The Complete Private Home Sale Checklist

A private sale has a lot of small steps, and most of the stress comes from wondering whether you have missed one. This checklist puts every step in order, from the first decision to the day after closing, so you can work through it at your own pace and always know what comes next. Print it, or keep it open while you sell.

How to use this checklist

The stages run in order, but they overlap in practice: you will be pricing while you prepare, and answering inquiries while you are still polishing photos. Treat each list as the set of things that must be true before you move on, not as a rigid sequence. Some items will not apply to you (no condo, no tenant, no mortgage), so cross them off and keep going. Where a step has its own guide, it is linked.

Stage 1: Decide and plan

• Confirm selling privately is right for you. Read FSBO vs. realtor and be honest about the time you can give it.
• Set your timeline. When do you need to be out? When do you need the money? Work backwards to a listing date.
• Check your mortgage. Ask your lender what it costs to pay out or port the mortgage, and whether there is a penalty for your closing window.
• Line up your lawyer or notary early. Ask for a quote and what they need from you. The HouseUp Certified directory is a good place to start.
• Gather documents. Deed or title, survey if you have one, property tax bills, utility bills for the last year, warranties, permits for any renovations, condo documents, rental contracts for equipment, the mortgage statement.
• Know your obligations. Ask your lawyer what you must disclose in your province, and whether a tenant, an estate, a separation or a power of attorney changes anything.
• Set a budget. Legal fees, photos, minor repairs, your listing, and any paid promotion. The real costs of selling yourself lists them all.

Stage 2: Prepare the home

• Walk through as a buyer. Start at the curb. Note everything that would make you hesitate.
• Fix the small things. Dripping taps, sticking doors, burnt-out bulbs, cracked outlet covers, scuffed baseboards. Small defects suggest big ones.
• Decide on the bigger things. A worn roof or an old furnace can be repaired, priced in, or disclosed as-is. Pick one deliberately; do not leave it for the buyer to discover.
• Declutter and depersonalise. Clear surfaces, thin out closets by a third, store family photos. Buyers need to imagine their own life there.
• Deep clean. Windows, grout, oven, carpets, the inside of the fridge. Clean is the cheapest upgrade there is.
• Curb appeal. Mow, trim, sweep, a pot of flowers by the door, a working doorbell, fresh house numbers.
• Consider a pre-listing inspection. Optional, but it removes surprises from the buyer's inspection and shows confidence. Inspectors are listed in the directory.
• Remove or exclude what you are keeping. Anything attached that is going with you should come down before photos.

Stage 3: Price it

• Collect comparable sales. Recent sold prices for similar homes nearby, not asking prices. How to price your house shows where to find them.
• Adjust for differences. Size, condition, lot, parking, renovations, location within the neighbourhood.
• Check the current market. How many similar homes are for sale right now, and how long are they taking to sell?
• Pick a price and a floor. Your asking price, and the lowest number you would accept with clean terms.
• Run your numbers. Use the savings calculator and your lawyer's quote to see what you keep.
• Plan your review date. Decide now when you will revisit the price if showings are slow, so the decision is not emotional later.

Stage 4: Build the listing

• Photograph in the best light. Every room, the exterior front and back, and the details that sell the home. How to photograph your home is a room-by-room guide.
• Write the facts first. Type, bedrooms, bathrooms, size, year built, lot, parking, taxes, condo fees, inclusions.
• Write a description that answers questions. Lead with what is best about the home, then layout, then neighbourhood. Honest and specific beats glowing and vague.
• State inclusions and exclusions. The same list that will appear in the agreement later.
• Create your listing on HouseUp. Start here; it saves as you go and walks through each step. How to list your house without a realtor covers the finer points.
• Review everything once more. Spelling, prices, the number of bathrooms. Buyers notice.
• Prepare your answers. Utilities, age of major systems, why you are selling, what is negotiable. Keep them in a note so every reply is consistent.

Stage 5: Market and show

• Tell people. Neighbours, friends, colleagues, community groups. Many private sales come from someone who knows someone.
• Put up a sign. A lawn sign with a way to reach you still works. HouseUp offers a signage package with QR codes that open your listing.
• Answer inquiries within hours. How to handle buyer inquiries covers qualifying buyers and staying safe.
• Set showing windows. Offer specific times, confirm the day before, and share the address only once confirmed.
• Prepare for each showing. Lights on, blinds open, pets out, valuables away, a fact sheet on the counter. See the showing checklist.
• Consider an open house. Add the date to your listing so every buyer sees it.
• Follow up the same day. A short message after every showing.
• Read the feedback. Lots of showings and no offers usually means price. No showings usually means photos or price. Act on it by your review date.

Stage 6: Offers and negotiation

• Read the whole offer. Price, deposit, conditions, dates, inclusions, representations. Understanding offers and conditions explains each part.
• Check the dates against each other. Irrevocable, condition deadlines, completion, possession, deposit due.
• Compare against your plan. Net price, certainty, timing, deposit, everything else.
• Have your lawyer review before you sign. Especially any clause you do not fully understand.
• Respond before the deadline. Accept, counter on what matters, or decline politely.
• Confirm the deposit is received. By the trust account named in the agreement, by the due date.
• Keep marketing if the offer is conditional on the buyer's sale. Ask your lawyer how the escape clause works in your province.

Stage 7: From firm to closing

• Diarise every condition deadline. Make sure waivers or notices arrive in writing by the deadline.
• Make the home available for the inspection and appraisal. Tidy, accessible, utilities on.
• Respond to inspection requests deliberately. Repair, credit, or decline; get your lawyer's view on anything substantial.
• Mark the listing as sold once the deal is firm. Then let other buyers who inquired know.
• Send your lawyer what they ask for. Mortgage details, condo documents, rental contracts, ID, your forwarding address and bank details for the proceeds.
• Give notice to the mortgage lender. Your lawyer arranges the payout statement; you may need to request it.
• Book the move. Movers are listed in the directory.
• Arrange cancellations and transfers. Utilities, internet, insurance (keep it until closing), equipment rentals, mail forwarding, subscriptions, the condo corporation.
• Keep the home in the agreed condition. Anything the buyer saw should still be there and working on closing day.
• Walk through the inclusions list. Everything you promised stays; everything you excluded is already out.

What happens after you accept an offer explains this stage in more detail.

Stage 8: Closing week and after

• Sign with your lawyer or notary. Usually a few days before completion. Bring the ID they asked for.
• Allow the buyer's final walk-through if the agreement provides for one.
• Clean and clear the home. Broom-clean at minimum; empty of everything not included.
• Gather keys, fobs, openers, manuals and codes. Leave them as your lawyer instructs, usually released once funds have been received.
• Record final meter readings. Photograph them on the day you leave.
• Confirm funds have been received before keys are released. Your lawyer will tell you when the deal has closed.
• Keep your closing documents. The statement of adjustments, the final agreement, and your lawyer's reporting letter.
• Report the sale on your tax return. The CRA requires the sale of a principal residence to be reported even when no tax is owed. Your accountant or the CRA can confirm what applies to you.
• Update your HouseUp listing with the outcome. Marking it sold, with the final price if you choose, helps the next private seller in your area.

That is the whole journey. If you are at the very beginning, start with how to sell a house without a realtor in Canada, then come back to this page and work through it one stage at a time.