JonboyE

In BC, now we have gone back to the GST/PST regime, there is no PST on real estate. GST @5% applies to new builds/substantial renovations. If the sale price of the new build/substantial renovation is less than $450,000 then some of the of the GST is rebated.

Property transfer tax is 1% up to $200,000 and 2% of the amount above $200,000. There are rebates for people who are genuinely first time buyers.

On top of this budget a home inspection of $500 - $600. Legal fees, if you have a mortgage, should not exceed $1,000. Some people think title insurance is also worthwhile. If you are buying in the Lower Mainland I can recommend some reputable companies.

There is a lot of useful information here ...

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Category:Housing-Canada

and here ...

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Mortgages-Canada

prairiechicken

Brilliant, thank you so much everyone, very helpful indeed.

I am scared to ask about cars now..... but go on, someone fill me in....

Aviator

...and if you make an offer and it is accepted, it is a legally binding contract, from the mement the seller accepts the offer. Not like the UK where you can pull out before the exchange of contracts.

If you pull out after acceptance you could end up with at least losing your deposit, maybe being on the hook for any loss the seller incurs and the realtors fees.

prairiechicken

That is the same as the Scottish system then (or at least very similar) - in Scotland when an offer is accepted it's really hard to get out of, it's not the same as England at all. In which case I'm used to that!

Scribble

yep, essentially the selling agent gets 3% and the buying agent gets 2%.
People will claim the buying agent helps by making sure you don;t get into any legal issues and they actively look for properties for you but I don't really understand the point in having a buying agent.
5% is a bit steep for commissions.

In the UK, the seller pays 2.5% or less and the buyer pays nothing.

Also, notaries vcosts more in Canada...in the UK you can get all the paperwork done for free by the bank or for just a couple hundred pounds ($300-400)

Novocastrian

At the risk of thread drift, but you did ask, if you buy a second hand car, you have to pay sales tax on the buying price (or estimated value which ever is greater) before you can register it. Classic case of double taxation.

magnumpi

Yup and the tax is based on the fair market value of the vehicle. So even if it was free, or you make up a rct for $100, you still pay the tax on the value of the vehicle.

They like to tax things here. Air is free at the mo but I'm sure Canada is working on that one?

BexB

Hi,

I've posted a little about myself/family in the Welcome Inn, but we'll be relocating from the UK to Vancouver in July. Anyhow, I've been doing lots of research (thanks to everyone on this site, which has been a great help) and will share the key points from this. In relation to buying a house in BC, I've reproduced below a reply from a real estate agent

"Looks like you have it - based on the link you sent & when the home was built and stage of construction it was at - more than likely (since your purchase would be after April 1st 2013) it will be 5% GST + 2% Transitional Tax. This is for New Homes only. There may be a rebate - but you likely won't qualify since not a BC resident.

Regardless you will have to pay the Property Transfer Tax of the 1% on 1st $200,000 and 2% on the balance of purchase price - whether new home or a resale home.

There are property taxes paid annually on each home for the year & paid on July 1
The owner of record is responsible to pay on July 1 - if you buy after that date then you will pay the seller a pro-rated amount for the year. ie. move in Sept.30 - pay 3 months (Oct, Nov, Dec) property taxes."

So, my take is that taxes will be around 1%-2% for resale homes, 8% - 9% for new homes. New houses are very expensive!

JonboyE

The 2% transition tax applies between now and March 31, 2015 for new homes only that were more than 10% completed at April 1, 2013.

Almost Canadian

England is the same as Canada. It is not legally binding until it's legally binding. Both systems require a written contract and, until the agreement is reduced to writing , both systems state there is no contract. The fact that the parties don't understand this is immaterial.

JonboyE

There is the listing agent, who acts for the seller, and the selling agent, who acts for the buyer.

In BC the commisions are nearly equal - usually something like 51% of the commission to the listing agent and 49% to the selling agent. Of course, this can change if the listing agent has accepted a lower commission.

Quite. What could possibly go wrong?

Different levels of service though. Do you expect if to be done for free? The buyer pays nothing in Canada too.

Banks doing something for free? I prefer to to have the legalities done by someone acting in my interests.

Aviator

There are a few reasons to use a buyers agent.

They often know the area a little better than the buyer themselves, a realtor has to show the house, the homeowner usually does not and the selling agent has a vested interest in selling you their listing. A buyers agent does not care which one you buy if they get their slice of it, so is a bit more impartial. The buyers agent will also drive you around and show you properties, so you don't have to have a car or find your own way around.

If you are from out of town, the agent is looking on your behalf. If you don't buy they don't get paid. Occasionally, as happened to us, a buyers agent hears about a property coming up and you get to see it before it ever gets listed, we found a nice ocean front property on the sunshine coast like this. Flew up, saw it and liked it, all within a couple of hours of the phone call. The agent picked us up from the airport and drove us there. The deal was done and we were back home within 5 hours of getting the call. I doubt we would have even got a look in had it been listed, as it would have been snapped up.

ninaDGBCA

Also our agent had a look at all the properties that sold in the area within the past year. What they were listed and what they sold for. In our case as we are building we had to change a few things during the process and every time she got in touch with the seller's/builder's agent to write the amendments etc.

Novocastrian

That's excellent service from your point of view. But I imagine the seller might have been a modicum pissed off with paying the listing agent 3% for doing nothing at all (except perhaps whispering in your agent's ear).

airbornesapper

For the OP, here is an example:

We have been looking for a new place for a couple years...the retirement shack....missed a couple...the next that ticked the boxes we were not going to let slip. There were a couple to look at when we had the time...mortgage pre-approved, mortgage rates guaranteed for 120 days. Went to another bank from our own for this.

I work away and was able to view on 2 April 13 while home for Easter. I left Canada for overseas the next day. The house had been on the market for about a month at that time.

Returned to Canada 21 Apr - the house is still on the market, informed by our agent of many years that the seller was adding an incentive on top of reducing the price the week before. OH flies to Ottawa for a visit (pre-planned).

23 Apr - we visited our own bank (TD), but obviously a different branch in another province to negotiate financing. 30 mins later done.

24 Apr - offer presented by our real estate agent to vendors agent. This was faxed at 1545 hours NB time. They were given until 2000 hours. 2045 hours NB time, received an email..."Accepted" We had one condition -a satisfactory home inspection. Home is 5 years old...with 2 years warranty remaining.

27 Apr - 1300 NB time. Inspection complete...report received for review in Ottawa.

29 Apr - my wife and I will sign with the bank in Ottawa..then they take over with our lawyer. Bank will notify our agent that financing is in place.

Although as financing was not a condition of sale...they could have put a "sold' sign up right after I was happy with the inspection.

Everything was completed via fax and email....

So we close in two months....my better half will step-up to do the final signing with our lawyer....I will be in miles away again...

No stress...Still have our own house to sell......will get to that next!! We are happy.....Just an example for you...I find the process here straightforward.

We did something similar in 2005...bought a rental in Canada while we were posted to the UK (it was five doors down from our own house, which was also being rented-out at that time)...we never set foot in the new house during the buying process, we never met with our lawyer (signed forms in the UK at a notary), and never went in a bank.....we sold the rental in 2010.

AS...