Will you continue to Airbnb your Condo?

Will you continue to rent your condo as an #AIRBNB

It’s been a two-year fight. Landlords and the booking site have resisted every step of the way, and refused to voluntarily comply with municipal regs. For more than 20 months the issue has been before a tribunal, and now the decision’s been made. City, 1. Airbnb, 0.
All those units bought to rent out by the night (usually against condo board rules) are now illegal. Short-term rentals will be allowed only inside a landlord’s principal residence, and for no more than 180 nights s year. Homeowners can rent a max of three bedrooms, and not for more than 28 days at a time. No rentals will be allowed in basement or secondary suites. Landlords need to register and pay a fee plus a 4% accommodation (hotel) tax on revenues.
Of course by registering, landlords also join a database which is shared with the CRA – so anyone not declaring Airbnb (or VRBO) income is probably asking for an audit.  https://www.greaterfool.ca/2019/11/20/shared-stupidity/

No confusion there. 

The question is will you continue renting as Airbnb? 

Learn How to Get Closing Cost Credits.

Attention Home Buyers, Learn How to Get Closing Cost Credits.

Closing Costs Credit

Are you a first time home buyer?  Are you using 95% Financing  or low down payment Financing, i.e. 5.0% or 10.0%  down payment programs?

Do you need to preserve some of your savings and need options?

One way to do this is to get some or all of your closing costs covered as part of negotiating your purchase with closing cost credits.  This is not automatic, it is not guaranteed to happen if you write your offer with another real estate agent. 

Take advantage of our expertise in assisting home buyers navigate through the home buying process.  Get into the right house for the right price.

Those enrolled in my FREE Home Buyer Program can get up to $2,500.00 in closing costs

GUARANTEED!

Enroll NOW! in my FREE Home Buyer Program and lock down your closing cost credit. In order to qualify for this program please fill out the form below.  This information will not be shared with anyone.  We will contact you for an initial no obligation free consultation.

Click Here

*some conditions apply
*requires purchase of resale property on the Toronto MLS system with 2.5% CB commission
*Minimum Purchase Price $500,000. CDN $
*Toronto GTA
*Offer Expires March 31st 2020 *Not intended to solicit Buyers under contract

How can you see inside?

Five days on the market. That’s how long it took David of RE/MAX realty specialists Inc., to put 1910 Lake Shore LPH04, a pretty split plan 2 bed condo, under contract in the peak month of June in Toronto. .

Pylyp attributed the swift and successful sale to his agency’s marketing expertise – specifically, the #Matterport 3D tour and the high-definition photography that so perfectly conveyed the condo’s interior and exterior appeal.

“The National Association of REALTORS® found that 93 percent of buyers overall, and 99 percent of Millennials, used the Internet in their home searches,” Pylyp said, citing the NAR’s 2018 “Real Estate in a Digital Age” report.

“That’s a huge percentage. More and more people first see their future home online. It is their introduction and all-important first impression.

“So doing our best for sellers means using the latest technology – Matterport 3D tours, professional photography, and drone aerials – to create immediately compelling visuals,”

Not every agency offers these services. Some who do charge an extra fee, but with David Pylyp of RE/MAX realty specialists inc., Brokerage, there is no additional cost to the seller. All the photographic work is expertly produced by David Pylyp, in collaboration with other REALTORs® at RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.

http://Bit.Ly/PenthouseView

Call today.

Shared Equity Mortgage

Government of Canada offers Home-ownership Incentives


The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive launches September 2, 2019*.

* The program will be ready to receive Incentive applications on September 2, 2019 (barring any unforeseen circumstances). The first closing will take effect on November 1, 2019.

There are a few qualifiers to apply for this incentive:

• you need to have the minimum down payment to be eligible
• your maximum qualifying income is no more than $120,000
• your total borrowing is limited to 4 times the qualifying income

If you meet these criteria, you can then apply for a 5% or 10% shared equity mortgage with the Government of Canada. A shared equity mortgage is where the government shares in the upside and downside of the property value.

How does it work?
The Incentive enables first-time homebuyers to reduce their monthly mortgage payment without increasing their down payment. The Incentive is not interest bearing and does not require ongoing repayments.
Through the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, the Government of Canada will offer:
• 5% for a first-time buyer’s purchase of a re-sale home
• 5% or 10% for a first-time buyer’s purchase of a new construction

How do I know how much I have to pay back?
You can repay the Incentive at any time in full without a pre-payment penalty. You have to repay the Incentive after 25 years or if the property is sold, whichever happens first. The repayment of the Incentive is based on the property’s fair market value.

• You receive a 5% incentive of the home’s purchase price of $200,000, or $10,000.
• If your home value increases to $300,000 your payback would be 5% of the current value or $15,000.
• You receive a 10% incentive of the home’s purchase price of $200,000, or $20,000 and your home value decreases to $150,000, your repayment value will be 10% of the current value or $15,000.

NOTE: If your property value goes down, you are still responsible for repaying the shared equity mortgage based on the current home value at time of repayment.

This has so many reasons to avoid the whole program. Let's talk about it  You will be glad we did

You are entitled to every condo document except priviledged

Can you ask for Condo Documents?

Condo Authority Tribunal-Tips

The 2017 amendments to the Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”) created the Condominium Authority Tribunal (“CAT”), an online tribunal that helps settle and decide condominium-related disputes in Ontario. Since its inception CAT has exclusively handled record related disputes between owners and condo corporations. It is expected that CAT will handle other owner-condo related disputes sometime in the future.

Our office had the pleasure of representing a few of our condo clients in CAT proceedings. So we thought we’d share some tips and “tricks” for managers and boards to avoid and handle record-related CAT disputes.

TIP 1: Don’t fur-get to respond!. Do not ignore a records request, even if the forms aren’t correctly completed. A corporation has 30 days to respond to a records request using the standardized board response form, outline the estimated fees for preparing the records (if applicable), and indicate any records that the Corporation will not disclose. Responding to a records request on the prescribed form and within the prescribed timeline may entirely avoid a CAT proceeding!

TIP 2: Purr-haps production? The 2017 amendments to the Act enhanced the “open-book” principle for corporation’s records. What does this mean for corporations? An owner is likely (not always) entitled to most records of the Corporation unless they are exempt from production pursuant to section 55(4) of the Act or for instance, solicitor-client privilege. Of course every case is different and there may be other instances where records could be reasonably withheld from an owner. When in doubt, consult your legal counsel.

TIP 3: Fur-ward to CAT: If an owner submits a dispute to CAT, the corporation will receive a “Notice of Case”. Once you receive the notice, the corporation must respond by joining the case on the CAT’s online system within seven days. If you fail to join the case, CAT may make an order without the corporation’s input or participation, which as evidenced in numerous CAT decisions, can lead to costs implications against the corporation, upwards of $5000. Moral of the story, join the case!

TIP 4: The CAT’s meow: The CAT process has three stages: negotiation, mediation and adjudication. In the negotiation phase, users will work collaboratively to try to resolve the issues in dispute, including providing settlement offers and exchanging messages. In the mediation stage, a CAT member is assigned as mediator to assist in clarifying the issues in dispute, help users understand their rights and responsibilities and suggest settlements to the parties. If the parties are unable to reach a settlement, the owner has an opportunity to move the matter onto the third stage, adjudication. At the adjudication phase, a CAT member is assigned to consider and render a decision based on all the evidence before it. Just like any type of litigation, settling in the early stages of the CAT process will help avoid corporations incurring avoidable costs.

TIP 5: Meta-fur-kitty speaking: The CAT Rules of Practice provide that every user or representative must check the CAT online system and their emails for communication related to their case at least once every business day, or as often as directed by CAT. The CAT member assigned to your case will also dictate deadlines for the submission of items in the adjudication phase. Failure to meet these deadlines can lead to costs implications against the corporation. Whoever is representing the corporation should keep a close eye on their emails and frequently access CAT for new updates.

http://www.lashcondolaw.com/condo-authority-tribunal-tips

HST on Condo Purchase 2019

Obtain Clearance Certificate

The recent court decision has profound chilling effects on the entire real estate and legal community;

REALTORS® are obligated in Ontario to complete a Fintrac Report on your purchase or sale (rental)  This consists of two valid pieces of ID used to IDENTIFY the transaction participant.

No where do I have access to verify if the seller of a property is a Resident or Non Resident for the purposes of Revenue Canada.

THE STORY
This is the case of Kau v. the Queen (2018 TCC 156). In June, 2011, Mr. Kau purchased a condo in Toronto from Mr. Y for $368,000. Mr. Y might have been a non-resident for Canadian tax purposes (he had a California address), although Mr. Y himself said that he was “not a non-resident.”
Why does this matter? Well, Section 116 of our tax law will require a purchaser of Canadian real estate to withhold 25 per cent of the purchase price and send it to the taxman if buying the property from a non-resident person. This is meant to ensure that non-residents who own and then sell Canadian real estate pay their share of taxes on any capital gains.
Section 116 requires the buyer to make a “reasonable inquiry” and have “no reason to believe that the seller is a non-resident of Canada.” Without this reasonable inquiry and belief about the seller, the buyer is supposed to withhold 25 per cent of the purchase price and send it to the taxman.
In our story, Mr. Kau didn’t withhold 25 per cent when paying Mr. Y. You see, Mr. Kau’s lawyer did ask about Mr. Y’s residency status. The response received was a signed affidavit that read “I am not a non-resident of Canada within the meaning of Section 116 of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and nor will I be a non-resident of Canada at the time of closing.”
This “declaration” by the seller wasn’t good enough for the Tax Court judge, because it wasn’t a “solemn declaration” (which carries the weight of an oath). He concluded that Mr. Kau did not undertake “reasonable inquiry” and should have had reason to believe that Mr. Y was a non-resident.
The result? Mr. Kau lost his case, and must now fork over $92,000 (25 per cent of $368,000) to the CRA, representing the withholding tax that should have been deducted from the purchase price paid to Mr. Y.
THE NONSENSE
So, the onus is now on the buyer of real estate to not only collect taxes on behalf of the CRA when a non-resident is selling a property, but to also make a judgment on when to investigate further the tax residency of the seller – as though a layperson is qualified to know when and how to make that inquiry.    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/taxes/article-ensure-youre-in-the-clear-tax-court-decision-serves-as-warning-to/

So, in addition to collecting your fintrac data  I am now required / should to protect my buyer make enquiries about Residency Provisions of the Home / Condo Sellers.  This form is called the Individual Identification Information Record.   See for yourself 

Asking for your Drivers License with your home address is not sufficient.   I followed this story 3 if not 4 years ago with this enquiry with Stan Gelman  https://youtu.be/VP4wlqELB5g