Category: Buyers

This blog will attempt to be a valuable resource for Realtors, Buyers, and Sellers of real estate in the Province of British Columbia...

One of the limited exemptions to paying property transfer tax occurs where the Seller is related to the Buyer However, for this exemption to apply, the Seller and Buyer must be "vertically related" and the property must be a principal residenceSo, consider the situation where husband is on title and wishes to add h...

For most out of province buyers, finding out about Property Transfer Tax often comes as an unpleasant shock Property Transfer Tax is charged on every transfer of freehold title in the Province of British Columbia as is calculated as 1% of the first $200k and 2% of the remainder of the Purchase PriceThis means a $30...

Is strata right for me This is a personal question and each strata is different When you are buying into a strata you are buying into a community and you should carefully read through the Form B package, the rules, minutes, and bylaws to ensure that who your are matches the "personality" of the community When in do...

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Here in Kelowna there are several reasons an individual may require a Power of Attorney (POA) when preparing to sell his or her property A Power of Attorney is a legal documents that grants to a person (sometimes called the “Attorney”) the right to sell and dispose of the assets of the Donor (the person granting th...

The end of June is "high season" for residential real estate closing As the school year comes to the close and the weather turns warmer, people want to get the "business of moving" done prior to enjoying summer holidaysThere are a couple of unique considerations for Kelowna Real Estate at this time of year, all of ...

In the context of residential real estate, 90% of the time the deals of fairly straightforward The difficulty here is identifying the 10% of homes or deals that have issues and importantly what those issues arePrior to subject removal Home Buyers are in the best position to gather information and make decisions abo...

In the Central Okanagan Real Estate zone this December, new listings decreased 11% and unit sales increased 33% compared with this time last year (stats here) This has been a relatively consistent trend over the Fall and Winter of 2013 with inventory dropping and sales increasing This trend shows our real estate market...

Under the Strata Property Act, a Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF) is established to pay for extraordinary expenses, but under the Act, the amount in the CRF was established by a formula (which had NO relationship  to the age of the building!) Furthermore, the amount of contribution to the CRF was CAPPED, unless an ¾ vo...

Home Insurance is a requirement of every residential mortgage, however having an effective home insurance policy is a good practice for all homeowners Under the standard Contract of Purchase and Sale, the BUYER is liable for all RISK in the property as a 12:01am on the CLOSING DATE The take home point here is that your...

In a recent Kelowna court case, Oyelese v Sorensen, 2013 BCSC 940 (CanLII), has received widespread local media attention as the Sorensens have been ordered by the Court to remove their encroaching swimming pool from their neighbors lands Like most Real Estate Lawyers, our firm has received lots of questions on this ca...

My mum's family is from Edmonton and I had the fortune of going to the University of Alberta in Edmonton for 10 years Although I enjoyed the great people I met in Alberta, I was always drawn to come back home to KelownaKelowna Real Estate has a special allure for many Alberta buyers for many good reasons, a few of ...

Recently, a local Realtor and Home Inspector have been in the news as a Buyer has claimed that they have bought an “unlivable” home (full CBC News Story here) and the aggrieved Buyer is claiming against the Realtor and Home Inspector in small claims court  From my reading of the story and documents (as presented b...

By: Peter Borszcz, Real Estate Lawyer, Montgomery Miles & Stone Law FirmIrrespective of economic conditions, foreclosure properties are often viewed as a “deal” for the savvy real estate investor However, courts in British Columbia have a duty to ensure that foreclosure properties are being sold as close to the...