Sellers usually think about their sale price. Fewer people sit down and work out what actually lands in their account on closing day, and the gap between those two numbers is bigger than most expect.
Here is a realistic breakdown of what comes off the top when you sell a house in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador.
Commission is the big one, and it is negotiable
Real estate commission is the largest single deduction in almost every traditional sale. It is also the one people wrongly assume is fixed.
There is no standard rate set by law anywhere in Canada. The federal Competition Act prohibits price fixing, which means commission is negotiable in every one of these four provinces. Any agent who tells you the rate is set is telling you their rate, not the law.
In practice, sellers in Atlantic Canada commonly see quotes somewhere in the range of 4 to 6 percent of the sale price, usually split between the listing brokerage and the buyer’s brokerage. Whether you land at the bottom or the top of that range depends on the property, the market and how hard you negotiate.
The part that gets forgotten is that HST applies to the commission. That matters because the rates differ across the region.
Nova Scotia reduced its HST from 15 percent to 14 percent on April 1, 2025. New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador all remain at 15 percent.
On a $350,000 sale at 5 percent commission, that is $17,500 in commission. Add 14 percent HST in Nova Scotia and you are at $19,950. Add 15 percent in the other three provinces and you are at $20,125. Either way, roughly $20,000 gone before anything else.
Discharging your mortgage
Paying off the mortgage is not the same as paying the balance. If you are breaking a closed fixed-rate mortgage partway through its term, your lender will charge a prepayment penalty, typically calculated as the greater of three months’ interest or an interest rate differential. On a large balance with a lot of term remaining, the interest rate differential figure can be startling.
There is usually a discharge or administration fee on top, and it varies by lender and province.
Do not estimate this. Call your lender, ask for a payout statement good to your expected closing date, and get the penalty in writing. Sellers who skip this step are the ones who find out at the lawyer’s office that the equity they were counting on is several thousand dollars lighter.
Legal fees and adjustments
You need a lawyer to close a residential sale in all four provinces. Fees vary by firm and complexity, so get a quote rather than guessing, and ask specifically whether the number includes disbursements or just the fee.
Then there are adjustments. Property taxes get prorated to the closing date, so if you have paid the year ahead you get credited and if you are behind you pay the difference. In Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, if the house runs on furnace oil the remaining tank is typically measured and adjusted for as well. Condo fees, water bills and any prepaid services get treated the same way.
None of these are huge individually. Together they move the final number.
The transfer taxes your buyer pays, and why they are your problem too
Deed transfer and property transfer taxes are normally paid by the buyer, not the seller. So they do not come off your proceeds directly. They still matter, because every dollar a buyer has to find for closing costs is a dollar they cannot put into your price.
Nova Scotia. Each municipality sets its own Municipal Deed Transfer Tax rate, and they genuinely differ. Halifax Regional Municipality and Cape Breton Regional Municipality are both at 1.5 percent. So are Truro, Amherst, Bridgewater, Kentville and Wolfville. But the Town of New Glasgow, Town of Pictou, Town of Stellarton, Town of Trenton, Town of Westville and the Municipality of the County of Pictou are all at 1.0 percent, and the Town of Yarmouth is at 1.0 percent as well. A handful of places sit at 1.25 percent, including the Town of Berwick and the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg. Check your specific municipality rather than assuming the Halifax rate.
New Brunswick. A flat 1 percent Real Property Transfer Tax, calculated on the greater of the consideration for the transfer or the assessed value of the property. No graduated brackets and no first-time buyer exemption. That assessed value wrinkle matters in a soft market, because a buyer paying below assessment still pays tax on the assessment.
Prince Edward Island. A 1 percent Real Property Transfer Tax. There is a first-time buyer exemption, but it only fully eliminates the tax on homes priced at $200,000 or less, which in the current market is a small slice of the inventory.
Newfoundland and Labrador. No traditional land transfer tax. Instead there is a registration fee under the Registration of Deeds Act, where the base fee of $100 covers value up to $500 and then $0.40 is charged for each additional $100 or part of $100. On a $350,000 property that works out to roughly $1,500, which is dramatically less than the 1 percent an equivalent New Brunswick buyer would pay.
The Nova Scotia rule that shrinks your buyer pool
This one deserves its own section if you are selling in Nova Scotia.
For agreements of purchase and sale signed on or after April 1, 2025, the Provincial Deed Transfer Tax on transfers to a non-resident of Nova Scotia is 10 percent. It generally applies to residential property with three dwelling units or fewer, and it includes qualifying vacant residential land.
Ten percent, on top of the municipal rate. On a $350,000 house in Halifax, a non-resident buyer is looking at $35,000 in provincial tax plus $5,250 municipal.
The practical effect for a seller is straightforward. Out-of-province buyers who are not relocating to Nova Scotia have largely stopped competing for ordinary residential property. If your pricing strategy assumed interest from Ontario or Alberta buyers, that assumption needs revisiting.
The cost nobody puts on the sheet
Time is a cost. While a house sits listed, you are still paying the mortgage, the property tax, the insurance, the heat and the power. If you have already moved, you are carrying two of everything.
Add repairs and pre-listing work, which on an older Atlantic Canadian house often means the roof, the oil tank, the wiring or the foundation. Insurers and lenders have become particular about aging oil tanks in this region, and a tank past its service life can stall a financed deal entirely. We cover more of this in our seller resources.
Running the numbers on a $350,000 sale
Say you sell in New Brunswick for $350,000 with a $180,000 mortgage.
Commission at 5 percent plus 15 percent HST is about $20,125. Mortgage payout of $180,000 plus a prepayment penalty and discharge fee you need your lender to quote. Legal fees and disbursements on a quote from your lawyer. Tax adjustments depending on where you sit in the billing cycle.
Before the penalty and legal costs, you are already down roughly $200,000 of the $350,000, and $180,000 of that was always the bank’s. The commission alone is more than most sellers mentally budget.
That is not an argument against listing. For a well-maintained house in a good location with time to wait, the open market usually still wins on net proceeds. It is an argument for knowing the real number before you choose a route.
When a direct sale makes more sense
A direct sale is not free either, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. The offer is below retail. What you are buying with that difference is no commission, no HST on commission, no repairs, no staging, no showings, no financing condition falling through three weeks in, and a closing date you choose.
For a house that needs real work, an oil tank that will not pass, an estate that needs to be wound up, or a seller carrying two properties, that trade is frequently the better one on a net basis. For a tidy house in Halifax with no urgency, it usually is not. Run both.
If you want a number to compare against, you can get a cash offer today with no obligation, and we will tell you plainly if we think listing serves you better. Here is how it works, and our company page tells you who you would be dealing with.
We buy in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. The common questions are answered on our FAQ page, or you can contact us and we will get back to you. Call us at (902) 400-5736.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Tax rates and rules change, so confirm current figures with your lawyer, your accountant or the relevant provincial authority before you make a decision.
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