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New Government Incentives May Encourage First-Time Home Ownership in BC During 2017

New Government Incentives May Encourage First-Time Home Ownership in BC During 2017

[:en]These are highly interesting times for realtors around the Vancouver area, and the Quick Pass Master Surrey Real Estate School wants to help you keep up with market trends that may impact your future career.

As we’ve been discussing lately, the Vancouver area housing market is currently in an unusual and somewhat controversial situation. Prices have been skyrocketing for the past few years, which is great for realtors, but the problem is that the prices are now going beyond what everyday buyers can afford. In fact, Vancouver was recently named the third most unaffordable housing market in the world – a dubious honor at best.

However, the BC provincial government is stepping in to try to change that. Beginning this past January, there’s a new program in place intended to help first-time home buyers afford property: The BC Home Partnership Program.

Quick Pass Master Surrey Real Estate School Looks at The BC Home Partnership Program

The BC Home Partnership Program began in January 2017, and will continue to run through March 2020. At heart, it’s an assistance program intended to provide low-interest, long-repayment loans to first-time home buyers.

Under this program, the BC government will match a home buyer’s down payment with an additional loan of up to $35,500. In other words, if the buyer is putting down $20,000 of their own money, they could potentially get an additional $20K – for a total of $40K – towards their down payment. The loans are on a 25-year schedule, with no repayments for five years. Interest will be Prime + .5%, and homeowners will be responsible for repaying both the Home Partnership loan and their mortgage in tandem.

This should help spur home sales because, often, qualifying for a mortgage is easier for new buyers than getting together the cash for a down payment. The basic thought is that this will speed sales and home closings, as well as reducing the number of deals that fall through because of down payment issues.

In the years, ahead, Vancouver-area realtors will undoubtedly want to educate their potential buyers about this program.

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Meet Benson Wang, Founder

Quick Pass Master is founded by Benson Wang – a true entrepreneur. Being a new immigrant with very little resources, Benson built his real estate ventures through years of hard work and determination. Benson started his career as a real estate agent and eventually founded Quick Pass Master in 2011 to help others pass the BC real estate licensing exams. Today, Benson is an award winning real estate agent who has also helped thousands of students pass their licensing exams.