Stage 5 of 10
Viewings
Look at the things that cost five figures to fix, and ignore the staging entirely.
A showing is twenty minutes and most of it gets spent on finishes. The expensive problems are dull: the age of the roof and furnace, the direction water runs on the lot, the size of the electrical panel, evidence of past water in the basement. Learn to look at those and you will save more than any negotiation ever will.
Your progress in this stage
0 of 5 ticked, 0% weighted. 3 critical tasks are still outstanding.
Weighted, not counted: a critical task is worth 5 optional ones.
Outstanding, and each one can cost you the deal
- Record the age of every major system · You
- Look for water, inside and outside · You
- For a condo, request the status certificate before bidding · You
Work backwards from closing
Closing day is the only fixed date in a purchase. Give it to us and every outstanding task in this stage gets the date it has to be started by, using the slow end of each stage's range.
Anything from Aug 28, 2026 onwards. A closing sooner than a week away is not something a lawyer and a lender can complete.
Critical
Skipping one of these can cost you the house, the deposit, or five figures.
- CriticalYou1 day
Roof, furnace, air conditioner, water heater, windows, electrical panel and service size, plumbing material. Each of these is a four or five figure replacement and each has a known service life. A house where all of them are at the end is a renovation with a house attached.
- CriticalYou1 day
Efflorescence and staining on basement walls, fresh paint only along the bottom of one wall, a dehumidifier running, downspouts discharging against the foundation, ground sloping toward the house. Water is the most expensive recurring problem in older Toronto housing stock.
- CriticalYou10 days
The corporation has ten days to produce it and the fee is capped by regulation. In a competitive segment, ordering it before you bid is how you make a firm offer safely. Have your lawyer read it, not just you.
$100 during your condition period
Important
Skipping one costs money or leverage, not the deal.
- ImportantYou3 days
Traffic noise, sun exposure, parking availability and what the neighbours do on a Saturday are all invisible during a Tuesday afternoon showing.
- ImportantYou5 days
A basement apartment that does not meet fire code and zoning is not rental income a lender will count, and it is a liability you inherit. Ask for the permits, not the tenant's rent receipts.
What goes wrong at this stage
Each of these is common and each one costs money or a house. The consequence is stated in dollars or in what you lose, because a warning without a number is a warning people skip.
Buying the staging.
Cosmetics cost thousands and read as quality; systems cost tens of thousands and read as boring. The finishes are what you will remember from the showing and the mechanicals are what you will be paying for afterwards.
Instead: Price the mechanicals first. Assume every finish you like is coming out anyway.
Ignoring an oil tank or evidence of a removed one.
Insurers decline the property or price it punitively, and a leaked tank means environmental remediation that can run past six figures and is your problem once you own it.
Instead: Ask directly about current and historical oil heating, and make it a specific question for your inspector and insurer.
Bidding firm on a condo without reading the status certificate.
You inherit a special assessment, an underfunded reserve, litigation, or a rule against your dog. A special assessment lands on you as the owner and is not negotiable once you have closed, and nothing in this app can size one: the certificate is the only place that number exists, and after closing day it is a bill rather than a disclosure.
Instead: Order the certificate before the offer date, or keep a condition on review. If neither is possible, you are gambling and should know it.
What you sign and receive
A document marked binding commits you. Once it is signed you cannot change your mind without losing money, and in Ontario a resale purchase has no cooling-off period at all.
Status certificate
The condo corporation's disclosure: budget, reserve fund study, arrears, litigation, insurance, rules, and any planned or pending special assessment.
You are finished with this stage when
- You have seen the shortlist more than once, ideally at different times of day.
- You know the age of the roof, furnace, water heater, windows and electrical panel on any property you would bid on.
- You have looked for water evidence in the basement and grading around the foundation.
- For a condo, you have read a status certificate, or you know you are bidding without having read one.