Living an eco-friendly lifestyle is easy when you green up your home for spring

Creating a more eco-friendly lifestyle is a great goal for the change of season, especially when warmer weather encourages us to spend more time outdoors. Here are some tips in and around your home to help get you started:

In your everyday spaces

Look for simple changes you can make to reduce your impact on the environment. Shop for eco-friendly products

• up cycle old furniture in a DIY project
• donate old clothing or use it for crafts
• recycle as much as you can
• use energy during off-peak times as much as possible

In the garden

Consider compost gardening, which involves composting leftover foods and scraps and then using it to fertilize your own crops and herbs. It’s easier than you think and makes a great project and learning experience to do with the kids. There is tons of advice for an ecofriendly lifestyle online, including how to make your own compost garden even if you live in a condo or have limited backyard space.

In the garage

One of the easiest ways to make an impact on your personal carbon footprint is by looking at your vehicle and driving habits.   If you have access to public transportation, consider using it to commute to work and save the stress that comes with sitting in traffic.  Or, consider an electric or hybrid vehicle for increased fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions. By driving green, you could save hundreds of dollars at the pump each year and stay on trend.  When driving the following tips will help create an eco-friendly lifestyle as well:

• accelerate gently
• maintain a steady speed
• anticipate traffic
• avoid high speeds and coast to decelerate.

Find more information on creating an eco-friendly lifestyle with your vehicle at www.vehicles.gc.ca.

If you are a non-resident of Canada you may be wondering if you are entitled to pay Canadian tax for the sale of your Canadian real estate. Let’s find out.

Gilmour Knotts Intercorporated Chartered Accountants explains the options for non-residents of Canada.

If the Canadian property is sold in Canada and owned by a non-resident, there is tax due. However, the risk is on the purchaser, not the seller. If for some reason the tax is not correctly handled at the time of sale, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will try to collect tax from the purchaser.

What is the tax amount?

The tax is calculated on the total gross sales price and is not calculated on the profit. The required tax from the CRA is 25% withholding. This is a default rate of tax on the gross sales price of the property.

How do you reduce this tax?

There is an option to apply to reduce this tax. The seller can have the withholding tax reduced to be only calculated on the net profit, rather than the gross sales. For this to occur, the seller must apply to CRA, with full details, prior to the sale or within 10 days after the date of sale/deposition. If the deadline is missed, penalties will be assigned at a daily rate. This makes for a short period of time to apply the option of reducing the tax as it can take a few weeks for the CRA to process, creating a possibility the seller may miss their deadline.

What are the 2 remedies if the seller misses their deadline?

1. “They can file a Canadian tax return with full details and ask for a refund. There are also deadlines for this and there are issues with whether CRA will permit this filing as the first disclosure was required at the time of sale. You cannot wait until tax return preparation time to file the application with CRA. You must start the process at the date of sale and then apply for the refund at normal tax return filing time.”
2. “They can apply to have the tax used as a foreign tax credit in their home country. The challenge with this is that the tax may be much higher than the home country tax and although they get a credit they do not get a refund.”

What forms are involved? 

T2062, T2062A and non-resident tax returns

If you have any questions regarding the above, please give us a call at 604-588-4466 or email us at info@brokersmart.ca

The Greater Vancouver market continues to be on the rise as we end the month of October. The housing market will enter November with statistics above the long-term averages. Below outlines the key stats from the REBGV October Statistics Report from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.

Key Stats: 

• Residential Property Sales: 3,057 – an increase of 14.9% compared to October 2013. Sales were 16.6% above the 10 year sales average for the month of October.
• New Listings: 4,487 – an increase of 4% compared to October 2013
• Total Properties Listed: 13,851 – a decrease of 9.2% compared to October 2013 and a 6.6% decrease of September 2014

Benchmark Prices: 

• All Properties: $637,00 – an increase of 6% compared to October 2013
• Detached Properties: $995,100 – an increase of 7.9% compared to October 2013
• Apartment Properties: $380,200 – an increase of 4% compared to October 2013
• Attached Properties: $479,500 – an increase of 4.7% compared to October 2013

The President of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Ray Harris, says, “We’ve seen strong and consistent demand from home buyers in Metro Vancouver throughout this year. This has led to steady increases in home prices of between four and eight per cent depending on the property. “Detached homes continue to increase in price more than condominium and townhome properties. This is largely a function of supply and demand as the supply of condominium and townhome properties are more abundant than detached homes in our region.”

To view the full REBGV October Statistics Report, please click here.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please give us a call at 604-588-4466 or email us at info@brokersmart.ca

Strength of the Fraser Valley housing market from the summer season continues as we entered fall this past month. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board (FVREB) has released their September Statistics, reporting this is the busiest September for the market since September 2009.

Key Stats: 

• Total Sales: 1,419 – an increase of 25% compared to September 2013
• New Listings: 2,758 – an increase of 16% compared to September 2013
• Total Number of Active Listings: 9,156 – a decrease of 7% compared to September 2013

Ray Werger, President of the FVREB says, “Similar to this past summer, this is the busiest September we’ve had since 2009 with sales of all property types combined out‐performing the 10‐year average by 13 per cent.  Residentially, the single family detached home remains the preferred property type. From North Delta to Mission, sales increased in every Fraser Valley community compared to last year with the price range of $400,000 to $699,999 garnering almost sixty per cent of our total detached market.”

Benchmark Prices:

• Detached Home: $569,800 – an increase of 3.1% compared to September 2013
• Townhouses: $299,600 – an increase of 1.1% compared to September 2013
• Apartments: $203,100 – a decrease of 4.7% compared to September 2013

Werger adds, ” An important factor underlying the housing market is consumer confidence and in our region that confidence has been bolstered by the stability of home prices. Since March, the benchmark price of our three main residential property types combined has remained flat, increasing by only 0.6 per cent. Long‐term, the value of single family detached homes has increased at a faster pace than it has for attached properties, particularly in areas such as Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Abbotsford where we’ve seen many new townhome and condo developments. The supply of new inventory has affected the price of resale product.”

For more information and data on the FVREB September Statistics Report, please click here.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please give us a call at 604-588-4466 or email us at info@brokersmart.ca

It’s important to understand the difference between Property Tax and Property Transfer Tax.

Property Tax is the tax paid on an annual basis to the local city/municipality for the upkeep of electrical lines, roads, sidewalks, etc.

Property Transfer Tax is a one-time tax paid to the provincial government by buyers of real estate.

Property Tax

At the time of a sale, the solicitor for the buyer must confirm that local taxes have been paid up to date. The full year’s payment is expected to have been paid by July 1st. If payments are up to date, a Tax Certificate is issued, from which any adjustments can be made. These adjustments usually require the buyer to compensate the seller for any prepaid taxes.

Example: If your possession date is December 1st, and the seller has paid the taxes on the property for that entire calendar year, you will be expected to pay back to the seller one month (1/12th) of the taxes. If the taxes on the property were $2400 per year, you would pay $200 back to the seller. Many buyers run into difficulty if their possession date falls anywhere from May to July. At this point, the seller may not have paid that year’s property tax yet since it isn’t due until July 1st. The seller would then be responsible for their portion of that year’s taxes for the time period they had possession of the property. The buyer will be responsible for the remainder of the year – this can be an unexpected expenditure!

Property Transfer Tax

The Property Transfer Tax is payable to the BC provincial government by buyers of real estate. The tax applies to all types of real estate, whether residential, commercial or industrial. The amount of the Property Transfer Tax is 1% on the first $200,000 of the property’s fair market value and 2% on the remaining fair market value. 

Example: If the fair market value of the property is $150,000 the tax payable would be $1,500.00 (1% of $150,000). If the fair market value of the property is $250,000 the tax payable would be $3,000 (1% on the first $200,000 = $2,000 and 2% on the remaining $50,000 = $1,000).

“Fair Market Value” is best described as the price that would be paid for a property on the open market (which is usually the actual purchase price paid for the property). If the transfer of property is taking place without the exchange of money, the fair market value must be the fair value of the property if it was sold on the open market. In some situations, the fair market value is set by the latest assessment received from the BC Tax Assessment Office.