Subscribe with RSS ReaderTuesday, February 14, 2012 Now seems like a great time for first time home buyersWith the amazingly low interest rates and all the product either on or coming on the market this Spring, A first time home buyer should have a fighting chance. There is a lot of product in the range of $300,000 to $425,000. When you purchase a property that is $425,000 or less as a first time buyer you can be exempt from the property transfer tax. This is a significant chunk of change that the bank won't finance. For instance on a $400,000 unit the property transfer tax would be $6,000. There are rules that apply click here to learn about property transfer tax. Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Changes to strata regulations good for buyersUntil now there haven't been many safeguards for purchasers of Condos that have been poorly built or manged by their owners. Inadequate maintenance, lack of budgeting for future repairs and little or no transparency are issues with many strata corporations in Vancouver. That is about to change.
Among the changes, strata corporations will be required to prepare a depreciation report. The report will include a physical inventory of the strata's common property including building systems such as the building envelope, roof, pipes and boilers. The report will also include (now here is the good part) an estimate of the cost of anticipated maintenance, repair and replacement of those common property items projected over 30 years!!
And most important to prospective buyers, the strata corporations will be required to prepare financial forecasts of how the strata will fund those expenses from the contingency reserve fund or special levies. The report will have to be updated every three years and include an onsite inspection. The new regulations will be effective immediately but stratas will have two years to comply.
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