How to purchase Vancouver BC property for American clients

The Real estate business have its own rich history in each country, therefore the today’s practises differ from place to place. This informative guide seeks to give you an idea of the process of buying property in Canada. Should you require more detailed information please visit Vancouver BC Real estate website.

Finding the right deal

At the start the agent explains the way their agency works to you and you are also given the ‘Working with a Real Estate Agent’ brochure, prepared by the BC Real Estate Association, which you have to sign.

Only then the agent can start researching for the house you are looking for. The showings in Vancouver are usually not spontaneous, since not only the listing agent and you the buyer attend the showing, but also the buyer’s agent has to show up, and getting all these people at one place at the same time is not as simple. 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. Since Vancouver has extremely competitive real estate market, expect multiply offers: you will have to fight if you want to win.

Closing the contract

Once the seller accepts the proposal, the deposit has to be wired to him. It’s usually 10% of the final sale price. It might take even two weeks before the payment arrives from the USA to Canada. You might choose to use some trusty 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. When you have approved financing in place, are satisfied with the Home Inspection Report on the property, have been acquainted with all the documentation on the property and have had all your questions answered then you remove subjects (Amendment to the Contract of Purchase and Sale prepared by the Agent). As per the closing date – it is mostly scheduled 2 days before the possession date. All amendments has to happen before the possession date.

Legal arrangements

After that the transaction is ready to be handed to lawyers so that the documents can get ready. Both the federal and provincial taxes should be dealt with at this point. You either have to be personally presented to sign the documents in Vancouver, or you can transferred to a law office near them where all the documents can be signed under seal. The funds then will have to be transferred to the Vancouver lawyer’s trust account.