Sun
Demand for premium properties was expressed robustly last weekend, with buyers snapping up releases in hours.
Buyers from across Canada, the U.S. and even the U.K. bought 20 of the first 25 building lots released by
Revelstoke Mountain Resort. The lots were priced from $695,000 to $1.35 million.
Closer to home, eager buyers snapped up phase one of Southport, ParkLane Homes’ master-planned community in Crescent Beach. Within eight hours, all 20 homes were sold at prices close to $1 million.
TIPS TO KEEP YOUR HOUSE TIP-TOP
About Your House, Canada Mortgage and Housing’s free newsletter, provides a home maintenance calendar that details tasks to be performed every season.
The maintenance schedule suggests homeowners:
– Have their furnaces or heating systems serviced — every two years for a gas furnace and every year for an oil furnace.
– Vacuum electric baseboard heaters to remove dust.
– Check chimneys for obstructions, such as nests.
– Drain and store outdoor hoses.
– Ensure that windows and skylights close tightly.
– Replace window screens with storm windows.
– Lubricate the circulating pump on hot-water heating systems.
For more information about CMHC’s recommended year-round maintenance tips, visit www.cmhc.ca
USE TAX TO GO GREEN
Three representatives of the local development and construction industries want the provincial government to use the Property Transfer Tax to encourage “green” construction and renovations.
The B.C. chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, the B.C. Real Estate Association and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver made the suggestion in a recent meeting with government representatives.
Among the recommendations: “Provide a PTT rebate to buyers of homes that meet or exceed the standards of the Built Green program.”
“Each Built Green ‘Gold’ home saves 21/2 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions annually,” a home builders’ news release reports.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007