Vernon Real Estate Buyers Guide Part 3

Goods And Services Tax:

GST is payable only on new and substantially renovated homes and possibly homes that have previously been used for businesses. “New” is defined as having not been lived in. If you or an immediate relative are going to occupy this new home then you are probably entitled to the GST rebate of 36% of the 6% tax which reduces your tax payable from 6% to about 4.48%. The GST rebate is applicable only to houses selling at $350,000 or less. Homes between $350,000 and $450,000 only quality for a gradually reduced rebate which declines according to the purchase price.

Legal Fees And Disbursements:

Legal fees can have a wide range depending on the purchase price and the amount of the mortgage(s). Frequently, they are in the range of $650 to $900. Disbursements is a general name law offices use that cover office expenses such as faxes and photocopies, long distance costs, postage and courier costs and probably most importantly, costs of title searches and documents. Most of the time, the realtor has obtained and paid for the title search documents so you won't have to pay for these at all. Certainly if you are dealing with the Jane Field Group, you won't have to! Just tell your lawyer or notary you have already received and read these documents as the Jane Field Vernon Real Estate Group made sure you had them. If you have questions about these documents, be sure to ask your lawyer.

Adjustments:

These are the costs that are shared between the buyer and the seller. These costs include water, sewer, (usually) garbage and property taxes. The lawyer or notary collects from the seller to pay for the portion of the calendar year the seller has used. The buyer will pay the remainder either on the statement of adjustments, or on their own over the remainder of the year. The Home Owner Grant is normally claimed by the person in possession of the home on the tax deadline date. It is important to note you can only claim one Home Owner Grant per year. So you cannot claim it on both the house you are buying and the home you are selling.

Brokerage Fees:

On some occasions, home buyers may be required to pay their Mortgage Brokers a fee. This is unusual and is normally an expense only incurred by buyers who present an unusually high risk to the lender.

Continue reading at the beginning of our Vernon real estate buyers guide.