Synergy Mortgage, Author at Synergy Mortgage

25Nov

City of Vancouver proposes property tax increase of 5% in 2021

[Daily Hive - November 24, 2020] After receiving Vancouver City Council's initial input on budget directions early this month, City of Vancouver staff have released their draft 2021 budget supported by a 5% increase in the property tax for the year. This also accounts for a city council-directed tax shift of 0.5% property tax share from non-residential (such as business properties) to residential. Based on median property values for each property type, the 5% increase amounts to an average $146 increase for [...]

Vancouver Real Estate

25Nov

City of Vancouver reminds residents of Empty Homes Tax declaration deadline

[Daily Hive - November 24, 2020] The Vancouver Empty Homes Tax (EHT) property status declarations for the 2020 tax year are due February 2, 2021. Each residential property is required to make one declaration, with instructions being mailed out to all property owners over the coming weeks. Declarations can be made online at the City of Vancouver’s website. Launched in 2017, the EHT was established to incentivize homeowners to make their empty and under-utilized properties available as rental homes. According to the city, [...]

Vancouver Real Estate

10Nov

Mortgage Qualification – 6 C’s of Credit

MORTGAGE QUALIFICATIONS 6 C’s of Credit When you apply for a mortgage you have to undergo a process of evaluation before you will be given an approval. The process called credit evaluation can take time and always involves an end, either an approval for the mortgage or a decline. If you are declined, you may be given alternative options such as private loans or a plan to help you to qualify in the future. The lender’s credit evaluation involves 6 main areas: Capacity [...]

Mortgage Education Centre, Vancouver Real Estate

10Nov

B.C. real estate agents urged to suspend all open houses

[BIV - November 6, 2020] B.C.’s real estate regulation agencies have asked industry professionals to suspend holding open houses at properties slated for sale/rent due to the province’s sharp spike in COVID cases. In a statement dated Nov. 5, the Real Estate Council of BC, the BC Real Estate Association and the Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate said the move is to limit face-to-face interactions in the home-buying process. Sales agents have been asked to conduct as much business [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19, Vancouver Real Estate

10Nov

Rent freeze put in place because of COVID-19 pandemic extended in B.C.

[CTV - November 9, 2020] VANCOUVER -- A B.C. rent freeze that was put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic has been extended until next summer. Originally, the rent freeze was going to expire on Dec. 1. But now, it's been extended until July 10, 2021, the province announced Monday. "We know many renters are still facing income loss and even the slightest increase in rent could be extremely challenging. For that reason, we are extending the freeze on rent increases [...]

British Columbia, COVID-19

01Nov

Property tax hike of up to 12% needed to balance City of Vancouver’s 2021 budget

[Daily Hive - October 31, 2020] Vancouver City Council is facing some difficult choices ahead with the municipal government’s budget for 2021, based on a presentation city staff will be providing in a meeting on November 4. Due to COVID-19’s continuing impact, revenues from programs and services, parking, license, and development will still be lower, yet there will also be rising costs related to the pandemic response, such as managing street disorder, homelessness, and the opioid crisis, as well as increased [...]

British Columbia, Vancouver Real Estate

01Nov

Bank of Canada phasing out 3 programs set up in early days of COVID-19 to provide emergency liquidity

[CBC - October 16, 2020] Demand has waned in recent weeks, a sign things may be getting back to normal. The Bank of Canada is winding down three emergency programs it set up to provide support to financial institutions during the early days of the pandemic, as demand for all three programs is falling now that things are getting back to normal. In a news release late Thursday, the central bank said it will close two programs known as the Bankers' Acceptance Purchase Facility, or BAPF, and the [...]

Canada, COVID-19, Economic Outlook

29Oct

Renderings of the massive redevelopment of Vancouver’s Molson brewery

[Daily Hive - October 28, 2020] Daily Hive Urbanized provided the first glimpse of Concord Pacific’s proposed redevelopment plans of the Molson Coors brewery in Vancouver in December 2019. And now, additional details and renderings show the true breadth of the massive mixed-use redevelopment of the 7.6-acre industrial property, located at the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge. The developer intends to build a redevelopment with a total floor area of 1.8 million sq ft, including 300,000 sq ft of office [...]

Home Design + Decor, Vancouver Real Estate

28Oct

Bank of Canada keeps key interest rate unchanged, says COVID-19 economic recovery likely by 2022

[News 1130 - October 28, 2020] OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate on hold Wednesday as it said the country’s economy won’t fully recover what was lost to COVID-19 until 2022, with the road to there dependent on the path of the pandemic. The central bank held its overnight rate target at 0.25 per cent. In July, the Bank of Canada said it believed the country had been spared from a worst-case scenario. The bank’s updated outlook in [...]

Bank of Canada announcements, Economic Outlook

23Oct

Home improvement business is booming amid COVID-19 pandemic

[Globe and Mail - October 21, 2020] Paul Sangha has run a busy architectural landscape business for most of two decades, but by the end of 2019, business was “dead quiet,” and Mr. Sangha was preparing for a rough year. He had to lay off four staff. When the lockdown hit in mid-March, Mr. Sangha began paying staff their salaries in advance to give them a sense of certainty. But then something strange happened. Business suddenly picked up. By May he [...]

Home Design + Decor, Vancouver Real Estate