Real Estate Lawyer Serving Oshawa

Services

Real estate services for Oshawa

Each service is explained in full on our real estate law page. For wills, immigration and notary work in Oshawa, see our Oshawa page.

Buying a home

First homes and family homes: agreement review, title, title insurance, the mortgage and the first-time buyer refund.

Fee by price — instant quote
Buying a rental property

Licensing, unit registration, existing leases and rent adjustments, checked before your conditions expire.

Instant quote; tenanted and investment closings cost more
Selling, including for an estate

Mortgage payout and discharge, the buyer’s requisitions and your proceeds, whether you are the owner or the estate trustee.

Fee by price — instant quote
Refinancing

A new lender at renewal, or equity taken out. B-lender and alternative lender mortgages add $400 + HST.

Fee by mortgage amount — instant quote
Title transfers

Adding or removing an owner, including transfers to family members.

Quoted individually
Condo status certificate review

Written notes and a call within your condition period. Complimentary if we close your purchase.

$250 + HST

Land transfer tax

What an Oshawa buyer pays in land transfer tax

Oshawa, like the rest of Durham Region, has no municipal land transfer tax. You pay Ontario’s tax only, and whether the refund applies depends on who will live in the home.

Worked example: on a $650,000 Oshawa home, Ontario’s land transfer tax is $275 + $1,950 + $2,250 + $5,000 = $9,475 (as of 2026). On $550,000 it is $7,475; on $800,000, $12,475. In the City of Toronto each figure would roughly double.

First-time buyers

A first-time buyer who qualifies for Ontario’s refund of up to $4,000 would pay about $5,475 on that $650,000 home. The refund is only for a home the buyer will live in: you must occupy it as your principal residence within nine months. A house bought to rent out doesn’t qualify, and neither does a parent buying a house for a student to live in while the parent lives elsewhere.

Investors

If you are buying a rental, plan for the full tax, and for a legal fee beyond the standard one: the standard fee assumes a home vacant on closing with one first mortgage. The quote says what applies before you retain us. If any buyer isn’t a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, Ontario’s 25% non-resident speculation tax can also apply. The instant quote calculates the tax and our fee for your price. How closing costs add up in Ontario

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.

Rental properties

Rental licensing near Durham College and Ontario Tech

Oshawa has its own rules for rental housing. Three of them can change what an Oshawa rental property is worth to you.

Licensing around the campuses

Under the City’s Residential Rental Housing Licensing program, rental properties in the area around Durham College and Ontario Tech University must be licensed. Initial inspections by the City’s licensing and fire inspectors are part of the process. The zoning there doesn’t permit lodging houses, where tenants rent rooms and share a kitchen or bathroom, so a house let room by room to students may not be lawful as it is run.

Two-unit houses must be registered

Anywhere in Oshawa, the Two Unit House Registration By-law requires every two-unit house to be registered, and failing to register is an offence. A unit created since July 1994 needs a building permit; the registration certificate follows the final inspection. A lot can have up to three units, with no more than one in a separate building.

Short-term rentals

Oshawa licenses short-term rentals and allows them only in the operator’s own principal residence. In a two-unit house, only the unit the operator lives in can be used, so an investment property can’t be run as a short-term rental.

Before you firm up, ask for the licence, the registration and any work orders, and let us check what the agreement says about them.

Tenanted purchases

Buying an Oshawa house with tenants in it

A tenant who stays after closing becomes your tenant, on the existing lease, with rights under the Residential Tenancies Act. The agreement and the closing documents have to deal with each tenancy properly.

Ask the seller for

Each lease, or the terms if there is no written lease
Current rent, the date it was last increased, and any rent owing
Last month’s rent deposits held, which are credited to you on closing
The rental licence and two-unit registration, where they apply
Any open work orders or inspection notices from the City

Settle before you firm up

Which units will be vacant on closing and which tenants stay
Who gives any notice required, and when, if you need a unit for your own use
How rent for the month of closing is adjusted
That your lender and insurer know the property is tenanted
Our fee for a tenanted closing, confirmed before you retain us

Tenancy disputes after you own the property are handled as a referral: we review your situation and refer you.

Estate sales

Selling a parent’s Oshawa home as estate trustee

Many Oshawa sales are made by the family after a death. The closing itself is ordinary; what comes before it often isn’t.

If the house was in the deceased’s sole name, the buyer’s lawyer and the land registry will usually need to see a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee from the Superior Court of Justice before the estate can transfer title. For someone who lived anywhere in Durham Region, that application goes to the court in Oshawa, and it takes time. List the house too early and you may sign an agreement you can’t close on time. Our Oshawa probate page explains the application and the timing.

If the home was owned jointly and the surviving owner is selling, title usually passes to the survivor without probate, but the death has to be registered on title first. We deal with that as part of the sale.

What we need from the estate

The will and the certificate, or the probate application if it hasn’t been issued yet
Every estate trustee named, because all of them usually sign
The mortgage or line of credit details, so they can be paid out on closing
Whether anyone is living in the house, and on what terms

The sale proceeds come to the estate, not to individual family members. The trustee then pays debts and taxes before distributing, and should keep enough back to cover them.

Testimonials

A remote closing, in a client’s words

It was a pleasure working with Wannes Law, everything was seamless, we didn't have to move and everything was arranged for us. 2 days before closing Rosalie explained the process and documents, cleared any doubts that we had and on closing day we received all the documents in order.

Adarsh S.Newmarket · Real estate closing

Read all client testimonials

Questions

Oshawa real estate questions

Do you have an office in Oshawa?

No. Our only office is at 3319 Sheppard Ave E, Suite 103, Toronto. Oshawa clients work with us by phone, email and video, signing on paper and couriering the originals back.

Is there an Oshawa land transfer tax as well as Ontario’s?

No. Only the City of Toronto has a municipal land transfer tax. An Oshawa purchase pays Ontario’s tax only, about $9,475 on a $650,000 home (as of 2026).

Do I need a licence to rent out a house near Ontario Tech or Durham College?

In the licensing area around the two campuses, yes: the City requires rental properties there to be licensed, and lodging houses aren’t permitted by the zoning. Check the property’s licence status before your conditions expire.

Can I buy a house for my child to live in while at college?

You can, but it won’t qualify for the first-time buyer refund unless the buyer lives there, and if other students rent rooms in it, the licensing and lodging house rules may apply. Talk to us before you make the offer.

Can I run an Airbnb in an Oshawa rental property?

No. Oshawa allows short-term rentals only in the operator’s principal residence, with a City licence. In a two-unit house, only the unit you live in can be used.

Can you act on the sale of an Oshawa home for an estate?

Yes. Once the estate trustee has authority to sell, we act on the sale, and the legal fee is calculated by price in the quote.

Guides

Guides for Oshawa buyers and sellers

Real Estate Jul 16, 2026 7 min read

Areas We Serve

Real estate across Durham Region and the GTA

We act for buyers, sellers and landlords from Whitby, Ajax and Pickering 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

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