Ontario Land Transfer Tax
.5% up to  $ 55,000
1.0% up to $250,000 minus $275
1.5% over  $250,000 to $400,000 minus $1,525
2.0% over  $400,000 minus $3,525
Tax is $4,475 for the first $400,000 and 2% thereafter
$500,000 purchase is $4,475 + $2,000 = $6,475

Toronto Land Transfer Tax
.5% up to $ 55,000
1.0% over $ 55,000 to $400,000 - $  275
2.0% over $400,000                  - $4,275
Tax is $3,725 first $400,000 2% thereafter
$500,000 purchase is $3,725 + $2,000 = $5,725

These are the largest parts of the closing costs.  The rest are quite low.
We can provide them upon request, and they will include fees for a title search, City of Toronto Tax Department, City of Toronto Water Department, City of Toronto Hydro Department, Title Insurance, and of course your Lawyer's fee plus disbursements.  If your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price in unborrowed funds, then, there will also be a mortgage insurance fee which can be paid in cash with the closing money, or added to the principal amount of the mortgage provided you qualify for the total amount, which is not usually too difficult.  

Most mortgages have the option to allow payments to be made on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. This option may be desirable for two reasons. The first is it can save you money as you can expect to pay off your mortgage about 4 years sooner. This can save you dramatically over the life of your mortgage. The other reason why these options are so popular is that if your employer pays you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, you can simplify your budgeting by making the payment line up with the way you paid.

Title Insurance is an insurance policy covering the condition of title or ownership of real property at the time the policy is issued and is used to provide ownership protection for a buyer against losses or damages suffered as a result of title problems. Title insurance is obtained prior to closing a purchase for the benefit of the buyer.

Although title insurance as been standard in American real estate transactions, it has gained popularity as part of the typical Ontario real estate purchase only in recent years.

Traditionally Ontario buyers have relied solely on their lawyer’s legal opinion that they have ‘good and marketable title’. Unfortunately the fact is no lawyer can completely assure a buyer that there is absolutely no chance of an error in the government record, that there are no undisclosed claims, that what appears to be the signature of the prior owner or consenting spouse is a true signature, or that there has been no prior fraud or forgery on title. Title insurance can satisfy such ‘gaps’ in a lawyer’s opinion.

Title insurance does not replace the role of a lawyer. It simply provides an added level of protection for the buyer. Ontario lawyers still must search title and certify the status of title before a title insurance policy can be issued.

The typical residential title insurance involves a simple one-time premium and provides protection for the buyer against losses suffered from the following types of matters:

Defects that would have been revealed by an accurate, up-to-date survey.

Encroachments.

Contraventions of municipal zoning by-laws.

Unmarketability of title.

Defects in the title.

Invalidity or unenforceability of the mortgage on title.

Liens.

Easements (other than the usual easements for utilities etc.).

Contraventions of subdivisions, development and other agreements.

Priority of certain construction liens.

Priority of unregistered easements and rights-of-way.

Fraud or forgery.

Solicitor error, omission or fraud.

In addition to these types of coverage, the typical policy also provides the insured with:

Indemnity for actual loss or damage for the amount of the policy (being the price paid for the property and increasing with inflation and raising value over time to a coverage which can be double the price paid).

Payment of legal fees and costs to defend title.

A no-fault method to resolve title problems.

The typical cost of a title insurance policy is in the $150-$250 range (depending on the type of residential property). This cost is often offset by the cost of certain legal disbursements, which are no longer required in title insurance transactions. As municipalities continue to increase their frees for zoning, subdivision and tax searches, title insurance is becoming an increasingly competitive option.

When you require a mortgage for more than 80% of the purchase price of a property, that mortgage must be insured by Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) or GE Mortgage insurance. The premium charged by these company`s decreases as the down payment increases. When you finance your property at 95%, a premium of 2.75% is added to the mortgage. By increasing the down payment to 10% of the purchase price the premium can be reduced to 2.0%. If you can put down 20%, you can avoid an insurance fee. Depending on your situation there are ways that you can structure this financing to avoid the CMHC or GE insurance premium.

As mentioned above, when you put a 20% down payment on your purchase you can avoid the CMHC premium. More importantly the larger the down payment, the lower the amount of interest you will pay over the life of your mortgage. It is important to note that it may not be wise to stretch yourself to increase your down payment and end up borrowing on credit cards or a line of credit at a higher rate.

Paying extra amounts on your mortgage can make a big interest saving over time. When we select a mortgage company, privilege payments options are something that we look for. A 20% privilege payment will allow you to pay off up to $20,000 per year on a $100 000 mortgage. It is important that the privilege payment also be flexible to allow you to pay smaller payments on the mortgage and as often as you wish. An extra $1000 periodically paid on a mortgage can help you become mortgage free faster.

The options for mortgages available can be very confusing for most mortgage shoppers. Terms for mortgages vary between variable and fixed rate, 6-month terms to 10 year terms. Taking a variable or floating rate mortgage can have savings. Typically the shorter the term or guarantee of the rate, the lower the rate will be. This does not always happen, depending on the market place and the economy, but history has shown that short-term rates tend to be lower than long-term rates. The up side of variable rate is the strong potential for interest rate savings. The down side is the fact that you are accepting the interest rate risk without a guarantee. If you are considering a variable rate mortgage you need to look at your own risk tolerance, and your cash flow available to deal with potential increased payment. Considering projections of rates and where we see INTEREST RATES heading can also be important in this decision. Make sure you talk to an expert when you are making this decision.