The selling process, step by step.

By Jonathan Wiseman, REALTOR®Reviewed September 26, 2026

Selling a home isn't one event. It's a series of decisions, from working out what you're trying to accomplish through to handing over the keys. This guide explains what generally happens at each stage, what you'll decide along the way, and how the information available at each point can help you decide. Every sale is different, so treat the steps as a roadmap, not a formula.

The short answer

Most sales move through the same broad stages: planning, pricing, preparing, listing, watching how buyers respond, reviewing offers, dealing with any conditions, and closing. The steps give you a roadmap. The decisions within them depend on the property, the market, the offers you receive and your own circumstances.

Decide what you're trying to accomplish

Before talking about list prices or marketing, it helps to be clear about your own situation and constraints. They shape almost every decision that follows. Things worth thinking through include:

your timing, and how flexible it is;
whether you also need to buy another home, and in what order;
when you'd prefer a buyer to take possession;
your financial picture, including your mortgage and what you need from the sale (see what will selling really cost?);
anything else affecting the move, such as work, school or family changes.

There are no right or wrong answers here. They're the context for everything else in the plan.

Understand the current market

Market conditions affect buyers and sellers alike, so it helps to understand them before you set a price or a plan. Useful things to look at include:

how many homes are for sale;
what has sold recently, and how quickly;
the listings your home would be competing with;
how active buyers are;
how conditions differ by property type and area: two kinds of homes in the same neighbourhood can be in quite different markets.

Area-wide figures describe the market as a whole. They're useful context, but they don't determine what will happen with any individual home.

Current London market information

Understand representation and your choices

In Ontario, you can sell with a brokerage representing you as its client, or sell without representation. The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) publishes the RECO Information Guide, which explains these choices, what an agent does for a client, the risks of different arrangements, and what a representation agreement should cover.

If you work with a brokerage, your service agreement sets out the services to be provided and the compensation. RECO notes that the amount you pay for services is decided between you and the brokerage, and isn't fixed or approved by RECO, any government authority, or any real estate association or board.

Read the RECO Information Guide (opens in a new tab)

Sources: Real Estate Council of Ontario (opens in a new tab), RECO Information Guide (Residential) (December 1, 2023); Real Estate Council of Ontario (opens in a new tab), RECO Information Guide: Working with a real estate agent (December 1, 2023)

Understand your home's likely market position

Before choosing an asking price, it helps to understand where your home is likely to sit in the market. That means looking at several pieces of information together:

the home itself: its size, layout, condition, features and location;
relevant recent sales of comparable homes;
the listings buyers will compare it with;
current market conditions;
characteristics that may widen or narrow buyer interest.

An estimated market value is an informed view of what the home may sell for in current conditions. An asking price is a decision about how to position the home in the market. The two are related, but they aren't the same thing, and neither guarantees a result. When Jonathan prepares this for a client, it's an opinion of value based on that information, not an appraisal or an automated estimate.

Decide on the asking-price strategy

This is one of the most important decisions in the process.

Pricing isn't simply about picking the highest possible number. It's about choosing a position in the market that gives the home the best opportunity to attract the right buyers.

Both directions carry risk. Price too low, and you may leave money on the table. Price too high, and fewer buyers may see the home as worth a visit, which can make it harder to build interest.

Jonathan often asks sellers to think ahead to the 30-day mark. If the home has been listed for a month and there has been little or no showing activity, you'll naturally want to know why. That's one reason the pricing decision at the start matters so much.

When a home has had little or no showing activity after a month on the market, there isn't one automatic answer. Limited showing activity can have more than one explanation. Price may be part of it, but so may limited demand for that type of property right now, the competition, or wider market conditions. The information that becomes available once the listing is live helps show which explanations fit.

Decide what to do before listing

Before listing, you'll decide how much preparation the home needs. Depending on the home, that can include maintenance, repairs, cleaning, decluttering, presentation and, sometimes, improvements.

Preparing a home to sell isn't the same as renovating a home for yourself. The question is what problem you're trying to solve, what it might cost, and whether doing it makes sense in the context of the sale.

Preparing your home to sell

Gather the property information and documents

The details used to describe your home need to be accurate, so it helps to gather the supporting information before the listing is prepared. Depending on the property, that may include:

property details, such as size and features;
property taxes;
lot dimensions;
renovations or improvements, and when they were done;
what's included in the sale and what isn't;
equipment or systems, including whether any equipment is owned or rented.

RECO recommends that listing details be supported by invoices, receipts or documentation. What you'll need depends on the property: a condominium, a rural property and a recently renovated home may each involve different information.

Source: Real Estate Council of Ontario (opens in a new tab), Seller's checklist

Prepare the listing and launch it

Once the home is prepared, bringing it to market is about more than putting a listing online. The listing needs:

accurate property information;
photography and other presentation assets that show the home clearly and accurately;
an asking-price strategy;
showing arrangements that balance your needs with making the home reasonably accessible to prospective buyers;
launch timing that suits your plans;
a marketing approach suited to this particular property and the buyers most likely to be interested in it.

Presentation tools are one part of that, not the whole of it. Depending on the home, they can include listing photography, aerial (drone) photography where the lot, setting or nearby features are better understood from above, and an iGUIDE, which Jonathan normally uses: an interactive walkthrough and floor plan that helps buyers understand the layout before deciding whether to book a showing.

Not every property needs every available tool. The aim is to give the buyers most likely to be interested in the home the information they need to decide whether it's worth seeing in person. RECO notes that a seller's agent can market a home, including arranging photographs, videos and virtual tours. What's included for your listing is set out in your service agreement.

Source: Real Estate Council of Ontario (opens in a new tab), RECO Information Guide (Residential) (December 1, 2023)

What happens after the listing goes live?

Once the listing is live, the market starts giving you information. The aim is to generate showing activity early. Jonathan pays particular attention to the first weekend, because it gives an early indication of how buyers are responding to the home and its price.

Information that may be available includes:

engagement with the listing on REALTOR.ca, including photo views and favourites;
iGUIDE activity;
showing requests, and feedback from showings;
where available, reverse-prospecting information: how many agents have clients whose automated searches match the listing;
new competing listings and relevant recent sales;
changes in overall market activity.

Online activity is useful information, but it isn't the same as showing activity. One way to picture how buyers get from a listing to an offer:

buyers whose needs might match the home;
buyers who see the listing;
buyers who engage with it;
buyers who book a showing;
buyers who show serious interest or make an offer.

Each stage narrows, but not in a fixed ratio: activity at one stage doesn't translate into a predictable number at the next.

If showing activity is low, the price may be one factor. Limited demand for that particular type of home, the competition or current market conditions may also play a part.

Review and negotiate offers

When an offer arrives, the price is only one part of it. Depending on the offer, you'll also want to understand:

the deposit;
the closing date;
any conditions, and their deadlines;
what's included and excluded;
any other terms.

Two offers with similar prices can mean quite different things once the dates, conditions and other terms are taken into account. You can accept an offer, decline it, or respond with changes. Jonathan can help you understand and compare the terms, but the decision is yours.

Understand competing offers

When more than one buyer makes a written offer, Ontario has specific rules. RECO explains that:

buyers who have made an offer are entitled to know the number of competing offers;
as the seller, you choose how much other information about the offers, if any, is shared;
your agent needs clear written direction from you before any offer content is shared;
personal or identifying information in offers can't be shared.

A competing-offer situation doesn't remove the need to understand each offer's terms and what accepting it would mean for you.

Read RECO's information for sellers on competing offers (opens in a new tab)

Source: Real Estate Council of Ontario (opens in a new tab), Dealing with competing offers

From accepted offer to a firm sale

An accepted offer isn't always a firm sale. The agreement may include conditions, such as a financing or home inspection condition, that have to be dealt with by a set date before the sale becomes firm.

The exact conditions, what each party has to do and the deadlines all depend on the agreement. During the conditional period, your real estate agent is normally your first point of contact about how the transaction is progressing. The buyer's and seller's agents communicate to keep both parties informed about the status of the conditions and the items each side is responsible for completing. Where a question genuinely needs a legal interpretation, legal advice can still be appropriate.

Prepare for closing and possession

Once the sale is firm, attention turns to closing day. Your lawyer handles the legal side of closing, including paying out your mortgage and preparing the statement of adjustments. You arrange the move, including stopping, starting or transferring utilities and other services as needed, and hand over the keys and possession on the agreed date.

If you're also buying a home, the two transactions need to work together. RECO suggests checking whether the closing date on your sale lines up with your purchase, and having a contingency plan in case the dates don't match. Some sellers discuss bridge financing with their lender; what will selling really cost? explains it, along with the other costs of closing.