Owen Bigland blog about two fairly sizeable expenses that homeowners sometimes forget when purchasing a property in British Columbia. Most people know about the HST payable on new homes but there are 2 other substantial expenses you will need to shell out when you buy your home. The first is Property Transfer Tax (PTT) which is 1% on the first $200,000 and 2% on the balance. If you are a first time buyer, meet all the requirements and your purchase price is under $425,000 you can apply for an exemption. The second is CHHC default insurance. If you are putting less than 20% down (High-ratio mortgage) you need to have default coverage. If you are putting more than 20% down (Conventional mortgage) you do not need t ...

Owen blogs about the most critical aspect of selling your home, which is the right PRICE. "If it's not priced correctly from the start all my marketing efforts become greatly diminished. It's the main reason why almost half of all MLS listings never get sold. Coming up with the proper price for your home is not a quick and easy process. It starts with a tour of your home or condo from there I put to use a powerful software system that will compare your home to active listings and solds. There are many other factors I will take into account including current inventory levels, pricing trends and forecasts, average days on market, current market activity and interest rates. As well as the + and - your home has ...

I wanted to share with you an interesting little formula I came across on a real estate & investment website. It's NOT meant to be a definitive formula by any means. Just a quick way to calculate if the home or condo you are thinking of buying might be better to rent at the present moment. Real estate should always be purchased with a long term horizon and seldom does renting long term ever work out to be a better option than buying, holding and paying down the mortgage because you are creating equity and wealth in 2 ways. #1. Thru property appreciation and #2. By paying down the debt each month by way of your monthly, or even better bi-weekly mortgage payment. In my experience very few people will save or inves ...

Owen Bigland blogs about how there are 3 different types of value that are attached to any piece of residential real estate. Appraised Value: This is done by your bank or lending institution if you are borrowing money via a mortgage to purchase the home. The banks want to make sure that the house you are buying and borrowing money for is actually worth what you are paying. Occasionally deals can collapse when someone buys an overpriced property and the bank appraises it for less than what was paid. As a result they will usually require the borrower to increase their down payment if they want to secure the mortgage and close the deal. Assessed Value: This is done by the Province (BC Assessment), they estimate the v ...

Owen Bigland blogs about how major repairs, maintenance and upgrades to your Vancouver condo will be coming out of your pocket via a special assessment. Some home owners seem to think that's what the contingency reserve fund is for. I'm here to tell you that it rarely is. You might vote to use some funds to help offset the cost of the repair or upgrade but chances are the majority of the funds will be paid by you based on your unit entitlement via a special assessment.Special levy's are NOT unusual even on newer buildings. Major components are going to need upgrading or repair on a regular basis. Some are minor like painting the walls in the hallway or lobby, upgrading some landscaping or lighting. Others are ma ...

Owen blogs about a question he is asked quite frequently. Why is it so damn expensive to by a home in the Lower Mainland? There are many things that contribute to our high prices here in Vancouver but the 2 main ones are no surprise ...it's simply boils down to supply and demand. Demand is high and getting higher all the time. Mainland China buyers love Vancouver, San Francisco and LA. The secret about living on the West coast is out. This is simply where people from all over the country, North America and even the world want to live. It's not a dream many people have to one day live in Winnipeg, which is why you can buy a detached home there for $200,000. On the other side of the equation is supply. In the Lowe ...

Vancouver Realtor Owen Bigland blogs about one of the best ways for a first time home buyer to get into their first home. The RRSP home buyers plan allows you to borrow up to $25,000 per person and up to $50,000 per couple interest free and penalty free from your RRSP. They also give you an initial grace period of the year in which the withdrawal was made plus 1 more full calendar year before you need to start paying it back. Then you must pay it back over the next 15 years by depositing 1/15th of the amount withdrawn annually to your RRSP. Prepayments are allowed at anytime without penalty.   FIRST TIME BUYER: You must be a first time home buyer or you (or your spouse or common law spouse) must not have owned a home t ...

Owen Blogs about how Ottawa is warning that Canadians may be taking on more debt than they can handle. Last week our Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned that Canadians need to be careful with these record low mortgage rates that are being offered. They feel that many people are taking on too much debt. This was brought about when The Bank of Montreal introduced a 5 year fixed rate mortgage at 2.99%. Since then most of the other major banks have matched this record low rate. I have to agree with Mr. Carney and Mr. Flaherty on this one. I have been advising my clients to expect higher interest rates in the future and to prepare for those higher rates now. Don't get me wrong ...

Owen Bigland blogs about important new regulation regarding strata properties in BC. New regulations under Bill 8 of the Strata property act now make it mandatory for every strata in BC to obtain a depreciation report. A depreciation report is basically a planning tool used by property owners (the strata corporation) to clearly understand what the strata is responsible for with maintaining and repairing as part of its building system (a physical component inventory); the age of the building system; the projected life expectancy; when it should be planned for renewal; what it will cost when the time comes to renew the component; and how the strata will pay for it. Every Strata corp will need to commission a depreciation ...

Owen Bigland blogs about the 4 key things he has his clients focus on while they look to buy a Vancouver condo. These 4 things save people an enormous amount of time, frustration and money. #1. Neighborhood  #2. Price  #3. Building (some are better than others so make sure your agent has intimate knowledge of the various downtown buildings, including which ones are well maintained and managed and which ones to avoid). And finally #4. The general layout of the unit including which floor it's on and it's location in the building. Most downtown condos are built for the masses. Don't worry about small things like flooring, paint, appliances, kitchen cabinets, lighting. All those things can be easily upgraded or changed to meet your nee ...