BC Government Legislating Measures Designed to Control Home Prices and Increase Rental Vacancy

Recent legislation introduced by the BC Government will require builders to collect and report their buyer's information on the purchase and sale of condos before they are built. The NDP are putting this practice into place because they are concerned speculators are making purchases, riding out the equity increases while the property is being built, then selling them at a profit without ever living in them or reporting any of the capital gains.

“This is a key step to stopping people from using presale condos as a quick, lucrative investment,'' says Carol James. ``It's also to stop them from driving prices up for British Columbians trying to get into the housing market.''

This legislation would force the reporting of the condo flips and allow the government to collect the tax.

Whether or not one agrees with their legislation, if you read between the lines, the government is taking action because it recognizes the value in pre-sale condos as a way to build some equity during the construction phase. That’s certainly great news for our buyers who want to buy a new home or invest in a condo as a rental property.

The NDP also introduced amending legislation to give municipal governments stronger zoning tools to protect and improve the supply of rental properties. It will allow them to ensure existing rental properties cannot be redeveloped for other uses. Undeveloped land zoned for rental will be used for rental homes.

Other steps the provincial government recently took include the introduction of a speculation tax on vacant homes to encourage rentals, increased foreign buyers tax on property sales and the creation of a housing hub program to link non-profit and faith groups with property to developers to build affordable housing.

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Why Investing in a Pre-Sale Condominium is a Good Idea

We are seeing three categories of people purchasing our condominiums right now: young professionals looking for less expensive entrance into the competitive housing market; retirees downsizing from a big family home; and investors who want to buy a unit and rent it out to make a profit over time.
Quite a few real estate investors make a purchase at Triple Crown. That’s because real estate investors are catching on to the advantages of condo pre-sales, especially as the price of single detached dwellings skyrocket and become less financially tenable.
More Time to Save the Down Payment
The advantage of buying a pre-sales or pre-construction condo as a real estate investment is the flexible financial arrangement. If this is your first-time real estate investment, it’s difficult to come up with the required 20 per cent down payment. As of February 2018, the Victoria Real Estate Board (VREB) lists the benchmark price for condominiums in the Greater Victoria area as $463,100. The down pay…

Residence 1 Now Sold Out!

Thank You to everyone who has invested in the Triple Crown Community and purchased a condominium. All 46 units in Residence 1 are now sold.
Those of you who were not ready to buy, or who are waiting for the next phase of condominiums, stay tuned. We will be announcing details soon.
Now that you’ve put a deposit down for your new condominium, make sure you make yourself aware of some expenses you will need to set aside some money to pay before the day that you close if you’re living in or renting your unit.
Closing costs
GST is included with the rebate going to the seller. If the buyer is not living in the unit and not eligible for the rebate they must pay the rebate portion on top of the Selling price. Property Transfer Tax (PTT) is similar in that it is included if you are living in the unit. Those not living in the unit they must pay the PTT on top of the Selling price net of the GST.
You will need insurance for the unit whether living in it or renting it out.
Utility Hook ups. When you …

How Quiet is my Condo?

“What about the noise?”
We hear this question time and again. It’s one of the larger concerns our customers have when they are considering a condo purchase.
“I like the idea of the condo lifestyle,” a customer told us. “I’m just not excited about hearing my noisy neighbours on all sides. I like a quiet space.”
We get it. And we feel the same way.
“Did you know there have been recent changes to the National Building Code (NBC) to reduce noise transmission” we asked?
In 2015, the NBC, which is Canada's building code that sets technical provisions for the construction of buildings, was updated to change how builders and architects design for acoustics to ensure you have quieter neighbours.
What is required and how they measure it needs a little explaining.
The measure of how much material can reduce noise transmission is called the Sound Transmission Class (STC). The higher the STC number, the less sound transmitted. The NBC now requires an STC rating of 50. For our technically incl…

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