The price is not the price

A first-time buyer, a $780,000 condo in Surrey, and the cash that has to be in the account in closing week. Line by line.

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N.º: 002
Measured: Sep 24, 2026
Source: Province of BC, Property Transfer Tax rules
Valid for: Rules in effect in September 2026

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There is a moment that repeats in almost every deal I am part of. It lands about a week before closing. The client calls, and the tone is different from every call before it. They have just seen the statement of adjustments from their lawyer, and the number at the bottom is not the number they had in their head.

Nothing went wrong. Nobody made a mistake. They budgeted for the price of the home and not for the cost of the transaction, and those are two different things.

A home has three prices

The cost of a home splits into three layers. They happen at different times, come out of different pockets, and catch people for different reasons.

Before: the money you spend to find out whether the deal is real. Inspection, appraisal, document review, deposit. Some of it is money at risk. If the deal dies, it does not come back.

At closing: the money that moves on completion day. Taxes, legal fees, adjustments. It is the largest of the three layers and the least discussed, because it only appears in writing once it is too late to plan around.

After: the money that never stops. Strata fees, property tax, insurance, maintenance. This is not the cost of buying, it is the cost of owning.

The tax nobody budgets for

Property Transfer Tax is paid by the buyer, once, at the moment title transfers. It cannot be rolled into your mortgage. It comes out of your account, in cash, on closing day, and it is the single largest closing cost most buyers in British Columbia face.

It is tiered: 1% on the first $200,000 and 2% on the portion from $200,001 to $2,000,000. On a $780,000 condo that is $2,000 plus $11,600, which is $13,600 before any exemption.

The math, for one real buyer

A first-time buyer, a resale unit in Surrey, financing approved, an ordinary closing. All figures in Canadian dollars.

Closing week, a $780,000 condo in Surrey

Property Transfer Tax before exemption$13,600
First-Time Home Buyers' Exemptionless $8,000
Home inspection$700
Appraisal$500
Lawyer$1,600
Title insurance$300
Home insurance, first year$450
Property tax and strata adjustments$900
Moving$1,200

Total beyond the down payment$11,250

Property Transfer Tax and the exemption are calculated from the rule. The other lines are market estimates, to be confirmed with each provider.

Notice what this number is and what it is not. It does not include the down payment, which is the part everybody has already worked out. It is the additional cash that has to be sitting in the account in closing week.

Notice the exemption too. Without it, this same buyer needs $19,250. The exemption alone accounts for 42% of their closing cost, and it only applies when both the person and the property qualify.

What to ask before you sign

How much cash, outside the down payment, has to be in my account in closing week? Ask it before you write the offer, while the answer can still change the offer.