A lot of new construction buyers go in working only with the developer's sales team, without their own representation, and assume that because a home is brand new, it's automatically a safe purchase. The show suite is finished to the highest standard with upgrades and furniture that may not even be available at any price point in your actual unit, so it's worth asking exactly what's standard versus upgraded before you get attached to a look.
One of the biggest myths I hear is that a new build doesn't need its own inspection because the city already inspects it. City inspectors are checking for minimum code compliance at each stage of construction, not crawling through the attic or testing every appliance the way a private inspector would. I always recommend hiring your own third-party inspector on a new build, the same as you would on a resale home, so you have a documented list of deficiencies in writing.
New construction is taxed differently than resale. You'll pay 5% GST on top of the purchase price, something resale buyers don't face. On the property transfer tax side, though, new construction can actually work in your favour: BC's newly built home exemption can reduce your property transfer tax to zero on homes valued up to $1.1 million, with a partial exemption up to $1.15 million, as long as it's your principal residence.
If you're buying pre-sale, build in a serious time buffer, the completion date on the contract is closer to a guess than a promise, and projects can be delayed or, in rarer cases, run into financial trouble. At completion, lenders appraise the property at today's value, not what you agreed to pay years earlier, so if values have dropped, you may need to cover the difference in cash. If new construction is on your radar, I'm happy to walk through what to watch for before you sign anything.
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