In this week’s Ethics Guy column, “They dodged a legal bullet, but I think we all took a hit,” Kim Spencer writes about a recent Manitoba case where the judge found that a real estate agent wasn’t liable for an opinion regarding the value of a property. 

The case concerned a Manitoba property and the difference between a $300 REALTOR®-generated “opinion of value” and a fee-appraisal costing a lot more.   

Which brings us to July 1, the date on which BC Assessment (BCA) bases its estimate of the value of each property in the province. For new and substantially renovated homes, the physical condition is estimated as October 31.  

BCA, the government agency responsible for determining and reporting property value estimates, sends this July 1 assessment to property owners the following year during the first week of January. 

BCA’s assessment and the market value determined by a Realtor is typically different. Why?  

Both BCA assessors and Realtors calculate market value by analyzing sales of comparable homes within a local market, and look at factors that affect value such as size of home, view, location such as on a busy or quiet street, number of bedrooms, construction quality, floor level, and garage or parking stalls.  

Where every lot and every home on a street are typically the same, both BCA’s value and a Realtor’s value will be similar during stable market conditions.  

Differences occur in neighbourhoods where: 

• lots have been rezoned or are different shapes and sizes; 
• architecture and views are unique, and  
• owners have made changes that BCA hasn’t yet taken into account such as adding an addition or an outbuilding (a shed), or a new roof.  

A property owner can appeal their assessment. Each year less than one per cent of BC property owners appeal their assessment. 

There are three potential estimates of value: 

• A Realtor’s estimate. 
• A fee-appraisal. 
• BC Assessment’s estimate. 

If you have questions about BCA, contact Harriet Permut, Director of Government Relations, at hpermut@rebgv.org.