613.327.8306
613.327.8306
When you sell with an agent, this is what you sign first. Here's every part of the listing agreement most Ontario brokerages use, including mine, with what it means for you and what to ask before you sign.
You initial one. An MLS® listing is shared with every brokerage through the MLS® System. An exclusive listing is marketed by the listing brokerage only, without the MLS® System.
Ask: "Which one fits my sale, and why?"
The brokerage, you, and the agent (or agents) named as your designated representative. The named agent represents you personally; the rest of the brokerage provides services but doesn't represent you.
The listing runs from the start date to 11:59 p.m. on the expiry date. The length is negotiable (an MLS® board may set a minimum), and Ontario's real estate law (TRESA) requires your initials next to it.
Ask: "How long do homes like mine usually take to sell right now?"
The price you're listing at, set at your request after discussing the home's market value with your agent. You can still accept a different price or terms.
Ask: "What do recent comparable sales support?"
You confirm the home isn't listed with, or promised to, another brokerage.
The total commission, as a percentage of the sale price or a set amount, plus HST. It's owed for any valid offer you accept during the listing, from any source, and it's paid on closing, usually by your lawyer from the sale proceeds.
Ask: "What's the total, and what does it include?"
The part of the total that your brokerage offers to the buyer's brokerage, paid out of the total, not on top of it. If there's no buyer's brokerage, the total is still owed.
If, within this many days after the listing ends, you accept an offer from someone who was introduced to or shown the home during the listing, the commission is still owed. If you've signed with a new brokerage by then, what you owe is reduced by what you pay under the new agreement.
Ask: "How long is the holdover?"
On a completed sale, the buyer's deposit goes toward the commission first. If a sale falls through because of you, the commission can still be owed.
The buyer's agent works for the buyer, not for you. Your brokerage may also list similar homes nearby, and you agree that isn't a conflict.
If your brokerage represents a buyer for your home too, it needs your written consent. It must then be impartial, and it can't tell the buyer you'd take less or tell you the buyer would pay more. If your agent and the buyer's agent are different people, it isn't multiple representation.
Ask: "What happens if one of your buyers wants my home?"
Your brokerage receives official notices, such as offers, for you, except in multiple representation or when the buyer has no agent. The brokerage may also keep a referral fee on top of the commission.
Anyone who contacts you directly about the home, and any offer you receive, goes to your brokerage before you accept or reject it. If that enquiry leads to a sale during the listing or the holdover period, the commission is owed.
You allow showings at reasonable hours and a For Sale sign, and your brokerage decides how the home is advertised. Once the home is publicly marketed (a sign, a social post), an MLS® listing has to go on the MLS® System within three days.
Ask: "What's the marketing plan, week by week?"
You confirm you have the right to sell, and that you've disclosed anything else attached to the home, such as mortgages, easements or someone else's right of first refusal.
The brokerage isn't responsible for loss or damage during the listing, such as theft, fire or vandalism, unless it was grossly negligent. Your home insurance, including liability for visitors, has to stay in place.
Ask: "What should I put away before showings?"
If your spouse needs to consent to the sale, they sign too. You also allow your brokerage to get information about the home from the city, government agencies or your mortgage lender.
Your photos, floor plans, virtual tours and listing details go into the real estate board's MLS® database. The board may share them with other members, and keep them and the sale results for statistics and comparisons after the listing ends. Board data may be stored outside Canada.
You choose, by initialling, whether other agents may contact you after the listing ends without a sale.
Ask: "Do I want other agents calling me if it doesn't sell?"
Anything added to the agreement, including Schedule A, overrides the printed wording where they conflict, and the signed agreement is the whole deal: verbal promises don't count. It binds your heirs, and electronic signatures count.
You and the brokerage sign, your spouse consents if needed, your agent declares they're insured as TRESA requires, and you confirm you've received a copy.
What the brokerage and your agent will do: pricing advice, photos and marketing, showings and open houses, presenting and negotiating offers, explaining closing. It differs between brokerages, so read it. The printed form has no clause for ending the listing early; if you want that option, ask for it to be added here.
Ask: "How do I end the listing early if I need to?"
A simplified drawing that follows the section order of OREA Form 271 (Listing Agreement, Seller Designated Representation Agreement), not the form itself. Quoted wording: © 2026 Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), Form 271, short excerpts used for explanation. Your brokerage's version may differ, so always read the actual agreement.