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Home Listing Commission in GTA (Greater Toronto Area)
When buying or selling real estate in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), both buyers and sellers are usually represented by their own real estate agents. At present, commissions for both agents are typically paid by the seller. However, with the class-action lawsuit in the United States on March 15, 2024—where the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed to pay $418 million USD to sellers in an out-of-court settlement—the way real estate commissions are handled in Canada may soon change.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/economy/nar-realtor-commissions-settlement/
Currently in Toronto real estate transactions, all property information is listed on the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s central database, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The listing price already includes the buyer’s agent commission, meaning buyers do not need to pay this separately. In the MLS Broker Full version (for agents only), the “Commission Co-Op Brokerage” field clearly shows the commission offered by the seller to the buyer’s agent.
In the Toronto housing market, the most common buyer’s agent commission is 2.5% of the final sale price, though sometimes 2.25% or 3.0% may be seen. In extremely rare cases, a seller may only offer as little as $1 CAD or $0.01 CAD, essentially meaning the seller does not cover the buyer’s agent fee, leaving the buyer responsible for paying their own agent’s commission.
For the listing agent, commissions in the GTA typically range from 1.5% to 2.5%. The exact fee often depends on the scope and quality of service—such as how much marketing exposure and added-value services are provided. Active agents with a proven record of successful Toronto property sales may also charge higher. For home sellers, the most important factor in choosing a listing agent is the marketing and promotional strategy.
While many real estate agents simply upload a property to MLS and wait for buyers, an exceptional Toronto real estate agent delivers maximum exposure, attracts more showings, and brings in more offers. Since housing prices are determined by supply and demand, the agent who creates the most demand can sell the property for the highest price.
Commission Fee at Pris Han Carefree Home Sold Realty
At Carefree Home Sold Realty, we offer multiple commission packages to meet your needs. From our most affordable 1.00% basic package to our 1.70% full-service premium package, we customize the right plan for you. Regardless of which package you choose, our experienced team ensures your home receives maximum exposure in the Toronto real estate market and sells at the best possible price.
Current Home Listing Commission Packages
If you do not require additional social media exposure and paid advertising marketing, we can also provide more economical packages
Note：For remote clients, if you are not in Toronto during the selling process, many responsibilities normally handled by sellers will be taken over by the listing agent. For example: post-tenant inspection, arranging professional cleaning, lawn care, closing utility accounts, booking elevators, and key handover. The list can be long and detailed, consuming both time and effort. If these tasks are not handled properly, even with professional skills that achieve a high selling price, the closing may still face challenges. To ensure our agents remain motivated to carefully manage every detail, additional service fees may apply for this extra workload.
Please note: These commission packages do not include the buyer’s agent fee. Whether or not to offer a buyer’s agent commission, and how much, is entirely up to the seller. Check “Q5：if a seller doesn't pay the buyer's agent commission, will the net proceeds be higher？”
Besides fixed packages, we can also create customized service plans based on your needs. We can connect you with professional renovation teams, legal advisors for rental disputes, moving companies, and more.
Internally, our team has debated whether to publicly disclose our rates. The main concern is that before sellers fully understand the value of our services, they may view us as identical to other agents—comparing only price while ignoring our strong marketing abilities and service quality.
The truth is, the same Toronto condo, pre-construction unit, or detached house may achieve completely different sale prices depending on the agent’s marketing and advertising power. Selling a home is like an auction—the more exposure created, the greater the demand, and the higher the final sale price. Sellers chasing “low commissions” often hope to maximize net proceeds. However, compared to the higher price achieved through strong marketing, the small savings on commission become insignificant.
If you are not familiar with our Toronto home listing services, click here to view our service introduction page, or contact us directly to schedule a free consultation.
Q1: A Realtor said that he can sell my property higher than other realtors. Is this true?
In Toronto Real Estate, the only factor that truly determines the selling price of a home is the market itself. Market price is objective and cannot be changed by willpower. The best reference is the most recent Toronto Sold prices of similar nearby properties.
Since all listings and recent sold prices are transparently recorded in the MLS system, the market value range of any property can be estimated after adjusting for differences such as renovations. A Realtor’s role is to analyze and evaluate—not to artificially create a price above the market.
However, a skilled Toronto Realtor can influence the selling price within a reasonable range through powerful marketing. Real estate is like any other product—price is determined by supply and demand. The more exposure a property gets, the more buyers see it, visit it, and submit offers. This creates demand, and higher demand means a higher selling price.
Between valuation and marketing, the true core skill of a listing Realtor is marketing. With the right strategy, competition among buyers naturally drives the price up to the top of the market. Even if the initial listing price is lower, professional marketing can generate bidding wars and secure the highest possible offer in the Toronto property market.
Sellers should not blindly trust agents who simply promise the highest listing price. Instead, the key standard for choosing a Realtor should be their marketing ability. The Realtor who presents the strongest marketing plan will be the one who helps you sell your Toronto property at the highest possible price.
Q2: Since all properties go on MLS, shouldn’t I just pick the realtor with the lowest commission?
The MLS system in North America is an advanced and powerful platform. It makes all public listing information and past sold records fully visible to the public. Buyers who are skilled at searching online can easily find properties that are currently for sale.
Even if a listing Realtor does nothing else, once a property is uploaded into the MLS central database, it automatically appears on partner platforms such as Realtor.ca and Realmaster.com. This ensures that basic visibility is not a problem.
However, this does not mean that every potential buyer will actually see your listing. Many buyers—especially new immigrants or those relocating to Toronto—may not know how to search MLS effectively. Even local buyers may not check every listing daily.
This is where a professional Toronto Realtor makes a real difference. Through creative marketing—social media posts, blogs, videos, paid ads, flyers, and more—your property gains broader exposure beyond MLS, Realtor.ca, and Realmaster.com. Increased visibility leads to more showings, more offers, and ultimately, a higher selling price.
Sellers who focus only on finding “low commission” Realtors often end up sacrificing marketing power, exposure channels, and execution ability. Discount agents usually lack resources, professional teams, and strong marketing strategies. The savings in commission are often insignificant compared to the higher price that effective marketing can deliver.
Simply put: choosing a Realtor based only on low commission often works against your true goal—selling your house at the highest possible price in the Toronto real estate market.
Q3: What is the most important factor when choosing a Realtor to sell my property?
Advertising and marketing planning and execution!
Real estate is not a standardized product — every property is unique. Selling a home is more like selling a piece of art: the stronger the auction house, the more wealthy art lovers it can attract, and the higher the painting will sell for. Similarly, when a property gets maximum exposure to potential buyers, the seller can use buyer competition to achieve the best price.
Therefore, the key rule when choosing a listing agent is whether they can create the broadest, most intensive, and most precisely targeted marketing campaign for your property.
When interviewing agents, you can ask candidates to present their marketing plan:
Which promotion channels do they use?
Do they have their own social media platforms? If so, how many followers and how much traffic?
Do they have their own website, and where does it rank for key real estate search terms?
You should also review the creativity of their past campaigns — the quality of copywriting, photos, and videos — to understand how your property will be presented to future buyers.
In addition to content marketing through social media, a strong listing agent will also run paid ads to directly attract buyers. These may include Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram), Google Search Ads, and YouTube video ads. A common ad strategy is to feature collections of listings similar to your property, which effectively captures buyers already interested in that type of home. Once potential buyers enter the agent’s database, an experienced listing agent will make every effort to recommend your property.
Next, you should check whether the candidate agent has built a substantial database of ready buyers with purchasing power. These buyers usually come through social media campaigns or paid ads and often have clear and immediate intentions to buy. Exposure among this group can double the efficiency of converting listings into sales. Building such a buyer database is a key dividing line between ordinary agents and top-performing listing agents. Without strong marketing and management skills, regular agents simply cannot build this, which lowers the seller’s chance of success.
One thing to watch out for: some so-called “big-name agents” who have been in the industry for years may also use advertising, but their methods are often outdated — usually just their own portrait plus slogans like “#1 in sales.” For sellers, what matters is whether the property is exposed to buyers, not the personal branding of the agent. So when evaluating marketing plans, focus only on “where will my property be shown?” and ignore personal image ads.
Finally, “actions speak louder than words.” Just as we check online reviews before shopping, choosing an agent is similar — most people don’t often work with Realtors and have little basis for comparison. That’s why learning from others’ experiences is critical. In Canada, the Google Business Page is an excellent platform to evaluate service quality. Google actively removes fake reviews and doesn’t allow businesses to delete negative reviews (though they can respond). Checking Google Reviews helps you understand the real experience of past clients and the overall service quality of an agent.
Q4: Is it safest to hire a family friend or a Realtor recommended by relatives for a first home purchase?
For new immigrants buying a home in Toronto, or locals purchasing their first property, choosing an agent and selecting a home are critical steps. People often think: “If I hire a familiar agent, or one recommended by family or friends, I’ll reduce the risk of being cheated.”
Integrity is important, but “not lying, not cheating” is only a necessary condition — it is not sufficient!
The professionalism of an agent is directly proportional to the number of transactions they have completed. The more deals they’ve handled, the more unusual cases they’ve encountered, the stronger their ability to resolve complex issues, and the higher their negotiation skills.
The chart below is from TRREB (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board) January 2024, recording transactions for the entire year of 2023. Among 73,000 licensed Realtors active in the Greater Toronto Area:
Over 80% of agents closed three deals or fewer in the year.
Yet, nearly two-thirds of all transactions in the market were handled by these very agents.
This volume suggests many agents lack sufficient experience and professional knowledge to handle future transactions properly.
For sellers, choosing a strong agent is even more important than for buyers. As mentioned in Q3, the key criteria are marketing skills, social media influence, and advertising execution. These cannot be quickly achieved by a small agent through “hard work.” Marketing is both a professional skillset and requires significant upfront investment, plus social influence is accumulated over many years. Compared to these factors that are essential for selling at a high price, relying only on a “trustworthy” or “honest” agent is not enough.
Some sellers worry that “big agents may not be ethical either.” To address this, you can refer to Google Business Page reviews. Since reviews are strictly regulated by Google and cannot be altered by the agent, they provide an authentic reflection of clients’ real experiences.
So, even if it’s a family friend, don’t forget to ask about their transaction volume, past listing promotion cases, and to review their Google Reviews — rather than relying solely on whether they are “honest” or “nice.”
Q5: If sellers don’t pay buyer agent commissions, will they net more profit?
As we mentioned earlier, in the U.S., after the NAR (National Association of Realtors) lawsuit, sellers in the U.S. are no longer required to pay buyer agent commissions. This trend will likely influence how commissions are paid in Canada as well.
You can view the NAR lawsuit article here：https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/economy/nar-realtor-commissions-settlement
However, as of May 2024, Canadian law does not require sellers to stop paying buyer agent commissions, and this practice is not yet common in the Greater Toronto Area. Currently, the standard commission paid by sellers to buyer agents in GTA is about 2.5% of the final price.
Can Toronto sellers choose to pay buyer agents nothing? Yes. The minimum is just $1 CAD. This information appears in the MLS listing. So, for a $1 million home, you could instantly save $25,000 in commission, and with HST, about $28,000 total. Sounds great, right? But it’s not so simple. There are three main reasons:
1/ Buyer agents will charge buyers instead.
If sellers don’t pay, buyer agents will charge their own clients (often around 2.5%). Since most listings include buyer agent commissions, buyers will compare total costs. If your listing requires them to pay commission on top of the home price, but the price isn’t discounted, your property will appear more expensive. GTA’s MLS system makes it very easy to compare past sold prices and current listings, so buyers notice quickly.
2/ Even with a price discount, cash requirements rise.
Mortgage loans can cover the home price, but not commission fees (see chart below). So even if the total cost doesn’t increase, buyers need more cash upfront, which is tough for first-time buyers already struggling to save for down payments. They may simply choose another property where commission is included, or negotiate back to the traditional model where commission is wrapped into the price.
3/ Most buyer agents are not used to asking buyers for fees.
Many buyer agents only know how to collect commission from sellers. In fact, many even write “Per MLS Listing” in their Buyer Representation Agreement (BRA), meaning they only expect to be paid according to what’s written in the MLS. So, if MLS says $1 commission, they’ll literally only get $1. To protect their own interests, buyer agents will actively steer clients away from such listings, significantly reducing your property’s exposure. Fewer buyers means less competition — and a harder time achieving a good price.
In summary: Yes, sellers can legally choose to pay buyer agents just $1 CAD. But until this practice becomes widespread, please carefully consider the above three points before deciding to be the “first one to try it.”
More questions? Contact us!
Wechat：TeamPrisRealty
Phone：647-360-8963
Email：info@hanhomesold.com
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