If you hold a presale contract in Vancouver and need to assign it, the three questions that decide everything are what your assignment clause permits, whether the developer will consent, and how your contract price compares to what the same floor plan sells for today. Everything else follows from those.
Vancouver is the highest price-per-square-foot presale market in Canada, which makes assignment pricing unusually sensitive to what the developer is releasing today.
In Vancouver and the inner suburbs it is common for developers to prohibit MLS and public portal advertising of assignments, which means reach depends heavily on an agent's active buyer network.
You do not have to use the agent who sold you the unit. Your purchase contract is with the developer, not with your agent, and switching representation for the assignment is straightforward in almost every case — provided there is no active listing agreement already in place for the assignment itself.
We read the contract before we talk about price, because the clause determines what is possible. If the honest answer is that you should hold rather than assign, we will tell you that on the first call.
We have helped 450+ families into presale contracts across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, with only 2 defaults in five years. Presale is the only thing we do.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Assignment tax treatment in particular is unforgiving, and we will tell you to speak to a CPA before you accept an offer.
In most cases yes, provided your contract's assignment clause permits it and the developer gives written consent. A small number of contracts prohibit assignment entirely, so the clause is always the first thing to check.
It depends entirely on the developer's marketing rules for your specific project. In Vancouver and the inner suburbs it is common for developers to prohibit MLS and public portal advertising of assignments, which means reach depends heavily on an agent's active buyer network. Confirm the restriction in writing before any marketing begins.
Yes, in almost all cases. Your contract of purchase and sale is with the developer, and the agent who represented you on the original purchase has no continuing claim on the assignment unless you have signed a separate, still-active listing agreement for it.
Three numbers set the range: your original contract price, the developer's current price for the same floor plan, and recent comparable assignment or resale sales in the building. Assignment pricing usually sits between the first two, discounted because the buyer takes the contract as it stands.
Talk to a buyer-side presale specialist: (672) 258-1100. Free contract review and valuation — we don't work for the developer.