6 Home Purchase Closing Costs Category: First Time Buyer, When you purchase your home, there are 6 additional costs to account for. They include: Home Fire and Flood InsuranceTitle InsuranceLegal FeesAdjustmentsLand Transfer TaxGST Here’s an overview of what you can expect. Home and Fire Insurance. Mortgage lenders will require a certificate of fire insurance to be in place by the time you take possession of your home. The amount required is generally at least the amount of the mortgage or the replacement cost of the home. This cost can vary on the property size and extras being insured, as well as the insurance company and the municipality. Home insurance can vary anywhere from $400 per year for condos to $2,000 for large homes. Title Insurance. This is a one-time fee of about $150 and it protects you against any issues, defects or fraud on your title. Your lawyer or notary helps you purchase this. Legal Fees. Thirdly, you are required to pay legal fees. Your lawyer or notary will charge you anywhere from $700 to $1,000 to help with your purchase. There are also fees to register your title with the municipalities. All told, you’re looking at around $1,000 to 1,300, after tax. Adjustments. An adjustment is a cost to you to pay the seller back for prepaying any property tax or condo fees on your behalf. Simply put, if you take possession in the middle of a month, the seller has already paid for the whole month and you must pay the seller back for what they’re not using. Land transfer tax. Land transfer tax, or property transfer tax (PTT) as it’s known as in British Columbia, is a fee that is charged to you by the province. First-time home buyers are exempt from this fee if they are purchasing a property under $500,000. All home buyers are exempt if they are purchasing a new property under $750,000. The British Columbia, the PTT is 1% on the first $200,000 of purchase and 2% thereafter. However, if the property being purchased is over $2,000,000, then it is 3% on any value over $2,000,000. GST. GST is only paid on new construction purchases. GST is 5% on the purchase price. However, there is a partial GST rebate on properties under $450,000. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for your home financing and mortgage needs! Continue Reading: Read Article What are Accelerated Payments? Category: Renew Refinance, An accelerated payment is a mortgage payment that is increased slightly so that you can pay off your mortgage faster. Read Article Read Article The New Mortgage Stress Test Category: First Time Buyer,Renew Refinance, OSFI (the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions), the bank regulator, has finally confirmed last week that all borrowers have to now undergo a “stress test” when it comes to new mortgages. Previously, this stress test was only in place for insured mortgages (borrowers who have less than 20% down) and for clients who […] Read Article