The Dog Days of Summer are here- finally. The prolonged wait for the fate of the HST is in sight and the fall could be busy with elections of various stripes. As a membr of the Government Relations Committee for the REBGV, I am still working toward eliminating the Property Transfer Tax for Buyers of homes in B.C., or, at the very least, because of the tremendous resistance from the government to lose this cash cow, to raise the threshold for the first portion of the tax and index the tax to the cost of living. When it was conceived by the Social Credit in 1987, it was a tax on the wealthy - not so today. There were many promises made during the provincial leadership campaign and we wait.
On a personal note, my home is currently undergoing some renovation and the municipality of West Vancouver where I live, like many other places, has made many changes to the Building Code. We had to hire a Building Envelope Specialist which was a surprise. Our daughter, Jacqueline, is the architect on the project and I must say that I am impressed with her abilities - maybe all that schooling wasn't a waste of time and money!
One issue that I have is with the tankless water heater which I hate. This was recommended to us by the contractor, plumber and municipality. This one is expensive, noisy and wastes water. This concept definitely needs work. I think that
running all that water while I wait for it to heat up is not something a serious conservationist would be prepared to do. When I look at the newsreels from the Horn of Africa and the famine, this waste is doubly painful.
The real estate market has slowed from its frantic pace earlier and part of the reason, according to my colleagues, is that many of the Mainland Chinese who have been fueling the market in many areas, have left to go back to China for the holidays. It is the Dog Days of Summer after all. Enjoy.