Buying a home in Toronto takes time.

The process runs anywhere from two to six months for most people, and each phase has its own pace.

Knowing what to expect helps you plan better and reduces stress along the way.

The Toronto real estate market has specific patterns that affect how long everything takes. Properties sit on the market for an average of 51 days as of September 2025, compared to 43 days the year before. The average house price sits at $1,102,972, while homes sell for about 2% less than their asking price. These numbers tell us buyers have more room to negotiate, but negotiations can stretch out the timeline.

Getting Your Money Ready Takes One to Four Weeks

Before you look at a single property, you need mortgage pre-approval. This step shows sellers you can actually buy their home and tells you exactly how much you can spend. Banks and lenders take one to three business days to process pre-approval applications when you have all your paperwork ready.

The speed depends on how organized you are. You’ll need pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns, and employment letters. Some lenders can approve you the same day if everything checks out smoothly. Once approved, you have 90 to 120 days before the pre-approval expires and you need to start over.

Finding the Right Home Can Take Months

House hunting varies more than any other part of the process. Some buyers find their home in two weeks. Others search for six months or longer. Most people spend one to three months looking at properties before they find one they want to buy.

Toronto’s inventory increased by 18.9% to reach 29,394 properties, which means you have more choices than buyers had in recent years. More options sound good, but they also mean more properties to visit and compare. You might look at 20 or 30 homes before finding the right one.

During your search, Wahi helps speed things up by putting all the information you need in one place. The platform shows you actual sold prices from the past 20 years, not asking prices that don’t tell the whole story. You can see how long similar homes stayed on the market and what they actually sold for. The app learns what you like and sends alerts when matching properties come up. This saves you from missing good options or wasting time on homes that won’t work. Many buyers say having all this data helps them make decisions faster because they’re not second-guessing themselves or wondering if they have the full picture.

Making an Offer and Negotiating Takes Days, Not Weeks

After you find your home, the offer process moves quickly. You might go back and forth with the seller for a few hours or a few days. In Toronto’s current market, sellers often counter your first offer since homes are taking longer to sell.

Once the seller accepts your offer, you enter the conditional period. This usually lasts five to seven business days. During this time, you arrange the home inspection, review the report, and decide if you want to proceed with the purchase or walk away based on what the inspector finds.

Home Inspections Need Quick Scheduling

The inspection itself takes two to four hours depending on the house size. A typical Toronto home inspection runs about two and a half to three hours. But you also need to book the inspector, wait for their report, and review what they found.

You have to move fast here. Most conditional periods give you only five to seven days to complete the inspection and make your decision. If the inspector finds problems, you need time to get repair quotes or negotiate with the seller about fixing issues or reducing the price.

Your Mortgage Takes Another Two Weeks

Even though you got pre-approved at the start, the bank needs to do a full approval once you have a specific property. This takes seven to 14 days on average. The bank sends an appraiser to make sure the house is worth what you’re paying. They review all your documents again and verify nothing changed with your job or finances.

The whole mortgage process from application to getting your money typically takes two weeks if everything goes smoothly. But it can stretch to a month if the bank is busy or needs extra documentation. Any changes to your employment or credit during this time can cause delays or problems.

Closing Happens 30 to 90 Days After Your Offer

Most Toronto home sales close in 60 days, though the range runs from 30 to 90 days. During this time, lawyers handle the paperwork. They search the property title to make sure the seller actually owns it and no one else has claims on it. For condos, they review all the building’s financial documents and rules.

You use this time to arrange home insurance, book movers, and set up utilities for your move-in date. About one or two days before closing, you do a final walk-through to check that the house is in the same condition as when you made your offer.

What Makes Things Take Longer

Several factors can stretch out your timeline. Condos take longer than houses because lawyers need to review extra documents from the condo corporation. If you’re self-employed or have complicated finances, banks need more time to verify your income. First-time buyers usually take longer than people who’ve bought before because everything is new to them.

The time of year matters too. Spring and early summer see more activity, which can mean longer waits for inspectors and lawyers. Winter months tend to move slower because fewer people buy and sell during cold weather.

Interest rates affect timelines as well. Toronto’s current five-year variable rate sits at 3.54%, and when rates are good, more people buy homes. This creates backlogs at banks and with other professionals you need during the process.

Wahi Speeds Up the Information Gathering Phase

The traditional way of researching homes involves checking multiple websites, calling agents for sold prices, and trying to piece together market trends from scattered sources. Wahi changes this by giving you everything in one spot. You see what homes actually sold for, not asking prices. You know how many days properties sat unsold. You get alerts when new listings match what you want.

This matters because better information leads to faster decisions. Instead of wondering if a house is overpriced, you can compare it to similar recent sales instantly. Rather than missing new listings while you’re at work, the app tells you right away. Buyers using Wahi report spending less time on research and more time viewing homes that actually fit their needs and budget.

Planning Your Timeline

Based on all these phases, here’s what to expect for your total timeline. If you already have pre-approval and find a home quickly, you might close in six to eight weeks. That’s the fastest possible scenario and it rarely happens that smoothly.

A more typical timeline runs three to four months from start to finish. This includes one week for pre-approval, four to eight weeks searching for homes, one week for offers and negotiation, one week for inspection, two weeks for final mortgage approval, and 60 days from accepted offer to closing.

Building extra time into your plan makes sense. If your lease ends in four months, start looking now. If you’re moving for a new job, begin the process five to six months before you need to be in your new home. Things go wrong, delays happen, and having buffer time prevents panic.

Current Market Conditions Affect Your Timeline

Sales in Toronto increased 12% compared to last year, partly because interest rate cuts brought buyers back to the market. At the same time, sellers face longer waits for offers. The median home sits on the market for 27 days now. This gives you more time to think about each property without worrying someone else will grab it first.

The Greater Toronto Area saw average prices drop 4.3% year-over-year to $1,059,377 in September 2025. The third quarter of 2025 brought the average price down to $1,114,900, a 3.5% decrease from the previous year. Lower prices help affordability but don’t necessarily speed up the buying process since you might look at more options when prices become more reasonable.

Making the Process Run Smoother

Working with professionals who know Toronto speeds things up. Good real estate agents know which properties match your needs and save you from viewing homes that won’t work. Mortgage brokers with strong lender relationships can push applications through faster. Lawyers who regularly handle Toronto transactions know what to watch for and process paperwork efficiently.

Staying organized helps too. Keep all your documents in one folder. Respond to requests from your lender or lawyer the same day. Book your home inspection as soon as your offer gets accepted. These small actions prevent delays that push back your closing date.

The Toronto home-buying process follows predictable phases even though each buyer’s exact timeline varies. Understanding these phases helps you set realistic expectations and plan your housing transition properly. Most buyers take three to four months from starting their search to getting their keys, though your specific situation might be faster or slower. Planning for the longer end of the range and being pleasantly surprised by quick progress beats rushing and facing unexpected delays.