Why This Article Does Not Quote a Percentage

Search this topic and you will find confident claims that private sellers net some specific percentage less. Almost all of it is American data from the National Association of Realtors, generated in a different regulatory system with a different MLS structure, and particularly so after the NAR settlement changed American rules that never applied here.

The only Canadian analysis Michael John Lau could locate covers 2021, is Greater Toronto Area only, examines a segment representing roughly 1% of sales, and its own authors state that the sample is small, that it is "not a scientific apple to apples comparison," and that private listings appeared to include more than their share of complicated properties. It found private freehold listings took roughly 2.5 times longer to sell in that period, with freeholds catching up to MLS performance by March 2021 and condominiums not.

That is the entire Canadian evidence base. Michael John Lau, a REALTOR® with the Kaizen Real Estate Team in Markham, Ontario and a two-time eXp ICON Agent, would rather say that plainly than quote an American number at a Markham homeowner. A seller considering this deserves honest uncertainty rather than a confident figure from the wrong country.

How a Private Sale Actually Works in Ontario

You need a brokerage to reach REALTOR.ca

A private seller cannot enter a listing on a board's MLS System or on REALTOR.ca directly. The route is a mere posting: a licensed brokerage enters your property for a fixed fee while you handle everything else.

Published Ontario pricing

These are published rates from Ontario providers as at September 2026 and will change. Verify current pricing directly.

The cost the advertising does not lead with

Under CREA's MLS® rule, a listing must offer cooperating compensation to the buyer's brokerage, and that amount can be any amount except zero. CREA confirmed in October 2025 that this rule remains in effect.

So "$350 and you are done" is not an accurate description of a mere posting on the MLS System. Budget the buyer-side compensation as well. What that amount is remains entirely negotiable, but it is not nothing.

What You Still Have to Do

In a mere posting the brokerage typically does only data entry, REALTOR.ca exposure, a limited number of photo uploads, basic status and price updates, and recording the compensation instruction.

Everything else is yours:

• Pricing. Building a comparative market analysis from sold data, which is not publicly available in Ontario.
• Preparation and photography.
• Showings. Booking, hosting, supervising, and screening strangers for your own safety.
• Buyer qualification. Verifying financing without access to the professional network normally used to check it.
• Offers. Receiving, evaluating, countering and executing. In a competing-offer situation you do this without any of the TRESA machinery a brokerage would run.
• Conditions, waivers and amendments.
• Deposit handling. See below, because this one is a genuine risk.
• Closing coordination with your lawyer, including the statement of adjustments.
• Condominium status certificate, capped at $100 including tax, provided within 10 days.

The Four Risks Worth Understanding

1. Your disclosure obligations do not change

TRESA regulates registrants, not private sellers, so RECO has no jurisdiction over you. That cuts both ways.

Ontario disclosure law applies identically. Known latent defects that render a property unsafe or uninhabitable must be disclosed. Patent defects need not be. Misrepresentation liability is the same. An "as is" clause does not cure a known hidden defect.

The difference is that a represented seller has a professional whose job includes getting this right, and errors and omissions insurance behind them. A private seller carries it alone.

2. You have no trust account

A brokerage holds deposits in a regulated trust account. A private seller does not have one.

A deposit should never sit in a seller's chequing account. Arrange for it to be held by a lawyer, and make the agreement specify who holds it and on what conditions it is released. Note also that no deposit is legally required in Ontario, and that a deposit and a down payment are not the same thing.

3. There is no standard agreement of purchase and sale you can simply download

No government template exists. Board forms come via a mere-posting brokerage, or you have a lawyer draft the agreement. This is not the place to improvise.

4. Human rights law applies to how you screen buyers

A private seller choosing between buyers is subject to Ontario human rights law in the same way any other housing provider is. It is worth being deliberate about the criteria you use and able to explain them.

When a Private Sale Makes Genuine Sense

An honest list:

• You already have the buyer. A family member, a neighbour, a tenant. In that case you are not marketing a property, you are documenting a transaction, and a lawyer plus a modest posting fee may be all you need.
• The property will sell itself on land value to a builder or investor pool you can reach directly.
• You have done it before, have the time, and are comfortable with contract mechanics and negotiation.
• You want MLS exposure but not full service, and a mere posting plus a lawyer genuinely covers what you need.

And when it usually does not: a competing-offer situation, a property with disclosure complexity, an estate where a trustee owes beneficiaries a duty to obtain fair market value, or a separation where two parties need a neutral process.

The Middle Options Sellers Overlook

This is not a binary. Between a mere posting and a full-service listing sit flat-fee brokerages, unbundled service packages and negotiated arrangements. Commission in Ontario is fully negotiable with no standard rate, and the scope of service is negotiable too.

A seller who wants to run their own open houses, or who has already found a buyer and needs representation only through the offer and closing, should say so and ask what that arrangement looks like. The seller services page sets out what a full engagement covers, so you can see what you would be taking on yourself. The worst outcome is paying full freight for services you did not want, and the second worst is going it entirely alone on a transaction that needed help.

Full cost comparison in What It Costs to Sell a House in Markham, and the whole process in the complete 2026 seller's guide.

Next Steps

• What full seller services cover — So you can see exactly what you would be taking on.
• Get a free Markham home evaluation — Pricing is the hardest part of a private sale.
• Ask about an unbundled arrangement — Scope of service is negotiable, not only the rate.