Sell Your Toronto House for Cash, Tenants and All
At Sell House Cash, we buy houses for cash across Toronto, Ontario. No repairs, no commissions, no hassle. Fill out the form to get your free cash offer today.
A direct sale for Toronto houses that are hard to list
Toronto houses rarely sell themselves when something complicated is going on. A tenant who will not let buyers in, a rooming house with more bedrooms than the paperwork allows, a parent’s semi that has not been touched since the 1970s: these are the files that sit on the market or fall apart at the inspection.
Sell House Cash buys houses across Toronto directly from owners. We look at the property as it is, make a cash offer, and close on the date you choose. You do not fix anything, clean anything out or host a single showing.
The short version of our process
- Reach out. Send us the address and a quick description, including whether anyone is renting part of the house.
- One visit. We see the house once. For tenanted homes, we follow the 24 hours’ written notice tenants are entitled to.
- A written cash offer. No financing condition, no appraisal condition, no pressure. You can take time to review it with your lawyer or family.
- Close when it suits you. If title is clear, closing can happen in as little as a couple of weeks. If you need longer, we set the date around you.
Toronto situations that can stall a listing
A house with tenants who are staying put
A tenanted house is one of the trickier things to sell in Toronto. Under Ontario’s rules, a buyer can only have the seller serve an N12 if the buyer or a close family member genuinely plans to move in, the building has three units or fewer, and the buyer is an individual. The tenant then gets at least 60 days’ notice ending on the last day of a rental period, plus one month’s rent in compensation.
That works for some sales, but it shrinks your buyer pool to people who want to live there, and a disputed notice can end up in front of the Landlord and Tenant Board for months. We buy with tenants in place and simply take over the leases. Some sellers and tenants also agree to end a tenancy early on their own terms using an N11, which is a mutual agreement rather than an eviction. Get advice from a lawyer or licensed paralegal before you serve anything.
Rooming houses and multi-tenant homes
Since March 31, 2024, Toronto has permitted multi-tenant houses city-wide, meaning houses where four or more rooms are rented to separate people who share a kitchen or washroom. Every operator now needs a licence from the City, and licensed houses have to meet set standards. Older houses in places like Parkdale, where many large Victorian homes were carved into rooming houses and bachelor units after the Gardiner went in, are a familiar example.
If you own a house that has been run as rooms without a licence, or you inherited one and do not want to become an operator, a regular buyer’s lender may not touch it. We can look at it as it is, with the current occupants, and price in the work needed to bring it into line.
Inherited homes, probate and the Vacant Home Tax
When a Toronto house is left to an estate, the estate trustee usually needs a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee before selling. Ontario’s estate administration tax is paid as a deposit with that application, at $15 for every $1,000 of estate value above $50,000. An estates lawyer can tell you if probate applies.
While the estate is sorted out, the house often sits empty, and Toronto’s Vacant Home Tax is worth knowing about. For the 2025 year it is 3% of the property’s assessed value, every residential owner has to file a declaration, and the City lists the death of an owner as one of the exemptions. Make sure the declaration is filed. When you are ready, we can buy the house with its contents and close after the certificate arrives.
Basement flooding and old drains
Many older Toronto houses have had water in the basement at least once, whether from a heavy storm, a failing foundation drain or an old sewer connection. The City’s Basement Flooding Protection Subsidy Program helps with backwater valves and sump pumps, and from May 1, 2026 the maximum subsidy rose to $6,650 per property.
If you would rather not take on that project before selling, you do not have to. We buy houses with a history of flooding and handle the fixes ourselves.
Behind on payments
Ontario lenders usually enforce through power of sale. After at least 15 days of default, the lender can serve a Notice of Sale, and you then have at least 35 days to bring the mortgage up to date. You can still pay out the debt up to the moment the lender’s sale closes, so a private sale is usually still on the table. Call a real estate lawyer first, then talk to us if a firm cash offer would help.
Where we buy across Toronto
We buy in all six former municipalities that make up today’s city, and the housing changes a lot from one to the next.
- The old city and the inner east and west. Leslieville started as a village in the 1850s, home to market gardeners and brickyard workers, and Parkdale was a well-off suburb around 1900 whose side streets are still lined with semis and detached houses from that era. We buy there and in the Junction, Little Portugal, Riverdale and along the Danforth. Houses this old can come with knob and tube, original plumbing and a shared wall with a neighbour’s renovation.
- Scarborough. Birch Cliff, on top of the Bluffs along Kingston Road, grew as a streetcar suburb in the 1920s. Most of the rest of Scarborough, including areas like Dorset Park, was built after the Second World War, so expect bungalows and side splits with original windows, aging furnaces and basements that have been converted into rental units.
- North York and East York. Don Mills was planned between 1952 and 1965 as a self-contained new town of single-family homes, townhouses and low-rise apartments. We also buy in Willowdale, Downsview, Leaside and the streets of East York, where many owners have lived in the same house for decades.
- Etobicoke and York. From Mimico and Long Branch along the lake up through Weston and Mount Dennis, we buy older detached homes, duplexes and houses with extra units added over the years.
If you are just outside the city limits, we buy in Mississauga and Brampton too.
Land transfer tax and why it matters to your sale
Buyers in Toronto pay two land transfer taxes: Ontario’s provincial tax and the City’s Municipal Land Transfer Tax. Both are the buyer’s cost, so when you sell to us, neither comes out of your proceeds.
They still shape your market. Since April 1, 2026, Toronto charges graduated MLTT rates on single-family homes above $3 million, ranging from 4.40% on the portion between $3 million and $4 million up to 8.60% above $20 million. At that level the tax adds a significant cost for every buyer you might attract. We buy at a range of price points, so it is worth asking either way.
Is a cash sale the right call in Toronto?
Not always. If your house is vacant, updated and in a sought-after pocket, an agent and a well-run listing will usually bring a higher price than any cash buyer, and we will tell you so.
A cash sale makes more sense when the house has tenants, unlicensed rooms, flooding history, major deferred repairs or a tight deadline. You skip agent commissions, staging, the inspection back and forth and the risk of a buyer’s financing falling through. The trade-off is that our price reflects the work and the risk we take on, so compare the amount you would actually walk away with in each case.
What working with us looks like
We are a small, direct buyer. You deal with the people making the decision, the offer is in writing, and you can ask us anything about how we got to the number. There is no commission to pay us, and we do not ask you to sign anything exclusive while you think it over. You will still want your own real estate lawyer to handle the closing.
Find out what we can offer
Whether it is a Leslieville semi with a basement tenant, a Scarborough bungalow you inherited or a rooming house you no longer want to run, start with a no-obligation number. Ask for your cash offer here and we will be in touch to learn more about the property.
Questions about selling in Toronto
Can I sell my Toronto house if the tenant will not move out?
Yes. We buy with tenants in place and take over the existing leases, so you do not need to serve notice or go to the Landlord and Tenant Board. A purchaser’s own use N12 only works when the buyer or their family will actually live there, which does not fit an investor purchase like ours.
Do I pay the Toronto Municipal Land Transfer Tax when I sell?
No. Both the Ontario land transfer tax and Toronto’s MLTT are paid by the buyer. They can affect how many buyers can afford your house, especially above $3 million, but they do not come off your proceeds.
Will you buy a house that is being run as an unlicensed rooming house?
We can make an offer on it. Toronto has required multi-tenant house operators to be licensed since March 31, 2024, and we price in the work needed to bring a property into compliance. Speak with a lawyer about any existing orders or tenant rights before you sell.
The house is empty while the estate is settled. Do I still need to file a Vacant Home Tax declaration?
The City says every residential owner must file a declaration each year, and it lists the death of an owner as one of the exemptions. Filing on time helps avoid the property being deemed vacant. Check the City’s website or your estates lawyer for how it applies to your situation.
Which parts of Toronto do you buy in?
All of it, from the old city and East York to Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke and York. We buy detached houses, semis, row houses, duplexes and multi-unit homes.