[forYourChildrenVote4Bush]

ARE you AMERICAN...?

The only GRANT that we are allowed for first time buyers is not a grant. We as Canadians have something called the RRSP (Retirement savings plan). This RRSP can only be touched after you retire and is subject to taxes. The only other way you can have access to this money is if you are a first time buyer of a house and you are permitted to remove 20000$ without being taxed on it, BUT, there is a catch, YOU MUST REPAY this money within 13 years or a minimum of 1500$ per year.

You are lucky to pay only 1% property taxes, it depends the province/area..we pay here about 2 - 2.5 property taxes per year for as long as we own the property + school taxes of 1/2% per year

[drtom]

I am looking at a sample property tax form that my realtor up in BC sent me. There are two annual grants, one if this is your primary residence, another one if you are over 65. The property I am looking at had an assessed value of $441,000 Cdn in 2004. The taxes were $5300 before the home owner's grant or $4600 thereafter. Since this won't be my primary residence I won't be eligible for the grant, but everyone else in our BC office is for their property.