Updated: June 2026
By Françoise Pollard, Realtor®, and Keith Goldson, Broker, Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team, eXp Realty Brokerage. We represent buyers across the GTA and Niagara Region, including Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Burlington, Oakville, Etobicoke, Toronto, St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, and Grimsby.
2006
Françoise licensed as a Realtor®
2016
Keith licensed, now Broker
2 markets
GTA and Niagara, one team
ICON
eXp ICON Award, two years running
2025
Our own GTA to Niagara move
I first worked with Françoise over a decade ago when I bought my first home, so when it came time to purchase a new construction investment property, reaching out to Françoise and Keith just felt right. They were there with me from the start through to after closing. I would absolutely recommend them without hesitation.
M. Davido
Buyer client, Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team
GTA and Niagara buyer representation means one team handles your search, your showings, your offer, and the coordination through to closing. Françoise represents you as your Realtor®, and Keith reads the market and prepares the comparable analysis, so you know what a property is worth before you commit. Because we work both markets, we can help you buy in one while selling in the other, which matters most for first-time buyers, relocating households, and downsizers heading into the Niagara Region. For the full process from offer to keys, see our complete guide to buying a home in Ontario.
Selling in the GTA and buying in Niagara?
We did it ourselves in 2025. We sold our Vaughan home and bought in the Lakeshore neighbourhood of St Catharines, so we know this corridor from the inside. Today we help households make the same move, with the sale and the purchase handled by one team.
Talk to Us About Your Move Get the Home Buyer’s ChecklistOn This Page
What GTA and Niagara Buyer Representation Includes
GTA and Niagara buyer representation covers five core jobs. First comes a focused search. Then we manage the showings. From there, we write and negotiate your offer. The conditions protect you next. Finally, we coordinate the closing. Each one is a separate skill, and a weak performance on any single one can cost you the home, or thousands of dollars on the home you do win. Here is how we handle those jobs, and how Françoise and Keith split the work.
A search built around your decision
We start with your non-negotiables, your budget ceiling, and the trade-offs you are willing to make. Your ceiling comes from a written pre-approval, not a calculator. Then we filter the market against all of that. In Mississauga, Brampton, or Oakville, that often means weighing commute against square footage. In the Niagara Region, it usually means weighing price against older homes that need careful inspection. Either way, the goal is fewer, better showings.
Showings that tell you something
A showing is research. So we walk a property looking for the things that affect value and resale, not just the finishes. Knob-and-tube wiring in an older St Catharines home is one example. Parking realities in downtown Toronto are another. The difference between a finished basement and a legal one is a third. We flag those issues at the showing, before you fall for the kitchen.
Writing and negotiating the offer
The Agreement of Purchase and Sale is the binding contract. The offer is where the work either protects you or exposes you. Before we write, Keith prepares the comparable analysis. Your price then reflects recent solds against the HPI benchmark, not the asking prices of homes still sitting unsold. Françoise structures the offer, the deposit, the closing date, and the conditions. She then negotiates the terms with the listing brokerage. Our job is to slow the process down just enough that you feel clear and confident before you sign. For competitive situations, our article on winning offers in the GTA covers how we approach multiple-offer nights.
Conditions that give you an exit ramp
Conditions are your protection. Waiving one you have not actually satisfied is the most expensive mistake a buyer can make. Financing, home inspection, and, for condos, a lawyer’s review of the status certificate each need their full window. We do not let a deal go firm until that due diligence is genuinely complete. Condo buyers should read our guide to buying a condo in the GTA before writing.
Closing coordination so nothing slips
Once your deal is firm, we coordinate with your lawyer and lender through to possession day. Documents, funds, and insurance all have to line up on time. Most closing-day problems trace back to something left unsorted in the weeks before, not to the day itself. For what that day actually looks like, see our guide to closing day in the GTA.
What working with us includes
What You Get When We Represent You
Most of what you get from GTA and Niagara buyer representation is judgment, not paperwork. Any Realtor® can open doors. We do a handful of specific things that change your result, whether you are buying in the GTA or buying in the Niagara Region. None of them are things you have to organize yourself.
We’ve Seen This Play Out
A buyer we represented fell in love with a beautifully renovated home in Etobicoke. It checked almost every box on their list. On the walkthrough, we flagged two things they had not weighed. The home sat directly under a busy flight path. Its school catchment also did not match where their family was heading. Excellent finishes, we told them, but the location could limit resale.
After carefully considering the trade-offs, they decided the home was still the right fit for them at the time. Years later, their priorities shifted, and we listed it for them. Buyers loved the property, yet many hesitated once they heard the aircraft overhead. It took longer to sell than it should have. Their words afterward stuck with us: we should have listened. That is the judgment we bring to every showing. We look past the staging to what a home will be worth to you in ten years.
The GTA-to-Niagara Corridor Advantage
The biggest advantage of GTA and Niagara buyer representation under one team is that nobody gets handed off. Most buyers relocating down the QEW end up with two brokerages. One sells the GTA home. A second, unfamiliar one helps them buy in Niagara. Nobody owns the timing between the two deals. We own both sides.
Buying in the Niagara Region after a GTA sale
Buying in the Niagara Region usually means trading a smaller GTA lot for a larger detached home. The price point also sits lower against the GTA composite benchmark. The trade-offs are real. You get older homes, more car dependency outside the core, and a slower market that rewards patient due diligence. We live this corridor. So we can tell you honestly when St Catharines, Welland, or Niagara Falls fits your life, and when it does not. Our own street sits in the Lakeshore neighbourhood of St Catharines. For a side-by-side on how the two markets differ, see our GTA vs Niagara home search tips. For the full relocation picture, see our guide to moving from the GTA to the Niagara Region.
One team, two simultaneous transactions
When you are selling and buying at once, the timing has to fit together. Offer conditions, closing dates, and deposits on both deals all interact. We manage that sequence directly. We do not rely on two brokerages to coordinate by email. If you are weighing what your current home will bring, start with a home valuation before we plan the buy side.
Buyers already in or moving within the Niagara Region
Not every Niagara buyer is coming from the GTA. We also represent first-time buyers, move-up buyers, and downsizers who already live in the region. Their towns include St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, and Grimsby. Many simply want their next home within Niagara. The local market runs at its own pace. Older homes, inspection-driven due diligence, and real price gaps between towns all shape the search. For a closer look at specific areas, see our guides to St Catharines neighbourhoods, Welland and Thorold, and Niagara Falls real estate.
From Our Experience
When we left Vaughan in 2025, we became GTA-to-Niagara buyers ourselves. We sold our 2,900 square foot home. Then we bought roughly 1,400 square feet in the Lakeshore neighbourhood of St Catharines, three minutes from Lake Ontario.
That move taught us things no market report can. We learned how the Niagara buyer pool actually behaves. Older homes here demand a proper inspection, and now we know why. We also learned how to line up a sale and a purchase so neither one leaves you exposed. We bring that lived experience to every corridor buyer we represent.
Thinking about buying in the GTA or Niagara?
Tell us about your situation and your timeline, and we’ll walk you through what your purchase actually needs, from financing order to offer conditions.
Get the Home Buyer’s Checklist Start the ConversationOr call or text Françoise at 647-204-6307 or Keith at 416-451-2592.
No obligation. No sales pressure. Just honest advice based on today’s market.
First-Time Buyer Programs, in Brief
First-time buyers in Ontario can stack several programs, and the timing behind them cannot be reversed once you close. The First Home Savings Account and the Home Buyers’ Plan help fund your down payment. Ontario adds a land transfer tax refund, and in the City of Toronto a municipal land transfer tax rebate applies on top. For qualifying new builds, the federal First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate became law in March 2026. An Ontario provincial layer was announced, but it was not yet finalized as of June 2026.
We keep the deep mechanics off this page on purpose. The limits and rules change, and they live in our dedicated guides. For the full breakdown, see our guide to Ontario home buyer incentives and our first-time home buyer guide for Ontario, or download the Ontario Home Buyer’s Checklist. The Government of Canada publishes the federal rules on its CRA rebate page.
Who We Help Buy
Our GTA and Niagara buyer representation is built around life transitions, not just first purchases. The buyers we work with most often are at a turning point. The real estate decision sits inside a larger one.
First-time buyers
First-time buyers carry the most programs and the most uncertainty. So we spend the time up front on financing, the program stack, and offer conditions. We do that before the search begins. The aim is a buyer who understands exactly what they are signing when the moment comes to write.
What first-time buyers usually get wrong
A few patterns trip up first-time buyers more than any others. We watch for all three.
Shopping before financing. Touring before a written pre-approval means you can fall for a home you cannot finance, or lose one to a buyer who is ready.
Focusing only on the monthly payment. Land transfer tax, closing costs, and ongoing maintenance all sit outside the mortgage payment, and they are real money.
Falling for finishes instead of location. A dated kitchen can be redone later. A flight path, a weak school catchment, or a hard resale street cannot.
Relocating and downsizing households
Some households are moving from the GTA into the Niagara Region. Others are downsizing within their own community. Both need the two sides of the move managed together. If a smaller footprint is the goal, our Ontario downsizing guide covers the financial and practical decisions that run alongside the purchase.
Buyers in transition after divorce
Buying after a separation changes how you qualify. It also changes where your down payment funds sit. The order of events matters. Both of us have been through divorce personally, so we understand the file from the inside. Our supporting article on buying a home after divorce in Ontario covers the financing, timing, and access-to-funds questions that come first.
Keep Reading
Where We Help Buyers
We represent buyers across the GTA and the Niagara Region, two markets we work every week. In the GTA, that includes Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, Etobicoke, and Vaughan. In the Niagara Region, it includes St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, and Grimsby.
Brampton buyers, in particular, are looking at one of the more underestimated value markets in the GTA. We help them find the right home there even as prices shift. In the Niagara Region, we represent buyers purchasing within St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, and Grimsby, not only those arriving from the GTA. The representation is the same in every market. You get a focused search, honest analysis, and an offer built to protect you.
Buyer Representation: Your Questions Answered
What does GTA and Niagara buyer representation include?
GTA and Niagara buyer representation includes running your home search, managing showings, writing and negotiating your Agreement of Purchase and Sale, protecting you through financing, inspection, and condo status conditions, and coordinating with your lawyer and lender through to closing. With the Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team, Françoise represents you as your Realtor® and Keith prepares the comparable market analysis behind your offer.
Does a buyer pay their Realtor® in Ontario?
In most Ontario residential resale transactions, the seller’s brokerage offers compensation to the cooperating buyer brokerage out of the sale proceeds, so buyers typically do not pay their Realtor® directly. Under TRESA, the rules on representation and compensation must be disclosed in writing in your buyer representation agreement before you make an offer. Confirm the specific terms in your own agreement with your Realtor®.
Can the Keith & Françoise team help me sell in the GTA and buy in Niagara at the same time?
Yes. The Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team works both the GTA and the Niagara Region, so one team can list your GTA home and represent you buying in the Niagara Region. We coordinate the closing dates, deposits, and conditions across both transactions. Françoise and Keith made the same Vaughan-to-St Catharines move themselves in 2025.
What programs can first-time buyers in Ontario use?
First-time buyers in Ontario can use the First Home Savings Account and the Home Buyers’ Plan to fund a down payment, claim the Ontario land transfer tax refund, and, in the City of Toronto, a municipal land transfer tax rebate. For qualifying new builds, the federal First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate became law in March 2026. Program limits and an announced Ontario provincial GST layer change, so confirm current figures before relying on them.
Do you represent buyers in Brampton?
Yes. The Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team represents buyers in Brampton and across the GTA, including Mississauga, Toronto, Oakville, Burlington, Etobicoke, Milton, and Vaughan, as well as the Niagara Region. Brampton is one of the GTA’s more underestimated value markets for buyers.
Why confirm financing before starting a home search?
Confirming financing first gives you a written pre-approval that sets your real budget ceiling and makes your offer credible to sellers. Without it, GTA and Niagara buyers risk falling for a home they cannot finance or losing one to a better-prepared buyer. A pre-approval also tells you where you stand on the federal mortgage stress test before you tour a single property.
Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team
eXp Realty Brokerage · GTA & Niagara Region
Françoise Pollard, Realtor®, has been licensed since 2006. Keith Goldson, Broker, has been licensed since 2016. Together they bring about three decades of combined experience representing buyers across the GTA and Niagara Region, including Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Etobicoke, Toronto, St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, and Thorold. The team has earned the eXp ICON Award two years running. In 2025 they made their own GTA-to-Niagara move, selling their Vaughan family home and downsizing to St Catharines, so they advise corridor buyers from direct experience.
The best buyers don’t start with showings. They start with a plan.
Tell us your situation and we’ll map out what your purchase actually needs, from financing order to offer conditions.
Get the Home Buyer’s Checklist Talk to Us About Your MoveOr call or text Françoise at 647-204-6307 or Keith at 416-451-2592.
Where We Help Buyers
Greater Toronto Area: Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Oakville, Burlington, Etobicoke, and Vaughan.
Niagara Region: St Catharines, Niagara Falls, Welland, Thorold, and Grimsby.
This page is general information for buyers in the GTA and Niagara Region and is not legal, financial, mortgage, or tax advice. Program rules, eligibility thresholds, rebate amounts, and market conditions change, and several first-time buyer programs were being finalized as of June 2026. Confirm current figures with the relevant government source, your mortgage professional, your lawyer, and a licensed Realtor® before acting. Keith & Françoise Real Estate Team, eXp Realty Brokerage, as of June 2026.