The government today announced the HST/PST transitional rules on new homes.

As the province transitions back to the PST, which will replace the HST effective April 1, 2013, measures to ease the HST burden on new home buyers include:

•The BC New Housing Rebate threshold will increase to $850,000 from $525,000, so that more than 90% of newly built homes will now be eligible for a provincial HST rebate effective April 1, 2012.

•The maximum rebate will increase to $42,500 from $26,250 effective April 1, 2012.

•Buyers of new secondary vacation or recreational homes outside the Greater Vancouver and Capital Regional Districts priced up to $850,000 will now be eligible to claim a provincial grant of up to $42,500 effective April 1, 2012.

•For newly built homes where construction begins before April 1, 2013, but ownership and possession occur after, purchasers will not pay the 7% provincial portion of the HST. Instead, purchasers will pay a temporary, transitional provincial tax of 2% on the full house price.

HST/PST transition rules will help ensure that whenever purchasers buy a new home they will all pay a consistent and equitable amount of tax, whether the home is built:

•entirely under the HST;
•entirely under the PST; or
•partly under HST and partly under the PST.

The temporary housing transition measures will be in place until March 31, 2015. The tax only applies to homes where construction begins before the transition date and ownership and possession occur after.

I'm told videos are where its at.  What do you think?

This is a video I took when I went to view a new listing of a converted heritage house.  Coincedently, I met the two builders of the project.  Click here to see the video stored on YouTube. 

February 15 report from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Click on the line above for the full report about real estate across Canada, but in a nutshell...

Highlights:

• Home sales were down 4.5% from December to January.
• Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 4.0% above levels in January 2011, and stood even with the 5 and 10 year averages for January sales.
• The number of newly listed homes edged down 1.4% from December to January.
• With sales down by more than new listings, the national market shifted further into balanced territory.
• The national average home price was up less than 2% year-over-year in January, ranking it among the smallest increases of the past year. 

A number of financial institutions have recently dropped their five-year lending rates to a record low of 2.99 per cent. This is down considerably from the advertised five-year rate of 5.29 per cent when the Bank last met on December 6^th, 2011.

Yesterday involved some final touches to the kitchen of 214-5500 Andrews Road in Steveston. Under the guidance of home stager, Joanne MacKay of Ocean Breeze Staging with Mark Herbert of Brothers Cabinetry Design Inc., new cupboard doors and drawer fronts were installed with new hardware, some new ceiling lights were installed, the hood fan was replaced, the ceilings and walls in the living, dining, and den were painted, and the carpets cleaned. Today, Joanne spends the a few hours waving her magic want to stage the home for this weekend's open house. 

Spoke to T after he and his parents had spoke to Michael Friedman about various financing methods towards T buying a home for him and S, who is expecting their second child in a few months, and their two large dogs. 

Emailed copies of the contract of purchase and sale to the buyers I met with last Friday.  They and the sellers wanted me to merely prepare the contract under their direction and not act as real estate agent for either party.  When I asked the sellers why not go to a lawyer, they said we don't trust anyone else but (me).  Flattering but still, for legal advice, a lawyer is worth the investment. 

My office is going under the knife.  The renovations will hopefully be finished this week and the facelift will be complete. 

My connection with the Real Estate Group (a Linkedin group) displayed a new set of listings in Cedar Cottage.  3 New Towhomes reclaimed from an original heritage house called 'La Tessa'.  I plan to do a drive by today. 1260 East 19th Avenue, 1262 E 19th Ave., 1268 E 19th Avenue. 

Click here for This checklist of helpful tips should help anyone wanting advice on how to build a savings account. 

Do you sometimes review the real estate ads in your local paper?  Do you drive by an open house sign and feel the urge to stop and check it out?  Those are common indications that, at least on some level, you're thinking about the possibility of making a move.

But how do you decide if you should actually move?

The first step is to consider whether there are any practical reasons to consider buying a new home. What's pushing you in that direction?
• Is your current home too small for your needs?
• Is the commute to work, for you or your spouse, too long? (Perhaps longer than you expected when you purchased the home?)
• Are there property features you would now like to have, such as a larger backyard or a more spacious kitchen?
• Has the neighborhood changed in an undesirable way?
• Do you have personal reasons for wanting to move, such as a desire to be closer to relatives in another area?

Carefully consider those things that can't change unless you move. For example, if a major highway was recently built near you, the ongoing sound of traffic isn't going to go away. It's now part of the neighborhood.

If there are no practical reasons for moving, there may still be other reasons for wanting a new home. You may want to move your family to a better neighborhood, with better schools or you may simply want a bigger home, with a larger backyard, more rooms, and a wider driveway.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with simply wanting a better place than the one you have now. In fact, that is a common reason why many people make a move. The point is, if you've been thinking about a new home for
awhile, perhaps now is the time to take the next step. A good REALTOR® can help you understand your options.

Looking for a good REALTOR®? Call me today.

The Informed Home Buyer/Seller

Last year I was invited to my first Robbie Burns night.  At the event I met a number of new people one of which included Nancy.  Several months later, Nancy asked me to help her sell her current home and find another to buy.  

Nancy now lives in her new home and likes it so much she told her friends about a new listing in her complex.  The friends happen to be the friends who had invited me to the Robbie Burns night.  As soon as they were told of the new listing, I was called to arrange to show it to them. 

Here's a peak.

There’s no doubt about it. A completely renovated room – especially a kitchen or bathroom – will really impress home buyers. That room will probably look brand new and very stylish. But you don’t have to do a full “tear-downthe-walls” type of renovation to upgrade thelook of a room.  

In fact, just a few minor improvements can make a big difference. For example, upgrading wall plates is an easy and inexpensive way to add a lot more style and personality to a room. In the kitchen, installing new hardware on existing cabinets can have a dramatic impact.

So look around your house to determine where small improvements could make a big difference.

Wanting to avoid the type of housing bubble that brought down the U.S. economy is sought by governments around the world.  Kelvin Wong writes in the San Fransciso Chronicle that Asian real estate markets from Singapore to Beijing to Mumbai are stalling or have started declining from the effects of government rule changes for borrowing. 

Kelvin reports that Hong Kong's median home price is 12.6 times the annual median household income. Vancouver is said to be in second place with a 10.6 mutiple and Sydney in third with 9.2.  

Can you say 'Cities of the Wealthy'?

Remember this simply direct inverse relationship.  

When borrowing costs go up (or qualifying rules tighten), prices go down.  Kelvin Wong states in his article, "Last year's decline in prices and transactions coincided with the rise in borrowing costs."  In the article, Lawrence, the Hong Kong-based analyst at Barclays says, "...each time mortgage rates go up, there are less people in the market."

CMHC backing fewer loans

Garry Marr in the Financial Post reports that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is cutting back on mortgages it insures as the Crown corporation edges closer to a $600-billion cap imposed on it by the federal government.  

"The risk to the taxpayer would be a collapse in the market leading to defaults like the U.S. saw."

Planning to buy a condominium? Are you self-employed? You may not want to put off buying too long!

Garry Marr's article states, "Sources have indicated the government is already considering tough new measures for calculating how the self-employed qualify for loans and tightening regulations for condominium buyers."

You would be advised to consider having yourself "pre-approved" by a lender to have yourself "lock in" to a mortgage package and interest rate.  

Talk to your lender or an independent mortgage broker like Michael Friedman at Origin 604-657-1684 . 

Bill de Mooy's HOMECONNECTION.com 

Advice and information about real estate in Greater Vancouver.

Your comments and questions are always welcomed. 

Also visit HomesWithSuites.ca - East Vancouver

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/31/bloomberg_articlesLYO4IE1A1I4H01-LYP7G.DTL#ixzz1lALHFfZe

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/01/30/cmhc-backing-fewer-loans/

Italian Cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino began his new job as a bus driver yesterday.....

Thanks Ron for sending this to me.  

Then I received this from Dave...

Italian Cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino began his new job as a train engineer yesterday.....

Bill de Mooy