Durham Region Real Estate Blog

The Durham Region is a great place to live, pick a large city, Oshawa, or choose a smaller hamlet, Hampton and settle right in. Plenty to do and see and home in all price ranges. If you are a first time home buyer, you are eligible to receive a provincial tax rebate. The maximum rebate for you is $2,000.

Provincial Land Transfer Tax is payable anywhere in Ontario, so even if you choose to purchase your home outside the Durham Region, you are still eligible for the rebate. (Though Blair and I hope you choose to live here ….. we need more friends!) The maximum rebate of $2,000 is equivalent to the provincial tax payable on a $227,500 property.

Of course, just like anything else, there are some eligibility requirements. The buyer must be at least 18 years old and occupy the house as his or her principal residence. The buyer cannot have previously owned a home, anywhere in the world, at any time. And finally, if the buyer has a spouse, the spouse cannot have owned a home, or had any ownership interest in a home, anywhere in the world while he or she was the purchaser’s spouse. If this is the case, no refund is available to either spouse. There is a chance you can get the rebate if the buyer’s spouse owned an interest in a home before becoming the buyer’s spouse but not while the buyer spouse.

There is more information available by calling the Ontario Ministry of Finance: 1-800-263-7965.

So there you have it. A little tax break for you as a first time home buyer. And maybe the rebate won’t pay for all the tax you put out, but it’s a start. With interest rates still so low, plenty of listings on the market and a little incentive from the tax-man, maybe now is just the right time for you to get into the market and start paying yourself instead of your landlord! As always, feel free to ask questions and post your comments.