Additional fees when purchasing a home
Besides from your down payment, when purchasing a home, you may also come across the following fees:
Appraisal
Most appraisals are needed if you are consolidating debt, taking out equity or purchasing through a private sale. Appraisals start from around 50.00
Legal fees
Everyone who is purchasing or refinancing will need to pay for legal fees, this is roughly ,200.00.
Property Transfer Tax
Unless you are a first-time home buyer, with a purchase amount less than 500,000.00, in BC you will be required to pay property transfer tax. This is 1% of the first 200,000.00, 2% of the remainder and up to 2,000,000.00.
GST
GST is charged on bare land or new builds. It is calculated at 5% of the purchase amount.
Property Taxes –
When buying, if the seller has already paid property taxes for that year, the buyer will be charged a prorated amount of property taxes. This happens at the notary or lawyers' office.
We recommend budgeting for 1.5% of the purchase amount in extra closing costs.