Real Estate Lawyer Serving Ajax

Services

Real estate help for Ajax households

The detail behind each service is on our real estate law page. For wills, estates and immigration in Ajax, see our Ajax page.

Your first home

Agreement review, title insurance, your mortgage, the first-time buyer refund and registration, explained one step at a time.

Fee by price — instant quote
Selling and moving up

Your sale and your next purchase, priced together in the quote and timed so the proceeds fund the purchase.

Fee by price — instant quote
Condo townhouse status certificates

Written notes on the corporation’s finances and rules, inside your condition period. Complimentary if we close your purchase.

$250 + HST
Refinancing

Switching lenders at renewal, or borrowing to build an additional dwelling unit.

Fee by mortgage amount — instant quote
Title transfers

Adding a spouse or a parent who helped with the down payment to title, or removing one.

Quoted individually
Pre-construction agreement review

A written review of a builder’s agreement for a new Ajax townhouse or house.

$450 + HST

First-time buyers

What a first-time buyer pays in land transfer tax in Ajax

Ajax is in Durham Region, and in Ontario only the City of Toronto charges its own land transfer tax. An Ajax buyer pays Ontario’s tax alone, and a first-time buyer may get up to $4,000 of it back.

Worked example: on an $850,000 Ajax home, Ontario’s brackets give $275 on the first $55,000, $1,950 up to $250,000, $2,250 up to $400,000 and $9,000 on the rest: $13,475 (as of 2026). A qualifying first-time buyer pays about $9,475.

Ontario land transfer tax on an Ajax home (as of 2026)
Price	Tax	First-time buyer, after refund	Same price in Toronto
$600,000	$8,475	$4,475	$16,950
$750,000	$11,475	$7,475	$22,950
$850,000	$13,475	$9,475	$26,950
$1,000,000	$16,475	$12,475	$32,950

Who qualifies for the refund

Ontario’s first-time homebuyer refund requires that you are at least 18, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, have never owned a home or an interest in one anywhere in the world, and move in as your principal residence within nine months. If your spouse owned a home while you were together, you don’t qualify. If you buy with someone who doesn’t qualify, such as a parent who already owns a home, the refund is generally limited to your share. We claim it on registration, so it comes straight off the tax you pay on closing.

Funds you need on closing

Land transfer tax comes out of your own funds, not the mortgage, and so does the 8% Ontario sales tax on a mortgage default insurance premium if you put down less than 20%. If part of your down payment is a gift from family, your lender will usually want a signed gift letter. The instant quote works out the tax, refund and our fee for your price.

Why Wannes Law

A Toronto law firm that keeps you informed

A licensed Ontario lawyer

Rosalie Wannes, licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, is responsible for your file from start to finish.
Fees before you commit

Instant online quotes and published flat fees, so you know the cost before you retain us.
Every step explained

Plain-language explanations of what happens, what you provide and what we handle, at every stage.
Direct access

Reach your lawyer and law clerk directly by phone and email while your matter is underway.
Sign in person or remotely

Meet at our Sheppard Ave E office in Toronto, or review documents by video and courier the originals.
English, Armenian and Arabic

Talk through your matter in the language you are most comfortable with.

More homes per lot

Up to four homes on one Ajax property: what it means when you buy

The Town of Ajax now allows up to four homes on one property anywhere in town, so a lot more listings mention a basement apartment, a garden suite or “income potential”.

The Town’s housing site explains the permission and offers a property mapping tool that shows whether a lot may qualify for a backyard home or an internal unit. On a detached house, semi, linked house or townhouse, an owner can apply for a building permit for up to three additional dwelling units. That is a planning permission, not proof that any existing unit was built properly.

If the house already has a unit

Ask, before you firm up, whether it was built under a building permit and whether the permit was closed after final inspection. Ask whether it is rented, on what terms, and whether the tenant is staying. A tenant who stays becomes your tenant on closing with rights under the Residential Tenancies Act, and a home that isn’t vacant on closing is priced beyond our standard fee. Rent the seller is collecting is only as reliable as the unit behind it.

If you plan to add one

Talk to your lender before you buy: some lenders count future rental income and many don’t, and a construction loan or refinance later is a separate transaction. The Town has offered grants for new units in some years, funded through the federal Housing Accelerator Fund, so check what is available when you apply.

Title and insurance

An extra unit changes the risk your insurer is covering, so tell them. Depending on the policy, title insurance can cover some losses from work done without permits before you bought; it never covers work you do afterwards.

Townhouses

Condo townhouses and POTLs look alike but aren’t owned alike

Two Ajax townhouses on the same street can be owned in completely different ways. The listing may not say which; the title search will.

Freehold townhouse

You own the house and the land it sits on to the lot lines, with no monthly fee. You pay for every repair, including the roof. Look for easements that let neighbours cross your land to reach their back yards, which are normal but worth understanding.

Condominium townhouse

You own your unit and a share of the common elements, run by a condo corporation that charges monthly common expenses and may maintain roofs, windows and driveways from the reserve fund. The status certificate is the key document. The corporation must deliver it within 10 days of the request and payment, for no more than $100, as the Condominium Authority of Ontario explains. We look at whether the reserve fund can pay for the big items coming up, any special assessment, arrears on the unit and the rules on rentals and pets.

POTL

A parcel of tied land is a freehold house tied to a common elements condominium that owns a private road, visitor parking or landscaping. You maintain your own house but pay a monthly fee for the shared parts, so review that corporation’s status certificate too. Our status certificate review is $250 + HST, and complimentary if we close your purchase.

Checklist

What to send us for an Ajax purchase

You don’t need to come to our office. Email is enough until signing, and signing can be by video, with the originals couriered back to us.

As soon as your offer is accepted

The agreement of purchase and sale, with amendments and waivers
The listing, especially if it mentions a basement unit or rental income
For a condo townhouse or POTL, the status certificate
Your mortgage broker’s or lender’s contact
Whether each buyer has ever owned a home, anywhere

Before closing

Photo ID for everyone going on title
Home insurance confirmation from your insurer
A gift letter, if family is helping with the down payment
Your closing funds, by wire or bank draft, once we send the statement of adjustments
Tenant details and the lease, if a tenant is staying

The standard fee applies when we have the agreement and mortgage instructions at least five business days before closing. The quote is valid for 30 days.

Questions

Ajax real estate questions

Is your office in Ajax?

No. Our only office is at 3319 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 103, Toronto. Ajax clients can sign there, or review the documents with us by video while signing on paper and courier the originals back.

Does Ajax have its own land transfer tax?

No. Only the City of Toronto has a municipal land transfer tax. An Ajax purchase pays Ontario’s tax only, about $13,475 on an $850,000 home before any first-time buyer refund (as of 2026).

My parents are going on title with me. Do I still get the first-time buyer refund?

Generally only for your share, if they have owned a home before. How title is held also affects what happens later, so we talk it through before closing. A parent who is only gifting money doesn’t need to be on title.

Can I build a second or third unit on my Ajax lot?

The Town allows up to four homes on one property, and its mapping tool shows what your lot may allow. Every unit still needs a building permit and must meet the zoning and the Building Code.

Is Pickering Village in Ajax or Pickering?

Ajax. Historic Pickering Village, around Kingston Road and Church Street, is part of the Town of Ajax, so a purchase there follows Ajax’s rules.

How much will my Ajax closing cost?

Our legal fee is calculated from your price in the online quote. Disbursements, title insurance and land transfer tax are extra. Real estate lawyer fees and closing costs in Ontario

We have just bought in Ajax. What else should we do?

Keep your reporting letter with your important papers, and make or update your wills and powers of attorney. See wills for Ajax families.

Guides

Guides for Ajax buyers

Real Estate Aug 19, 2026 19 min read

Areas We Serve

Real estate across Durham and the GTA

We act for buyers and sellers from Pickering, Whitby and Oshawa to Scarborough and across York and Peel regions.

Scarborough

Real estate lawyer for Scarborough clients. Our office is on Sheppard Ave E.
North York

Real estate lawyer for North York clients.
Markham

Real estate lawyer for Markham clients.

Here to help

See your tax, refund and fee for an Ajax home.

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Prefer to talk now? Call (647) 707-7718 · Service in English, Armenian and Arabic