Maria Mak - Vancouver Pancakes and Booze Art Show - 2nd Feb 2017

I will demonstrate some simple ink drawing techniques during my upcoming Vancoucer Pancakes and Booze art show. Mark your calendar and see you all there!

Date: 2nd Feb 2017 

Time: 7pm-12am

Place: Fortune Sound Club

147 E Pender st/Main

*all proceeds will go to Cancer Society in honour of my mom.

BC government offers first time home buyer down payment loan

Premier Christy Clark annouced December 15 a new government-backed loan program, which will lend homebuyers in BC up to $37,500 towards a down payment for their first home.
Thanks 
The B.C. HOME Partnership program will match the amount first-time homebuyers have saved towards a down payment, up to a maximum of $37,500, and no more than five per cent of the home’s total value. The loan only applies to homes with a total purchase price of $750,000 and under, and only for qualified "stress-tested" buyers with insured high-ratio mortgages (with a down payment of less than 20 per cent).

At the press conference this morning, Clark said the BC government established the loan to help homebuyers who already qualify for an insured high-ratio mortgage but struggle to afford the initial down payment.

“I firmly believe that the dream of homeownership must remain within reach of the middle class in British Columbia,” Clark said.

The 25-year loan will be interest-free with no payments required for five years, after which interest will be applied at current market rates. Applicants must be first-time homebuyers and have a total household income of less than $150,000. Homebuyers must also have been Canadian citizens for the past five years and lived in the province for a period of two years. Applicants will have to demonstrate that they’ve paid taxes in Canada for at least one year.

“People need a partner in scraping together that down payment, and the B.C. government wants to be that partner,” Clark added.

The funds for this program are sourced from the province’s property purchase taxation, which includes the foreign buyer tax, said Clark. She doesn’t believe the loan program will affect home prices.

“Our analysis tells us that it won’t because everybody who is going to be eligible for this program will have to have been accepted for a mortgage already,” said Clark.

The program will last three years and Clark said there’s no cap on the amount of money available or the number of applications they can approve. Online applications open January 16, 2017. 

Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtor - Government to introduce a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax effective August 2nd 2016

July 25, 2016
Government to introduce a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax effective August 2

The provincial government will implement a 15 per cent foreign buyer tax on all residential transactions effective August 2, 2016. The tax will be added to the Property Transfer Tax and will apply to all residential properties purchased by foreign nationals or foreign-controlled corporations.
The new tax will be payable on applicable transfers registered with the Land Title Office on or after August 2 regardless of when the deal was completed.

The tax will apply to any transferee that is a foreign national, foreign corporation, or taxable trustee. Foreign nationals are defined as people who aren’t Canadian citizens or have permanent resident status in Canada.

“Housing affordability concerns all of us who live in the region. Implementing a new real estate tax, however, with just eight days’ notice and no consultation with the professionals who serve home buyers and sellers every day needlessly injects uncertainty into the market,” Dan Morrison, Board president said. “Government has had a long time to take action on the affordability issue, yet they decide to bring this new tax in over a long weekend, with no notice, and no time to prepare. It would have been prudent to seek consultation from the people most knowledgeable about the impact.”

Under the new tax, for example, a foreign buyer or foreign-controlled entity will pay an additional $300,000 in tax on a $2 million home.

“To minimize short-term volatility in the market, we’re calling on government to exempt real estate transactions that are in the process of closing from this new tax,” Morrison said. 

Foreign corporations are any corporation not incorporated in Canada, or are incorporated in Canada but controlled in part, or wholly, by a foreign national or corporation. Publicly traded companies are excluded.

Commercial properties are excluded, and mixed-use properties will only pay the tax on the portion of the property’s value that’s for residential use.

copyright© real estate board of greater vancouver. all rights reserved.

Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtor - Pancakes and Booze Art Show 2016

Come and join me for this fun event - Pancakes & Booze Art Show - July 14th 2016 from 7:00pm to 12:00am @ Fortune Sound Club - 147 E Pender St (at Main) in Chinatown.

I will be showing and selling some of my drawings and calligraphy. Come draw and write chinese calligraphy with me and have some fun! All proceeds will go to the Cancer Society.

https://www.facebook.com/events/504881063034910/