The process

Buying a home in BC, start to finish, with nothing skipped.

Twelve steps, who does what at each one, what it costs, and the clauses that protect you. Read it once and the whole thing stops feeling like a maze.

Walk through it with me

The twelve steps

#	Step	What happens	Who leads
1	Pre-approval	You find out what you can actually borrow and at what rate, before you look at a single home.	Mortgage broker or lender
2	Your real budget	Purchase price, plus closing costs of roughly 1.5% to 4%, minus any first-time buyer programs you qualify for.	You, with your broker
3	Agency agreement	We go through agency disclosure and the buyer agency agreement, including the remuneration clause, before you sign anything.	Me
4	Wish list	Must-haves separated from nice-to-haves. Areas narrowed to what your budget and commute actually support.	You and me
5	Search and viewings	You see listings as they come up, and we tour enough of them that you can judge value for yourself.	Me
6	The offer	Price, completion and possession dates, what is included, deposit, and the subject clauses that protect you.	Me, with you deciding
7	Due diligence	Home inspection, strata documents if applicable, title review, and your lender confirming the financing.	Inspector, lawyer or notary, lender
8	Subject removal	Only when every condition is genuinely satisfied. This is the moment the contract becomes firm.	You decide, I prepare it
9	Deposit	Delivered as set out in the contract and held in trust.	You
10	Insurance and utilities	Home insurance must be in place before completion. Your lender will ask for proof.	You
11	Completion	Your lawyer or notary transfers the funds and registers the title.	Lawyer or notary
12	Possession	Keys, usually the day after completion.	You, finally

Closing costs, itemised

This is the list nobody shows you until it is too late to plan for it. Ranges are typical, not quotes.

Cost	Typical range	Notes
Property Transfer Tax	1% on the first $200,000, 2% on $200,000 to $2,000,000, 3% on $2,000,000 to $3,000,000	Qualifying first-time buyers may pay nothing up to $835,000, with a partial exemption to $860,000.
Legal fees and disbursements	$1,200 to $2,500	Lawyer or notary. Quotes vary, ask for the all-in figure.
Home inspection	$400 to $900	Depends on size and type. Worth every dollar.
Appraisal	$300 to $600	Sometimes covered by the lender.
Title insurance	$200 to $500	Often required by the lender.
Adjustments	Varies	Your share of property tax, strata fees and utilities from the adjustment date.
Mortgage default insurance	Added to the mortgage	Required with less than 20% down. The premium is usually financed, the PST on it is not.
Moving and setup	$500 to $3,000	Movers, utility connections, and the things you discover you need in week one.

Property Transfer Tax rates and exemptions are set by the Province of British Columbia and change from time to time. Confirm your own position on the BC government property transfer tax page or with your lawyer or notary.

The clauses that protect you

A subject clause is a condition in your offer. Until it is removed, you have a defined window to check something, and a defined way out if what you find is not acceptable. These are the four I talk about with almost every first-time buyer.

Subject to financing. A pre-approval is not final approval. Your lender still has to approve the specific property, including the appraisal. This clause is the difference between walking away and losing a deposit.

Subject to inspection. Time to have a qualified inspector look at the home and to decide what you do with what they find.

Subject to review of strata documents. For any strata. A realistic window to actually read the Form B, the depreciation report, the minutes and the budget. There is a full guide to what is in those documents here.

Subject to review of title. Easements, rights of way, covenants and charges registered against the property. Your lawyer or notary is the right person to interpret them.

How many subjects you can realistically include depends on the market you are buying in. Right now, Fraser Valley inventory is well above its ten-year seasonal average, which generally gives buyers more room to include proper conditions than they had a few years ago. That is not a sales line, it is the current data, and you can see the numbers here.

How I negotiate for you

Negotiation is not shouting. It is preparation, and then being calm when it counts.

Before we write. I pull the comparable sales, the days on market, the listing history including any price changes, and whatever I can learn about the seller's timeline. You see the same information I do, so the number you offer is your decision, made with evidence.

The terms, not just the price. Completion and possession dates, what stays in the home, the deposit, and the subject periods are all negotiable. Sometimes giving a seller the date they need is worth more to them than the last few thousand dollars, and that is money back in your pocket.

After the inspection. If the inspector finds something material, the options are a price adjustment, a repair before completion, a holdback, or walking away. I will tell you which of those I think is realistic given everything else in play, and I will tell you when I think the right answer is to walk.

What I will not do. I will not tell you a home is a bargain because I want the deal done, and I will not talk you out of your own walk-away number. The whole point of having representation is that someone is looking after your position, not the transaction.

The team around you, and who does what

You are not hiring one person, you are assembling a small team. Here is what each one is actually for, and where my job ends.

Mortgage broker or lender

Pre-approval, rate, product, and the final approval on your specific property. They are the only ones who can tell you what you can borrow.

Not me. I am not licensed to give mortgage advice, and I will not guess at your maximum.

Lawyer or notary

Title review, the transfer, the mortgage registration, the statement of adjustments, and anything contractual you want a legal opinion on.

Not me. I am not a lawyer. Legal questions go to a BC lawyer or notary.

Home inspector

A qualified, licensed inspection of the home's condition, and a written report you can act on.

Not me. I do not inspect homes, and I will never tell you a place is structurally fine.

Accountant

Tax questions. RRSP withdrawals under the Home Buyers' Plan, FHSA, GST on new construction, and anything to do with your own tax position.

Not me. Tax advice comes from your accountant or the Canada Revenue Agency.

Insurance broker

Home insurance in place before completion, and coverage that matches the property, especially in a strata.

Not me. I will remind you it is a deadline, not advise you on coverage.

Me

Finding the right homes, reading the market and the documents, writing and negotiating the offer, coordinating the deadlines so nothing gets missed, and answering the same question as many times as you need to ask it.

On introductions. I work with these professionals every week, and if you do not have your own I am happy to share a shortlist so you can interview them yourself. You hire whoever you want. If I ever stand to receive any benefit from an introduction, I disclose it to you in writing before you act on it.

The money and process questions

What are closing costs in BC and what should I actually budget?

Budget roughly 1.5% to 4% of the purchase price. The biggest single item is usually Property Transfer Tax, and qualifying first-time buyers often pay little or none of it. The rest is legal fees, inspection, appraisal, title insurance, adjustments for property tax and strata fees, and moving. This is a planning range, not a quote. Your lawyer or notary gives you the exact statement of adjustments before closing.

How is BC Property Transfer Tax calculated?

It is marginal, like income tax. 1% on the first $200,000 of value, 2% on the portion from $200,000 to $2,000,000, 3% on the portion from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000, and a further amount above $3,000,000 for residential property. A qualifying first-time buyer exemption eliminates the tax on the first $500,000 of value, worth up to $8,000, for homes priced up to $835,000, with a partial exemption between $835,000 and $860,000. Confirm your own eligibility with the province or your lawyer, because the qualifying conditions are specific.

What are subjects, and which ones should a first-time buyer have?

Subjects, or conditions, are the protections written into your offer. The common ones for a first purchase are subject to financing, subject to a satisfactory home inspection, subject to review of strata documents if it is a strata, and subject to review of title. They give you a defined window to check the things you cannot check from a listing photo, and a way out if something real turns up. In a slower market you generally have more room to include them, which is one of the reasons the current market matters to you.

What actually happens on completion day?

Your lawyer or notary handles the transfer of money and title. You sign documents a few days earlier, your down payment and closing funds go to them in advance, and on completion day the funds and the title change hands. Possession day, usually the next day, is when you get the keys. Adjustment day decides who pays which share of property taxes and strata fees.

Do I pay my realtor?

In most BC transactions the seller's brokerage pays the buyer's agent commission out of the sale proceeds, so most buyers pay nothing directly. Commission is always negotiable in BC and there is no standard rate. Whatever the arrangement is, it is written into the buyer agency agreement, and you should read the remuneration clause before you sign it. I will walk you through that clause line by line.

How long does the whole thing take?

From starting pre-approval to keys is usually 60 to 120 days. Once an offer is accepted, subject removal is typically one to two weeks and completion is commonly 30 to 60 days after that. Some of it is out of your hands, most of it is predictable, and none of it should be a surprise on the day.

What happens if the appraisal comes in below the purchase price?

Your lender will lend against the appraised value, not the price you agreed, so a shortfall has to be covered in cash or renegotiated. This is exactly the situation a subject to financing clause exists for. We talk about the risk before you write the offer, not after.

Still at the wondering stage?

That is the right time to call. Thirty minutes, no obligation, and you will leave knowing your real budget and your next three steps.

Book a free 30-minute call

A quick, honest note on what this page is

I am a licensed real estate representative in British Columbia. I am not a mortgage broker, a lawyer, a notary, an accountant or a home inspector, so nothing here is mortgage, legal, tax or financial advice.

What you are reading is the general, plain-language version of things I explain to buyers every week, written so you walk into your own decisions already knowing the vocabulary. Rules, rates and program limits change. Before you act on anything here, confirm the details with the right licensed professional for that question, and read the actual documents for the actual property.

If I ever stand to receive any benefit from introducing you to another professional, I tell you in writing before you act on the introduction. That is your right under BC rules, and it is also just how I would want to be treated.