What should I check before making an offer on a house in Richmond Hill, Ontario?

Before you sign anything, confirm five things. First, who represents you: in Ontario your agent only owes you a buyer's duties under a written buyer representation agreement, so know whether you have one. Second, the property's parcel register through Ontario's land registry (ONLand), so you know who is on title and what is registered against it. Third, a home inspection, which still matters even though Ontario does not licence inspectors. Fourth, for a condo, the status certificate (a condo corporation must deliver it within 10 days of receiving your request and payment, for a maximum of $100 including taxes). Fifth, your real numbers: your down payment under the December 2024 rules, your closing costs, and a financing condition that gives your lender time to confirm the mortgage. None of these is exotic in a 2026 buyer's market, and each one is a place to catch a problem while you can still walk away.

Does my real estate agent actually represent me when I buy a home in Ontario?

Only if you have signed a buyer representation agreement with their brokerage. Since TRESA took full effect on December 1, 2023, the old 'customer' category is gone, replaced by the 'self-represented party.' An agent showing you a home they have listed does not automatically owe you a buyer's duties. The agent who advertises a property, shows it to you, and helps you write the offer may be acting for the seller. Before any of that begins, a registrant must give you the RECO Information Guide, which explains your options. Read it, and ask plainly: are you representing me, or the seller?

What are the risks of buying a power of sale home in Ontario?

A power-of-sale property is sold by the lender, not the homeowner, and that changes your protections. It is sold strictly as-is with the standard representations and warranties struck out, so there is no seller disclosure of defects, and the lender will not repair anything an inspection finds. Appliances and fixtures you saw at a showing can be gone by closing. The original owner keeps a right of redemption: they can reclaim the home by paying their arrears right up until the deed transfers, so a deal can collapse late. If the property is tenanted, you take it subject to the Residential Tenancies Act, and vacant possession is not guaranteed. A power-of-sale purchase can be sound, but it needs a real estate lawyer, a careful title search, and title insurance more than any ordinary purchase does.

How much do I need for a down payment as a first-time buyer in Ontario?

Under the rules that took effect December 15, 2024: 5 percent on a home priced at $500,000 or less; 5 percent on the first $500,000 plus 10 percent on the portion above it for homes between $500,001 and $1,499,999; and 20 percent for homes at $1.5 million or more, where no insured mortgage is available. Anything under 20 percent down requires mortgage default insurance. This matters in Richmond Hill specifically, where the May 2026 average sat around $1.21 million: a single offer can push you across the $1.5 million line, where the minimum down payment jumps to a flat 20 percent. Know which side of that line your price sits on before you fall in love with the house.

Do I still need a home inspection in Ontario if inspectors are not licensed?

Yes, and the fact that they are not licensed is the reason to be careful, not a reason to skip it. Ontario passed the Home Inspection Act in 2017 but never proclaimed it in force, so as of 2026 anyone may legally call themselves a home inspector, with no mandatory licensing, standards, or insurance. Choose an inspector who belongs to a recognized professional association and carries errors-and-omissions insurance, ask what the inspection does and does not cover, and in a 2026 buyer's market write the inspection in as a condition so you have the time to do it properly.

For buyers · Advisory

What to Check Before Making an Offer on a Home in Richmond Hill

The buyer-protection checklist I walk my Richmond Hill clients through before they sign anything: who actually represents you, the documents to pull, what a 2026 offer should be conditional on, and the costs nobody warns you about. Written by a buyer's agent who has worked these streets since 2006.

Originally published January 2006 · Updated 2026 · 10 min read

Jasmina Zivkovic

REALTOR®, RE/MAX Your Community Realty Inc.

I first wrote a version of this page in 2006, under a plainer title: “How can home buyers protect themselves?” Twenty years and two full market cycles later, I am writing it again, because the question has not aged a day. What has changed is the answer. The law that governs how I represent you was rewritten, the down-payment rules moved, and a quiet crime wave gave the old warnings a sharper edge. So this is the 2006 advice, brought up to 2026, for the town I actually work.

I have called Richmond Hill home since the late 1990s and sold real estate from these streets since 2006. In that first article I opened with a warning I still believe is the most useful thing a buyer can hear, so let me give it to you again, in today’s terms.

Who is actually on your side when you buy?

Here is the sentence I wrote in 2006, and it is worth reading slowly: the real estate agent who advertises a property, shows it to a buyer, helps the buyer make decisions, and prepares the offer does not necessarily have the buyer’s best interests in mind. That helpful agent could be acting for the seller, with a duty to get the seller the best deal possible and no such duty to you.

That was true then. What changed is the rulebook around it. On December 1, 2023, Ontario’s Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA) fully replaced the older legislation, and it tightened exactly this point.

Three things follow that protect you, and you should know all three before you walk into a single showing:

You are only represented if it is in writing. Your agent owes you a buyer’s duties only under a signed buyer representation agreement with their brokerage. No agreement, no representation. The old “customer” middle ground is gone; TRESA replaced it with the “self-represented party,” meaning if you have not signed, you are on your own. The other party’s agent must deal with you fairly and honestly, but their loyalty and advice belong to their client, not to you, and they cannot advise you.
You must be handed the rules first. Before a registrant provides any services, they must give you the RECO Information Guide, which explains your representation options in plain language. If nobody has handed you that guide, that itself tells you something.
One agent can be designated to you. TRESA introduced designated representation, where a brokerage names one specific agent to represent you and shields your confidential information from the rest of the office. It exists precisely to fix the conflict that worried me in 2006.

So the first protective act of buying a home is not about the home at all. It is asking one plain question, out loud, early: are you representing me, or the seller?

Is a buyer’s agent really free?

In 2006 I wrote that having your own agent costs you “nothing, absolutely free, totally paid by the seller.” I am correcting that here, because under TRESA it is no longer accurate, and an agent who still says it is not describing the current rules.

Today the honest version is this. Your brokerage’s fee is set in your written buyer representation agreement. It is negotiable, it is written down before the work starts, and it is ultimately your responsibility. In many transactions the seller agrees to contribute toward it, often through the listing arrangement or a term negotiated in the offer, and often that covers the whole amount, so many buyers never write a cheque for it. But there is no law that forces a seller to, and if a seller offers less than your agreed fee, you can owe the difference.

I tell you the awkward version because the awkward version is the one that protects you. Ask for the number at the start. A buyer’s agent who will not put their fee in writing up front is showing you how the rest of the relationship will go.

What should you check before you make an offer in Richmond Hill?

This is the heart of it. When my clients find a home they love, this is the list I walk them through before anyone signs. None of it is glamorous. All of it is cheaper than the mistake it prevents.

Pull the title. You can search a property’s parcel register through Ontario’s online land registry (ONLand) for a small fee, or have your lawyer do it. It shows the registered owners and anything charged against the property. Surprises here are the cheapest surprises you will ever buy.
Get a home inspection, and choose the inspector carefully. Ontario passed the Home Inspection Act in 2017 but never proclaimed it in force, so in 2026 anyone may call themselves a home inspector, with no licence, standard, or insurance required. Pick one who belongs to a recognized association and carries errors-and-omissions coverage, and in this market, write the inspection in as a condition so you have time to do it right.
For a condo, read the status certificate before you commit. A condo corporation must deliver the status certificate within 10 days after it receives your request and payment, for a maximum of $100 including applicable taxes. It is the building’s financial and legal health record, the reserve fund, the rules, any lawsuits or special assessments, and your lawyer reviews it. I wrote a whole piece on reading a condo before you trust it, because a beautiful unit in a troubled building is still a troubled building.
If it is a new build, check the warranty and the builder’s licence. New homes in Ontario carry Tarion’s tiered warranty (one, two, and seven years for different defects), and since February 2021 every builder must be licensed by the Home Construction Regulatory Authority. Look the builder up in the Ontario Builder Directory before you sign.
If it is a power of sale, treat it differently. A lender selling a property under power of sale sells it as-is, with the usual warranties struck out and no seller disclosure. The former owner can redeem it right up to closing, fixtures can vanish, and a tenant can come with it under the Residential Tenancies Act. These purchases can work, but they need a lawyer and title insurance more than any ordinary deal. I walk through the whole thing, for buyers and for owners who have fallen behind, in power of sale in Ontario.
Know your real numbers. Confirm your down payment under the rules below, get a true closing-cost estimate from your lawyer, and keep a financing condition so your lender can confirm the mortgage on the actual property, not a pre-approval guess.

If you want the longer version of how a good-looking home hides its problems, I keep that list in how to avoid buying the wrong home and in how to read a listing beyond the photos.

How do you protect yourself in a multiple-offer situation?

Even in a calmer 2026 market, a well-priced Richmond Hill home in a sought-after pocket can still draw several buyers. In 2006 I published a list of bidding-war basics; the worthwhile half of it has aged well, so here it is, with the bravado removed.

Be pre-approved before you look. Know the most a lender will actually advance to you, so the ceiling is a fact, not a hope you discover at the worst moment.
Research fair market value, not asking price. Look at what comparable homes on neighbouring streets actually sold for. The asking price is a starting position; the comparables are the evidence.
Keep your conditions where you safely can. Financing and inspection on a house, financing and a status certificate review on a condo. A clean offer can win, but a clean offer is also a stripped-down one, and stripping out protection to win a house is how people get hurt in a slow market too. I wrote separately about why waiving your financing condition deserves real thought.
Decide your walk-away number before the emotion starts. Write it down. The whole point of a multiple-offer situation, from the other side, is to get you to move it.

I left one line out of the modern version on purpose. In 2006 the popular advice ended with “buy the most expensive house you can afford.” I no longer pass that on. The most expensive house you can afford is the one with the least room left for a job loss, a rate change, or a roof. Protection means buying comfortably inside your limit, not at it.

Richmond Hill, specifically

This is where I stop quoting the rulebook and start talking about the town, because the protections that matter shift street by street.

The established neighbourhoods, Mill Pond, Crosby, North Richvale, give you mature lots and homes that are often forty or more years old. I love these streets, and I will tell you plainly: the older the home, the more your inspection earns its fee. In a market that lets you keep an inspection condition, keep it here especially.

The newer pockets toward the north, Jefferson and Oak Ridges, trade lot size for newer construction and fewer mechanical surprises, but they are car-first; check your real rush-hour drive before you decide the commute is fine. And along the Yonge corridor, where most of the condo and townhouse choice sits, the status certificate is the document that does your protecting.

One number ties all of this to a real Richmond Hill decision. The down-payment rules that took effect on December 15, 2024 require 20 percent down, with no insured mortgage available, on any home priced at $1.5 million or more. Richmond Hill’s average sale sat around $1.21 million in May 2026, which means a single strong offer can push you across the $1.5 million line and change your minimum down payment from a tiered figure to a flat 20 percent. I have watched that line surprise good buyers. Know which side of it your price sits on before the offer, not after.

For the wider read on what this buyer’s market is doing across York Region, and how Richmond Hill compares with Markham, Vaughan and Aurora, I keep the numbers current in buying in Richmond Hill and York Region in 2026. I would rather link you to one honest page than pad this one with thin paragraphs about towns that deserve their own.

What about title fraud?

It belongs on a protection checklist, but it is mostly a homeowner’s worry rather than a buyer’s, so I will keep it to its place. Title fraud is when someone uses stolen identity or forged documents to transfer your title or mortgage your home without you knowing, and the GTA had a documented wave of it. As a buyer, your lawyer will almost certainly arrange title insurance because your lender requires it; the one question worth asking at that meeting is whether your owner’s policy covers fraud after closing, and to what limit. I cover the whole subject, including what to do if it happens to you, in real estate fraud in the GTA.

What does buyer protection actually cost?

Less than people fear, and the costs are knowable in advance, which is itself a form of protection.

Your representation fee is negotiated and written down before the work begins, and is often covered by the seller, as above. Your closing costs, the part buyers most often underestimate, include land transfer tax, your lawyer’s fees, title insurance, and adjustments; ask your lawyer for a written estimate specific to your price and municipality rather than a rule of thumb. And do not forget the cost that arrives every year after you own: property tax varies by municipality across the GTA, and it belongs in the comparison too. Your inspection runs a few hundred dollars. A condo status certificate is capped at $100. A parcel-register search is a few dollars. Set against the size of the purchase, the entire protective layer is a rounding error, and almost nobody regrets paying for it.

The short version

If you remember nothing else: get your representation in writing, pull the title, inspect the home, read the condo’s status certificate, and keep the conditions that buy you time. Know your down payment and your closing costs before you make the offer, not after. The market in 2026 gives Richmond Hill buyers something the busy years took away, which is time to do all of this properly. Use it.

The honest reason I still write this page, twenty years on, is that the protections are cheap and a little boring, and most people do not put them in place until something has already gone wrong. My job is to get them in place first.

If you are weighing an offer on a specific Richmond Hill home, tell me the address and what you have seen so far. I will walk through this list with you against that actual property, tell you which documents to pull and what to ask your lawyer to review, and give you my honest read of where the risks sit. No cost, no obligation, and no pressure to go further than a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

What should I check before making an offer on a house in Richmond Hill, Ontario?: Before you sign anything, confirm five things. First, who represents you: in Ontario your agent only owes you a buyer's duties under a written buyer representation agreement, so know whether you have one. Second, the property's parcel register through Ontario's land registry (ONLand), so you know who is on title and what is registered against it. Third, a home inspection, which still matters even though Ontario does not licence inspectors. Fourth, for a condo, the status certificate (a condo corporation must deliver it within 10 days of receiving your request and payment, for a maximum of $100 including taxes). Fifth, your real numbers: your down payment under the December 2024 rules, your closing costs, and a financing condition that gives your lender time to confirm the mortgage. None of these is exotic in a 2026 buyer's market, and each one is a place to catch a problem while you can still walk away.
Is a buyer's agent free in Ontario?: No, and an agent who tells you it is free is not describing the current rules. Under Ontario's Trust in Real Estate Services Act (TRESA), your brokerage's fee is set in your written buyer representation agreement, it is negotiable, and it is ultimately your responsibility. In many transactions the seller agrees to contribute toward it, often through the listing arrangement or a term negotiated in the offer, but there is no law that requires them to, and if they offer less than your agreed fee you can owe the difference. The honest version is: the fee is negotiated up front and written down, and often the seller covers some or all of it, but you should know the number before you start, not after.
Does my real estate agent actually represent me when I buy a home in Ontario?: Only if you have signed a buyer representation agreement with their brokerage. Since TRESA took full effect on December 1, 2023, the old 'customer' category is gone, replaced by the 'self-represented party.' An agent showing you a home they have listed does not automatically owe you a buyer's duties. The agent who advertises a property, shows it to you, and helps you write the offer may be acting for the seller. Before any of that begins, a registrant must give you the RECO Information Guide, which explains your options. Read it, and ask plainly: are you representing me, or the seller?
What are the risks of buying a power of sale home in Ontario?: A power-of-sale property is sold by the lender, not the homeowner, and that changes your protections. It is sold strictly as-is with the standard representations and warranties struck out, so there is no seller disclosure of defects, and the lender will not repair anything an inspection finds. Appliances and fixtures you saw at a showing can be gone by closing. The original owner keeps a right of redemption: they can reclaim the home by paying their arrears right up until the deed transfers, so a deal can collapse late. If the property is tenanted, you take it subject to the Residential Tenancies Act, and vacant possession is not guaranteed. A power-of-sale purchase can be sound, but it needs a real estate lawyer, a careful title search, and title insurance more than any ordinary purchase does.
How much do I need for a down payment as a first-time buyer in Ontario?: Under the rules that took effect December 15, 2024: 5 percent on a home priced at $500,000 or less; 5 percent on the first $500,000 plus 10 percent on the portion above it for homes between $500,001 and $1,499,999; and 20 percent for homes at $1.5 million or more, where no insured mortgage is available. Anything under 20 percent down requires mortgage default insurance. This matters in Richmond Hill specifically, where the May 2026 average sat around $1.21 million: a single offer can push you across the $1.5 million line, where the minimum down payment jumps to a flat 20 percent. Know which side of that line your price sits on before you fall in love with the house.
Do I still need a home inspection in Ontario if inspectors are not licensed?: Yes, and the fact that they are not licensed is the reason to be careful, not a reason to skip it. Ontario passed the Home Inspection Act in 2017 but never proclaimed it in force, so as of 2026 anyone may legally call themselves a home inspector, with no mandatory licensing, standards, or insurance. Choose an inspector who belongs to a recognized professional association and carries errors-and-omissions insurance, ask what the inspection does and does not cover, and in a 2026 buyer's market write the inspection in as a condition so you have the time to do it properly.