Hire the Burlington agent who can hand you a written list of their own recent sales near or above $2 million. That list should show the asking price, the sold price and how long each home took to sell. At the top of this market, most listings don't sell on the first try. In the 52 weeks to October 24, 2026, Burlington homes asking $1.5 million and up had 389 sales from 1,033 new listings, a sell-through of 38%, according to our Burlington market report for homes over $1.5 million.
Sell-through means sales divided by new listings. So that's about 38 sales for every 100 homes that came on the market. The other 62 sat, cut the price, came off or got listed again. Good proof shows you which group an agent's listings land in.
I'm Sandy MacKay, and I lead Found Spaces Realty Group in Burlington, Hamilton and Niagara. One honest note before we start. Our report groups everything from $1.5 million up, so I don't have a separate number for $2 million and up. What I watch instead is how the whole top group is moving, and that group is telling sellers to be careful who they hire.
Why proof matters more for a $2 million Burlington home
Burlington had 184 home sales in September 2026, per our monthly Burlington report. That's down 12% from a year earlier. The average freehold sale price was $1,062,329, down 10%. Homes took 32 days to sell on average, and 1,042 homes were for sale.
A $2 million home is close to double that average price. That means far fewer buyers can say yes.
The $1.5 million and up group made up 15.7% of all Burlington sales over the year. So roughly one sale in six or seven happens at that level, and only a small slice of those buyers will want your street, your lot and your layout. A family that wants a lakefront home on Lakeshore Road is often a different buyer from one looking at a big house near the Millcroft golf course, even at the same price.
The mistake I see most is picking the agent with the most signs on lawns. Signs tell you someone is busy. They don't tell you whether those homes sold, or for how much.
Six things to ask every agent for, in writing
Ask each agent you interview for the same six things. Put it in an email so the answers come back on paper and you can compare them side by side.
1. Their own sales over $1.5 million in Burlington, the last two years. Ask for each address, the first asking price, the sold price and the days it took. It has to be their personal sales. A team or office total can hide the fact that this one person rarely sells at your price.
2. Every price cut on those listings. A sold price only tells half the story. If a home started at $2.4 million and sold for $2.05 million after three cuts, you want to know that.
3. Their listings that did not sell. Every agent has some. A person who shows you their expired listings and tells you what went wrong is someone you can trust with yours.
4. A written marketing plan with dates. Photos, video, floor plans, print, and a real launch date. Ask who pays for each part. Ask to see a page they built for a past listing. Here's one we wrote for 868 Danforth Place in Burlington, a private waterfront estate, so you can see the kind of thing I mean.
5. A price built on sold homes, not asking prices. Ask for the homes like yours that sold nearby, with the sold price of each. Asking prices are wishes. Sold prices are what buyers really paid.
6. Two or three past sellers you can phone. Not reviews on a website. Real people with a phone number, ideally ones who sold in the last year.
How to check what an agent tells you
You don't have to take anyone's word for it.
Start with HouseSigma. It shows sold prices and price history for many Burlington homes, so you can look up the addresses an agent gave you and see if the dates and price cuts match. Realtor.ca shows homes for sale now, which helps you see what you'd be up against.
Next, look the agent up on the RECO public register. RECO is the Real Estate Council of Ontario, the group that licenses agents. The register shows if they are allowed to trade and whether they've faced discipline.
Then make the calls. Ask past sellers one plain thing: did the home sell for close to what the agent first said it would? That single answer tells you more than a glossy brochure.
If I were hiring an agent for my own home, the one thing I'd want in writing is the day the home goes live and what happens if it hasn't sold in 30 days. A plan for week five tells you the agent has thought about the 62 out of 100, and not just the happy ending.
The pricing talk is the real interview
Most sellers hire the agent who names the highest price. It feels good. It often costs money.
Picture a family in Roseland listing at $2.6 million because one agent said they could get it. The house sits through a whole spring while buyers walk past it for homes that seem like a better deal. By summer it drops to $2.3 million, and now buyers ask what's wrong with it. It sells in the fall for less than the agent who said $2.35 million at the start would likely have got in a few weeks. That's an illustration with round numbers, but the pattern is why price cuts show up on so many listings at the top.
A good agent backs every number with homes that sold. They should explain why a waterfront lot in Shoreacres, a ravine lot in Tyandaga and a newer build in Orchard each sell to different people. They should also tell you what they don't know, like how few true comparables exist for a one-off waterfront home.
If an agent's price is far above everyone else's, ask them to show the sold homes that prove it. If they can't, that number is a sales pitch. You can see more on how the top end moves on our Burlington luxury homes page.
The takeaway: hire the agent whose own sold homes, price cuts and failed listings you have seen on paper, and whose price you can check against homes that really sold.
Questions people ask
How long should a listing agreement be for a $2 million home in Burlington?
The length of a listing agreement is something you agree on with the agent, and you can ask for a shorter term. Some sellers sign for a shorter time with the choice to extend if things are going well. Read the holdover clause too. It says the agent can still earn a fee if a buyer they showed the home to buys it after the agreement ends.
Is commission negotiable when selling a luxury home in Ontario?
Yes. There is no set rate in Ontario, and every fee is agreed between you and the brokerage. Before you sign, the brokerage must give you the RECO Information Guide, which explains your rights in plain terms. Compare what each agent will do for the fee, not only the fee itself.
Should I hire a waterfront specialist or my neighbourhood agent?
Ask both for the same six proofs and let the paper decide. A neighbourhood agent may know the street, while someone who sells lakefront homes may know the buyers who only want water. The best sign is sold homes that look like yours, in price, lot and buyer, within the last two years.
See where your home stands first
Before you interview anyone, it helps to know roughly what your home could sell for. Then you can spot a number that's too high or too low the moment you hear it. Get your free instant home evaluation and take it with you to every agent interview.