Matt Biggley, REALTOR®
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Windsor-Essex Real Monthly Cost

What will this house really cost you each month?

Your pre-approval tells you the mortgage payment. It doesn't tell you about property tax, insurance, the heating bill, or the furnace that will need replacing one day. And $450,000 costs a different amount each month in Windsor than it does in Lakeshore. Here's the whole number.

Published Updated Reviewed by Matt Biggley

The house

Change any number.

The mortgage

Living in it

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Want a second set of eyes on your number?

I'll send these numbers to your inbox, with the Skip List: the things I'd walk away from in a house, so your first home doesn't come with a surprise. If you'd like, we can then sit down for an hour and turn this into a plan.

From your calculator

Target purchase price: $450,000

Estimated new monthly payment: $2,109

Town: Windsor

Down payment: 10%

Your real monthly cost: $3,646

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How the numbers work

Property tax, town by town

Ontario property tax is a rate times your MPAC assessment. Assessments are still based on 2016 values, so they're usually well below today's price. That's why the listing's tax figure is the one to use. The rates themselves are a fair way to compare towns:

TownTax per $100,000 of assessment
Windsor$2,097 a year
Kingsville$1,631 a year
Leamington$2,174 a year
Tecumseh$1,627 a year
Lakeshore$1,437 a year
LaSalle$1,939 a year
Amherstburg (2025)$1,902 a year
Essex and Harrow$1,892 a year

Final 2026 residential rates (municipal, Essex County and education), from each town's published tax rates. Amherstburg's 2026 rate wasn't posted yet, so its 2025 rate is shown.

Mortgage insurance

With less than 20% down, your mortgage needs default insurance. The premium is added to the loan: 4.00% of the mortgage with 5% to 10% down, 3.10% with 10% to 15%, and 2.80% with 15% to 20%. First-time buyers can take a 30-year amortization, which adds 0.20 points to the premium. Ontario charges 8% sales tax on the premium, and that part can't go on the mortgage, so plan for it at closing.

The minimum down payment is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the rest, up to $1.5 million. At $1.5 million or more, it's 20%.

What this doesn't include

Closing costs (land transfer tax, legal fees, the inspection and moving), which come once rather than every month. First-time buyers in Ontario get up to $4,000 of the land transfer tax back. It also leaves out life insurance, internet and anything unique to the house. The payment assumes a fixed rate that stays the same for the whole amortization, and it isn't a pre-approval.

Limits

A planning estimate, not financial or mortgage advice. Your lender confirms what you qualify for, including the stress test.

Also useful: the Skip List, and Coffee First if you'd rather talk it through.