Published 7 September 2026 · By Jatin Dua, Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty
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Get My Free Estimate →Above $3 million, price is one of several things being negotiated and frequently not the most persuasive. Deposit size signals capacity and intent. Closing date flexibility solves a real problem for many sellers. Which conditions a buyer carries determines how certain the deal is, and certainty is worth money in a market where roughly 75 GTA sales a month happen at this level.
The structural fact underneath all of it is that Ontario has no cooling-off period on a resale purchase. A firm offer is genuinely firm, which is why a buyer who has already done the inspection and the legal review can compete on terms rather than only on price.
The currencies
| Term | What it signals | What it is worth to a seller |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Value | Obvious, and not always decisive |
| Deposit size | Liquidity and intent | High — it is what they hold if you fail |
| Conditions | Certainty, or the lack of it | Very high in a thin market |
| Closing date | Whether their next move works | Often decisive, and cheap to give |
| Chattels and fixtures | Convenience | Low in dollars, high in goodwill |
| Simplicity | How much can go wrong | Underrated, especially with an estate or a separation |
The reason certainty ranks so highly is arithmetic. With roughly 300 GTA sales above $3 million across four months of 2026, a seller whose deal collapses does not simply find another buyer next week. They restart in a market where the pool that saw the property has already seen it.
What the rules permit during competition
Under TRESA, a seller may direct their brokerage to disclose the substance of competing offers. The permitted items are the number of competing offers, whether the listing brokerage represents any of the competing buyers, and commission arrangements that could affect whether an offer is accepted. Personal or identifying information about competing buyers is not disclosed. The seller controls the direction in writing and can revoke it.
As a buyer, ask those three questions. If the seller has not directed disclosure, you will not get answers, and you should price the property rather than the speculation.
How top-end negotiations usually run
Formal offer dates are a mid-market mechanism. Above $3 million, the more common pattern is:
- A period of showings, often over weeks
- Serious buyers doing diligence during that period — inspection, lawyer’s review, financing
- An offer, usually one at a time, negotiated directly
- Terms as well as price moving through two or three rounds
Competition does occur where pricing is right — three offers on the Forest Hill house in August 2026 — but it is the product of a defensible number rather than of a process.
For buyers: where to hold and where to give
Hold on the conditions you actually need — especially where you have not been able to inspect or have a lawyer review title, ravine, heritage and zoning status. Ontario gives no cooling-off period; there is no undo.
Give on closing date, possession, chattels, and deposit timing. These cost little and frequently solve the seller’s real problem.
For sellers: what makes buyers able to compete
Everything that lets a buyer go firm with confidence: a pre-listing inspection, the survey, permits with dates, mechanical ages, and for a condominium an available status certificate. A buyer who cannot get comfortable cannot compete, and a buyer who cannot compete is not in your market.
The one thing not to negotiate
Your walk-away number. Decide it before you are in the room, in writing, with the reasoning attached. In a market this thin, the emotional pressure runs both ways — buyers fear losing a property that may not have an equivalent for a year, and sellers fear that this is the only buyer. Both fears produce bad decisions, and the antidote is a number decided in advance.
The practical takeaway
Negotiate the whole agreement rather than only the price. Certainty, deposit and timing are worth real money to a seller in a market of 75 sales a month, and they cost a well-prepared buyer far less than the equivalent in price.
Frequently asked questions
Do luxury homes sell in bidding wars?
Less often than the mid-market, but it happens when pricing is correct. The Forest Hill house that sold in August 2026 was listed at $22 million and closed at $23.5 million with three competing offers. More commonly at this level, negotiation is one-on-one rather than a formal offer date.
What can a seller disclose about competing offers?
Under TRESA, with the seller’s written direction: the number of competing offers, whether the listing brokerage represents any competing buyer, and commission arrangements that could affect acceptance. Personal or identifying information about competing buyers is not disclosed.
Does a bigger deposit really help?
Frequently yes. It signals liquidity and intent, and it increases what a seller holds if the buyer fails to complete. Market practice runs roughly 5% to 10% and sellers at the top end often expect the upper part of that range or more.
Should I make a bully offer?
A pre-emptive offer can work where the property is genuinely right and the seller is motivated. It works best when it is clean — firm or nearly so, with a strong deposit and a closing date that suits the seller. It works badly as a low offer dressed up as urgency.
What is worth conceding in a negotiation?
Things that cost you little and matter to the other side: closing date, possession arrangements, inclusion of chattels, deposit timing. Conceding on conditions you actually need is where buyers get hurt, because Ontario gives no cooling-off period.
How do I negotiate on a property that has been listed a long time?
Find out why. If the market has seen it and passed on the price, you have real leverage. If it is simply unusual and waiting for the right household, you have less than you think — and the seller knows the difference.
Thinking about buying or selling at the top end?
Send me the address, or the shortlist you are considering. I will tell you what the property is actually worth today, what the land is worth without the house, what the transfer tax and carrying costs will be, and whether the deal makes sense. Confidential, always.
connect@jatindua.com · 437-987-1925 · Book a free consultation
Confidential. Read personally and answered within 24 hours. I never share, sell or distribute your information.
Related reading
- Open offers in Ontario: what a seller can and cannot tell other bidders
- Deposits in Ontario: how much, who holds it, and what happens if you walk
- Going firm on a $4 million house: the risk nobody prices
- What happens when a luxury home is priced too high in Toronto
Sources
Everything above that is a rule, a rate or a published number comes from these. Verify anything that matters to your own deal.
- RECO — About open offers
- Toronto Regional Real Estate Board — Market Watch, August 2026
- RE/MAX Canada — 2026 Spotlight on Luxury Real Estate, Greater Toronto
- Sotheby’s International Realty Canada — Forest Hill sale release, 26 August 2026
About the author — Jatin Dua, Broker of Record
I’m the Broker of Record at RE/MAX Quantum Realty, 799 The Queensway in Etobicoke, and I work with buyers, sellers and investors across Toronto and the west GTA. A large part of my work sits in the upper end of the market, where the comparables are thin, the rules are heavier and the cost of a wrong number is measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The free estimators on this site are mine. I built them because the first question every owner asks is “what is it worth?” and the honest answer starts with a number you can check yourself. connect@jatindua.com or 437-987-1925.