Guides and market posts from the FRIVE team — for buyers across Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Maple Ridge.
Your subject-to-strata-documents window is the most important week of a condo purchase. Here's the FRIVE team's order of operations — what to pull, what to read first, what to scan for, and what costs to expect for the documents themselves.
BC narrowed strata age-restriction bylaws to 55+ only in late 2022. Pet bylaws survived the change but have to be properly drafted to actually bind owners. Here's what a first-time buyer should check on the bylaws before subjects come off.
Since November 24, 2022, BC stratas can no longer have rental-restriction bylaws on long-term rentals. Short-term restrictions still apply. For first-time buyers, that changes the math on flexibility — and on the units that were previously off-limits to renters.
BC's contingency reserve fund minimum is 10% of the annual operating fund — that's a legal floor, not a goal. Here's what a healthy CRF looks like, what a thin one signals, and how to read the funding model in a depreciation report against a real building.
A special levy is the surprise bill that lands on a strata owner when the regular budget and reserve fund can't cover a major repair. The vote rules are specific, the split is by unit entitlement, and the timing relative to your closing date matters a lot.
A condo isn't just four walls — it's a slice of a strata corporation with its own bylaws, rules, finances, and repair calendar. This is the FRIVE team's plain-English map of the strata due-diligence work first-time buyers should do before subjects come off.
The Fraser Valley in 2026 isn't a bidding-war market. With condos averaging 42 days on market, first-time buyers can keep their subjects and still win. Here's how we coach buyers to write strong offers that protect them, not strip them bare.
Every station along the 16-km Surrey-Langley SkyTrain is now under construction, with service expected around 2029. For a first-time buyer eyeing a Surrey condo near the line, here's how to think about transit-oriented value without overpaying for a promise.
Your down payment isn't the last cheque you write. Closing costs in BC run roughly 1.5%–4% of the purchase price, and most of it can't be rolled into your mortgage. Here's the line-by-line for a first-time Fraser Valley buyer, with the costs people forget.
Willoughby has been one of Metro Vancouver's busiest neighbourhoods for new townhouses for over a decade. For first-time buyers who want family-sized space under the PTT exemption ceiling, it's hard to beat. Here's the honest local guide — schools, transit, what you'll pay, and the trade-offs.
BC's depreciation report rules tightened in 2024, and stratas across the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver must have a current report by July 1, 2026 — 35 days from now. For a first-time condo or townhouse buyer, this document is the closest thing you get to seeing the future repair bill.
A condo runs about $491,000 and a townhouse about $771,600 in the Fraser Valley right now. The $280K gap isn't the whole story. Here's how we walk first-time buyers through strata fees, space, resale, and what they'll actually live with.
Benchmark prices are down year-over-year, the Bank of Canada is on hold at 2.25%, and first-time buyer tax breaks add up to real money. A plain-English look at why the Fraser Valley is where most first-time buyers in Metro Vancouver can actually buy in 2026.
Push east past Langley and your money buys noticeably more house. Chilliwack's townhouse benchmark was $600,600 in April 2026 versus the regional $771,600. Here's an honest Abbotsford-vs-Chilliwack comparison for first-time buyers weighing space against commute.