Selling a house in Ontario typically costs somewhere between 4% and 6% of your sale price once you add up real estate commission, legal fees, and the smaller costs that land on your final statement. That’s a range, not a single number, because commission itself is negotiated case by case under Ontario’s current rules, and every seller’s legal fees, mortgage situation, and pre-sale spending look a little different. This guide breaks down exactly where that money goes: commission and the HST charged on top of it, legal fees and disbursements, the fee to discharge your mortgage if you still have one, and which of these costs you actually have some control over. For everything else a Toronto sale involves, see our complete Toronto real estate guide.
The four costs every Ontario seller actually pays
A Toronto seller’s real closing costs break into four categories, and knowing all four before you list beats finding out about the last one on your lawyer’s final statement. Real estate commission is the biggest by a wide margin, and it’s negotiated and disclosed rather than fixed at any set percentage, with 13% HST charged on top of whatever rate you agree to. Legal fees and disbursements come next, covering your lawyer’s work on the sale plus a handful of smaller filing and search costs specific to a seller’s side of the transaction rather than a buyer’s.
If you still owe money on your mortgage, a discharge fee applies when your lawyer pays it off and removes the lender’s charge from the property, and it’s easy to confuse with a much larger mortgage penalty that works completely differently. Pre-sale costs like staging or minor repairs round out the list, and unlike the first three, they’re optional spending rather than fees you owe by default. Every section below itemises one of these four, with sourced ranges rather than one invented total.
How much is real estate commission, really
Real estate commission in Ontario isn’t set by law, and it never was. What changed under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act is how clearly that has to be disclosed to you before you sign anything. RECO’s own explanation of the law confirms that commission structures, whether that’s a flat percentage, a split between the listing and buyer sides, or something else entirely, must be spelled out in writing and agreed to as part of your listing agreement, not assumed from what a neighbour paid or what a website quotes as standard.
In practice, most Ontario sellers still land in a recognisable range. Current industry rate breakdowns put typical full-service commission somewhere between 3.5% and 5% of the sale price, often split between the agent representing the seller and the agent bringing the buyer. That’s before HST, which applies to commission the same as it applies to any other professional service in Ontario, adding 13% on top of whatever rate you agree to. A seller who negotiates a 4% commission isn’t actually paying 4%. They’re paying 4% plus 13% of that 4%, which works out to roughly 4.52% of the sale price once the tax lands.
None of this means the rate is fixed at 4%, or at any other number. It’s a conversation you have with your agent before you sign, and asking directly what’s included at that rate, marketing, professional photography, how the buyer’s side is handled, is a normal part of that conversation.
What legal fees and disbursements typically run
A seller’s lawyer handles less paperwork than a buyer’s, but the fee doesn’t drop as much as you might expect. Current published rates for a straightforward Ontario residential sale run roughly $1,000 to $2,500 in legal fees, quoted as a flat rate by most firms, according to rate breakdowns from Ontario real estate law firms including Kanevsky Law. On top of that flat fee, disbursements, your lawyer’s out-of-pocket costs paid to third parties, add roughly $200 to $400 on a seller’s file specifically: discharging your existing mortgage, registering that discharge, and a handful of smaller filing costs a buyer’s side doesn’t carry, a structure Ownright’s own breakdown of Ontario legal fees describes the same way.
That puts total legal costs for a seller somewhere between $1,200 and $2,900 for most straightforward sales, though a more complex title, a second mortgage to discharge, or an estate sale can push that higher. Get a written quote before you sign, and ask whether it includes disbursements or lists them separately. A lower-sounding flat fee that excludes disbursements isn’t actually the cheaper option once everything lands on your final statement.
A mortgage discharge fee is not the same as a prepayment penalty
These two costs get confused constantly, and mixing them up can leave a seller badly underestimating what they’ll actually owe. A mortgage discharge fee is a small administrative charge your lender applies to remove its claim against the property once your mortgage is paid off through the sale. Ontario lenders typically charge somewhere between $200 and $400 for this, according to mortgage industry breakdowns including Ownright’s guide to mortgage discharge costs, plus a separate provincial registration fee of roughly $80 to $90 to formally remove the charge from title.
A prepayment penalty is a completely different cost, and a much bigger one for anyone selling mid-term on a closed mortgage. Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency describes it plainly: lenders can charge this penalty when you pay off your entire mortgage before the end of its term, including when you sell, and the amount depends on your specific lender, your mortgage type, and how much time is left on your term. It has nothing to do with the flat discharge fee described above, and a seller can owe both at once if they’re selling partway through a closed mortgage term.
There’s no reliable typical figure to quote for a prepayment penalty, because the calculation varies too much lender to lender to generalise honestly. Call your lender and ask for a payout statement, which shows exactly what you’d owe if you closed on a specific date.
Which of these costs you can actually reduce
A few of these costs respond to basic comparison, and a few don’t move much no matter what you do. Legal fees are the most straightforward one to shop: quotes from Ontario real estate lawyers vary by a meaningful margin for the same work, and getting two or three written quotes before you commit is a normal, expected part of the process. Ask each quote to include disbursements explicitly so you’re comparing full totals, not just the headline flat fee.
Commission is negotiable by law, as covered above, but that doesn’t mean the lowest number is automatically the best deal. What you’re paying for includes marketing, photography, pricing strategy, and negotiation through to closing, and a materially lower rate sometimes reflects a materially lighter version of that service. The honest question isn’t just what the rate is. It’s what’s actually included at it.
Staging and minor repairs sit in a different category entirely, because they’re spending, not a fee you’re trying to shrink. Whether staging is worth it depends heavily on the property: a vacant house or a dated interior generally benefits more from professional staging than a well-maintained, furnished home does, and minor repairs, a leaking tap, chipped paint, a door that sticks, tend to matter more to how a home shows than they cost to fix. Neither is required, and neither should be assumed necessary without looking at your specific property first.
So what does selling actually add up to
Add every category together and a conservative combined range for total selling costs in Ontario runs roughly 4% to 6% of your sale price, before any mortgage prepayment penalty, moving costs, or discretionary pre-sale spending. That’s narrower than some published estimates, because it reflects sourced ranges for each line item rather than a single average pulled from an unclear methodology. Other published breakdowns put total seller costs as high as 7% to 10% once repairs and moving costs are folded in, so treat any single flat number, this one included, as a starting point rather than your actual bill.
Here’s how that range holds up against a real number. TRREB’s August 2026 Market Watch put the average GTA home selling price at $993,410 across all property types. At a 3.5% commission rate, HST included, that’s roughly $39,300. At 5%, it’s roughly $56,100. Add legal fees and disbursements of $1,200 to $2,900, and a mortgage discharge fee of $200 to $400 if you still owe on your mortgage, and total costs on that average sale land somewhere between roughly $40,700 and $59,400, or about 4.1% to 6% of the sale price. That’s this guide’s own worked example, built from the sourced ranges above, not a published industry total, and your own number depends entirely on your commission rate, your lawyer’s quote, and whether you’re discharging a mortgage.
Where your own number actually comes from
Every range in this guide describes typical costs, not your specific number, and the same is true of your sale price itself. None of these percentages mean anything concrete until you know what your home is actually likely to sell for, and that comes from a real conversation about your property, not an instant online estimate. TorontoProperty.ca doesn’t generate automated valuations for exactly this reason: a number that ignores your street, your home’s condition, and what’s actually sold nearby recently isn’t one you can rely on when deciding whether now’s the right time to sell.
If you’re a condo owner rather than a house seller, our guide to what determines a Toronto condo’s resale value covers the building-specific factors, reserve fund health, comparable unit sales, status certificates, that a generic estimate can’t see. And if you landed here as a buyer rather than a seller, our closing costs guide covers the other side of the transaction: what a Toronto buyer pays, not what a seller does. For your own home, the fastest way to a real number is a straightforward conversation with our team about your specific property and your specific numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What does it typically cost to sell a house in Ontario?
Most Ontario sellers pay somewhere between 4% and 6% of their sale price in total selling costs, combining real estate commission plus HST, legal fees and disbursements, and a mortgage discharge fee if they still owe on their mortgage. On an average GTA home price of $993,410 in August 2026, per TRREB’s Market Watch, that range works out to roughly $40,700 to $59,400. The exact number depends on your negotiated commission rate, your lawyer’s quote, and whether you’re paying off a mortgage as part of the sale. It doesn’t include a mortgage prepayment penalty, moving costs, or optional pre-sale spending like staging, all of which vary too much by situation to fold into one range.
Is real estate commission in Ontario a fixed percentage?
No, and it never has been. Real estate commission in Ontario is negotiated between you and your agent, and the Trust in Real Estate Services Act requires that arrangement to be clearly disclosed in writing before you sign a listing agreement, according to RECO, the province’s real estate regulator. Most full-service listing agreements still fall somewhere between 3.5% and 5% of the sale price, often split between the listing agent and the buyer’s agent, but that’s a common range, not a legal minimum or maximum. HST at 13% applies on top of whatever rate you agree to, so a 4% commission actually costs closer to 4.52% of your sale price once tax is added.
How much are legal fees when you sell a house in Ontario?
Legal fees for a straightforward Ontario home sale typically run $1,000 to $2,500 as a flat quote, based on current rate breakdowns published by Ontario real estate law firms including Kanevsky Law. On top of that, disbursements, your lawyer’s out-of-pocket costs for discharging your mortgage, registering that discharge, and other filing work specific to a seller’s side of the transaction, add roughly $200 to $400 more. That puts total legal costs for most sellers somewhere between $1,200 and $2,900. A more complicated file, an estate sale, a second mortgage to discharge, or title issues that need clearing up, can push that higher, so get a written quote that states clearly whether disbursements are included.
What’s the difference between a mortgage discharge fee and a prepayment penalty?
A mortgage discharge fee is a small administrative charge, typically $200 to $400, that your lender applies to remove its claim against the property once your mortgage is paid off through the sale, plus a separate provincial registration fee of roughly $80 to $90. A prepayment penalty is a different and often much larger cost that applies when you pay off a mortgage before its term ends, including through a sale, and Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency confirms the amount depends on your specific lender and mortgage type. You can owe both at once if selling partway through a mortgage term. There’s no reliable typical figure for a prepayment penalty, so call your lender for a payout statement rather than guessing.
Can I reduce what it costs to sell my house?
Some of these costs respond to real comparison, and some don’t move much regardless. Legal fees vary meaningfully between Ontario law firms for essentially the same work, so getting two or three written quotes before choosing a lawyer is a normal step that can save several hundred dollars. Commission is negotiable by law, though the lowest rate isn’t automatically the best value once you factor in what’s included, marketing, photography, negotiation, and how the sale is managed through to closing. Staging and minor repairs are optional spending rather than fees to shrink, and whether they’re worth it depends on your specific property’s condition and how it’s likely to show to buyers.
Where can I find out what my own home is actually worth?
Not from an instant online estimate. TorontoProperty.ca doesn’t generate automated valuations, because a number that ignores your home’s specific condition, your street, and what’s genuinely sold nearby recently isn’t one you can rely on when you’re deciding whether to sell. A real number comes from a conversation with our team about your specific property, and it costs nothing to have that conversation before you commit to a listing price or a commission rate. If you’re selling a condo rather than a house, our guide to what determines a Toronto condo’s resale value covers the building-specific factors that matter for that number too.
What selling actually costs you depends on your commission negotiation, your lawyer’s quote, and whether you’re paying off a mortgage, not on any single percentage you read online. Talk to our team about what your specific numbers look like before you commit to a listing price, or read the rest of our guides for what else selling or buying in Toronto involves.