Closing cost estimator

What's in the estimate

• Land transfer tax. Calculated the same way as the LTT calculator, including rebates.
• Legal fees and disbursements. $2,000 assumed, with HST shown separately. Real quotes typically run $1,500 to $2,500 plus HST depending on complexity.
• Title insurance. $400 assumed. Varies with price and provider.
• Home inspection. $500 assumed for a typical house.
• Status certificate. $100, capped by regulation, condominiums only.
• Adjustments. $1,000 assumed for property tax and utility adjustments where the seller has prepaid past the closing date.
• Mortgage default insurance. Added where the down payment is under 20%, using the current CMHC premium bands: 4.00% of the loan at 5–9.99% down, 3.10% at 10–14.99%, 2.80% at 15–19.99%. The premium is usually added to the mortgage rather than paid on closing, but the 8% Ontario PST on it is payable on closing.
• The minimum down payment. 5% up to $500,000, then 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1.5 million, and 20% at $1.5 million and above. Insurance isn't available at all at $1.5 million or more, so the calculator flags a down payment that no lender could actually fund.

One thing worth knowing: if you're buying before you've sold, be conservative about what your current home will fetch. It's much better to have a little extra for paint and moving than to be short on closing day. More on that in buy first or sell first.