There seems to be a lot of confusion going around these days regarding new land transfer tax changes. In this previous article, I highlighted the new changes to land transfer taxes in the City of Toronto, as well as provided a land transfer tax calculator.
The Land Transfer Tax Refund Program for first-time home buyers has been expanded to include purchases of resale homes. If you’re a first time purchaser of a RESALE home and your Agreement of Purchase and Sale was registered after December 13, 2007, you are entitled to receive a refund of up to $2,000 of the land transfer tax paid. As these proposed amendments to the Land Transfer Tax Act are still pending by the Ontario Legislature, you can either wait until it becomes law or send in the required documents first and have them held pending Royal Assent of the proposed amendments.
Here are the documents you will need to get your refund:
- Copy of Agreement of Purchase and sale
- Copy of Docket Summary (to show payment)
- Copy of Registered Transfer
- Land Transfer Tax Refund Affidavit
Mail these forms to:
Ministry of Revenue
Tax Compliance and Regional Operations Branch
Land Taxes Section
33 King Street West
P.O. Box 625
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8H9
If you’d like more information, you can visit the official website for more details.
Let’s face it – buying a home will probably be the biggest purchase of your life. And if you’re new to buying a home, I can understand how confusing and crazy it may seem. But take my word for it. The process is not as scary as you may have thought. Here are the general steps that you will have to take when you decide to look for a new home to buy. I’ve simplified the process, and you’re welcome to contact me if you have any additional questions about buying real estate in Brampton.
- Decide exactly what you are looking for: Are you looking for a house or a condominium? Where in the city do you want to live? Do you need to be near public transportation and any major highways? How many bedrooms do you need to comfortably accommodate your family? These are all the types of questions you need explore so that you have a firm idea in your mind of exactly what fits your needs. It will make your house searching simple and fast!
- Can I afford to buy a house?: You will need to visit your bank or any other lending institution to obtain a pre-approval. This will tell you exactly how much you can afford to spend on your new home. No sense looking around first if you don’t know how much you can spend yet. Get that pre-approval!
- Start looking for that home: Now the fun part begins. I will help you search a home on MLS (the Multiple Listing System). It is a nationwide database of all the houses currently for sale. Armed with your criteria, I can quickly find the most suitable houses for you to see. I’ll book the appointments for you to see the properties, and we’ll keep looking until we find your dream home!
- You find the perfect home and we make the offer: This is where we go for it! I will submit an offer on your behalf to purchase the house. Depending on the details of that offer, we will negotiate with the sellers until we mutually agree upon a sale price and the conditions of the sale.
- They accept!: The offer is negotiated to acceptable terms and conditions for you, and the seller accepts our offer to purchase.
- You provide a deposit: The day after the offer is accepted, you will need to provide a certified cheque, money order, or bank draft as a deposit on the house. Generally, a deposit will range between $5,000 – $10,000, depending on the value of the home. This deposit will be held ‘in trust’ by the selling brokerage until the deal becomes firm. If the deal does not go through, you will be refunded your deposit in full, so don’t worry!
- Condition removal process: There will be some conditions in the offer that will have to be met. Generally, this will take between 5 and 10 days after the offer is accepted. These conditions are provided for the benefit of you, the seller, and allows you to back out of an offer if you can’t meet the required conditions. You can typically expect either a financing condition, a home inspection condition, or a status certificate condition included in your offer. As conditions vary for each purchase, I will carefully and thoroughly explain the conditions of your offer and what they mean to you during negotiations.
- We waive the conditions: All the conditions have been met and we waive them, thereby making the offer firm. Congratulations, you’ve got yourself a new home!
Hopefully, this makes the task of buying a new home seem less daunting. If any of these steps are unclear, or you’d like more details about the process, please leave me a comment and I will get back to you! Best of luck hunting for your dream home!
Let say all my investments (rental properties) are not under my name, am i still eligible for this refund as i'm carrying numerous mortgages for these rental properties (that are not under my name)? so officially, i do not own any homes, i'm just paying for them.
Hi there Here is the answer taken straight off the Ministry Of Revenue's website: http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/bulletins/ltt/1_2008.html The refund will be reduced if one or more of the purchasers are not a first-time home purchaser. The refund will be proportionate to the interest acquired by the individuals who qualify for the refund. For example, where a parent who is not a first-time purchaser and a child who is a first-time purchaser, purchase a home with equal 50/50 interests, the child may claim 50% of the land transfer tax refund. The child's claim cannot exceed 50% of the maximum allowable refund (i.e. 50% of $2,000). A qualifying purchaser may also claim a refund in proportion to his or her spouse's interest if that purchaser's spouse has owned a home before becoming the purchaser's spouse, but not while that purchaser's spouse. Hope this helps! Lang