What it costs to sell a house in Whitby, line by line

Real estate commission in Ontario is whatever you and the brokerage agree; there is no set rate, and the listing agreement must state the amount or the formula in writing. It is usually paid from the sale proceeds on closing, and it normally covers both the listing brokerage's fee and the amount offered to the buyer's brokerage through the MLS. Whatever the fee, the federal and provincial harmonized sales tax of 13 percent applies to commission and to most other real estate services in Ontario, and it is not refundable to a private homeowner. Ask for the total with tax written into the listing agreement and reflected in the net-proceeds sheet. If you are offered a very low listing fee, ask what is excluded: photography, staging, the buyer-side commission, or the marketing beyond an MLS entry. In Whitby, where buyers compare listings across ten communities on a phone screen, the marketing is not the place to economize.

A real estate lawyer handles the transfer, the mortgage discharge, the title matters and the money, and bills a fee plus disbursements such as registration charges, title searches and courier costs. Each firm sets its own fee and complexity raises it, so ask two Durham lawyers for a written quote. On closing your lawyer prepares the statement of adjustments, which credits or debits you for property taxes already paid to the Town of Whitby beyond the closing date, prepaid utilities, oil in a tank on a rural property and, for a condo, the current month's fee. If a survey does not exist and the buyer wants one, the agreement decides who pays; the usual answer is the buyer. If the buyer is paying by mortgage, the lender's requirements are the buyer's cost. Ontario charges the buyer, not the seller, land transfer tax, and unlike Toronto, Whitby adds no city-level transfer tax of its own.

If your mortgage is closed and its term has not ended, the lender will charge a prepayment penalty when it is discharged at closing. Variable-rate borrowers usually pay three months of interest; fixed-rate borrowers pay whichever is larger, three months of interest or the lender's rate-differential calculation, and the differential can be steep when rates have dropped since you signed. Lenders also charge a discharge or administration fee. Two ways around the penalty exist: carry the mortgage over to the new property if the lender allows it and the timing lines up, or, if your buyer qualifies, let them assume it. Ask your lender for a written payout statement, dated for your expected closing, before you set a price. Sellers with a home equity line of credit registered on title will also have it discharged at closing. Your lawyer builds all of this into the funds you receive, but the estimate should exist long before that day.

Preparation costs range from a few hundred dollars of paint and a dump run to full staging for a vacant estate home, and the team helps you decide which spending returns money in your community. Common Whitby line items are a junk removal or a rented bin (Durham Region's large-item pickup handles some things), touch-up painting, cleaning, minor repairs an inspector would otherwise list, yard work and, for empty homes, rented furniture and staging. An inspection before listing is optional and can be worth its fee on an older house in Downtown Whitby, Lynde Creek or Blue Grass Meadows, where finding the issues first lets you price or fix them rather than renegotiate. Owners of rural properties should plan on a potability test of the well water and a septic inspection, since buyers will ask for both. If your home carries a heritage designation or sits inside a heritage conservation district, any exterior work you do before listing may need a Town heritage permit.

Selling a condo in Port Whitby, downtown or one of the older buildings along Dundas Street brings a document cost that houses do not: the status certificate. A buyer's offer is almost always conditional on their lawyer reviewing it, and the seller usually orders and pays for it from the corporation, which has up to ten days to deliver once paid. The Condominium Act caps the fee the corporation may charge for the certificate, and the cap should be confirmed with the corporation at the time. Corporations may also charge for move-out elevator bookings and for replacement fobs or keys that must be handed over. If the corporation has levied a special assessment before closing, it is generally the seller's to pay unless the agreement says otherwise, so disclose it early. Buyers of condos in newer Whitby buildings read the reserve fund closely, so having the current documents ready shortens the condition period.

For most Whitby sellers the home was their principal residence throughout their ownership, and the gain is exempt from tax, yet the sale still has to be reported on the income tax return for that year, on Schedule 3 together with the designation form, a requirement in force since the 2016 tax year. If the home was a rental, a cottage or a second property for some of the years, part of the gain is taxable and an accountant should work out the proportion. Sellers who are not residents of Canada face withholding on the sale unless the CRA issues them a clearance certificate, and the buyer's lawyer will hold back funds until it arrives. Estate sales carry their own costs, covered in the inherited-home guide. Finally, remember the moving day itself: movers, a truck, storage between closings, utility connection fees at the new address and mail redirection all belong on the same sheet as the commission.

Before you list, ask Randy and Alexander Miller for a net-proceeds estimate that shows every cost of selling your Whitby home.