Sunday, February 21, 2016

Top Grants and Rebates for Property Buyers and Owners

1. Home Buyers’ Plan

Qualifying home buyers can withdraw up to $25,000 (couples can withdraw up to $50,000) from their RRSPs for a down payment. Home buyers who have repaid their RRSP may be eligible to use the program a second me.
Canada Revenue Agency. Learn more or to participate in the Home Buyers’ Plan or call
1.800.959.8287

2. GST Rebate on New Homes
New home buyers can apply for a rebate for the 5% GST if the purchase price is $350,000 or less. The rebate is equal to 36% of the GST to a maximum rebate of $6,300. There is a proportional GST rebate for new homes costing $350,000 - $450,000. There is no rebate for homes priced at $450,000 and above. Canada Revenue Agency. Enter ‘RC4028’ in the search box.
1.800.959.8287

3. BC Property Transfer Tax (PTT) First-Time Home Buyers’ Program

Qualifying First-time buyers may be exempt from paying the PTT of 1% on the rest $200,000 and 2% on the remainder of
the purchase price of a home priced up to $475,000. There
is a proportional exempt on for homes priced between $475,000 and $500,000. At $500,000 and above the rebate is nil. Learn more.
250.387.0604

4. First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit (HBTC)
A federal non-refundable income tax credit for qualifying buyers of detached and a ached homes, apartment condominiums, mobile homes or shares in a cooperative housing corpora on. The calculation: multiply the lowest personal income tax rate for the year (15% in 2014) x $5,000. For the 2015 tax year, the maximum
credit is $750. Learn more. 1.800.959.8281

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5. BC Home Owner Grant
Reduces property taxes for home owners with an assessed value of up to $1,100,000. The basic grant gives home owners:      


  • a maximum reduction of $570 in property taxes on principal residences in the Capital, Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley regional districts;
         

  • an additional grant of $200 to rural home owners elsewhere in the province; and
               
    an additional grant of $275 to seniors aged 65+, those who are permanently disabled and wave veterans of certain wars. Learn more or contact your municipal tax office.
         

6. BC Property Tax Deferment Programs:

(Updated December 2015)


  • Property Tax Deferment Program for Seniors. Qualifying home owners aged 55+ may be eligible to defer property taxes.
        


  • Financial Hardship Property Tax Deferment Program. Qualifying low-income home owners may be eligible to defer property taxes.
         


  • Property Tax Deferment Program for Families with Children. Qualifying home owners who financially support children under age 18 may be eligible to defer property taxes.
    Learn more.
    1-888-355-2700
         

7. Home Adaptations for Independence (HAFI)
A program jointly sponsored by the provincial and federal governments provides up to $20,000 to help eligible low income seniors and disabled home owners and landlords to modifications to their homes to make them accessible and safer. Learn more.
604.433.2218 or toll-free 1.800.257.7756

8. BC Seniors’ Home Renovation Tax Credit
Assists eligible seniors 65+ with the cost of certain permanent home renovations to a principal residence to improve accessibility or help a senior be more functional or mobile at home. The maximum amount of the refundable credit is $1,000 per tax year and is calculated as 10% of the qualifying renovation expense (maximum $10,000 in expenses). Learn more. Canada Revenue Agency or toll-free
1.800.959.8281

9. CMHC Mortgage Loan Insurance Premium Refund
Provides home buyers with CMHC mortgage insurance, a 10% premium refund and possible extended amortization without surcharge when buyers purchase an energy efficient home or make energy saving renovations. Learn more.
604.731.5733

10. Energy Saving Mortgages
Financial institutions offer a variety of mortgages to home buyers and owners making their homes energy efficient. For example, home owners who have a home energy audit within 90 days of receiving an RBC Energy SaverTM Mortgage may qualify for a rebate of $300 to their RBC account. Learn more.
1.800.769.2511

11. Low Interest Renovation Loans
Financial institutions offer ‘green’ loans for home owners making energy efficient upgrades. Vancity Home Energy Loan personal loan offers home owners up to $50,000 at prime + 1% for up to 15 years for energy efficient renovations. RBC’s Energy Saver loan offers 1% o the interest rate for a fixed rate installment loan over $5,000 or a $100 rebate on a home energy audit on a fixed rate installment loan over $5,000. For information visit your municipalities

12. Heritage Energy Grant (Pilot Program)
Grants of up to $3,000 per household to assist with energy  for Vancouver homes built before 1940 and homes listed on the Vancouver Heritage Register. This pilot runs to August 31, 2016. It is sponsored by Vancouver Heritage Foundation and the City of Vancouver Sustainability Group with assistance from City Green Solutions. Qualifying include insula on, air sealing, window repairs and storm windows, and high efficiency forms of heating and hot water. Learn more. Terms/Conditions, Grant application

13. Energy Conservation and Assistance Program
BC Hydro and Fortis BC free energy assessments and energy saving products to income-qualifying households. Qualified contractors will install upgrades ranging in value from $300 to $5,000 depending on the need of the home.

14. For New Home Energy Rebate

For BC Hydro customers can receive rebates when building ENERGY STAR new homes of when installing high-efficiency natural gas replaces.

15. Smart Thermostat Pilot Program
City of Vancouver and Vancity are offering a $125 rebate for a home owner purchasing 1 of 3 smart thermostats which automatically controls the climate in your home. This pilot program runs to December 2016. Learn more. smart hermostats@vancouver.ca

16. Home Energy Rebate Offer
BC Hydro and Fortis BC offer home owners rebates for upgrades and improvements, including insula on, space and water heating systems and ventilation to reduce the average customer’s energy bill by 30%. There is a bonus offer for completing three or more of certain upgrades. Total value of available rebates: $5,300 per household. Learn more.

17. Energy Savings Kit Program
BC Hydro and Fortis BC offer income-qualifying customers a free energy saving kit containing products to help save energy and money. Learn more.

18. ENERGY STAR Appliances
BC Hydro Power Smart and various municipalities are offering $100 mail-in rebates to home owners buying ENERGY STAR® clothes dryers and refrigerators. Coquitlam, New Westminster, North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, Richmond, Vancouver and West Vancouver are participating. Learn more.

19. Fortis BC Rebate Program for Homes
Rebates for home owners including a $300 rebate for purchasing an Enter Choice replace, or up to $1,800 on an ENERGY STAR water heater, or a $1,000 rebate for switching to natural gas (from oil or propane) and installing an ENERGY STAR heating system. Total value of available rebates: $5,300 per household. Learn more.
1.800.663.8400

20. For s Rebate for Rental apartment buildings
In October 2015, Fortis BC launched the Rental Apartment Efficiency Program for owners and managers of rental apartment buildings nine units and larger. The program includes a water-efficient shower head and a kitchen and bathroom faucet aerator directly installed in each unit, a building energy assessment and ongoing professional assistance.

Learn more and FAQ’s

21. Rain Barrel Subsidy Programs
Many Metro Vancouver municipalities over rain barrels for sale, often at a discount for residents. Richmond sells them for $30. Burnaby sells them for $70. Coquitlam sells them for $72. West Vancouver sells them for $55. Other municipalities have similar offers.

22. Water Wise Kits
Many Metro Vancouver municipalities offer water wise kits and other tools for reducing home water consumption including Burnaby, Coquitlam, Delta,

23. Local Government Water Conservation Incentives
Your municipality may provide grants and incentives to residents to help save water.

Toilets: North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, and the District of West Vancouver offer a $50 rebate when residents install a low-rush toilet. Richmond offer a $100 utility rebate. Visit your municipality’s website and enter ‘toilet rebate’ to see if there is a program.

Clothes washers: replace your old clothes washer with a new, high efficiency ENERGY STAR clothes washer and receive a $100 or $200 rebate from Richmond.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

How REALTORS® help?



Buying or selling property can be complicated, whether it’s a condominium, a detached home, a building lot, or an office building. It’s also a significant financial transaction. It’s important to get the best help you can.
REALTORS® are professionals who can help you buy or sell a property. They are trained to:
  • work within the REALTOR® Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice
  • provide you with protection against misadventure and fraud
  • stay current on information you need to know by participating in ongoing professional education programs
  • make the best possible use of the MLS® property database to help you sell your property or find your new home
  • have the marketing and negotiating skills that will help you make the right purchasing or selling decision. 

 

A REALTOR® can provide you with the following services:
  • will help you adopt a sound negotiation strategy and negotiate on your behalf
  • assess market trends by reviewing current home sale data on the MLS®
  • advise on any development plans in the neighbourhood
  • review any past permits taken out for the property
  • assist with the many forms used in a transaction
  • help you determine an appropriate offer

 

Is your agent a REALTOR®?

Not all licensed or registered brokerages or real estate agents are REALTORS®. REALTOR® is a trademark identifying real estate licensees who are members of The Canadian Real Estate Association. REALTORS® adhere to a strict set of standards called the REALTOR® Code and Standards of Business Practice. The REALTOR® Code is a firm set of rules, describing our members’ commitment to high standards and their obligations to you.

Home Price Index - Greater Vancouver 5 year trend - Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver


CREA Resources for Buyers and Sellers

CREA provides a number of different resources to help you buy or sell a home. 

Buying a Home?

  1. Helpful Advice: Get the basic knowledge you need before buying a home, plus useful advice to guide you throughout the process. Find it all here.
  2. Home listings on the Internet: Visit REALTOR.ca to view the latest home listings on whatever computer or device you’re using. 
  3. Home listings app for your phone: Add our REALTOR.ca app to your phone to give you convenient access to all the latest home listings. 
  4. Find a REALTOR®: Benefit from the expertise of a professional who can find you the perfect home. Find a REALTOR® in your area.
 

Selling your home?

  1. Helpful Advice: Get the basic knowledge you need before selling your home, plus useful advice to guide you throughout the process. Find it all here.
  2. Home listings on the Internet: Find out at what price comparable houses in your area are listed. Visit REALTOR.ca to view the latest home listings on whatever computer or device you’re using. 
  3. Home listings app for your phone: Add our REALTOR.ca app to your phone to give you convenient access to all the latest home listings. 
  4. Find a REALTOR®: Benefit from the expertise of a professional with an intimate knowledge of your local housing market. Find a REALTOR® in your area.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

B.C. budget offers help to buyers of new homes

VICTORIA - Buyers of newly-built homes will get a break on their taxes, as part of changes in the B.C. budget designed to address the Lower Mainland's red hot housing market.

The government will, starting Wednesday, exempt any purchaser of a newly-built home, condo or townhouse valued under $750,000 from the property transfer tax, potentially saving them up to $13,000.

The deal only applies for the first owner of a new home, and the buyer must live in the property for at least a year. It's valid anywhere in the province, but only for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

To make up the money, government will increase the property transfer tax by one per cent, to a total of 3 per cent, on any home sale worth more than $2 million.

The move may help encourage the construction of new housing, which Finance Minister Mike de Jong said is crucial to addressing the limited supply, but rising demand, for homes in B.C.

"We've taken some pretty purposeful steps to assist those who have the demand and incent the supply," he said.

It's on top of an existing first-time homebuyer exemption for new and used homes, which remains in place for properties less than $475,000.

"We should be capturing the bulk of the market, and as I say with respect to new homes, hopefully creating some incentive for more homes to be built," said de Jong. "We will be working with municipalities to try and facilitate that. So big changes. And we'll be tracking closely the impact they have on market and market behaviour."

Government data indicates a typical condo or townhome in east Vancouver would fall under the threshold, as would a typical townhome or condo in west Vancouver.

De Jong's budget outlined $47.5 billion in spending for the 2016/17 fiscal year, starting April 1, with a projected $264 million surplus. It's the fourth consecutive surplus budget for the Liberal government.

Even as it sought to cool the housing market, the province is enjoying a financial windfall from the property transfer tax it charges on sales. That tax has jumped more than 60 per cent above last year's expectations and is on track to bring in $1.5 billion in the current fiscal year - surpassing the revenue earned by the carbon tax.

To address the issue of foreign buyers spurring real estate prices, de Jong said the government will resume tracking data on who buys property.

Buyers will later this year have to disclose the country of their residence, which is data the province hasn't collected since 1998.

"A purchaser will need to disclose whether they are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, and if they are not one of those they will need to disclose the country the are a citizen or resident of," said de Jong.

Government will also track the beneficial owner of corporations buying property - known as bare trusts - but not move to close the loophole that allows the corporation to transfer shares to a new person, effectively selling the property but avoiding the property transfer tax

The budget did not contain any incentives for local governments to increase the density of housing projects through zoning and bylaws. De Jong threatened legislation that could force municipalities to make transparent the costs their development fees are having on new homes, but said government will first discuss the issue at this year's Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting.

Tuesday's budget also included extra funding for the Ministry of Children and Family Development, which has been rocked in the past year by several high-profile deaths and suicides of children in government care.

MCFD's core operations will get a $65 million boost next year, which will increase front-line programs and hire around 100 new social workers, according to the budget.

The province rejected calls to increase the social assistance rate for B.C.'s most needy, instead announcing a small $77 monthly increase to the disability income assistance rate to a monthly total of $983 effective Sept. 1. The change will affect 100,000 people - though half of those people will receive a lesser amount than $77 a month, because they already receive a bus pass or transportation allowance from the ministry.

"I don't think this makes life easier for people but hopefully it makes life a little less hard," said de Jong.

It's the first increase to the disability rate in nine years. The overall welfare rate remains unchanged.

Much-anticipated changes to the Medical Services Plan premiums largely failed to materialize in Tuesday's fiscal plan. Premier Christy Clark had previously called the flat rate system for MSP as "antiquated" and in need of major reform.

Instead, government increased monthly premiums on adults by $3, to $78 a month starting January 2017. And it eliminated a special rate for adult couples, meaning an additional $14 monthly increase for a family with two adults.

The changes will net government $147 million more, but is offset by $70 million in "enhanced premium assistance," according to the budget.

Children will be exempt from premiums, saving a minimum of $800 per year for families, said de Jong. Two million residents, including kids, won't have to pay any premiums, and 335,000 will pay reduced premiums under additional support, said de Jong.

There will also be a push to inform seniors, many of whom are not taking advantage of their MSP exemptions, that they are entitled to a tax break, said de Jong.

MSP will generate $2.4 billion in revenue towards health care spending that is estimated to rise to almost $19.6 billion, or 41 per cent of total spending. Government continues to plan for 4 per cent annual increases in future years, meaning costs are only going to increase. De Jong defended MSP premiums as a necessary way to fund health care.

"It may be politically attractive to create the impression that MSP premiums don't exist or disappear, but of course they do because the $2.4 billion that we receive in MSP premiums will need to come from somewhere," he said.

"I'd rather be as open and honest with British Columbians as possible and disclose what they are paying and what prupose they are paying."

Elsewhere in the budget, education spending remained basically frozen including inflation.

The budget included $12 billion in taxpayer-supported infrastructure capital spending over the next three years.

Taxpayer-supported debt is budgeted to rise to $43.2 billion, which de Jong said is a slowing of the growth of debt compared to previous years. Taxpayers will spend 3.7 cents per every dollar in debt servicing.

Total provincial debt is estimated to rise $2.4 billion next year, to $67.7 billion. The debt-to-GDP ratio will drop to 17 per cent, said de Jong.

The budget contained several new small tax credits for farmers donating food to non-profits, as well as an expansion of the BC seniors' home renovation tax credit.

However, de Jong warned that the film and television industry's increased use of the film tax credit program, combined with the low Canadian dollar, would force government to revisit the program in the near future.

The government followed through with the creation of its liquefied natural gas Prosperity Fund, despite the fact no LNG projects have actually started construction. The budget allocates $100 million to the fund, but state a minimum of 50 per cent of future funds will be used for debt repayment.

The Prosperity Fund money will come from the current 2015/16 fiscal year, ending March 31. In that current year, government said its estimated $265 million surplus has risen to a projected $377 million.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Maria Mak-Professional Real Estate Service - serving her clients in Metro Vancouver for over 25 years


Contact Maria Mak and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty for all your premium real estate services@ 604.839.6368 or visit her website @ www.mariamak.com, you'll be smiling too.

# Professional Real Estate Services guaranteed

How does a REALTOR® establish the selling price of my house?



To attract buyers and ensure you receive a price that works best for you, your REALTOR® will help establish your home’s current market value. ‘Market Value’ (given sufficient market exposure) is the price a reasonable buyer would pay for a property of that kind.
REALTORS® have access to information from various sources to help establish market value. When retained to advise on pricing questions, REALTORS® can:
  • review the stated value on your current BC Assessment Property Notice 
  • review recent sales and current listings history for properties like yours 
  • do on-site inspections, examining the exterior and interior of your property in detail, noting new features that could affect the property’s value 
  • give you information about the current economy and how it may have affected the value of your property e.g.  an improving economy may mean rising prices, while a declining economy may mean falling prices

Based on this information, your REALTOR® will provide an estimate of the value of your property  and then, together, you can establish an appropriate asking price.
Most successful home sellers have something in common: they use an informed, expert REALTORS® to help them through the complex process of selling their home.

Professional real estate services - Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtor




Contact Maria Mak and her elite team @ Sutton Centre Realty for all your premium real estate services @ 604.839.6368 or visit her website @ www.mariamak.com, you'll be smiling too.


New mortgage rules for homes over $500,000 go into effect, as Liberalsaim to limit housing risks

OTTAWA — New federal rules for Canadian mortgages have now gone into effect.
The changes affect properties that cost more than $500,000 — a small percentage of the overall market.
Buyers can still have a five per cent down payment on the first $500,000 of a home purchase but must now put at least 10 per cent down on the portion above $500,000.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau has said the new measure — effective Monday — aims to ensure buyers have sufficient equity in their homes.
Lenders also face new capital requirements to keep pace with the growing risk of the real estate markets that they bankroll.
And Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. will change the fees it charges issuers of mortgage-backed securities.
The Finance Department has tightened mortgage rules on several occasions in recent years — along with requiring stricter enforcement and management of loans — to weed out marginal buyers and speculators.
The Canadian Press