Canada has a booming economy and the property market in Canada couldn’t have been better placed. If you are looking to sell your property in Canada in 2022, then you couldn’t have picked a better moment for it. The housing market in Canada has largely bounced back from the recent recession and things look very good.
Demand for homes in Canada is at a high and as of 2022, prices look very attractive. A lot of people in Canada are choosing to sell their homes and upgrade to something bigger. Home prices are expected to rise steadily in 2022 and beyond.
Selling a house in Canada is the same as selling a house in the UK. You can sell your property through a private sale or through an agent. If you want to sell your house through an agent, you will need to sign a contract for the purpose, which would stipulate the period for which the estate agent is allowed to list the property. This can be anything from 30 days to 90 days. You can extend the contract period if you like later.
You can list the property on the Canadian Multiple Listing Services (MLS) which allows home seekers across Canada to view all the details related to it. Registering with the Canadian MLS does boost your chances of getting the property sold at the earliest. Almost all agents in Canada list the properties allocated to them on the Canadian MLS.
There are different types of contracts that are signed with estate agents. One such contract is called “Exclusive Right to Sell” wherein the agent has the exclusive right to sell the property. So if you sell the property by yourself or through another agent, he will still need to be paid a commission on the sale of the property.
A better option is the Exclusive Agency Contract, where the homeowners need to pay the agent a commission only if the house gets sold through their agency. If the homeowner is able to sell the property by themselves, then they do not have to pay any commission to the agent. Here too, the home is listed on the Canadian MLS.
Open Listing is another way of selling the property where the homeowner can list with multiple agents and sell the property themselves as well. Here, the home is not listed on the Canadian MLS and the commissions charged are lower than those paid through other contracts.
You will need to pay a capital gains tax on any property sold in Canada. This is calculated at 50 percent of the gain if you are a resident of Canada. If you are a non-resident of Canada, the capital gains tax is calculated at 25 percent of the gain.
It is important to hire a lawyer to handle the transactions related to the sale of the property. Following the sale, the money will be held by the lawyer till a clearance certificate is issued by the Canadian Revenue Agency. This can take anything from 6 to 8 weeks to arrive.
The clearance certificate is issued only after the contract of sale and purchase is signed by both the seller and the buyer and all the conditions related to the sale are strictly adhered to.
You don’t have to worry about any double taxation over the sale of your property in Canada. Canada has taxation treaties with many countries, including the UK and the USA. So you will only need to pay tax to the Government of Canada after the sale of your property in the country. You are not required to pay any further taxes on the money made from the sale.
