Buyers
How to Make a Winning Offer in Ontario
Your Agreement of Purchase and Sale Is Your First Negotiation.
In Ontario, an accepted offer is a binding legal contract — the Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Getting the price, the conditions and the irrevocable time right is what separates a clean, accepted offer from one that gets countered, beaten, or falls apart before completion. We'll help you write an offer that's competitive without overpaying, and that actually protects you.
The Key Elements of an Ontario Offer
Offer Price
- Based on comparable sales and current market conditions in your specific neighbourhood
- We research recent sold data — not list prices — to set a defensible number
- In a multiple-offer situation, we price strategically to win without overpaying
Conditions
Ontario uses conditions, not “subject clauses” or “contingencies.” The most common ones:
- Financing condition — your mortgage is formally approved. This also protects you if the lender's appraisal comes in low, which is why Ontario offers don't use a separate appraisal condition. Typically 5–10 business days.
- Home inspection condition — time to have the property professionally inspected. Typically 2–7 business days.
- Status certificate condition (condos only) — your lawyer reviews the corporation's finances, reserve fund, rules and any special assessments.
- Sale of buyer's property — if you need to sell first. Usually comes with an escape clause letting the seller keep marketing.
- Well and septic (rural Brant County, Flamborough, Glanbrook) — water quality, quantity, and sewage system approvals.
- Insurance — confirming the home is insurable at a reasonable cost. Increasingly relevant on older Hamilton housing stock with knob-and-tube wiring or galvanized plumbing.
Waiving conditions makes your offer stronger and your risk higher. We'll tell you honestly when it's worth it and when it isn't.
Irrevocable Date and Time
- Your offer stays open until a specific date and time you set — after that it's null and void
- Short irrevocables create urgency; long ones give the seller room to shop your offer around
- On a scheduled offer date, timing is set by the listing brokerage and must be disclosed
Deposit
- In the Hamilton and Brantford markets, deposits commonly run 2–5% of the purchase price — often $10,000 to $50,000, and larger in competitive situations
- Due “upon acceptance,” which under the standard OREA agreement means within 24 hours — have certified funds or a bank draft ready before you offer
- Held in trust by the listing brokerage in a real estate trust account, never paid directly to the seller
- Protected by RECO's consumer deposit insurance, up to $200,000 per claim, at no cost to you
- Credited against your purchase price on the completion date
- A larger deposit signals you're serious and financially able — it is one of the cheapest ways to strengthen an offer
Completion Date
- The day title transfers, funds move lawyer-to-lawyer, and you get the keys
- Ontario completion dates commonly run 30 to 90 days out
- Matching the seller's preferred completion date is often worth more to them than another few thousand dollars
Chattels, Fixtures and Rentals
- Chattels included — appliances, window coverings, anything not attached. If it isn't listed, it isn't yours.
- Fixtures excluded — anything attached the seller intends to take
- Rental items — hot water tank, furnace, air conditioner or water softener rental contracts you'd be assuming. These are routinely missed and can cost you thousands.
Multiple Offers — How to Compete Without Overpaying
As of 2026, both the Hamilton–Burlington and Brantford markets have rebalanced. Multiple offers still happen on sharply priced, well-prepared listings, but they're now the exception rather than the rule — and conditional offers are being accepted again. Knowing which situation you're actually in is most of the strategy.
Where the market actually is — July 2026
- Hamilton–Burlington: 798 sales · average price $809,872 · 4.6 months of inventory · 41 average days on market (Cornerstone Association of REALTORS®)
- Brantford: 148 sales · average price $696,351 · 4.6 months of inventory (Brantford Regional Real Estate Association)
Four to six months of inventory is a balanced market. Translation: you have room to negotiate and room to keep your conditions.
Raise your price deliberately, not emotionally
Based on comparable sales and a ceiling we set together before offers are presented.
Strengthen your deposit
A larger deposit costs you nothing extra and reads as certainty to a seller.
Reduce or shorten conditions — carefully
Fewer conditions means a stronger offer and more risk on you. A shorter condition period is often nearly as persuasive as no condition at all.
Match the seller's completion date
Sellers frequently choose the offer that fits their move, not the highest one.
Have financing genuinely in place
Not a rate hold — a real pre-approval, with your lender ready to move inside the condition period.
Know what the rules let you learn
Under TRESA, the listing brokerage must tell every competing buyer how many offers there are. The content of those offers — price, conditions, dates — can only be shared if the seller has given written direction to do so. Most sellers don't, so Ontario is still a blind-bidding market by default. But it's always worth asking, and we always do.
Never pay more than a home is worth to win. If your lender's appraisal comes in below your price, you have to cover the difference in cash. And in Ontario your exposure isn't capped at your deposit — a buyer who can't close can be sued for the seller's resale shortfall and carrying costs.
What Your Offer Will Cost You Beyond the Price
Ontario Land Transfer Tax
0.5% to 2.5% of the purchase price, on a sliding scale, paid by your lawyer on closing. Hamilton and Brantford buyers pay the provincial tax only — Toronto is the only Ontario city with a second municipal land transfer tax.
First-time buyer refund
Up to $4,000 off the provincial land transfer tax. You must be 18+, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, have never owned a home anywhere in the world, and move in within 9 months.
Legal fees and disbursements
Roughly $1,500 to $2,500.
Title insurance
A one-time premium, commonly $250 to $1,000, arranged through your lawyer.
Adjustments
Property taxes, utilities and any condo fees the seller has prepaid, apportioned to the completion date.
Home inspection
Roughly $400 to $700, paid during the condition period.
Status certificate (condos)
$100 maximum by law.
CMHC or other default insurance premium
If you're putting down less than 20%. In Ontario, PST on that premium is payable in cash at closing.
HST
There is no HST on the purchase price of a resale home. New builds are a different story, with rebates available; ask your lawyer early.
Rule of thumb: budget 1.5% to 3% of the purchase price for closing costs, on top of your down payment.
After Your Offer Is Accepted
1. Deposit delivered
Within 24 hours of acceptance, to the listing brokerage in trust.
2. Retain your real estate lawyer
Ontario has no title companies — a lawyer handles your closing, searches title, registers the transfer electronically, and holds funds in trust. Line one up before you offer, not after.
3. Home inspection
Inside the condition period. Ontario does not licence home inspectors, so vet yours: association designations (RHI, CPI, CMI), errors and omissions insurance, years of experience, and a detailed sample report.
4. Firm up financing
Your lender orders the appraisal and issues final approval based on the accepted price.
5. Waive your conditions
Each condition is formally waived or fulfilled in writing by its deadline. Once the last one is waived, the deal is firm and binding — there is no cooling-off period on a resale home in Ontario.
6. Home insurance and title search
Bind a policy effective the completion date — your lender requires it. Your lawyer searches title by the requisition date and arranges title insurance.
7. Pre-closing visit
Ontario's version of a final walkthrough. It is not automatic — we write it into your offer, usually two visits before completion, to confirm the home is in the same condition and that the chattels are still there.
8. Completion day
You sign at your lawyer's office beforehand, funds transfer lawyer-to-lawyer, the transfer registers electronically, and you get the keys — usually mid-afternoon, not first thing.
Ready to Write an Offer That Holds Up?
Let's find the right home and structure an offer that wins without overpaying — and that protects you all the way to the completion date. Full negotiation support from first showing to keys.
This page is general information about the Ontario home buying process and is not legal, tax or mortgage advice. Speak with your real estate lawyer and mortgage professional about your specific situation.