First-Time Home Buyer Checklist for BC (Burnaby & Metro Vancouver)

Finish this stage before serious viewings.

• Get a real mortgage pre-approval: a document-backed qualification, including the lender’s stress-test rate, not a rate quote alone. It is not the final loan on the home you offer on. Down-payment rules are on the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada down-payment page.
• Budget cash-to-close beyond the down payment: property transfer tax unless an exemption applies, legal or notary fees, an inspection, and adjustments. Under 20% down, default mortgage loan insurance (often CMHC) can apply. That premium is not life insurance. Use the CMHC premium page and the CMHC calculator as an estimate only.
• FHSA. Open a First Home Savings Account early if you may use one. The Canada Revenue Agency says your FHSA participation room in the year you open your first FHSA is $8,000. The CRA definitions page states the lifetime FHSA limit is $40,000, covering contributions and transfers from RRSPs. Participation room starts in the year the first account is opened, not before. This checklist does not calculate your room. Start from the First Home Savings Account hub.
• RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan. This is a withdrawal from an RRSP, not a new savings account. The CRA Home Buyers’ Plan page currently states that the HBP withdrawal limit is $60,000. The same page says you can withdraw under the HBP and make a qualifying FHSA withdrawal for the same qualifying home if you meet the conditions at the time of each withdrawal. Eligibility, the withdrawal window, and repayment stay on that CRA page. This checklist does not calculate what you can take out.
• First-time home buyers’ Property Transfer Tax program. The program page, last updated June 20, 2025, says that for registration on or after April 1, 2024, fair market value must be $835,000 or less for the exemption it describes, with tax waived on the first $500,000 of the purchase price. Fair market value more than $835,000 but less than $860,000 may be partial. The exemption amounts page, last updated December 3, 2025, says that when the whole transfer qualifies, fair market value over $500,000 and up to $835,000 means the exemption amount is $8,000. The published table shows no exemption at $860,000. Citizenship, B.C. residency or filing history, and no prior principal residence still have to match. This is not a tax result for your file.
• Choose buyer representation before serious viewings. Alex Lam PREC works through Coldwell Banker Prestige Realty. See real estate services and the First-Time Home Buyers Seminar.

Search after the money stage. Separate what you need from what is only nice to have.

• Write must-haves separately from nice-to-haves before the first tour.
• Choose housing form first: condo, townhouse, or detached. The Burnaby real estate guide covers those forms and how Burnaby talks about town centres. This checklist does not add neighbourhood profiles.
• Decide strata versus freehold before you tour both at random. A strata lot comes with corporation documents, fees, and bylaws. A freehold house usually puts the lot and the building systems on you.
• View enough homes to calibrate the search. There is no required number of showings. Current inventory is on Homes for Sale.

Price the offer from recent comparables. That is a method, not a promised price.

• Set the price from recent comparables, led by your REALTOR®. This page does not publish a target price.
• The deposit is paid into trust on the contract timeline. This page does not set a deposit percentage.
• Typical protective subjects are financing, inspection, and title. If the home is strata, add strata document review.
• Name subject removal, completion, possession, and the adjustment date. Those dates are not a standard number of weeks.

Use the full subject window. Removing a subject is a written step, and it has to be on time.

• Book the inspection and attend if you can. The report is for that property. It is not a reason to skip the rest of the subjects.
• Get final financing confirmation. A pre-approval is not the lender’s yes on this home, this price, and this building.
• If the home is strata, read Form B, the depreciation report, minutes, financials, and the contingency reserve fund before you remove subjects. Depth is on the Form B page and the Burnaby strata document review guide. This checklist does not reprint them.
• Have the lawyer or notary review title before you are past the point of changing the contract.
• Remove subjects in writing, on the contract date. Silence is not a plan.

Once subjects are removed, the lawyer or notary runs the conveyance. Alex can keep the contract dates aligned. He does not replace that legal work.

• Pay the deposit on the contract timeline if it is not already in trust.
• Instruct a lawyer or notary for the conveyance, including how you will take title.
• Bind home insurance for completion. That owner policy is not strata corporation insurance and not mortgage life insurance.
• Reconcile the statement of adjustments with your cash-to-close budget before completion day. Ask what changed from the estimate.

Completion is registration and payment. Possession is the day you get the keys. The contract dates control, and they are not always the same day. This page does not promise a number of weeks to keys.

• Do a final walkthrough against the contract. Note what was included and what condition you expected.
• Keep completion and possession as two dates even when they fall on the same day, so a delay on one is visible.
• After possession, set up utilities and your address. A principal residence may qualify for the Home Owner Grant, which is not automatic. If you might sell soon, confirm the BC home flipping tax (last updated June 8, 2026): it can apply when a B.C. property, including a presale, is owned for less than 730 days, unless an exemption applies. It is separate from the federal flipping rules.

Burnaby’s plans use town centres and urban villages. Those are planning categories, not a price guide. The Burnaby real estate guide links the City’s town centres page. Use that guide for place and housing form. This checklist does not add a neighbourhood pillar.

Transit shapes a Metro Vancouver search, but a commute is a trip you time yourself. TransLink publishes SkyTrain maps and schedules. This page does not publish commute minutes.

One financing aside, not a Burnaby rule: a lender may offer mortgage life insurance when the mortgage is approved. That offer is optional. It is not required to get the mortgage, and it is not default (CMHC) loan insurance. The comparison is on mortgage life insurance vs personal life insurance.