Top 5 Biggest Mistakes When Buying a Condo Are you thinking about buying a condo in Vancouver? No doubt it’s an exciting time, but many buyers let their emotions get the best of them and make some big mistakes in the process. Here’s the top 5 biggest mistakes when buying a condo. Are you making any of them? 1. Fear of Missing Out Let’s be honest, Vancouver real estate is all the buzz these days. Everyone wants a piece of the pie before it’s too late. It’s what we call FOMO or fear of missing out. Just because everyone is buying real estate or because prices are soaring doesn’t mean you need to or should be getting in on the action. For many people they end up stretching their budgets and becoming house poor. They’re no longer able to do the things they love because they’re putting every dollar they have into paying off a mortgage. Stick to a budget and don’t buy just for the sake of buying, sometimes renting makes more sense for the time being. 2. Not Getting Pre-Approved Here’s the deal. The Vancouver real estate market moves quickly. Once you find a home you like you

Empty Home Tax Provides Minimal Relief to Housing Crisis Big news today in Vancouver as Mayor Gregor Robertson announced with or without the support of the provincial government, Vancouver will impose an empty home tax. Gregor Robertson has plenty of critics but kudos to him for stepping up and being the first to take some real action on the Vancouver housing crisis. Here’s what The Mayor of Vancouver has proposed: Option 1: increase property taxes on empty homes with the help of the provincial government. Option 2: introduce a new business tax on empty or under occupied properties. Now he and the rest of us here in Vancouver await Christy Clark and the provincial government to respond by August 1. However a tax will go ahead with or without them come August 1. Don’t hold your breath waiting to hear back from the provincial government though. “Robertson said he wrote Premier Christy Clark last year asking for the province to support a speculation tax but hasn’t heard back.” So what impact will the empty home tax have on the Vancouver housing market? It will most likely have little to no effect on housing prices. What it will do is encourage many