Tips for First-Time
home buyers

Tips for First-Time Home Buyers in South Okanagan

 

Buying your first home is a major milestone and something to be incredibly proud of. It can be hard to navigate through on your own and knowing where to start is essential. 

​

Being able to help First-Time Buyers accomplish their goals is something that never gets old. I would urge anyone considering buying their first property in the South Okanagan to give me a call, and we can talk!

​

In conjunction with How to Buy a Home in the South Okanagan, there are several vital pieces of information that our First-Time Home Buyers can take advantage of to get into real estate and purchase their first home!

 

​

First-Time Home Buyers’ Program

​

Offered for BC, this program reduces or eliminates the amount you will have to pay in Property Transfer Tax (PTT). For full details, visit the BC Program Guide.

​

To qualify, you must:

• Be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident

• Have either:

  • Lived in B.C. for at least a year immediately before the date you registered the property

  • Filed at least 2 income tax returns as a B.C. resident in the last 6 taxation years immediately before the registration date

• Have never owned any registered interest to property that was your principal residence anywhere in the world at any time.

• Have never received a first-time home buyers' exemption or refund and the property must:

  • Only be used as your principal residence

  • Have a fair market value of $500,000 or less

  • Be 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) or smaller

You may qualify for a partial exemption from the tax if the property:

• Has a fair market value of less than $525,000

• Is larger than 0.5 hectares

• Has another building on the property other than the principal residence

The amount you will have to pay in PTT is based on:

• The fair market value of the property

• The percentage of the property transfer eligible for the exemption

• When the property was registered

 

Full details on Exemption Amounts.

 

​

Home Buyers’  Plan

​

Offered for all of Canada, this program allows you to withdraw from your RRSP to buy or build your first home. For full details, visit the HBP Guide. 

​

To qualify, you must:

• be considered a first-time homebuyer

• have a written agreement to buy or build a qualifying home, either for yourself or for a related person with a disability

• be a resident of Canada when you withdraw funds from your RRSPs under the HBP up to the time a qualifying home is bought or built

• intend to occupy the qualifying home as your principal place of residence within one year after buying or building it. If you buy or build a qualifying home for a related person with a disability or help a related person with a disability to buy or build a qualifying home, you must intend that the related person with a disability occupies the qualifying home as their principal place of residence.

and the property must:

• Be located in Canada

• Be an existing home, or being constructed:

  • Single-Family

  • Semi-Detached

  • Townhome

  • Mobile/Manufactured Home

  • Condominiums

  • Duplexes / Triplexes / Fourplexes

  • Apartments

• Be a share in a cooperative housing corporation that entitles you to possess, and gives you an equity interest in a housing unit located in Canada

  • A share that only provides you with a right tenancy in the housing unit does NOT qualify

 

​

Purchase Plus Improvements Mortgage

​

I feel like this doesn’t get talked about enough these days. Essentially, a “Purchase Plus Improvements Mortgage” is one where you can add the value of costs of renovations to the loan amount into one. 

​

This is a great option for First-Time Home Buyers who need a little help with their fixer-upper. This mortgage typically comes with a few extra requirements and should be discussed with your mortgage broker! 

 

​

Enlist a Real Estate Agent to Help

​

Buying your first home is an exciting process! I can be the right agent, at the right time to help you buy real estate in the South Okanagan. Ask me anything about properties on the market, sources of financing, and how we can start your home-buying journey.

​

There are many details to consider when buying your first home in the South Okanagan, and the only way to get ahead and find what you’re looking for is to get started!