Paying for care & retirement
Downsizing vs. Staying Put: The Real Math for Ontario Seniors
Almost every Ontario family I meet with over 60 has had some version of this conversation at the kitchen table: sell the big house and simplify, or stay put and manage. Both sides usually oversell their own case. Selling isn't free, and staying isn't free either. Here's the honest math for both paths, side by side, so you can weigh them with real numbers instead of gut feeling alone.
The cost of selling, all of it
Selling a house sounds simple: list it, sell it, bank the difference. The actual bill has more line items than most people expect.
- Realtor commission, typically roughly 4 to 5 percent of the sale price, plus HST on that commission. On a $1,000,000 home, that alone is commonly $45,000 to $56,500.
- Land transfer tax on the new home. Ontario's provincial land transfer tax is a graduated rate that lands around $9,000 to $10,000 on a typical $650,000 purchase. If the new home is inside the City of Toronto, add Toronto's own municipal land transfer tax, which largely mirrors the provincial rates, roughly doubling the total to somewhere near $18,000 to $19,000. Repeat buyers, which most downsizers are, generally don't qualify for the first-time buyer rebate that offsets some of this for younger purchasers.
- Legal fees, moving, and setup costs. Two real estate lawyers (one for the sale, one for the purchase), movers, and getting a new place livable, new blinds, minor repairs, sometimes a bit of furniture, commonly runs $8,000 to $15,000 combined.
- Condo fees, forever. If the smaller home is a condo, monthly fees of roughly $600 to $900 are common in the GTA, and unlike a mortgage, they never end. Over ten years that's $72,000 to $108,000 in payments a paid-off house simply doesn't have.
The cost of staying, all of it
Staying put isn't free either, it just spreads the cost differently.
- Ongoing maintenance. Roofs, furnaces, windows, and general upkeep on an older, larger house commonly run $5,000 to $15,000 a year on average, some years much more.
- Property tax on a larger, often more valuable, home tends to run higher than on a smaller condo or bungalow.
- Possible care costs later. If health needs increase, staying may eventually mean paying for home care, on top of the house costs above. My articles on funding home care with home equity and paying for a retirement home cover that side of the ledger in detail.
- Reverse mortgage interest, if you borrow against the house instead of selling to free up cash. Rates run a little higher than a regular mortgage, and since there are no required monthly payments, interest compounds over time. It's a real cost, just one that's paid later, from the estate, rather than out of pocket today. My reverse mortgage explainer shows exactly how that balance grows over five and ten years.
A worked example: $1,000,000 house to a $650,000 condo
Numbers below are rounded and illustrative, meant to show the shape of the math, not a quote for any specific property.
| Item | Approximate amount |
|---|---|
| Sale price of current home | $1,000,000 |
| Selling costs (commission + HST, legal, prep) | ≈ $60,000 |
| Net sale proceeds | ≈ $940,000 |
| Purchase price of condo | $650,000 |
| Land transfer tax, legal, moving, setup | ≈ $29,000 |
| Total cost to acquire the condo | ≈ $679,000 |
| Cash freed up | ≈ $261,000 |
Illustration only, based on approximate 2026 GTA figures. Actual commissions, taxes, and costs vary by property, municipality, and negotiated terms. Confirm current numbers with your realtor and lawyer.
So in this illustration, downsizing frees up roughly a quarter million dollars, plus it trades an aging house's maintenance bill for a condo fee of perhaps $700 a month, or about $8,400 a year, indefinitely. Whether that trade is a win depends entirely on what that $261,000 is for: it's a strong move if it funds a more comfortable retirement, pays down other debt, or removes financial stress. It's a weaker move if the same family would have been just as comfortable staying, and simply liked the idea of a smaller place.
The emotional ledger deserves equal billing
I say this to every client, and I mean it: the emotional side of this decision is not a soft afterthought to the financial one, it's a co-equal factor. Staying put keeps you near neighbours you've known for decades, in a garden you've tended for years, close to a family doctor, a church, a routine that took a lifetime to build. Downsizing can mean less to clean, no stairs, no shovelling, a lock-and-leave lifestyle, and sometimes proximity to grandchildren that a big house across town didn't offer. Neither list is more legitimate than the other. A financially "better" move that leaves someone lonely and displaced isn't actually the better move, and a financially costly choice to stay isn't automatically foolish if staying is what makes the years ahead feel like home.
I've sat across the table from people who ran the numbers, saw that downsizing freed up real money, and still chose to stay, because the garden and the neighbours were worth more to them than the difference. I've also sat with people who could have comfortably stayed and chose to sell anyway, because the idea of one more winter of shovelling and a leaky roof genuinely exhausted them. Both were the right call, for them. My job isn't to tell you which list should win, it's to make sure both lists are complete and honest before you decide.
A middle path some families overlook
Downsizing and staying put aren't always an either-or choice. Some homeowners use a reverse mortgage to fund the maintenance, taxes, or modest renovations that make staying comfortable for a few more years, buying time to decide about a move without rushing it. Others downsize partway, moving to a smaller home in the same neighbourhood, keeping the community ties while shedding the upkeep of the bigger property. There's no rule that says the decision has to be permanent or all at once; for many families, the honest answer is "not yet, but let's plan for eventually," and that's a perfectly reasonable place to land.
Timing matters as much as the math
A detail that trips people up: selling and buying rarely happen on the exact same day. Most people either need to close on their new place before their old one sells, which means carrying two properties briefly, or sell first and need somewhere to stay in the gap, which often means storage costs and a temporary rental. A short-term bridge loan, or in some cases a reverse mortgage used specifically to bridge the gap, can smooth this over without a rushed, discounted sale on one end or a scramble for temporary housing on the other. It's worth planning this timing question before your house is listed, not after an offer comes in and the calendar suddenly feels urgent.
Market conditions matter too, though less than people fear. In a slower market, homes can take longer to sell and may fetch a little less relative to asking price, while a faster market can work in a seller's favour but also compress the time available to find and secure the next place calmly. Neither condition should force a decision on its own; a good realtor and mortgage professional can help you plan around current conditions rather than being surprised by them.
So which one wins?
Genuinely, it depends, and sometimes downsizing wins outright: when the current home has become physically hard to manage, when the freed-up cash solves a real problem, care costs, debt, a thin retirement income, or when the emotional pull toward a simpler, smaller life is real and not just talked about. In those cases, selling is often the clearer, cleaner answer, and I'll say so plainly if that's what the numbers and the conversation point to.
Staying tends to win when the home is still manageable, when community and routine matter more than the freed-up cash would, or when equity can be accessed through a reverse mortgage for a specific need without giving up the house at all. My retirement planning page and the three-minute self-assessment are good next steps for putting your own numbers, and your own preferences, on paper before deciding.
Questions people ask about this
What does it actually cost to sell a house in Ontario?
Realtor commission typically runs roughly 4 to 5 percent of the sale price plus HST, and most sellers also pay legal fees, minor prep or repair costs, and moving expenses. On a $1,000,000 home, selling costs commonly land somewhere around $50,000 to $70,000 once everything is added up, though every sale is different.
Is land transfer tax really doubled in Toronto?
Yes, for a purchase within the City of Toronto, buyers pay both the provincial Ontario land transfer tax and Toronto's own municipal land transfer tax, which largely mirrors the provincial rates. In practice that roughly doubles the land transfer tax bill compared to buying the same home just outside Toronto's borders.
Does downsizing always save money in the long run?
Not always, and that surprises people. A smaller condo often comes with monthly condo fees that never end, while a paid-off house has no equivalent recurring charge beyond property tax and maintenance. Downsizing tends to win when it frees up a large chunk of cash you actually need or want to use; it wins less clearly when the main goal is simply lowering monthly costs.
What if I want to stay but I'm worried about running out of money?
A reverse mortgage is built for exactly that situation: it lets you access home equity for ongoing costs or care without selling or taking on a monthly payment. It isn't free money, interest accrues over time, but for people who value staying in their home above all else, it's often a better fit than a forced sale.
This article is general education for Ontario residents, current to July 10, 2026, and is not legal, tax, or investment advice. Reverse mortgage features vary by lender; approval, rates, and amounts are never guaranteed. Please consult an independent legal or financial advisor about your personal situation.