1) REAL ESTATE COMMISSION

 

-  The 5% GST is payable on real estate commissions.

 

2) MORTGAGE PREPAYMENT PRIVILEGES & PENALTIES

 

You may want to check with your lender about any prepayment privileges or penalties that may apply when you sell your property. Some mortgages do not allow any prepayment prior to the maturity date and if prepayment is allowed, penalties can be substantial. If you have the right to prepay a portion of your mortgage without penalty and have not exercised that right for the year of the sale, you should ask your lender if they will take that prepayment privilege into account when calculating your penalty for early prepayment.

 

3) LEGAL COSTS

 

Legal costs can vary depending on the purchase price of your property & whether or not you will need to register a mortgage against the property. When requesting a quote, ask that it include all fees including disbursements (includes the cost of searches, registration fees, couriers, photocopies, faxes, land title agent's fees, etc.) and any applicable taxes to be charged.  You can hire either a lawyer or a notary public to assist you in the sale of your property.

 

4) STRATA TITLE HOMES - CONDOMINIUMS & TOWNHOUSES

 

You may be required to pay a Move-Out fee which can range from $50 to $400 (or more) that is payable to the Strata Corporation of the complex you are buying into.  This cost will be deducted from the sale proceeds.  Also, when you sell your house, you may be required to pay for cost of obtaining documents, including Form B, Depreciation Report, Engineering Report (if any), past 24 months of minutes, Annual General Meetings, Special General Meetings, Financial budgets and Reports, etc.

 

5) PROPERTY TAXES

 

Property taxes are typically due on the 1st business day in July of each year.  

 

However, in some areas in the lower mainland, the local City Authority may require you to pay a portion of the estimated taxes in advance in January for the coming year.  When you sell a property, you will only be responsible for the property taxes up until the Adjustment Date on the sale contract which is usually within a few days of the completion date.  This amount will be adjusted accordingly on the Lawyer's Statement of Adjustments.UTILITY BILLThe local City Authority can also charge for utilities to a homewoner that can include water, sewer, recyclying & garbage fees if they are not billed as part of your property taxes.  These amounts can be collected on flat rate basis, separately metered for each property or collected as part of maintenance fees if you own a strata property.   When you sell a property, you will only be responsible for the utility costs up until the Adjustment Date on the sale contract which is usually within a few days of the completion date.  This amount will be adjusted accordingly on the Lawyer's Statement of Adjustments.