About this video. The person on screen is an AI-generated avatar in my likeness. The voice is mine, cloned from recordings of my own voice, and the edit adjusts the sound. The image and voice may therefore differ from my real appearance and speech. The text is written and approved by me, and I am fully responsible for it. This process lets me publish regularly; it changes nothing about what is said. This video is in French — a full English transcript is provided below.
Hello. How much does it cost to sell your house? Most people do the math in their head: the price, minus the broker’s remuneration, minus what’s left on the mortgage. And they stop there.
The question, as people ask it: “how much does it cost to sell a house in Quebec”
The calculation everyone does in their head, and what it misses
Sale price, minus mortgage balance, equals what I keep. That calculation skips seven lines.
Almost every seller does the same math in their head. The sale price, minus the mortgage balance. And they look at the result thinking: that’s what I keep.
That calculation has the merit of being fast. It has one flaw: it counts only two lines.
Between the sale price and the amount that lands in your account, there is a series of items. The broker’s remuneration, with the taxes added to it. The discharge of your mortgage. A penalty, if you break your term. A certificate of location, if it must be redone. Title insurance, if the certificate can’t be ready before the deed of sale. A holdback at the notary, when a condition remains to be met after signing. Tax adjustments at the notary. The move. And, depending on your situation, income tax.
None of these items is a revelation on its own. It’s their sum that surprises, because you never encounter them all at once in a lifetime.
The rest of this video is that list. One item at a time, and who calculates it.
The broker’s remuneration: no rate is set
You were told that a broker’s remuneration in Quebec is such-and-such. There is no official rate.
The exact word is remuneration: it’s the term in the Real Estate Brokerage Act, and it’s the one I use. (In everyday speech people say “commission.”)
First thing to know, and the least understood: the self-regulatory organization for real estate brokerage in Quebec sets no rate. No schedule. No official tariff. The Organization does not step in there. Remuneration is negotiated between a seller and their broker.
It can take the form of a percentage of the sale price. It can be a flat amount, set in advance. It can be a combination of the two.
It is written into the brokerage contract, in writing, before signing. The contract also states the share that would be split with the buyer’s broker, if there is one.
I will give no figure here. Neither my own, nor a so-called industry standard: there is none. If someone quotes you a rate as if it were official, you now know it isn’t.
The taxes on the remuneration, and when it is paid
In a seller’s calculation, the broker’s remuneration takes two lines. Not one.
The taxes that apply to the remuneration are the line sellers most often skip in their kitchen-table math.
Whatever form is chosen — percentage, flat amount, or a combination of the two — the remuneration is taxable. The federal tax and the Quebec tax are added to it. It’s not an option, and it’s not an agreement between you and your broker: it’s sales tax.
So, in your calculation, the remuneration doesn’t take one line. It takes two. The remuneration, and the taxes on the remuneration.
Second point: the timing. Most of the time, the broker is only paid once the transaction is completed and their services rendered, at the notary. It’s the notary who distributes the sums owed out of the proceeds of the sale.
So you don’t take that sum out of your account. It’s withheld before the balance is handed to you. That changes how you plan for it.
What the broker covers, and what you cover
What’s included in the remuneration, and what isn’t? Ask the question.
Between what the broker covers and what the seller covers, there is a line. It’s one of the least-asked questions, and one of the most surprising.
On the broker’s side, normally: photography, the listing sheet, distribution on Centris and the portals. The sign too, the showings, and the advertising they choose to do. These items are included in the remuneration. They are not billed separately.
On the seller’s side: everything to do with the property itself. Paint, cleaning, decluttering, storage, repairs, documents issued by third parties, and expert opinions.
Between the two, there’s a zone that varies from one broker to another. Home staging, video, the virtual tour, drone photography, outdoor landscaping. Some include them, others don’t.
So the question to ask before signing, to any broker: what’s included, and what isn’t.
And have it written into the contract, not in an email.
Moving, storing, housing yourself in between
The move doesn’t happen at the notary’s. That’s why it drops off sellers’ calculations.
Moving, storage and temporary housing are not transaction costs, and that’s exactly why they fall outside the calculation.
A seller adds up what happens at the notary. The move doesn’t happen at the notary. It happens the next day, and it comes out of the same account.
Three things to plan for. The move itself, whose schedule tightens a lot around the end of June. Storage, if the delivery date of your next address isn’t the date of your sale. And housing in between, if the gap is measured in weeks.
There are also the small things. Transferring services. The change of address. Cleaning before handover.
I’m not giving you any figure on this either. Ask for written quotes, from more than one supplier, and do it before agreeing to an occupancy date.
Income tax, the principal residence, and the net amount
Selling your principal residence must be declared on your taxes, even when there’s nothing to pay at the end.
That leaves income tax, and how to establish your net amount for real.
When you sell a property, the sale is declared to both levels of government, even if it’s your principal residence. There is an exemption for the principal residence, and it can eliminate or reduce the capital gain. It has conditions, and it requires forms filed in the year of the sale.
There’s a limit. The property wasn’t your principal residence every year. Part of it was used as a rental. It’s an income property, or you aren’t a resident of Canada. In those cases, the rules are no longer the same. I’m not a tax specialist and I don’t rule on that. The person who answers is a tax specialist or a chartered professional accountant.
And the net amount is established by adding up every item in this video, each priced by the professional whose job it is. Not before.
Who to call, and for what
I don’t do the inspection. My role is to know where to look and who to call.
- Notary
- Land surveyor
- Lender or mortgage broker
- Tax specialist
Frequently asked questions
Get a value report for your property, and a marketing plan
Get a value report for your property, and a marketing plan — comparables, features, opinion of value
Full transcript of the video
Full transcript of the video above (translated from French). Published on September 12, 2026.
Hello. How much does it cost to sell your house? Most people do the math in their head: the price, minus the broker’s remuneration, minus what’s left on the mortgage. And they stop there.
My name is Ernso Cléus. I’m a residential and commercial real estate broker at RE/MAX Crystal.
That calculation is incomplete, and I’ll show you where.
Everything to do with your mortgage and the notary — the discharge, the penalty, the adjustments — is covered in a separate video on my channel.
I’m not going to give you any amount or any rate. That’s calculated on an address and a file, not in a video.
The calculation everyone does in their head
Almost every seller does the same math in their head. The sale price, minus the mortgage balance. And they look at the result thinking: that’s what I keep.
That calculation has the merit of being fast. It has one flaw: it counts only two lines.
Between the sale price and the amount that lands in your account, there is a series of items. The broker’s remuneration, with the taxes added to it. The discharge of your mortgage. A penalty, if you break your term. A certificate of location, if it must be redone. Title insurance, if the certificate can’t be ready before the deed of sale. A holdback at the notary, when a condition remains to be met after signing. Tax adjustments at the notary. The move. And, depending on your situation, income tax.
None of these items is a revelation on its own. It’s their sum that surprises, because you never encounter them all at once in a lifetime.
The rest of this video is that list. One item at a time, and who calculates it.
The broker’s remuneration: no rate is set
The exact word is remuneration: it’s the term in the Real Estate Brokerage Act, and it’s the one I use.
First thing to know, and the least understood: the self-regulatory organization for real estate brokerage in Quebec sets no rate. No schedule. No official tariff. The Organization does not step in there. Remuneration is negotiated between a seller and their broker.
It can take the form of a percentage of the sale price. It can be a flat amount, set in advance. It can be a combination of the two.
It is written into the brokerage contract, in writing, before signing. The contract also states the share that would be split with the buyer’s broker, if there is one.
I will give no figure here. Neither my own, nor a so-called industry standard: there is none. If someone quotes you a rate as if it were official, you now know it isn’t.
The taxes on the remuneration, and when it is paid
The taxes that apply to the remuneration are the line sellers most often skip in their kitchen-table math.
Whatever form is chosen — percentage, flat amount, or a combination of the two — the remuneration is taxable. The federal tax and the Quebec tax are added to it. It’s not an option, and it’s not an agreement between you and your broker: it’s sales tax.
So, in your calculation, the remuneration doesn’t take one line. It takes two. The remuneration, and the taxes on the remuneration.
Second point: the timing. Most of the time, the broker is only paid once the transaction is completed and their services rendered, at the notary. It’s the notary who distributes the sums owed out of the proceeds of the sale.
So you don’t take that sum out of your account. It’s withheld before the balance is handed to you. That changes how you plan for it.
What the broker covers, and what you cover
Between what the broker covers and what the seller covers, there is a line. It’s one of the least-asked questions, and one of the most surprising.
On the broker’s side, normally: photography, the listing sheet, distribution on Centris and the portals. The sign too, the showings, and the advertising they choose to do. These items are included in the remuneration. They are not billed separately.
On the seller’s side: everything to do with the property itself. Paint, cleaning, decluttering, storage, repairs, documents issued by third parties, and expert opinions.
Between the two, there’s a zone that varies from one broker to another. Home staging, video, the virtual tour, drone photography, outdoor landscaping. Some include them, others don’t.
So the question to ask before signing, to any broker: what’s included, and what isn’t.
And have it written into the contract, not in an email.
Moving, storing, housing yourself in between
Moving, storage and temporary housing are not transaction costs, and that’s exactly why they fall outside the calculation.
A seller adds up what happens at the notary. The move doesn’t happen at the notary. It happens the next day, and it comes out of the same account.
Three things to plan for. The move itself, whose schedule tightens a lot around the end of June. Storage, if the delivery date of your next address isn’t the date of your sale. And housing in between, if the gap is measured in weeks.
There are also the small things. Transferring services. The change of address. Cleaning before handover.
I’m not giving you any figure on this either. Ask for written quotes, from more than one supplier, and do it before agreeing to an occupancy date.
Income tax, the principal residence, and the net amount
That leaves income tax, and how to establish your net amount for real.
When you sell a property, the sale is declared to both levels of government, even if it’s your principal residence. There is an exemption for the principal residence, and it can eliminate or reduce the capital gain. It has conditions, and it requires forms filed in the year of the sale.
There’s a limit. The property wasn’t your principal residence every year. Part of it was used as a rental. It’s an income property, or you aren’t a resident of Canada. In those cases, the rules are no longer the same. I’m not a tax specialist and I don’t rule on that. The person who answers is a tax specialist or a chartered professional accountant.
And the net amount is established by adding up every item in this video, each priced by the professional whose job it is. Not before.
The head calculation forgets half the items, and each one is asked before signing.
Before calculating anything, you need the starting figure: the value of your property. I produce a value report — the comparable sales in your area, the features that matter, and what I draw from them. And I also offer a marketing plan for your property. Request it through the links below the video.
If you are already bound by a brokerage contract with another broker, this invitation is not addressed to you.
Nothing I have just said is tax advice. For income tax and the principal residence, there is a tax specialist or an accountant.
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker, RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
Read also: selling your house with a broker · all the tips for sellers · contact me
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker — RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
