What It Costs to Sell a House in the Fraser Valley: A Worked Example for Six Cities

BC has no price list for selling a house. The commission is negotiated, and several other costs depend on your mortgage, your lawyer and your building. This guide names every cost a seller meets, says who sets each one, and adds them up for a benchmark house in six Fraser Valley cities.

Which costs does a seller pay in BC?

Seven items cover most sales. The table shows who sets each one and what the source says.

Source: BCFSA, Canada Revenue Agency, FCAC, Province of BC and the Strata Property Regulation, each linked below in this guide.

The buyer pays property transfer tax. The Province of BC says that a person who purchases or gains an interest in a property must pay it unless an exemption applies. Selling your main home brings no tax on the gain, as long as the home was your principal residence for every year you owned it. The Canada Revenue Agency still asks you to report the sale. Our post on capital gains when you sell your home in BC explains the form.

How is the commission worked out?

BCFSA, the provincial regulator of real estate, says in its Consumer Guide to Remuneration that there is no standard commission. Some brokerages charge the same amount to all of their agents, but any amount can be negotiated. If you and an agent cannot agree, either side can decide not to work together.

Most listing contracts write the commission as a percentage of the sale price. When you receive an offer, your agent gives you a form called the Disclosure to Seller of Expected Remuneration. It turns the percentage into a dollar amount, so you know what you would pay if you accept that offer. BCFSA adds that the dollar amount does not include other fees, such as a lawyer or a notary.

Two more rules from the same guide help a seller. An agent cannot charge a commission based on the difference between your list price and the final price. An agent who earns a referral fee from a third party, such as an inspector, must tell you in writing.

The commission can also change after you sign. BCFSA says the commission structure can be renegotiated when the services you receive change, and neither side has to accept a change. Read the part of the listing contract that says what happens if you cancel, because BCFSA says the contract decides whether you still owe commission.

What do commission and GST add up to for a benchmark house?

A benchmark price is the board's price for a typical home of one type in one city. Your own home may sell for more or less. The table uses each city's detached benchmark as the sale price, and the same example inputs as our downsizing calculator: a 3% commission, 5% GST on that commission, $1,500 for a lawyer, and no mortgage. BC has no standard commission, so the 3% is an example only.

Source: benchmark prices from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Mission), September 2026; Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (Maple Ridge), September 2026; Chilliwack and District Real Estate Board via the Canadian Real Estate Association, August 2026. Costs calculated by FRIVE. Amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar, so a total can differ by $1 from the sum of its parts.

In all six cities the total comes to between 3.25% and 3.32% of the price. The $1,500 for a lawyer is the same in every row, so it is a larger share of the price in the cheaper cities.

The commission is the part you can change. The next table shows the Surrey house at three example percentages. They show the arithmetic. BCFSA says no standard commission exists.

Source: FRIVE calculation on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board's September 2026 Surrey detached benchmark of $1,386,200.

One percentage point on this house is $13,862 of commission plus $693 of GST, which is $14,555. Each percentage point you negotiate is worth $14,555 on this house.

What if you still owe money on your mortgage?

Many downsizers own their home outright, and for them this line is zero. If you still have a mortgage, selling means paying it off before the end of its term. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada lists selling your home as one of the times a penalty can apply.

FCAC says the penalty is typically the higher of two amounts: three months of interest on what you still owe, or the interest rate differential. The lender works out the differential from two interest rates. FCAC's own example has a $200,000 balance, a 6% rate and 36 months left. Three months of interest is $3,000, and the differential is $12,000, so the penalty is $12,000. FCAC adds that you may also pay an administration fee.

FCAC also says that if you are buying a new home, you can ask your lender whether you can port your mortgage. That means taking your rate and terms to the new home, which saves you from breaking the contract. Your own contract sets the method, so ask your lender for the payout figure in writing before you list the house.

What do you pay if you sell a condo or a townhouse?

A buyer of a strata home needs papers from your strata corporation. BCFSA lists the Information Certificate (Form B), the Certificate of Payment (Form F) and the strata's Certificate of Insurance among the documents your lawyer or notary gets for the sale.

The Strata Property Regulation puts a cap on two of them. Section 4.4 says the strata may charge at most $35 for the Information Certificate, plus copying of up to 25 cents per page. Section 6.10 says the most it may charge for the Certificate of Payment is $15. A fee above those caps is not allowed.

Some stratas also charge for moving out of the building. That fee comes from the strata's own bylaws or rules, not from the regulation. Our post on move-in fees and strata rules explains how to find them.

Which costs can you lower, and which are fixed?

Source: BCFSA, Canada Revenue Agency, FCAC, Province of BC, Strata Property Regulation and Clicklaw, as linked in this guide.

In our opinion, the commission deserves the most careful comparison, because it is the largest item and the one BCFSA says is open to negotiation. When you compare two agents, ask each one in writing what the commission includes and what it does not. Then compare the dollar amounts on the same house. Your own agent, lawyer and accountant know facts about you that this page cannot.

What costs come before and after the sale?

Some costs sit outside the sale itself. Our calculator uses $8,000 as an example for movers, repairs, cleaning and storage. Get written quotes for your own move. Our post on getting a 30-year-old house ready to sell helps you decide which repairs are worth doing.

On the other side of the move, the smaller home you buy carries its own property transfer tax. Our post on new condo or resale works one out. The downsizing checklist puts every step in order, and the post on how long it takes to sell shows the time each stage takes.

This guide is general information about published rules and board figures. It cannot replace advice on your own contract or tax return. Confirm legal questions with your own lawyer or notary, and tax questions with your own accountant, before you sign.

Next step

Every cost above comes out of one number: what your house would sell for today. Ask us for a free home value, and a BC-licensed REALTOR® will email you a price range based on recent sales of homes like yours. Then put that price into the downsizing calculator and change the commission to any amount you like. You do not have to sell with us. The rest of our downsizing guide covers each step of the move.

This representation is based in whole or in part on data generated by the Chilliwack & District Real Estate Board, Fraser Valley Real Estate Board or Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver which assume no responsibility for its accuracy.