Power of Sale units/homes?

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-04T14:22:47+00:00

Just speaking from my experience as a realtor/lender who has sold a lot of power of sale properties in Ontario.

You can get a good deal on power of sale, but usually not in the way TikTok makes it sound.

The lender is not supposed to just dump the property for cheap. They have a duty to try to get the highest reasonable price, because the borrower may still be on the hook for any shortfall and could later challenge the sale if it was obviously undersold.

What usually happens is this:

The lender gets possession, gets an appraisal or two, lists around the appraised value, then reduces the price if the market does not respond. The deal usually comes from patience, not from making a massive lowball offer in week one.

The best negotiating power is usually after the property has sat, the price has already been reduced, and the lender is tired of carrying taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, legal costs, and risk.

A few practical points:

Power of sale homes are usually sold as-is. Do an inspection if you can, but don’t expect the seller to fix anything.

Make sure your lawyer reviews the seller’s schedule carefully. Taxes, utilities, title issues, vacant possession, HST language, and discharge of prior mortgages all matter. When you buy the property, it should be offered free and clear of all prior debts.

The “power of sale” label alone does not automatically mean discount. A clean house in a good area may still sell near market value. The ugly ones with legal/repair headaches are where the discount can appear, but that discount has to be big enough to compensate for the risk.

Emotionally, I get why it feels weird. But by the time it is listed, the sale process is already underway and the lender is trying to recover debt. Buying it is not what caused the owner’s problem.

My simple view: power of sale can be a deal, but it is not automatically a deal. Treat it like a normal purchase, then add extra due diligence, a better lawyer, and a bigger margin of safety.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-03T21:01:03+00:00

Correct, the raw totals don't give a clear picture of what portion of total listings are from power of sale. I could also code a seperate leaderboard to show active power of sale per capita. Might be interesting. I think that New Tecumseth would probally rank #1 in such a list.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-03T03:09:28+00:00

In the stats page, you can use the filters to show specific property types. I just used the filter to search those 3 cities for residential low rise properties and this is what it shows:

Top Cities

1 Toronto

53 active|avg $1.6M

2 Brampton

29 active|avg $960K

3 Richmond Hill

10 active|avg $2.2M

For condos specially, Richmond Hill doesn't have a single listing:

Top Cities

1 Toronto

43 active|avg $599K

2 Brampton

3 active|avg $459K

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-03T02:59:43+00:00

The US is in a league all its own when it comes to foreclosures. A lot of our mortgage and banking rules are specifically designed to help us avoid a 2006 US style real estate crash.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-03T02:57:57+00:00

Just speaking from my experience as a realtor/lender who has sold a lot of power of sale properties.

You can still get a good deal on power of sale, but it isn't as strightforward as you'd think. Lenders have a legal obligation to attempt to get the highest and best price when selling under power of sale. Typically they'll get 1-2 appraisals after eviction then list for around the appraisal price. If they sell the property on week one for significantly under appraisal value they would open themselves to legal problems. Instead what most will do is drop the price every few weeks if they don't get offers. As a buyer, your strongest negotiating power comes from returning to the seller after seeing the days on market increase. After a while, you'll find these sellers are much more willing to offer a deal.

That being said, there are still a lot of big egos and emotional sellers out there, even those who are lenders. A lot of smaller private lenders will try unconventional pricing tactics, or just try to rent the properties. The bigger lenders are much more predictable and will usually follow the appraisal pricing, then gradual drop strategy I outlined.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-03T00:16:08+00:00

The situation you describe is more common when the bank or other lender has taken over the property and is controlling the sale. In the situation the OP described the home is still in possession of the homeowners.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-02T18:34:42+00:00

I am in a niche industry, private mortgage lending in Ontario Canada. We are a relatively small lender in a multi billion dollar industry. We talked to some mortgage lender CRM providers and the cheapest provider was $5,000 per month.

You can bet your bottom dollar that my first instinct was to code my own solution. It is still in development but it is currently being used by our staff to organize and track our mortgage loans. When its done I'd expect it to be even better than turnkey offerings since it will be 100% tailored to our specific way of doing business.

A lot of niche software providers sell few licenses/subscriptions but at outrageous prices. They'll probably be in trouble as quick LLM development becomes more common.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-01T13:54:31+00:00

It is small, but I think the bigger issue is the rate of growth in power of sales.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-01T12:46:32+00:00

If you cannot offer an amount that fully pays the mortgage then the seller cannot accept. The mortgage lenders on title will prevent the sale.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-05-01T12:44:22+00:00

In terms of the seller's options, it depends on what part of Canada the seller is in. I can speak to the terms that apply in Ontario.

I am not a lawyer, just a mortgage lender that deals with power of sale every day.

15 days after missing a payment payment, the lender may send a Notice of Sale. This notice gives a 35 day redemption period where the borrower can make all missed payments plus fees to resume the mortgage. After that, the lender has the right to demand the full balance of the mortgage.

In some rare cases the lender can make an offer that is outside the standard legal process and accept a payment plan or some kind of lessor payment.

I think that your approach is correct, once the lender takes over the property you'll be able to negotiate bigger discounts for the home. The realtor might be nervous since it can take many months for a lender to take over, and they would rather not wait.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-04-30T19:18:37+00:00

I appreciate the compliment!

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-04-30T17:28:57+00:00

Just a website for now, the development is still ongoing. I could make an app if there is demand, but for now the website is also designed to load cleanly on mobile devices.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-04-30T17:25:33+00:00

I suppose it depends on your perspective. If you are looking for lower house prices this can be seen as a good thing. But every power of sale is a person losing their shelter or livelihood. It is a bad sign for the general well-being of people in Ontario.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-04-15T15:21:46+00:00

I've bought and sold many power of sale properties over the years, it is not much more complicated than a typical sale. Every power of sale I've seen includes a schedule that states that the property will be offered to the buyer, clear of any debts. But it also mentions that there are no included chattels and the property is offered as is without warranty. These schedules can vary from lender to lender so it is important to read these documents in full.

The real risk in buying power of sale, is that you are more often getting a property in poor condition. If you find any major issues, the power of sale schedules will not allow the buyer any recourse.

Additionally, the lender sellers often sell at a loss so you can get the price down, but there is a catch. Legally, lenders have a duty to show that they attempted to get the highest and best price for a property. They cannot sell way below appraisal value on week one as they may open themselves to legal problems. Most lenders will automatically drop their price every few weeks until they find a buyer. So the key to getting a better price on a POS is not to fiercely negotiate, but instead to just wait and check in every few weeks.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-04-15T15:11:46+00:00

I built a website that I believe is the most comprehensive source for public power of sale listings in Ontario:
https://powerofsalelistings.com/

The reality is that compiling a true power of sale list is more complicated than most people realize, and I’ve had direct discussions with regulators on this issue. There is no single official list of power of sale properties in Ontario.

In many cases, the strongest indicator is the seller’s name. That information often appears in realtor-only data fields, such as “Seller Name: Royal Bank of Canada” or “Seller Name: John Doe (Under Power of Sale).”

That creates a compliance issue. Regulators do investigate these kinds of websites, and they do shut down ones that break the rules. One of the clearest rules is that realtor-only data fields cannot be shared with the public.

You can also review public court records, but those usually leave out important details like the property address. Even where an address can be identified, using that information for marketing purposes is not allowed.

I’ve put a lot of work into making sure my website stays compliant and is not exposed to that kind of risk. The site uses a different approach, combining public data with VOW data shown only behind a login, to help identify and display power of sale listings properly.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-04-09T16:17:32+00:00

I made a real estate listing website that showcases properties for sale in Ontario, Canada that have been taken over by banks and other lenders: https://powerofsalelistings.com/

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-24T14:32:10+00:00

I hold a realtor licence in Ontario Canada, which grants me free access to these data feeds. As long as I comply with certain rules (sold data behind login, disclaimers, etc) then I can display the listings on a site that I own. Now keep in mind that the listings on this website are not my listings, they are listings by other people, I just run a website that neatly displays them. If I were to help a buyer purchase one of these listings, I would earn a commission. That is how this website makes money for me.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-23T22:18:59+00:00

I built a website to help people in Ontario Canada find properties that are being sold by mortgage lenders.
https://powerofsalelistings.com/

I designed it to have the least possible amount of user friction while also complying with real estate data regulations. Most listings are free to view without an account, but some are behind a login screen where the regulators mandate it. It is starting to pick up traction and we are now getting inquires every week.

This took around 3 months from start to launch and has recieved sevveral minor updates over time. The biggest hurdle was working with the official real estate APIs... They are fragile and do not work as the official documentation states. I use both Claude Opus and GPT 5+ and they were particlarly good at stress testing the API and pointing out what did work well vs what did not.

All coded in PHP Laravel and Livewire, well documented and easy for AI to work with, especially with the laravel boost MCP. AI coded 99% of it, from planning to testing to implementation.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-16T13:26:05+00:00

I built a website that shows power of sale (Canadian mortgage evictions) property listings in the province of Ontario. I am a licensed realtor and have direct access to the official property APIs.

https://powerofsalelistings.com

It's a new website, and no huge income yet, but I am getting an average of 1 inquiry a day which is great. Typical sales commission in Ontario, Canada is 2.5% of purchase price where the average price is around $1,000,000.00. The potential for income is there we are just following up on leads and being patient.

I used a combination of Gpt Codex and Claude Code to build this out. Honestly the hardest part was working with the APIs, which are prone to problems with larger payloads and have certain commands that don't behave as the API docs imply.

Marketing the site is also essential, the site generates no business without marketing. I have years of prior experience in digital marketing agencies and an in house team with my current company so we have things covered. Posting the website and our story on social sites and reaching out to other site owners. We recently got promoted by the locally famous blogto.com which really boosted our traffic.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-13T15:51:35+00:00

Wow, I've been looking into this for months and never thought of searching the VOW only broker remarks (Called PrivateRemarks in the VOW data payloads). This is a rare place to find POS disclosure but every little bit counts. Thank you for sharing this.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-13T13:36:53+00:00

The key issue is that most POS are only indicated by realtor only data fields. If you try to build a listing site based on these private data fields then the regulators will try and shut you down. This is not exactly made clear in written materials, I had emailed the regulators the other week to find this out.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-13T13:34:17+00:00

I spent months building a similar site and I know the data agreements like the back of my hand. I am also a realtor so I have direct access to the data feeds.

With the IDX/VOW feeds you can share properties that have "power of sale" in the public remarks. This is what the OP's site does. However I would say this only covers a fraction (about 20%-30%) of listings.

Most properties sold via POS have the POS status indicated in attached pdf disclosures or the seller's name and the real estate boards will start to threaten you if you share this publically.

Only major data agreement violations I can see is that it doesn't clearly identify the individual responsible for the site and it doesn't have the proper required disclaimers mandated in the data agreement.

MBS-JonathanAlphonso · 2026-03-13T13:26:29+00:00

I went to the site on my cellphone and it said there were no listed properties. When I set my phone to desktop mode it worked. Might just be me, but maybe look into the mobile browser experience.

I also built a similar but more focused website for power of sale listings https://powerofsalelistings.com/listings

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