This guide takes the steps in order. It covers finished homes: a new home that the seller has completed, or a home an owner has lived in. If you are buying a pre-sale from plans, our pre-sale guide covers the rules for that instead.
Every rule here comes from BCFSA's buyer pages or from the law itself, read on 23 October 2026, and each page names its sources at the end.
The short version
- An offer is written on a standard form called the Contract of Purchase and Sale, and it becomes a legally binding contract once both you and the seller sign it, even with conditions in it.
- For most homes, you can cancel within 3 business days after acceptance by paying the seller 0.25% of the price. The right cannot be waived.
- Conditions, often called subjects, give you time to arrange financing, an inspection and a review of the strata documents. You must make every reasonable effort to satisfy them.
- Home inspectors in BC must be licensed by Consumer Protection BC. Check the licence before you book.
- A lawyer or notary transfers the title, registers your mortgage and files the property transfer tax return. On a $1,000,000 home, the general property transfer tax is $18,000 before any exemption.
Six steps from offer to keys
Most purchases of a finished home move through six steps. The timing changes with the market and the seller, and the order stays the same.
First, you choose a home and, with your agent, write an offer. Second, the seller accepts it, rejects it, lets the deadline pass, or makes a counter-offer. Third, once both sides have signed, the 3-business-day cancel period runs. Fourth, you work through your conditions: financing, inspection, strata documents. Fifth, you remove the conditions in writing, and the deal becomes firm. Sixth, your lawyer or notary prepares the documents, and on the completion date the home is transferred to you.
BCFSA's guidance is plain on the most important point: once you and the seller have both signed the contract, it is legally binding, even if it contains subject clauses, and either side can go to court to make the other perform it.
| Step | What happens | Who is involved | Rule that applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Offer | Your agent writes the Contract of Purchase and Sale with you | You and your agent | BCFSA offer guidance |
| 2. Answer | Seller accepts, rejects, ignores or counters | Seller and listing agent | BCFSA offer guidance |
| 3. Cancel period | 3 business days to cancel for 0.25% of the price | You | Property Law Act section 42 |
| 4. Conditions | Financing, inspection, strata documents, title | You, lender, inspector, lawyer or notary | Your contract's subject clauses |
| 5. Firm | You remove conditions in writing | You and the seller | Your contract |
| 6. Completion | Title transfers, money paid, keys handed over | Lawyers or notaries on both sides | BCFSA completion guidance |
BCFSA buyer pages and BC Laws, read 23 October 2026.
What you pay along the way
The deposit comes first, usually with the offer or just after it is accepted, and is usually held in your agent's brokerage trust account. BCFSA says the brokerage holds it as stakeholder, which means as a neutral party for neither buyer nor seller.
If you cancel in the 3-business-day period, you pay the seller 0.25% of the purchase price, taken from the deposit. On a $1,000,000 home that is $2,500.
The home inspection is paid directly to the inspector. Consumer Protection BC licenses inspectors and says it does not regulate what they charge, so compare quotes.
At completion, you pay the rest of the price, your lawyer's or notary's fees, the property transfer tax and the adjustments on the statement your lawyer or notary prepares. The general property transfer tax is 1% of the fair market value up to $200,000 and 2% from $200,000 to $2,000,000, so a $900,000 home pays $16,000 and a $1,200,000 home pays $22,000, before any exemption.
Mistakes buyers make at the offer stage
The first is believing that conditions make an offer non-binding. BCFSA says a contract is legally binding as soon as both sides sign, and that subject clauses are not escape clauses. You must make every reasonable effort to satisfy them.
The second is writing a subject-free offer to win a competition without understanding what it gives up. BCFSA warns that a subject-free offer in a multiple-offer situation comes with several risks. In our view the main one is that you lose the time to check financing, the inspection and the strata documents before you are bound.
The third is relying on the 3-day cancel period as a substitute for conditions. It lasts 3 business days, costs 0.25% of the price, and does not apply to homes on leased land, leasehold homes, auction sales or court-ordered sales.
The fourth is hiring an inspector without checking the licence. Home inspectors must be licensed in BC, and Consumer Protection BC offers a licence search on its website.
The fifth, on a strata home, is not reading the strata documents before removing conditions. BCFSA's list of possible subjects includes a satisfactory review of all relevant strata documents. In our view this is the condition multiplex buyers should never drop, because a small strata has few owners to share a surprise repair.
A worked example: a $1,100,000 strata home
Numbers make the steps clearer. Take a strata home in a fourplex at a price of $1,100,000, bought by a buyer who does not qualify for any transfer tax exemption and who puts down the federal minimum.
The federal minimum down payment, as the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada publishes it, is 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% of the rest up to $1.5 million: $85,000 here. The mortgage is then $1,015,000, which is 92.3% of the price, so it must be insured, and CMHC's premium at that level is 4.00% of the loan, or $40,600, usually added to the mortgage.
The general property transfer tax is $20,000, due at registration. If the buyer used the 3-business-day right to cancel, the fee would be 0.25% of the price, or $2,750. The inspection and the lawyer's or notary's fees come on top, at whatever the professionals charge.
None of these figures is a quote. Your lender, your lawyer or notary and your inspector set their own amounts, and an exemption or a larger down payment changes the result. The point is to see the size of each step before you start.
| Item | Amount | Source of the rule |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1,100,000 | Example |
| Minimum down payment | $85,000 | Financial Consumer Agency of Canada |
| Insured mortgage | $1,015,000 | Price less down payment |
| CMHC premium at 4.00% | $40,600 | CMHC premium table |
| Property transfer tax | $20,000 | Province of BC general rate |
| Fee if cancelled in 3 business days | $2,750 | Home Buyer Rescission Period Regulation |
Computed on 23 October 2026 from the rules named. Exemptions, a larger down payment or a different price change every line.
The documents you will sign, in order
A purchase produces a stack of paper, and each document has its moment. Knowing the order helps you read each one when it arrives rather than all at once on completion week.
- The Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services, when you start working with an agent, and any service agreement your brokerage uses.
- The Contract of Purchase and Sale, with the disclosure of your right of rescission, when you write the offer.
- The home inspection contract, before the inspection, which must meet section 12 of the Home Inspector Licensing Regulation.
- Your mortgage approval and, later, the mortgage documents your lawyer or notary prepares.
- The subject removal, when your conditions are met.
- The transfer documents and the property transfer tax return, a few days before completion, with your lawyer or notary.
How we help at each step
MultiLiving's licensed REALTORS® write offers on multiplex homes, help you set conditions that fit the home, and read the strata documents with you. Tell us which home you are looking at, and we will walk you through the offer before you sign anything.
If you are still choosing a home, our search shows multiplex homes for sale across Greater Vancouver, and our comparison guide sets a multiplex home next to a townhouse, a house and a pre-sale.
Everything in this guide
Each page below answers one question in full. Read them in order or jump to the one you need.
Before and during the offer
The contract, your agent and the conditions you add
Checks after acceptance
Your right to cancel, and what the inspection tells you
Questions buyers ask
Also worth reading
- Buying guideThe whole journey of buying a multiplex in BC
- Pre-sale guideThe rules when you buy before a home is finished
- Strata documents before you buyThe papers to read, and what to look for
- Compare home typesA multiplex home next to a townhouse, a house and a pre-sale
- Strata or freeholdWhat you own under each kind of title
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page comes from the body that issues it. Rules and rates change, so each entry says when we checked it.
- Offers to Sellers (drafting, subject clauses, sellers' options, multiple offers, rescission). BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Deposits. BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Completing Your Purchase. BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Agency, Your Real Estate Licensee, and You. BC Financial Services Authority (BCFSA). Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377, sections 42 and 43 (residential real estate right of rescission). BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Act current to 20 October 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Home Buyer Rescission Period Regulation, B.C. Reg. 175/2022. BC Laws, King's Printer for British Columbia. Current consolidation, accessed 23 October 2026.
- 5 things to know before hiring a home inspector in BC. Consumer Protection BC. Posted 27 May 2026, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Property transfer tax (general rate). Government of British Columbia. Last updated December 3, 2025, accessed 23 October 2026.
- Saving for a down payment: minimum down payment by purchase price. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
- CMHC mortgage loan insurance cost. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Current page, accessed 23 October 2026.
General information only. The down payment, mortgage insurance, property transfer tax and rescission fee figures in the worked example on this page are illustrative and based on rules as of the dates noted. They are not financial, mortgage, tax or legal advice, and not a guarantee of qualification or any outcome. Rates, CMHC rules and tax rules change. Always consult a licensed mortgage broker or your lender, and an independent real estate lawyer or notary, before making any purchase or financing decision.
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