Ask Kyle Making an offer
Buying is supposed to feel boring and systematic, not dramatic. Here’s how I put an offer together with my clients so they stay in control from the first conversation to the keys.
11 answers from 6 of my videos
Price, the deposit, the dates and the subject clauses. For sellers it isn’t always the price: if they’ve already bought something and need the money to close, the dates can matter more, and they may take a bigger discount to get them. If your financing is solid it cleans up the offer, and a nice clean offer can save you money.
The standard is usually 5%, so on a million dollar purchase that’s $50,000, and it’s normally due within a business day of removing subjects. It has to be liquid. Money in a term deposit you can’t break, gift money from parents that needs a letter, or funds coming from overseas that may need to sit in an account can all slow you down, so sort out where it’s coming from before you write.
Never ever do that. The deposit stays in the trust account at your agent’s brokerage so it’s controlled properly. It’s there to keep you honest to the deal, and if you can’t complete, it goes to the seller.
They’re there to protect you while you do your due diligence, or to have the seller make promises about the property. On a detached home that might be reviewing title, rental contracts or oil tank paperwork, and on a strata it’s all the strata documents and insurance certificates. Anything that matters to you can be written into the contract.
Go deeperWhat to check before you buy
Around 10 days is typical. If you have your ducks in a row and can get under 10 days, that’s a lot more attractive to a seller. Once you go past 10 days, sellers start to get nervous that you might fall out of the deal, so I keep those dates very tight.
When I made my buyer guide in February 2026, every BC buyer had three business days to rescind, even on an offer with no subjects, with a penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price. In practice your subject period runs longer than that, so you’d walk away through your subjects instead. Rules like this change, so check the current terms with your lawyer before you rely on it.
For buyersThe Motivated Sellers ListPrice cuts, relistings and homes sitting too long, the listings worth a real offer, updated weekly.See the list →Look at the listing history, not the word motivated. I want to see a home that’s been on and off the market for a couple of years, with terminated or expired listings and price drops behind it. A fresh listing that says motivated may just be trying to get some offers. The assessed value isn’t what a home is worth, but a price well above it tells me the seller may be out to lunch.
10:12Hear me say it at 10:12BREAKING: You Won't Believe These Motivated Sellers In Vancouver Right NowApril 2026 · 13:26 long11:43Hear me say it at 11:43BREAKING: You Won't Believe These Motivated Sellers In Vancouver Right NowApril 2026 · 13:26 longGo deeperMotivated sellers list
A home that’s fresh on the market usually isn’t going to have much desire to cut its price. When something has been sitting and lagging, that’s the one you go after. Letting a property sit a little gives you more room to negotiate.
Not like 2020 and 2021. When I talked about this in July 2026, most of the multiple offer situations I’d been in over the previous two years barely got to the asking price, and some went in under it. If there’s real value buyers will bid on it, but going well over asking is not the norm anymore.
No. Be very cautious how you speak in a home, because a lot of homes have cameras or a doorbell recording. If the sellers are there, keep it light and let your agent ask the questions, then talk it over on the sidewalk or in the car. Don’t hand the other side any ammunition for the negotiation.
Before you write the offer, not after. Lenders treat suite and laneway rent differently, so you want a broker who will pre-qualify you on that specific property, including the projected rent. Walk into a bank branch on the standard treatment and you may be quoted a smaller mortgage than you deserve.
Go deeperBuying a Vancouver duplex
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