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Posted in First time buyer, Landlord, Real Estate, Rental, Residential Tenancy Act, Tenancy, Tenant
New Residential Tenancy Act Changes

These changes are applicable to evictions given for owner occupancy of the rental unit and include:

  • The notice period was extended 

  • There’s now a web portal landlords are required to use for these types of evictions

  • Tenants were given more time to dispute an eviction 

It does get a bit complicated though, because since these changes were initially announced July 18, 2024, some of the notice periods have been dialed back. This was as a result of industry input, especially since the original 4 months notice period would make it very difficult (if not impossible) for buyers to finance the purchase of a property subject to these new notice requirements, especially with CMHC. 

So as of August 21, 2024 (prior to this date it’s 4 months though), if the current owner/landlord provides notice to the tenant on behalf of a purchaser who wants to owner occupy the property, that notice period is now 3 months. If the current owner/landlord wants to owner occupy themselves, then the notice period is now 4 months. 

Here’s the government press release regarding these updated changes: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HOUS0141-001239

Here’s a link to current eviction guidelines, note the longer 4 month notice period is still in effect until August 21, 2024 and their website still reflects that: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/ending-a-tenancy/evictions/types-of-evictions

If you’re in a situation where these changes may apply (either as a landlord or tenant), and you need any clarification, I would suggest reaching out to Residential Tenancy directly. 

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This week in Real Estate 

Also my first blog post! Possibly ever, which is crazy considering how much time I’ve spent online. 

I thought I’d do a quick review of things that happened this week that are real estate related, or that are at least real estate adjacent. 

Hope this will be informative and something I can do on a regular basis. Maybe not as long as this one, but I had a few topics I wanted to touch on. 

Bank of Canada Rate Cut

On Wednesday, July 24, the Bank of Canada cut interest rates by 25 basis points, bringing it down to 4.5%.

For those with variable rate mortgages, this 25 point drop translates to $15 reduction in payments for every $100,000 financed. Depending on how much was borrowed, and combined with the previous 25 point rate drop, this could end up saving around $150/month on a $500,000 mortgage, as an example.

Most experts say this won’t have a huge impact on the real estate market generally, but, and this is very non-scientific, I have noticed a bit of uptick in inquiries, showings, etc. this week, especially in the more entry level price points. But this could also be the summer bump as buyers are trying to find something now so they can move before the fall.

A quick rate search online tells me that new 5 year fixed mortgages are available starting at around 4.8%, but I’d always recommend speaking with a mortgage professional for rates that would be available to you for your specific needs. Lots of factors can drastically impact the rate you pay. I’m happy to provide some mortgage contacts if you have questions, need a pre-approval and don’t know where to start.

There’s three more rate announcements expected from the Bank of Canada this year, the next being September 4, 2024. These rates are determined by a bunch of different economic indicators, both domestic and international, but word on the street is that rates usually come down leading up to a US election. Again, purely non-scientific so please take that with a grain of salt. Stay tuned.

Photo from BCWS of the Old Man Lake wildfire

Old Man Lake Wildfire

I’m sitting typing today with all the windows in my house closed to keep the smoke out, from both this local wildfire and ones in the province that have reached the Island. Also feeling incredibly sad for our provincial neighbours and the losses suffered in Jasper, Alberta.

This one is a bit too close for comfort, even though it’s not at all a danger to my home and community. I live in a forest, probably similar to the one on fire, and it was terrifying to see the speed this fire grew in size, practically doubling in size everyday for the first few days. In previous years, when I was still working in the insurance industry, we would always be monitoring the wildfire situation and I don’t remember seeing one like this on the South Island.

The fire was discovered on Monday, July 22 in the popular Sooke Potholes Regional Park, likely human caused, which means not caused by lighting and can be anything from broken glass refracting light to a vehicle exhaust sparking to arson (to be clear I haven’t heard anything in the news about this being intentional).

As of writing this, it’s currently at 1.88 square kilometers in size. Thankfully, this is a fairly remote area, the fire moved away from any populated areas, no one was evacuated or hurt and no homes were damaged or threatened. Kind of best case scenario in that sense at least.

The District of Sooke has set up a web portal with specific information about the fire and other helpful resources, like how to set up a go-bag, ways to minimize the effects of all this smoke in the air, etc.

BC Wildfire Service is also a great resource and they provide the official updates on the status of wildfires across the province on their map.

Stay safe out there and please be careful when enjoying the outdoors on our beautiful island.

How can wildfires impact your real estate purchase?

The obvious issue would of course be a fire damaging or sadly even destroying the property prior to the completing your purchase. Or an evacuation order has been put in place that prevents moving in when completion comes along. But the less obvious, big problem they potentially cause with your purchase, is your ability to get insurance. And insurance is ALWAYS a requirement for mortgage financing.

No insurance = no mortgage = no new home

Basically insurance companies won’t put coverage in place on a “new risk” or even provide a quote if there’s a wildfire classified as “out of control” (according to the BC Wildfire Service) within a certain geographic distance, usually a radius of 25-50km, depending on the company’s underwriting. With those companies, even if there are geographic barriers, like bodies of water, between your potential new home and the fire, if

it’s in that radius, it’s still a hard no. There are some companies that are more flexible with respect to wildfires, but they’re few and far between and may also be very, very expensive.

As real estate professionals we have contract clauses we can put in to your offer to provide more time to get insurance if this is a concern, but your sale can still be impacted. Especially as big fires can take a long time to get under control, which can affect your financing approval, rate guarantee, among other things. Thankfully the South Island sees this rarely historically, although could change in the future, but even a small fire can delay getting an insurance approval. Since a lot of purchases happen during the summer months, at the same time as fire season, this is something to keep in mind when making an offer. BCREA has this article with a bit more detail here about buying and wildfires.

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Categories:   First time buyer | Landlord | Real Estate | Rental | Residential Tenancy Act | Tenancy | Tenant
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