It’s BC Assessment Time—What Does That Means?

BC Assessment is a provincial Crown corporation that classifies and values all real property in British Columbia.

You should have received your BC Assessment letters in January, if you haven’t received yours yet and would like to know the assessed value of your home you can search your address on their website.

Please remember- the assessed value of the property will likely be very different from the fair value market of the current housing situation.

Current assessment is based on July 1, 2022 assessment, back when the real estate market was different than it is now.

If you are interested to know the fair market value of your property, please let me know and I will be happy to send you a proper evaluation. Click here

What is Bc Assessment and what characteristics used for calculation to determine the value of your property?

The main purpose of the BC property assessment is to determine how much municipal or provincial tax the government can tax each homeowner. An assessment is an estimate of a property’s market value as of July 1. That’s six months worth of inflation, interest rate changes and other factors that aren’t reflected in the property assessment.

Characteristics used for calculation

• The location of the property;
• The size of the property;
• The size of the lot;
• View from the home;
• The property age;
• Home add-ons such as carports, garages, and decks; and 
• The sales’ prices from similar homes in your area. 

Property assessments are all done electronically. Appraisers don’t walk through every home and therefore they do not take into consideration renovations or interior layouts, etc.

It’s important to note that your BC assessment value doesn’t have a massive impact on your property taxes as it’s more to do with the area as a whole. The neighbourhood requirements such as garbage collection and street cleaning still need to be factored in, so lowering taxes might impact service delivery.

What Is the Market Value of Your Home?

When it comes to calculating your home’s market value, there are quite a few more factors in the assessment. Your market value is what a buyer is willing to pay for it, but there are a few considerations to get to that amount:

• The location of your home and its proximity to various transportation routes and amenities. 
• The age of your property. 
• The lot's size and the lot dimensions could impact future build such as whether it's flat or sloped, in a flood plain, or has many large trees with roots.
• The size of your home’s interior and the number of rooms.
• Your home’s layout and design, such as open-plan living areas. 
• Any additionals such as carports and garages, decks, number of allotted parking spaces, paring for RVs. 
• Any home upgrades will impact the market value, such as renovations, furnaces, appliances, flooring, or hot water furnaces. 
• If regular maintenance has been performed, such as roofing, gutters, re-painting, and more. 
• If this is a strata title property, the appraiser will also consider any special levies, the maintenance fees, reserve funds, and how well-run the building is. 
• The current real estate market trends – whether it’s a buyer's or sellers’ market. 
• Comparable sales in the area within the last three months.  

What is your home worth?

Click here for your home evaluation

Interested to discuss the current market situation, have some questions?

Please contact us today at 604-442-9422

Anna Litvak Joseph PREC*, Top 10% of realtors in Greater Vancouver

British Columbia's Top real estate agent, Anna Litvak Joseph PREC,
BC Prime Real Estate Group