If this is your first time buying a home you will want to read what I have in this section.

In British Columbia there is a Property Purchase Tax (PPT) of 1% on the first $200,000, and 2% on the remainder.

However, if you are a first time home buyer and you purchase a home under $265,000 you do not have to pay the Property Purchase Tax. Unless (there always seems to be an unless)

         Unless you are purchasing a property that is greater than 1.24 acres, and/or

         Unless you are putting down more than 30%.

Alberta does not have a property purchase tax.

You should also become familiar with how much down payment you can afford, and how much mortgage loan insurance will be added to your mortgage. Most lenders use CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) mortgage insurance.  If you put down less than 25%, a premium for mortgage loan insurance will be added to your mortgage. Some lenders will not require the insurance with more than 25% down payment. The CMHC rates are as follows:

Also, if you plan on using an amortization of more than 25 years with less than 25% down, a surcharge will be added to your mortgage.

                       0.2% on 30 year amortization

                       0.4% on 35 year amortization

The above numbers should be varified.

For More information on mortage loan insurance or first time home buying click on the link to the left to access CMHC. This really is a great site - check it out.