What is the interim occupancy, and occupancy fee. When it comes to buying new pre construction properties, things can get complicated and are quite often full of surprises, items which are often misunderstood are the interim occupancy period and the occupancy fees. What is the interim occupancy period? The interim occupancy period is when the buyer can move in and enjoy the property, the project hasn’t been fully completed, and the title hasn't been transferred. The occupancy... [read more]

We have been asked on many occasions about the RRSP Home buyers plan and thought it would be a good idea to explain the details from the beginning to the end of how it works, and what to do. What is Home Buyers Plan. A home buyers plan allows you to withdraw up to $60,000 per person (if you are a couple you can withdraw up to $60,000 each, for a total of up to $120,000) for the purchase of the qualifying home for yourself or for a related person with a disability. You can only withdraw... [read more]

Since in this blog we are discussing tax rules, I would strongly suggest you to get the advice from a qualified tax specialist. What prompted us to write a blog on the subject is frequent misinformation posted on various popular online forums stating that one must reside in the property for 1 year or more in order to qualify for the hst new construction rebate. Before we get to it let’s quickly recap what is the new construction hst rebate, and how it works in Ontario. A... [read more]

In recent years we have heard of many instances of builders demanding extra money from the purchases of pre-construction residential properties, in many cases the options were to pay thousands of dollars or to terminate the contract. This may not be that easy going forward, in the case of Dhaliwal v Midland homes the judge recently ruled that the builder must honour the original purchase price and is not entitled to any additional funds. In summary Dhaliwal’s purchased a... [read more]

In our previous blog we have discussed the details of deposit protection for preconstruction condominiums. In this blog we will talk about the deposit protection for preconstruction freehold properties, and how it differs from the deposit protection for condominiums. To recap the condominium deposits are protected by: Tarion up to $20,000. Developer is required to keep the deposits in trust but can use the funds if the funds are insured by Excess Condominium Deposit... [read more]