613.327.8306
The words you'll hear when you buy or sell a home in Ottawa, and what they mean for you. Each entry is checked against official sources and dated.
The contract you sign when you make an offer on a home. Once the seller accepts it, it's binding.
It sets the price, the deposit, the deadline for the seller to accept (irrevocability), the closing date, what stays with the home and any conditions, such as financing or a home inspection, which go in Schedule A with their own deadlines. Almost all of it is negotiable until it's accepted.
A professional's opinion of what a home is worth, usually ordered by your mortgage lender before it approves your loan.
An appraiser looks at the home's condition and features and compares it with recent sales nearby. Lenders base your mortgage on the lower of the appraised value or the price you're paying.
If it comes in low. The lender may lend less than you planned, and you'd need to cover the difference yourself or rework the deal. That's one reason a financing condition in your offer matters: talk to your lender and your agent about the options before you firm up.
The contract between you and the brokerage whose agent will represent you when you buy. It's usually the first thing you sign.
It sets out how long you'll work together, the kind of home and area it covers, how the brokerage is paid, what happens after it ends (the holdover period) and the services you'll get. In Ontario it has to be in writing, and your initials go next to the expiry date, however short the agreement is. Almost every part of it is negotiable.
The day the sale is completed, the home legally becomes yours and you get the keys.
The date is set in your offer (the "completion date"), and the standard Ontario agreement says the sale must be completed by 6:00 p.m. that day. Your lawyer and the seller's lawyer exchange the money and documents and register the sale electronically. Once your lawyer confirms it's registered, the keys are released to you, often through your agent.
What you pay before closing. Your lawyer will ask for the balance of the down payment and your closing costs a few days ahead: land transfer tax, legal fees, title insurance and the adjustments, such as property taxes the seller prepaid.
Estimate your closing costs → · See the completion date in the offer, explained →
Insurance your lender requires when your down payment is under 20%. It protects the lender, not you, and its premium is added to your mortgage.
The premium is 2.80% to 4.00% of the mortgage, depending on how much you put down, plus 0.20% for a 30-year amortization. It's only available on homes under $1.5 million, and the minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the rest.
The catch in Ontario. Ontario charges 8% sales tax on the premium. Unlike the premium, it can't be added to your mortgage, so you pay it in cash on closing day.
When more than one buyer makes an offer on the same home at the same time, often on a set "offer night".
Every buyer making an offer must be told how many offers there are. The contents of the offers stay private unless the seller directs in writing that they, or parts of them, be shared, and then they're shared with every buyer who made an offer. Buyers shouldn't assume that includes the price. Information that identifies who made an offer is never shared.
Your best move is usually your best offer the first time: a clean price, a solid deposit and only the conditions you truly need. Decide your walk-away number before offer night.
Things that have to happen before your offer becomes final, such as getting financing or a satisfactory home inspection. Until then, the deal is "conditional".
Common conditions are financing, a home inspection, a lawyer's review of a condo's status certificate, and the sale of your current home. Each goes in Schedule A of the offer with its own deadline.
Firming up. Before the deadline, you either confirm the condition is met (a "notice of fulfillment") or give it up (a "waiver"), in writing. Once every condition is fulfilled or waived, the deal is "firm". If a condition isn't met and you don't waive it in time, the deal usually ends and your deposit comes back; the exact result depends on how the condition is written.
In a competitive market some buyers make offers with no conditions, which means doing the inspection and financing homework before offering. Talk it through with your agent before you give up a protection.
A window to cancel a purchase without penalty. In Ontario it applies to new and pre-construction condos (10 days), not to resale homes.
If you buy a new condo from a developer, you can cancel within 10 days and generally get your deposit back with interest. There's no cooling-off period for a resale house or condo: once your offer is accepted and firm, you're committed. That's why conditions matter.
The money you put down when your offer is accepted, to show you're serious. It's credited toward the price on closing.
The amount is set in your offer and is negotiable. With the standard Ontario offer, a deposit paid "upon acceptance" is due within 24 hours of the seller accepting. It's usually held in trust by the seller's brokerage and doesn't earn interest.
If the deal falls apart. The brokerage can only release the deposit when the buyer and seller both sign a release, or a court orders it. Backing out of a firm deal can cost you the deposit, so talk to your lawyer before you do anything.
Protection. RECO's consumer deposit insurance protects deposits held by a brokerage against theft, fraud, insolvency or misuse, up to $200,000 per person, at no cost to you. It doesn't settle disputes over who should get the deposit.
Two federal programs that help first-time buyers save for a down payment: a tax-free savings account (FHSA) and RRSP withdrawals (the Home Buyers' Plan).
FHSA (First Home Savings Account). You can contribute $8,000 a year, up to $40,000 in total, and unused room carries forward (up to $8,000). Contributions are tax-deductible, and qualifying withdrawals to buy your first home are tax-free.
Home Buyers' Plan. You can withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSPs toward your first home and pay it back to your RRSP over 15 years. For withdrawals made from 2026 to 2028, repayments start in the fifth year after the withdrawal.
Eligibility rules apply to both. Check the CRA pages or ask your financial advisor how they fit your plans.
Canada's anti-money-laundering agency, and the reason I have to see your ID before I can help you buy or sell.
FINTRAC (the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) is the federal agency that fights money laundering and terrorist financing. Under federal law, real estate brokers and sales representatives are "reporting entities", just like banks, so the same identification rules apply to me.
Why I ask for your ID. Before I act for you in a purchase or sale, I have to verify your identity, whatever the price of the home. Usually that means looking at a valid, current government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's licence or passport, and recording its type, number, where it was issued and its expiry date. I also record your name, address, date of birth and occupation.
It's not about trust: the rule applies to every client, friends and family included, and I can't act on a purchase or sale without it. If you're buying through a corporation, I also need information about the company and the people who own or control it.
A few other standard questions. I may ask whether you're acting on someone else's behalf and, in some situations, whether you or someone close to you holds a senior political or public office. Every reporting entity asks these.
Buying or selling without an agent? Since October 1, 2025, if you're on the other side of a deal without your own agent, I also have to verify your identity.
What happens to your information. I keep these records securely for at least five years, as the law requires, and use them only to meet these obligations. Real estate professionals must also report certain transactions to FINTRAC, such as cash payments of $10,000 or more and any transaction that looks suspicious.
Ontario refunds up to $4,000 of land transfer tax to eligible first-time buyers, which covers all of it on a home up to about $368,000.
To qualify you must be at least 18, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (within 18 months of closing), and never have owned a home anywhere in the world. A home you owned outside Canada counts. If you have a spouse, they can't have owned a home while you were together. You must move in within nine months of closing.
Your lawyer can usually claim it on closing day. Otherwise you can apply within 18 months. If only one buyer qualifies, the refund is split by their share of ownership.
A set number of days after a representation or listing agreement ends during which the commission can still be owed.
If you buy (or sell to) someone connected to the agreement, such as a home you were shown while it was in force, during the holdover period, the brokerage can still be owed its commission. If you've signed with a new brokerage by then, what you owe is reduced by what you pay under the new agreement. The number of days is negotiable, so ask about it before you sign.
An in-person check of a home's condition and major systems by a home inspector, usually before your offer is firm.
The inspector looks at the structure, roof, foundation, electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation, and gives you a written report. It isn't a pass-or-fail test, and it doesn't check whether the home meets zoning or building codes. Ontario says inspections usually cost $350 to $600, and can cost more for larger or older homes.
Choosing an inspector. Ontario doesn't have mandatory licensing for home inspectors, so choose carefully: look for experience with the type of home, a written contract and a written report, and ask about insurance.
In your offer. Unless your offer includes an inspection condition, the standard Ontario agreement has you confirm you won't be getting one. An inspection is paid before your offer is firm, so it's not part of your closing costs.
Ontario's tax on buying a home, paid on closing day. In Ottawa it's the only land transfer tax: there's no extra city one like Toronto's.
It's charged in layers, like income tax: 0.5% on the first $55,000 of the price, 1% up to $250,000, 1.5% up to $400,000, 2% up to $2,000,000 and 2.5% above that, for homes with one or two single-family residences. Your lawyer pays it when the sale is registered. First-time buyers can get up to $4,000 of it back.
The contract between a seller and the brokerage that will market and sell their home. It's the first thing you sign when you sell.
It sets the listing period, the asking price, the commission (and how much of it goes to the buyer's brokerage), the holdover period, how the home will be marketed and the services you'll get. In Ontario it has to be in writing, with your initials next to the expiry date, and almost every part of it is negotiable.
A lender's estimate of how much you could borrow, often with your interest rate held for a while. It's not a guaranteed mortgage.
You apply with a lender or mortgage broker, who checks your ID, income, down payment, debts and usually your credit. You find out the most you could qualify for, and many lenders hold your rate for 60 to 130 days.
It isn't final approval: the lender still has to approve you and the specific home (often after an appraisal). That's why a financing condition in your offer still matters.
To approve your mortgage, lenders check you could still afford the payments at a higher rate: the greater of 5.25% or your rate plus 2%.
It applies to insured mortgages (under 20% down) and uninsured ones. It doesn't change the rate you actually pay; it limits how much you can borrow, so it's often the reason a pre-approval comes in lower than expected.
When the same brokerage or agent represents both the buyer and the seller in a deal. It needs both clients' written consent.
The brokerage then has to be impartial. It can't tell the seller the buyer would pay more, or tell the buyer the seller would take less, unless given written permission, and it can't advise either side on price.
Designated representation. With designated representation, if the buyer and the seller each have their own agent at the same brokerage, it isn't multiple representation. It only is when the same agent represents both.
The Real Estate Council of Ontario: the regulator for Ontario's real estate agents and brokerages.
RECO enforces Ontario's real estate law (TRESA), registers agents and brokerages, and investigates complaints about them. Before you work with an agent, you can check they're registered, and see any recent discipline, on RECO's public register. RECO also publishes the Information Guide your agent gives you before you sign anything.
A package from a condo corporation showing the building's finances and rules. The most important document when you buy a resale condo.
It includes the condo's governing documents, budget and latest audited financial statements, the state of the reserve fund (money set aside for big repairs) and its latest study, the unit's monthly fees and whether they're paid up, any fee increases coming, and any special assessments.
Cost and timing. The condo corporation has to provide it within 10 days of the request and payment, and can charge up to $100, taxes included (some charge more for a rush).
In your offer. Buyers often make the offer conditional on their lawyer reviewing the status certificate, since that's how you spot a low reserve fund or an upcoming special assessment.
Tarion runs Ontario's warranty for new homes. Every newly built home comes with 1-, 2- and 7-year coverage.
The 1-year warranty covers defects in work and materials. The 2-year warranty covers water getting in and defects in the electrical, plumbing and heating systems. The 7-year warranty covers major structural defects. Each starts on the day you take possession. Coverage has maximums: $400,000 for a freehold home and $300,000 for a condo unit (agreements signed from July 1, 2023).
It applies to new homes from a builder, not resale homes. There are strict deadlines for reporting problems, so read Tarion's homeowner information when you move in.
A one-time insurance policy that protects you, and your lender, against problems with the ownership (title) of your home.
"Title" is your legal ownership of the home. Title insurance covers losses from problems with it that nobody knew about when you bought: title fraud (someone using stolen identity information to transfer or mortgage your home), unpaid liens left over from the seller such as property taxes, utility bills or condo charges, encroachments, survey errors and mistakes in the public records.
Two kinds of policy. An owner's policy protects you. A lender's policy protects your mortgage lender if the mortgage turns out to be invalid or unenforceable.
What it doesn't cover. Problems you knew about before you bought, environmental issues, and zoning problems caused by changes you make yourself, among others. Every policy lists its exclusions, so read them.
Cost and how long it lasts. You pay a one-time premium, usually through your lawyer as part of closing, and the cost depends on the home's value and the insurer. Coverage lasts as long as you own the home, and can continue for your heirs.
Do you have to get it? It isn't required by law in Ontario. Ask your lawyer whether it's right for you, and check that the policy starts on your closing date. Budget for it with your other closing costs.
The Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002: Ontario's consumer protection law for real estate agents and brokerages.
Its latest changes took effect on December 1, 2023. They're why your agent gives you RECO's Information Guide first, why representation agreements must be in writing with your initials next to the expiry date, why designated representation exists, and why sellers now decide whether the contents of competing offers are shared. It also sets a code of ethics for agents. RECO administers it.
An Ottawa tax on homes left empty for more than half the year. Every Ottawa homeowner has to file a yearly declaration, even if they live there.
A home counts as vacant if it was unoccupied for at least 184 days in the previous calendar year. The tax is 1% of the property's assessed value, and it goes up one percentage point for each additional year the home stays vacant, to a maximum of 5%. There are exemptions, such as renovations, medical treatment and hazardous conditions.
The declaration. Every owner declares the property's status each year, usually by mid-March (March 19 in 2026), online through My ServiceOttawa or by phone at 613-580-2444. Late declarations cost $250.
When you buy. Ask about a clause in your offer confirming the seller filed their declaration and will cover any Vacant Unit Tax for the time they owned the home, then remember to file your own declaration the following year.