Buying and Selling a Home in the GTA

A clear, step-by-step look at down payments, loan types, private lenders, and the credit score that decides your mortgage rate in Toronto.

First-time buyers in Toronto feel stuck. The property ladder's bottom rung, condo prices, has barely moved in five years. Here is why that happened, why prices are not falling, and two fixes that would help.

A start-to-finish guide to buying your first home in Toronto: savings accounts, down payments, pre-approval, fixed vs variable, the offer, conditions and closing costs.

In 2025 the numbers say buying a downtown Toronto condo can beat renting it. Here is the full comparison, and a method you can run yourself in any market.

Ontario plans to hand first-time buyers the 8% provincial HST back on homes up to $1 million. Here is who qualifies, how it stacks with the federal break, and what it really means for the market.

Mortgage, down payment, rent, cash flow, equity and margin. The words everyone uses when they talk about buying in Toronto, explained in plain language with one worked example from December 2023.

In 2023 roughly 330 identity theft cases in Toronto were tied to property deals and mortgages. How the scam works, what the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre recommends, and two steps I add for anyone buying here.

Every agent claims to be number one. Here is the approach I would use instead: reviews on realtor.ca, reviews on Google, and the listings sitting on the agent's own profile.

In August 2026 the average selling price across the Greater Toronto Area was $993,041, back under the $1 million line. The sales, listings and price index numbers tell a different story from the headlines.

An FHSA opened early, an honest comparison of new build against resale, restraint on your pre approval, a home that will resell well, and cash set aside for closing. Written for first time buyers in May 2026.

Kevin O'Leary tells young Canadians to rent and invest instead. Where that advice holds up, what it leaves out, and how the FHSA, TFSA and RRSP change the math.

Irrevocable is the one clock at the offer stage that can end a live deal by itself. Here is what it binds, what a sign-back does to it, and how it differs from a registered offer in the GTA.

Open houses are open to everyone, and a private showing without your own agent is possible but not guaranteed. The bigger question is who the agent at the door works for, and what happens to the things you say there.

A Toronto broker's guide for the buyer sitting in Calgary or Vancouver: what a real video walkthrough checks, the 24-hour deposit trap, remote signing, the Ontario lawyer, and what is still worth a flight.

Sell first in most cases, especially if you are leaving a condo. Broker Moe Asgarian explains when buying first is safe, what a bridge loan really does, and why a sale-of-property condition is thin protection.

Move once, not twice, and never carry two mortgages by accident. How Moe Asgarian sequences a sale and a purchase in Toronto, including closings days apart and same-day closings.

In the fall 2026 market the asking price is a marketing decision, not a valuation. Here is how I build a CMA, when an offer date still works, and what the first two weeks of a listing tell you.

The highest promised price is not a plan, a referral is not a vetting, and the person who pitches you is not always the person who sells your home. Four written tests to run on any listing agent in the GTA, including me.

Spring brings the most buyers and January the fewest, but in Toronto the month you list matters less than the competing listings near you and your price. Broker Moe Asgarian gives the calendar answer, the TRREB figures, and the decision order he actually uses.

Selling privately removes the listing-side fee, but the buyer's agent's fee usually comes back in the offer, you still need a lawyer, and nobody at the table works for you. Moe Asgarian on when a private sale in Ontario is worth it.