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Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

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  4. > Owning a Home
  5. > Selling a Home

Selling a home

People choose to sell their homes for a variety of reasons, such as moving to a new city, moving to a larger home to make room for a growing family or downsizing for retirement. Before you decide to sell your home, be sure to consider all of the costs involved.

Questions to ask yourself when planning to sell your home

  • What price will you ask for your house, and what is the minimum you will accept?

    To help you decide what the right sale price should be, you can:

    - check out the selling price of similar homes in your neighbourhood
    - compare current sales listings of similar homes in your neighbourhood
    - if you work with a real estate agent, ask the agent to suggest a price.
  • How much will it cost you to sell your home?

    To answer this question you should ask yourself:

    - Are you going to sell your home through a real estate agent? or
    - Try selling it on your own?
    - How much do you estimate it will cost to prepare your home for sale?

  • Are there any repairs or upgrades you need to do that would help sell your home?
  • Are you going to hire a professional to stage your home?
  • After considering your costs, what will be your net proceeds from the sale?

    To help calculate costs and the net proceeds from selling your home, see the Net Proceeds table below.

  • If you have a mortgage and plan to buy another home, can you transfer your mortgage to the new property? Will you have to pay any penalties or other costs?  
  • If you are buying another home, how much will you pay for it?
  • How much will it cost to move into your new home?

    The costs to consider include:

  • Closing costs

    - Legal costs
    - Adjustments (property taxes, utilities, condo fees, etc…)
    - Mortgage discharge fees

  • Moving costs

    - Hiring a mover or renting a truck
    - Packing materials
    - Hotel costs, if required

  • Additional costs for new location

    - Hook-up fees for utilities
    - New purchases, if required (e.g. appliances, window coverings)
    - Home improvements (if your are planning any projects in the short term)

  • Fees to redirect mail.
  • Will your offer to buy another home be conditional on selling your current home? If not, and if your current home is not sold when you take possession of the new home, how will you carry both mortgages?
  • What is the overall impact on your budget of selling your home and moving?

Net proceeds

Note:  FCAC has also created an Excel version you can download that does the math for you.

Net Proceeds
Expected home selling price  
Costs related to selling your home
Sales commission for real-estate agent (if using one)  
Other real estate services (property listing, etc...)  
Legal costs  
Adjustments (property taxes, utilities, condo fees)  
Mortgage discharge fees  
Mortgage prepayment penalty  
Utility disconnection  
Home improvement costs (repairs, painting, etc...)  
Staging costs  
Moving costs  
Other  
Total costs related to selling your home
  
Remaining mortgage
  
Net Proceeds (Home selling price - Total costs- Remaining mortgage)
 

If your home was your primary residence and you did not use your home to get income, you will likely not have to pay taxes when selling it. For information on when you may have to pay tax when selling your home, contact the Canada Revenue Agency.

To help you get prepared to sell your home, FCAC has a selling your home checklist.

Related Resources



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Date Modified:
2012-07-18