Four Types of Investment Real Estate
4 types of investment property therefore 4 types of tax considerations for non-residents and residents purchasing real estate in Whistler: 1) rented nightly, 2) business income, 3) rented monthly, and 4) never rented.
Next, determine the intent of your purchase, How do you intend to use the property? How often will you use it? Do you need the property to earn revenue and if so how much? Is it an asset class you’ll purchase and never use?
4 Types of Investment in Whistler Real Estate
There are 4 types of investment and therefore 4 types of tax considerations for non-resident individuals investing in BC Real Estate. It is important to know how often you want to use your property for personal use before you start looking at real estate in Whistler. Your personal usage will guide your realtor as to what will work for you and your family.
1. Rented Nightly
Whistler has restrictions on each property and development, so not all properties can be rented out nightly. The appropriate zoning needs to be in place. The zoning for properties with the legal right to rent nightly is referred to as Phase 1 and Tourist Accommodation Zoning. There are options to rent through an experienced rental management company or self-manage your property. Some properties have a mandatory management company bylaw and others have mandatory terms regarding their rental pool. There are a lot of options with this type of zoning. In addition, you will pay a premium for a property with nightly rental zoning.
2. Business Income
The Phase 2 properties can be identified by the hotel name attached to the property: Westin, Delta, and The Four Seasons Hotel (not Private Residences). This type of income is treated as business income rather than rental income. In order for the income to be treated as business income, the property manager must apply for approval from CRA for the entire “hotel”. That is, the decision to apply for business treatment is not up to each individual owner. Generally, this approval will only be given to properties that are operated as hotels.
Note: This type of property is not featured on this website. There had to be a limit on content for this website.
3. Rented Monthly
All properties in Whistler, except Phase 2 properties have the zoning to rent out their property on a month-to-month basis. Month-to-month rentals should involve a written tenancy agreement. The Landlord and Tenancy Act has legislation on tenancy. This is a serious relationship and must be treated as such. Understand the pitfalls of having a tenanted property before you consider this type of property. There are property management companies that are licensed to work with tenanted property, which is an alternative to managing this type of property yourself.
4. Never Rented
The best way to describe this property is to state that regardless of the zoning, the property will never be been rented out from the day you buy it. I would call this a residence.
Next Steps
Buying real estate in Whistler, whether ski-in/ski-out or not, is a smooth process when working with an experienced Whistler real estate agent who follows the rules. Everything in real estate, except for writing the contract and the negotiation is a process. Experienced realtor, and skilled negotiator, Marion Anderson will work with you directly from start to finish. No assistants are involved.
Marion Anderson Personal Real Estate Corporation
marion@WhistlerSkiinSkiout.com (604) 938-3885