the money from your current home as the down payment on your next property.

Final Thoughts

When homeowners think about selling, they naturally focus on one number:

“How much can I sell for?”

But that’s only half of the equation.

A better calculation is:

1. Selling Price
2. − Mortgage Payout
3. − Mortgage Penalty, if applicable
4. − Real Estate Fees + HST
5. − Legal and Closing Costs
6. − Applicable Adjustments
7. − Preparation/Moving Costs
8. − Applicable Taxes
9. = Estimated Net Proceeds

The federal government itself recommends factoring selling costs into your sale-price planning and identifies legal fees, mortgage discharge costs, real estate fees, repairs, staging, moving and potential mortgage penalties among the costs sellers may encounter.

At JDL Realty, we believe sellers should understand this number before making their next move.

Whether you’re selling a condo in Toronto, a townhouse in Richmond Hill, a detached home in Markham, or an investment property elsewhere in the GTA, knowing your estimated net proceeds can help you plan your next purchase with much more confidence.

Your home may sell for $1 million—but the number that really matters is how much of that $1 million you keep.

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