Agent Success Club

Buying Property in Vancouver – Informative Guide for US Buyers

Since the Real estate habits differ from state to state, I decided to write a short informative guide for US buyers that would like to purchase a property in Vancouver, Canada. If you’d like to find out more, please don’t hesitate to visit my Vancouver BC Real estate website.

Finding the suitable property

Before your agent starts their research for the right house for you, he or she will make you aware of the way the agency works and also will familiarize you with the ‘Working with a Real Estate Agent’ brochure, which you will be requested to sign.

After that the agent is ready to start the big hunt for the house of your choice. If you are used to spontaneous showings, forget about them in Vancouver – here 3 people usually attend the showings (of course you as the buyer, the listing agent and your agent as well), which means organizing three schedules of usually very busy people. After your agent finally finds the home that suits your wishes, a document called The Contract of Purchase and Sale has to be prepared by your agent, which is basically an offer to the seller. You will not be able to bring in the right price to the seller without some background information, so your agent will get them and together you come up with a price offer. Because multiply offers on properties are very common in Vancouver, don’t be surprised if you’re not the only interested person.

Closing the contract

Once the seller accepts the offer, the deposit has to be wired to him. It’s usually 10% of the final sale price. One must keep in mind that it can take up to 2 weeks before your payment reaches the Canadian bank. You might choose to use some solid third party services (e.g. House Global Foreign Exchange) that would guarantee a timely delivery of the deposit, since that’s part of the contract. The contract could be subjected to many issues as financing in place or home inspection report and so on. Once everything has been dealt with, you can remove the subjects. About the closing date – as a rule it is set two days earlier than the possession date, to which also all amendments has to be finished.

Legal arrangements

The contract then moves onto the lawyers or notaries for preparation of legal documents to transfer the title to you, the buyer. The federal and provincial taxes must be addressed at this time. Don’t forget to arrange your schedule because you have attend Vancouver to signing the contract. Or if that doesn’t suit you, you could have the documents delivered to a law office where they can be signed under seal. The funds to close the property will have to be wired to the Vancouver lawyer’s trust account.

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