Paige is a wonderful realtor! She was very patient with me in my buying process - buying your first condo can be a very stressful time but Paige wasn’t pushy & was always quick to point out things I wouldn’t know to look for. Very trustworthy! Thank you for making my first time buying experience a good one!

Nancy Moro

You are here: Kelowna First-time Buyers Benefit from 2009 Federal Budget

Kelowna First-time Buyers Benefit from 2009 Federal Budget

Kelowna first-time buyers can benefit from the new 2009 federal budget.  Home owners wanting to do renovating should look at the article below to see how they can get a rebate.  These new incentives will help to boost the Kelowna real estate market sales.

Federal budget a boost for new buyers
 
$50,000 buys more than $40,000, especially when a residence falls in price
 
BY PETER SIMPSON, SPECIAL TO WESTCOAST HOMES FEBRUARY 7, 2009
 
 
''The best things in life are free. But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees. Now give me money, that's what I want, that's what I want.''
-- Berry Gordy, Janie Bradford and Barrett Strong, Money (That's What I Want), 1959

In the federal government's recent budget, entitled Canada's Economic Action Plan, was some carrot money for homeowners and first-time buyers.

Faced with rapidly rising home prices during the last few years, first-time home buyers had a devil of a time climbing onto the first rung of the property ladder. The financial barriers were worrisome to those who wanted to put down roots, perhaps start a family -- my eldest daughter included.

That step towards homeownership has become a little easier. Prices and mortgage rates have dropped and inventory has expanded. So young folks can take care choosing a home that matches their needs, taking into account key considerations such as location, value and builder reputation.

First-time buyers who have squirrelled away cash in their registered retirement savings plans can now withdraw, tax free, up to $25,000 to purchase their first home.
Couples jointly purchasing a home may together withdraw $50,000. This $5,000 increase for individuals and $10,000 for couples is the first adjustment in the withdrawal limit since the plan rolled out in 1992. Nice, and about time.

Also, more relief for first-timers is offered in the form of a 15-per-cent tax credit to help defray closing costs such as legal fees, property transfer tax and other disbursements. This credit is applied on closing costs up to $5,000, which equates to a maximum tax savings of $750. Again, a winner.
Both those tax-adjustment components are laudatory and helpful, and they follow on the heels of the feds reducing the GST to five per cent last year, easing the load for buyers of new homes.

There is a time-sensitive Home Renovation Tax Credit available.  The 15-per-cent tax credit will apply to eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, before Feb. 1, 2010. The credit may be claimed on the portion of improvements exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, meaning the maximum tax credit for a married couple is $1,350. However, unmarried individuals such as, say, sisters who share joint ownership of a home can each claim a tax credit.

Eligible work includes painting, finishing the basement, building a deck or fence, replacing kitchen cabinets, installing laminate flooring, and a host of other materials and contractor labour. Not eligible are such items as the purchase of tools, homeowner labour (without a business tax number), and maintenance contracts such as lawn care, furnace cleaning or snow removal.

Skilled tradespeople displaced by the slowdown in new home construction are exploring opportunities in home renovation, as B.C. homeowners are expected to spend $7 billion renovating and improving their homes this year. Home renovators can now hire the best of the available tradespeople, then take on projects they previously turned down due to the tight labour supply.

Because homeowners will not be eligible for a tax credit without receipts for materials purchased or services performed, I am hopeful the renovation tax credit will discourage participation in the underground economy. That was a deftly calculated move by the Canada Revenue Agency.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Contact Paige and Al for more information on this subject.