BC Financial Services Authority is the Crown Agency that regulates British Columbia’s financial services sector, including credit unions, trust companies, insurance companies, pension plans, mortgage brokers, real estate service providers, and the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation.

For Real Estate, they provide guidelines for many of the processes in the sale and purchase of real estate such as multiple offer situations.

"If more than one written offer on a specific property is made before the seller has accepted an offer, all written offers must be presented to the seller. The only exception would be if the listing real estate professional has specific written instructions from the seller on the listing not to present particular types of offers. Unless otherwise instructed by the seller, the listing real estate professional should ensure that any other representative involved knows there will be competitive offers.

Read more...

https://www.bcfsa.ca/industry-resources/real-estate-professional-resources/knowledge-base/practice-resources/offers

A deposit, in the form of a bank draft or a direct wire, is the initial cash required to secure a purchase of real estate once you have removed your subjects (Eg. Subject to financing, a Home Inspection, approving documents) or immediately upon acceptance of your offer. A deposit is generally 5% of the purchase price ($50,000 for a million dollar property).

Those funds are held in a trust account of your realtor's brokerage and go towards the amount owing for the purchase. It is part of the down payment

A down payment is the TOTAL amount of funds that the buyer puts forward themselves to go towards purchasing a property. The rest of the funds come from the mortgage, the amount you borrow from a lender/bank. So if you buy a property for $1,000,000, the deposit, the rest of the down payment (cash you have saved) and the mortgage (money borrowed from the bank) all add up to the purchase price.

As a residential property owner in B.C., you may qualify for a Home Owner Grant.

Available to homeowners who pay property taxes to a municipality (or to the province if they live in a rural area), this grant helps to reduce the amount of property tax you pay for your principal residence.

For the purposes of this grant, you can have only one principal residence, which is considered the place you occupy, or essentially where you ‘make your home’. It’s where you carry out day-to-day life, and the location which the Government records you as living for things like income tax, your driver’s license, and so on.

Read on...

https://stilhavn.com/b-c-home-owner-grant/

Begin this process with one simple idea:"This is not my home, it is a house for sale."

This allows you to look at your home through the lense of a Buyer. When you are looking at property to purchase, what is important to you?

Recommended TO DO LIST:

Level 1: The Basics

De-clutter, De-personalize, Deep-clean

Level 2: Beyond the Basics

Paint the walls neutral colours, make minor repairs, re-arrange furniture/art

Level 3: Way Beyond the Basics

Major renovations, complete unfinished basements, consider professional staging

Helpful Tips

*Think of this process as a head start to packing

* Even though some repairs seem minor, they can be a major factor in determining whether the Buyer will actually buy.

* Pay attention to rooms that smell - this is can be very off putting to Buyers.

* Don't forget about the outside - curb appeal is very important!