Carte Blanche grand opening was a success! Eight marvelous families have written deals in this beautiful boutique community. This is Wallmark’s best opening yet!

Inspired by French Country architecture, Carte Blanche offers sixteen homes that offers a unique custom home building experience developed to create a home with - vous – written all over it. We can help you customize and build the home of your dreams to fit your family’s needs. As we focus on customization, you are able to change any aspect of your home. The possibilities are endless and the sky is the limit.

If you did not get the chance to make it up to Carte Blanche this weekend, we are conveniently open every day except Friday from 12-5pm. Due to the great success this weekend, there are a limited number of properties left. Please register here today to find out more information about Carte Blanche.

Wallmark Homes has expanded to the Richmond Market! Due to popular demand, Wallmark Custom Homes is now available to build your dream home in beautiful Richmond.

As an industry leader with over 25 years of experience, knowledge and success building quality, custom homes, we have broken new ground with our innovative full-service Custom Homes program. Only at Wallmark will you find our exclusive 9 Step Building Experience that walks you through every step of the process form survey and design, construction, warranty and beyond. From building over 450 homes throughout Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, we are very proud of our accomplishments.

Our On-Time,  Fixed Price Guarantee is designed to give you piece of mind by protecting you from hidden charges or costly addendums that many home builders include later in the building process. We assure you upfront exactly what your investment will be regardless of the ever-fluctuating costs of materials and labor.  No guessing, no estimating, no surprises.

To find out more information about Wallmark Custom Homes expanding to Richmond, click here.

DID YOU CELEBRATE EARTH DAY?

Forgot To Celebrate Earth Day? Here Are Four Tips To Help Out The Earth

Stop Using Bottled Water:Did you know that it takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for a one-liter bottle of water, and that doing so pollutes 25 liters of groundwater? Stop buying bottled water. Use reusable water bottles instead made from materials like stainless steel or aluminum that are not likely to degrade over time.

Run A Fully Loaded Dishwasher: If you have a dishwasher, use it. Running a fully loaded dishwasher — without prerinsing the dishes — can use a third less water than washing the dishes by hand, saving up to 10 to 20 gallons of water a day.

Avoid Waste: Recycle: For every trash can of waste you put outside for the trash collector, about 70 trash cans of waste are used in order to create that trash. To reduce the amount of waste you produce, buy products in returnable and recyclable containers and recycle as much as you can.

Give Up Paper And Plastic Bags: Do you opt for paper or plastic when at the grocery store? Neither is a good choice. Go and purchase reusable shopping bags made of cotton, nylon or durable, mesh-like plastic to help preserve the Earth.

Sunday April 22^nd marks Earth Day!  Wallmark Homes works hard to help make the homes we build greener, smarter and more earth friendly. Shown below is a LEED certified green home located in Burnaby. As a certified Green Builder, we are constantly looking at the newest green trends that the home building industry offers. Things such as using renewable and sustainable materials and resources might be a little more expensive in the short term, but the payoff long term for our planet and your health, can be phenomenal.

We start by talking to the client and figuring out their goals and budget in regards to their custom green built home.  Once we have determined the things that are important to the client, we get to work on designing a home around their wish list. For instance with a family that has special needs with regard to indoor air quality, there are certain materials we can use to build a home that is less prone to dust and pollutants from chemicals in things like paint and flooring. There are also air purifying units and air conditioners/heaters we can use that are made to ensure the cleanest possible air indoors.  We spend a great deal of time researching the market to find materials that are made from sustainable or recycled resources such as carpets made from recycled plastic bottles or rapidly renewable bamboo.

By paying attention to the details and making sure we are always on top of the newest resources and technology in the industry, we are able to provide our clients with various levels of green home building to suit their specific needs and budgets. Small things like taking advantage of a home’s location to include solar panels, recycling rainwater or adding landscaping that is low maintenance and earth friendly can make a big difference for our planet. We hope that you will celebrate Earth Day and if you are thinking green, we hope you will think of Wallmark Homes to build your next earth friendly home.

Spring is in the air! With the weather changing and less rain, now is the perfect time to build. Here are a few reasons why there is no time like the present to start building the home of your dreams with Wallmark Homes.

Rain is a huge factor in Vancouver in many different aspects. As your home is being built in the colder seasons, there is more energy used on heat to dry out the insides of your home. During the Spring and Summer season, less gas and energy is used up due to the warmer conditions, which is an eco-friendly alternative. With longer hours of daylight, watching your home go up in warmer conditions is the perfect way to start off your summertime.

Building permits do go through the city faster due to lower volumes of applicants during this season which allows a faster transition as you plan your dream home. Due to less rain and warmer temperatures, this also allows for a smooth start-off as your home is being built. It is never too late to start thinking about building a Custom Home. The sky is the limit!

Finding a lot specific to you and your families needs be a challenge at times. Whether it is searching for a lot or finding the right fit, it can be quite a challenge to find a property to build your dream home on. These days, tear downs are becoming very popular, especially in the Vancouver market. Have you ever passed an idea on demolition due to high costs?  It may be less than what you actually think!

Wallmark Homes helps clients through the preliminary stages of building a Custom Home. This also includes demolition.  We can take stress and strain out of your life by planning your demolition.  Our knowledgeable staff are always available to explain the demolition process and point you in the right direction.

Our Marketing Team will also be following your build through each step of the process by providing pictures of every stage. To find out the steps involved in demolition and building a Custom Home; please contact please feel free to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Wallmark Homes is pleased to announce that Birchwood Estates is sold out! With our release of two lots nestled in between Scotch Pine Avenue & Marguerite Street, we wish our home owners many years of happiness. Situated on a protected greenbelt lot, these estate sized properties are perfect for families who enjoy having a mountain in their back yard. In most recent news, our featured home on 3379 Scotch Pine Avenue has also sold this month. Located at the entrance of Birchwood Estates, this 4,300 square foot space is a beautifully built Wallmark Home.

 What’s next for Wallmark Homes? Stay tuned for our new Burke Mountain development coming soon!

Can you really believe it? Spring is actually here! Amongst all the bizarre weather Vancouver has been having, Wallmark Homes welcomes Spring with arms wide open!

As we all know, everyone is on the run and there are not too many hours in a day to accomplish what we want to get done.  At Wallmark Homes, we take pride in our Fixed Priced Contract to cater to our clients with their busy schedules. As a full service builder, Wallmark Homes can take the pressure off your building process so you can enjoy your daily life.

 Wallmark Homes helps you out with every step of your build from obtaining a topographical survey to picking out interior and exterior elements with our Interior Designer. With our Fixed Priced Guarantee, Wallmark can provide you with an  in-depth budget so you will know where every dollar is spent in your dream home.

Rest assured that Wallmark Homes will take care of you and your family in building a beautiful Custom Home tailored to your personal style and taste.

Wallmark Homes is pleased to announce that our Troy Abromaitis, Development Manager has been selected as a 40 under 40 award recipient by the Professional Builder Magazine. This award is given to 40 individuals who have made an impact in the home builders industry throughout North America.  As the only Canadian chosen in this category, Wallmark Homes is very proud in Troy’s accomplishments.

To qualify for the 40 Under 40 award, the candidates need to show leadership, commitment to community and the home building industry and sustained career success. Troy is the vice chair of the Greater Vancouver Home Builder Association’s membership committee and a Vancouver chapter chair with the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia. He is also a cycling enthusiast having participated in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2011.

This is Troy’s seventh year at Wallmark Homes and we wish him continued success. To read more about Troy Abromaitis and to view the full article, please visit: http://www.housingzone.com/awards/meet-professional-builders-40-under-40-class-2012.

Kevin Falcon - H.S.T. Announcement

With Friday’s announcement by Finance Minister Kevin Falcon of the new transition rules for moving H.S.T. back to a P.S.T tax structure, the price of buying a new home now vs. after the switch to P.S.T will be the same. To better understand how this will work, here is the information you want to know!

Background

Prior to the H.S.T tax structure, home buyers paid a 5% G.S.T. on top of the purchase of their home. What many people don’t know is that within the purchase price of their home, they were also paying a 7% P.S.T. on the materials used to construct their home, but not on the labour to install or build the home. This P.S.T. amount was approximately 2% of the total cost of the purchase. With the switch to the H.S.T., a rebate was created to offset the additional P.S.T. that was now also being paid on the labour involved in building a home.

Current Rebate System

Ever since H.S.T. was implemented, the government came out with a credit system called the New Housing Rebate. The rebate provided a credit back to the purchaser that represented 71.43% of the P.S.T portion (7%) of H.S.T. (12%). For this rebate, any home priced over $525,000 (the Threshold amount) would receive a maximum amount back of $26,250 and any home priced under the Threshold of $525,000 would only receive the 71.43% of the P.S.T portion back.

On the construction of a new home where the home owner already owned the property or purchased the property to build a new home, the government adjusted the New Housing Rebate to 67% of the New Housing Rebate amount which equaled a maximum amount back of $17,688.

New Transition Rebates

As of April 1st, 2012, the New Housing Rebates will be adjusted so that the cost of buying and building a new home will be the same end cost whether you buy or build in a H.S.T. or P.S.T. tax structure. The results are as follows:

When buying a new home where the land is included in the transaction, homeowners will receive the same 71.43% back on the P.S.T. portion of H.S.T., however the maximum you can now receive back is $42,500, instead of the previous $26,250. This is a result of the maximum transaction amount increasing from $525,000 to $850,000. This $850,000 amount is supposed to represent the cost of approximately 90% of new homes throughout B.C. The end result is any new home purchased at or below $850,000 will have the same tax implications whether you buy a home in a H.S.T. or P.S.T. Tax era. Any home priced over $850,000 will be heavily subsided but considered a luxury purchase and will receive full rebate on the first $850,000 of the price only.

When building a new home where land is excluded in the purchase price, the rules still remain the same where homeowners can receive 67% of the New Housing Rebate. With the threshold now being increased, homeowners building a home can now receive a rebate of $28,475, a 61% increase from the previous $17,588.

Summary

The resulting need to know information is that building or buying a new home will be less expensive for you as of April 1, 2012 and the same resulting price based on tax implications whether you buy now, or after H.S.T is abolished. For more information or clarification on any questions you may have, please give us a call by calling Brad Cowden at 604-420-5200 ext 215 or check out any of the links below.

Ministry of Finance Tax Information Notice
http://www.pstinbc.com/media/2012_housing_rules_FEB.pdf

P.S.T. in B.C. Website Published by the B.C. Provincial Government
http://www.pstinbc.com/buying_goods/buying_a_home/

B.C. News Release, February 17, 2012 by the Ministry of Finance
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2012FIN0006-000165.htm