MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY AS A BEST ATTRIBUTE?!
Remember the good ‘ol days? When government regulations changed once in a while, and were a minor influencer on real estate?
These days, it is almost impossible to keep up with ever-changing government policies and rules.
The federal government was going to raise capital gains taxes, there was a rush to sell off some assets –and now, that tax is not moving forward. Apologies to all of the accountants that were running around trying to figure stuff out? Haha, not likely.
The BC government was going to offer incentives for the secondary suites in that province –but now, they have cancelled the program and will only accept applications until March 30. (Did anyone else notice that March 30 is a Sunday? That’s an odd day for a final deadline, IMO).
Calgary City Council hosted a marathon public involvement process and changed the zoning in residential areas to allow more density. And now? It looks like changing that just-changed zoning is about to become a key election issue for November. Please don’t get us started on the ever-changing Green Line.
I noticed today that the federal government announced they will eliminate the GST for first-time homebuyers. Nice election promise, but we’ll see what actually happens, … in a while.
Even within one municipality, the “rules” are inconsistent and/or changing constantly. We currently have two near-identical projects: one was approved, the other has multiple variations/requirements that are different, and is still lounging in the building permit office. Same city, same building code, same bylaws –even the same building code officer (yup, really)! On a bigger scale, some municipalities have been known to ignore their own Area Structure Plans (ASP). Why exactly did they spend thousands to create such a plan? Worse, in some cases, higher courts have over-ruled local ASP’s and local governments.
In Canada, many of us are uniting against foreign governments that are attempting a giant over-reach into our regulations and self-governance. But in reality, we’re creating enough of our own chaos! It’s a bit of stimulus overload!!
And I didn’t even mention banking/financing/insurance policies and rules.
Okay, so it’s time to insert a sense of humor in this rant. The bottom line for builders, developers and real estate investors is that the yogi’s and bendy people win! Just when we think we have a plan, we need to be flexible. Today’s “game” is about who can adapt the fastest, and possibly 5 more times before the project finishes.
Sometimes it feels like we’re working on a mind-bending episode of the X-Files. Anyone else using some creative problem solving to try to prove “the truth is out there?” Haha, or just to complete their projects?
