This walkthrough takes about ten minutes at the screen and leaves you with a shortlist you can act on. Nothing here needs an account until the last step, and even then only to keep your work between visits.

Follow it in order the first time. Every step is a real screen, and the link takes you straight there.

The walkthrough

1. 1

   Say what you are looking for, in your own words

   Search accepts plain language — "three bed under 900k in Milton with a finished basement" works. You do not have to translate that into filters first; the filters are set from what you typed, so you can see how it was read and correct it.

   Open search→
2. 2

   Narrow by the things that actually rule homes out

   Price and bedrooms rarely decide anything on their own. The filters that change a shortlist are commute, property type and, if you are buying a condo, the monthly fee. Set those three and see how much is left.

   Browse listings→
3. 3

   Shortlist as you go, not at the end

   Tap the heart on anything that survives a first look. The tray at the bottom of the screen keeps count, and the shortlist is what the comparison reads from — so a shortlist you build while browsing costs you nothing extra later.

   See your shortlist→
4. 4

   Compare up to five side by side

   Comparison ranks your shortlist on price, size and time on market together, and marks which home wins on each. That last part matters more than the score: a home that is cheapest and smallest is a different decision from one that wins on nothing.

   Compare→
5. 5

   Find out what the front-runner costs a month

   From any listing, the payment tool opens with that home’s price already in it. It works out the mortgage payment at semi-annual compounding — the basis Canadian lenders actually use — and shows the payment you must *qualify* at, which is higher than the one you would make.

   Mortgage calculator→
6. 6

   Keep the numbers

   Every calculator has a "Keep this result" panel under the answer. Enter an email and the full breakdown arrives as a PDF — every figure, and whether it came from you, from market data, or from a rule that set it. No account needed.