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If you are a first-time homebuyer - Congratulations! You could not have chosen a better time to enter the market. Interest rates are excellent, there are a lot of homes to choose from and due to that, the sale price of homes are coming down! 

Having helped other first time home-buyers navigate the real estate market, know that I am here to help you too. Before you decide who will represent you in one of the biggest expenditures of your life, you should interveiw a few realtors to ensure they are professional, knowledgable and that you feel comfortable with them. 

I invite you to call me at 250-549-2103 or email me at paige.gregson@century21.ca to talk about this further and determine if I am someone you'd like to work with. At the bottom of this page is a letter I received from Kent and Sara who just bought their first house in November 2008.  They had already begun to look at homes with another realtor but something just wasn't working for them. That's when they contacted me and as you can see from their letter, they were more than pleased wtih my service and are very excited to be in their new home.

Below are some incentives offered by the federal and provincial governements to first-time home buyers. These include a rebate on your home purchase, an exemption to paying the property transfer tax and the ability to use your RRSP's as a down payment.

Thank you for visiting my website and I look forward to an opportunity to talk with you!  Paige

First-time home buyers' credit

First-time home buyers who acquire a qualifying home after January 27, 2009 may be entitled to claim a new non-refundable tax credit of $5,000 and worth up to $750 ($5,000 × 15%).

To qualify, neither the individual nor his or her spouse or common-law partner can have owned and lived in another home in the calendar year of the new home purchase or in any of the four preceding calendar years. The credit can be claimed by either the purchaser or by his or her spouse or common-law partner.

The credit will also be available for certain home purchases by or for the benefit of an individual eligible for the disability tax credit.

Use your RRSP's as a down payment

The 2009 federal budget increases the amount that first-time home buyers can withdraw tax-free from a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) to purchase or build a new home to $25,000 (up from $20,000). The new limit applies to withdrawals made after January 27, 2009. 

Property Transfer Tax  Exemption - The First Time Home Buyers' Program

You pay property transfer tax each time you register a property at the Land Title office which is 1% on the first $200,000 and $2% on the balance.

If you are purchasing your first home, you may qualify for an exemption from property transfer tax if certain requirements are met. The requirements are:

Purchaser - You qualify for the exemption if:

you are a Canadian Citizen, or a permanent resident as determined by Immigration Canada, you have lived in British Columbia for 12 consecutive months immediately before the date you register the property, or you have filed 2 income tax returns as a British Columbia resident during the 6 years before the date you register the property, you have never owned an interest in a principal residence anywhere in the world at anytime, and you have never received a first time home buyers' exemption or refund.

Property - The property you purchase qualifies if:

the fair market value of the property is not more than the current threshold of $425,000, the land is 0.5 hectares (1.24 acres) or smaller, and the property will only be used as your principal residence.

If the property does not meet all of these requirements, you may still qualify for a partial exemption.To find out more information about these programs, please email me at paige.gregson@century21.ca

 "First of all, thank you very much, Paige for all of your help.  You did a wonderful job and really worked your butt off for us!  You have no idea how very appreciative we are.  It was a pleasure working with you and we will definitely be back when we need another realtor.  You made the whole experience pleasant.  You were always there to answer quesions and always got back to us in a timely manner.  We are so happy that Jim recommended you, and we will most definitely be doing the same to the people we know. So again, we just want to say THANK YOU." Kent & Sara, First-time Homebuyers, Vernon, BC