Selling a house is a project with a start date, a launch date and a closing date, and most of the stress people feel comes from not knowing what happens between those three points. This page walks you through the whole sequence as Stan Bernardo's team at Royal LePage Signature Realty runs it in Mississauga, from the first conversation at your kitchen table to the day your lawyer confirms the funds have landed. Stan has been selling homes in this city for 30 years, which means the team has handled every version of this: the tidy sale of a family home in Erin Mills, the estate sale in Streetsville that needed months of patience, the Port Credit condo that had to close on the same day as a purchase in Oakville. You will see what each week looks like, who does what, and where the decisions are yours to make. Nothing here is legal or tax advice. Your lawyer and accountant have roles in this process, and we will point out exactly where they come in.
The first meeting is at your home, and it is a conversation before it is a pitch. The team walks the property with you, asks what you know about its history, and listens to what you need out of the sale: a date, a number, a soft landing into your next place, or all three. Within a day or two you receive a written opinion of value built from recent comparable sales and current competing listings, along with a marketing plan and a proposed timeline. Ontario law requires the team to give you the RECO Information Guide before you sign anything, and it explains your options for representation and what a brokerage owes you as a client. When you are ready, you sign a seller representation agreement. It sets out the services you will receive and how remuneration is calculated. That amount is negotiable; no law in Ontario fixes a commission rate. If any part of the agreement is unclear, ask, or have your lawyer read it first.
Weeks one and two: getting the house ready
Once the agreement is signed, the team gives you a prioritized list of what to do before photographs are taken. The list is deliberately short. It focuses on the fixes buyers notice in the first ninety seconds: paint that has gone tired, a front door that sticks, grout that has darkened, a yard that needs an afternoon. A stager visits to decide what stays, what goes into storage and what gets brought in. If your home has a known issue, such as a past basement leak or an older wiring type, this is when you tell the team so that it can be handled honestly rather than discovered by a buyer's inspector. Your lawyer should be engaged now as well, so they can pull the deed, check for any registered items on title and request a mortgage payout statement from your lender. Two weeks is typical for this phase, though an occupied family home can need three and a vacant one can be done in days.
Launch week: photography, the MLS and showings
Professional photography, floor plans and video are shot once the home is staged and clean. The listing then goes onto the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board's MLS system, which feeds the public portals and every brokerage in the region, and it launches at the same time on the team's own channels and to the buyers already registered with us who match your home. Showings begin the day the listing goes live. The team uses an online booking system so you can approve or decline requests from your phone, and it asks for feedback from every agent who brings a buyer through. During launch week you should expect to be out of the house for most of the day on the weekend and for a few hours on weekday evenings. If you have young children or pets, plan for that now. A public open house is usually held on the first weekend, and the team will tell you honestly whether one makes sense for your street.
Offer week: how offers are presented and reviewed
Depending on the plan you chose, offers are either reviewed as they arrive or held to a set date and time. Either way, each offer is presented to you with a plain summary: price, deposit, conditions, closing date, inclusions and anything unusual. In Ontario, every buyer who submits a written offer is entitled to know how many competing offers exist, and you may also direct the team in writing to share the contents of offers, though you are never required to. A buyer who wants to jump ahead of a scheduled presentation date must be handled according to the written instructions you gave at listing, so that decision is made calmly in advance rather than under pressure. The team negotiates on your behalf and tells you when a buyer has reached their ceiling. You decide which offer to accept, which to counter and which to set aside. Once you and a buyer have signed and the buyer's conditions, if any, are waived, the deal is firm.
From firm deal to closing day
A firm agreement usually closes in thirty to ninety days, and the team stays with you through all of it. The buyer's deposit is held in trust by the listing brokerage. Your lawyer prepares the transfer, obtains the final mortgage discharge statement, calculates adjustments for property tax and utilities, and arranges for you to sign closing documents a few days before the date. Any buyer visits allowed under the agreement are scheduled through the team. On closing day the lawyers exchange documents and funds electronically; you leave the keys with your lawyer or the team as instructed, and the buyer's lawyer releases them once the transfer is registered. Your lawyer then pays out your mortgage, the brokerage and their own account, and sends you the balance. One item people forget: the Canada Revenue Agency requires you to report the sale of your principal residence on your tax return for that year, even when no tax is owed. Your accountant can confirm the forms.
The next step
If you are thinking about selling this year or next, ask the team for a written opinion of value and a timeline built around your dates.
Questions people ask about Selling your house in Mississauga, step by step
How long does it take to sell a house in Mississauga?
Count on two to three weeks of preparation, then a launch and offer period that runs from a few days to a few weeks depending on the strategy you choose and how the market is behaving that month, then a closing period of thirty to ninety days set in the agreement. A realistic span from first meeting to funds in hand is two to four months.
Do I have to sign a representation agreement to work with the team?
To list and market your home, yes. A written seller representation agreement is required before a brokerage can represent you, and it must set out the services you receive and how remuneration is determined. You should receive and review the RECO Information Guide before you sign, and you can take the agreement to your lawyer first.
What does the team actually do that I could not do myself?
Pricing from live comparable data, staging direction, professional media, MLS exposure to every brokerage in the region, showing management, negotiation with buyer agents who do this daily, and handling of the paperwork and deadlines that make a deal firm. Private sellers can do parts of this; the value is in doing all of it at once, correctly.
Will I know how many other offers there are if I am also buying?
When you are the buyer, the seller's brokerage must tell you the number of competing written offers. Whether you learn anything about their contents depends on whether that seller has directed their brokerage in writing to share it. When you are the seller, the same rules apply to buyers of your home.
What should I do before the first meeting?
Find your survey if you have one, your most recent property tax bill, your mortgage statement and any receipts or permits for major work. Write down what you know about the roof, furnace, windows and any past water issues. None of it needs to be perfect; it just makes the first conversation more useful.
Thinking of selling?
Tell us a little about the home and we come back with a written opinion of value, what buyers are paying for comparable homes right now, and a plan. No obligation.
