# On-Demand Hot Water vs. a Hot Water Tank: What Actually Makes Sense for Your Tri-Cities Home

> Canonical: https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/tankless-vs-hot-water-tank-tri-cities-2026/
> Author: Craig Johnston, REALTOR® V99960 · The MACNABS Team · Royal LePage Elite West
> Published: 2026-08-17

August 17, 2026 · Home Ownership · Coquitlam, Port Moody & Port Coquitlam

# On-Demand Hot Water vs. a Hot Water Tank: What Actually Makes Sense for Your Tri-Cities Home

Every few weeks a client asks me the same thing, usually about ten minutes after their tank has flooded the mechanical room: tankless or another tank? The honest answer depends far less on the equipment than on what kind of property you own — detached, duplex, townhouse or condo. Here is how I’d think it through, with real Metro Vancouver numbers.

By **Craig Johnston, REALTOR® V99960** · The MACNABS Team Royal LePage Elite West · 9+ year Burke Mountain resident

Quick Answer

For most **detached homes, duplexes and townhouses** in Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam, I’d go **on-demand (tankless) gas** — you get endless hot water, you reclaim a closet or a chunk of garage wall, and the unit typically lasts **roughly twice as long** as a storage tank. Expect roughly **$3,500–$7,000** installed for a gas tankless versus **$1,500–$3,000** for a like-for-like gas tank. **Condos are the exception.** In a great many Tri-Cities buildings the domestic hot water is produced centrally and already paid for inside your strata fee — there is nothing to replace and nothing to save. Where a condo does have an in-suite tank, going tankless usually means a new vent through an exterior wall, which is an alteration to common property and needs your strata’s written approval before anyone touches it. **Townhouses sit in between:** the equipment is almost always yours, but the wall it vents through usually isn’t. Read your bylaws first, then get the quote.

## First, the four systems — in plain language

People say “tankless,” “on-demand,” and “combi boiler” as if they’re the same thing. They aren’t, and the difference matters when you’re getting quotes.

| System | How it works | Typical service life | Best fit |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Storage tank** (gas or electric) | Keeps 40–80 gallons hot around the clock, ready to go. Simple, cheap, familiar. | 8–12 years | Straight replacements, tight budgets, condos and suites with no venting options |
| **Tankless / on-demand** (gas) | Wall-mounted. Fires only when a tap opens and heats water as it flows through. No standby losses, no tank to fail. | 15–20+ years | Detached, duplex and most townhouses on natural gas |
| **Combi boiler** | One wall-mounted unit that does *both* jobs — hydronic space heating (radiators or in-floor) *and* on-demand domestic hot water. | Manufacturer-dependent; generally longer than a tank | Homes already heated by a boiler, where the boiler is also due |
| **Heat pump water heater** (electric) | A tank with a small heat pump on top that pulls heat from the surrounding air. Two to three times more efficient than an electric element. | 10–15 years | Homes off natural gas, or owners planning ahead for electrification |

*Service-life figures reflect published Metro Vancouver contractor guidance as of August 2026. Real-world life depends on water quality, usage and whether the unit was ever serviced.*

One important footnote from Natural Resources Canada before anyone gets excited about *electric* tankless: NRCan is blunt that “most electric on-demand water heaters cannot supply an entire house with hot water so they are rarely installed in Canada for that application.” Electric tankless is a fine choice for a single remote bathroom sink. It is not a whole-home solution in our climate. When I say “on-demand” in this article, I mean **gas**.

## What it costs — Metro Vancouver, August 2026

These are installed, all-in ranges published by Lower Mainland plumbing and mechanical contractors as of this writing. They assume a reasonably accessible location and a straightforward job. They are a planning tool, not a quote — and I’d get three of those.

| Equipment | Installed cost | Ongoing maintenance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gas storage tank, 40 gal | $1,500–$2,200 | Annual flush + anode/valve check — budget a service call |
| Gas storage tank, 60 gal | $2,000–$3,000 | Same |
| Electric storage tank, 40–60 gal | $1,400–$2,500 | Same |
| **Gas tankless / on-demand** | **$3,500–$7,000** | Annual descale + filter service — budget a service call |
| Heat pump water heater | $4,000–$6,000 | Annual air-filter clean + condensate check |
| Combi boiler (heat + hot water) | $8,000–$14,000 | Annual boiler service — budget a full service call |
| System boiler + indirect hot-water cylinder | $9,000–$16,000 | Annual boiler service |
| Municipal plumbing permit | $75–$200 | — |

*Equipment, boiler and permit ranges: published Lower Mainland contractor price guides, August 2026. Ranges vary meaningfully between contractors — one Vancouver company publishes $1,800–$3,200 for a gas tank and $4,000–$7,000+ for gas tankless over the same period. Treat these as planning bands, not quotes. Complex conversions (gas line upsizing, new venting, re-piping, condensate drainage) push everything toward and past the top of these ranges.*

The number that surprises people is the **gap between a like-for-like tank swap and a first-time tankless conversion**. If you’re replacing a tank with a tank, the connections already exist and the crew is often out by lunchtime. Converting to on-demand for the first time can mean a larger gas line — NRCan notes the supply may need to go from half-inch to three-quarter-inch — plus new sealed venting, new electrical for the controls, and a condensate drain. That’s where a $4,000 quote becomes a $6,500 quote. Ask any contractor to break those line items out separately so you can see what you’re actually buying.

## Detached homes: on-demand, almost every time

If you own a detached home in Coquitlam, Port Moody or Port Coquitlam and you’re on natural gas, on-demand is what I’d recommend without much hesitation.

The case is straightforward. You get hot water that doesn’t run out, which genuinely matters in a family home where three people shower before 7:30 and the dishwasher is running. You stop paying to keep 60 gallons hot at 3 a.m. — NRCan puts the average energy factor of a gas tankless at 0.85 against 0.62 for a gas storage tank, and the whole of that gap is standby loss you were previously buying. You get the mechanical room back, which is not nothing in an older Coquitlam rancher or a Port Moody split-level where the tank is eating the only useful storage. And you remove the single most common source of catastrophic interior water damage in a house: a 60-gallon steel cylinder quietly rusting through in a finished basement.

Two honest caveats. The first is the **“cold water sandwich”** — if someone shuts a tap and reopens it within a few seconds, you can catch a slug of cool water before the burner catches up. It’s a real phenomenon and it annoys some people more than others. Modern units with a small buffer tank, and recirculation loops on longer runs, largely solve it. Mention it when you’re getting quotes and see whether the contractor takes it seriously or waves it off; that answer tells you something.

The second is **winter flow rate**. Our incoming water gets cold — NRCan uses 5 °C inlet as the winter case, and notes a unit rated at 15 litres per minute in summer may deliver only 11 in winter. A tankless unit sized for July will disappoint you in January. Size it for the coldest inlet temperature and the maximum number of fixtures you’ll realistically run at once, not for the brochure number.

Where I’d *not* automatically say tankless: if your existing tank is fine and you’re selling within a year, and if your home is already heated by a hydronic boiler that’s also near end of life. In that second case, look hard at a combi — one appliance replacing two, one annual service call instead of two, and one thing on the wall instead of a boiler plus a tank.

## Duplexes: same answer, one extra wrinkle

Whether you’re in an older side-by-side in Port Coquitlam or one half of a newer purpose-built duplex, the mechanical logic is identical to a detached house: separate systems per side, gas available, on-demand wins on space and longevity.

The wrinkle is administrative, and it catches people out. **Technical Safety BC does not issue homeowner gas permits to duplex owners.** Their eligibility rules state plainly that “owners of a strata, non-strata duplex, and those operating a business from their home cannot obtain homeowner permits.” So the DIY path that a detached owner can technically walk — pull your own permit, do the work, book the inspections — is closed to you. You need a licensed gas contractor, who will pull the permit on your behalf.

Frankly, that’s the right outcome anyway. But it means you should budget for contractor pricing from the start and ignore the “my brother-in-law can do it” quote, because the work won’t be permitted and the paperwork will surface the day you sell.

The other duplex-specific item: if the two halves are separately titled, confirm you have your own gas meter and your own service, and that the venting you’re planning penetrates *your* wall. On some older converted duplexes those lines are blurrier than owners assume.

## Townhouses: usually yes — but read your bylaws before you sign

This is the property type where I see the most confusion, and the most money wasted on a job that gets stopped halfway.

In most Tri-Cities townhouse complexes, the water heater sits inside your strata lot — in the garage, a mechanical closet, or under the stairs — and it is **your** equipment to maintain and replace. That’s the default position under BC strata law: the owner is responsible for the hot water tank within their strata lot, unless the strata has passed a bylaw taking that job on. Hot water tanks are, per the Condominium Home Owners Association of BC, one of the most common items stratas choose to manage collectively — and a growing number of well-run complexes do exactly that, replacing tanks on a schedule rather than waiting for the first flood.

So step one is not a quote. Step one is your bylaws, plus a note to your property manager. Three things you need to know:

1. **Who owns the appliance?** If the strata has taken responsibility for tanks by bylaw, you may not be free to swap in a different technology at all — and you may be paying for it already through your fees.
2. **Where does it vent?** This is the one that stops jobs. A gas tankless unit needs sealed venting to the outdoors, and in a townhouse that almost always means a new penetration through an exterior wall. That wall is common property. Altering common property requires the strata’s approval — typically written permission and an alteration agreement putting future maintenance of the penetration on you and subsequent owners. Do this before the equipment is ordered, not after the installer arrives.
3. **Is there a standard?** Some complexes have standardized on one make, one vent location, or one contractor, usually after an insurance conversation. Non-conforming installs get flagged.

Clear those three and the answer for a townhouse is the same as for a detached home: on-demand, and enjoy the reclaimed closet — which in a 1,400 sq ft townhome is a meaningful percentage of your storage. In the newer Burke Mountain townhome product I walk through regularly — Partington Creek, Smiling Creek and up the hill — on-demand gas is close to standard already, which tells you where the market has landed.

## Condos: usually don’t — and here’s why

Here’s where I part company with the “tankless is always better” crowd. **In a condo, on-demand hot water usually makes no sense at all.**

In a great many Tri-Cities apartment buildings — particularly the older concrete and wood-frame stock through Coquitlam Town Centre, Maillardville and Port Moody — domestic hot water is produced centrally by the building’s boiler plant and distributed to every suite. You have no water heater. There is nothing to replace, nothing to maintain, and no bill to reduce, because the cost is already inside your monthly strata fee and shared across the building. Switching to your own on-demand unit would mean installing an appliance to duplicate something you are already paying for — and you’d still pay the fee.

This is worth understanding as a *buyer*, too. When you compare a condo’s strata fee against the carrying cost of a townhouse, remember that a fee including hot water isn’t straightforwardly higher than one that doesn’t — part of it is a utility bill you’d otherwise be paying separately. Ask what the fee includes. It’s one of the first questions I put to a listing agent on my buyers’ behalf.

Some newer buildings do put a small individual tank in each suite, usually in a laundry or mechanical closet. If that’s you, and it’s your equipment under the bylaws, you can replace it — but I’d almost always replace it with another tank. In a stacked apartment building the venting problem is close to unsolvable without the strata’s cooperation and often a whole-building engineering opinion, the space is fixed, and the payback on a $5,000 conversion in a one- or two-person suite doesn’t exist. Put the money into a good-quality tank and a proper drain pan with a leak sensor. In a condo, the thing that will actually cost you is not the hydro bill — it’s the water damage claim from a failed tank that reaches three suites below you.

| Property type | What I’d do | Check first |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Detached** | Gas on-demand — or a combi if the boiler is also due | Gas line size, vent route, winter sizing |
| **Duplex** | Gas on-demand | Own meter and service; licensed contractor required — no homeowner gas permit |
| **Townhouse** | Gas on-demand, if the strata allows the vent | Bylaws, written approval for the exterior penetration, any complex standard |
| **Condo** | Usually nothing — hot water is likely central and in your fee. If it’s an in-suite tank, replace it with a tank | What the strata fee includes; who owns the appliance; drain pan and leak sensor |

## Three Tri-Cities specifics that change the math

**1. Our water is exceptionally soft — which is good news for tankless.** Metro Vancouver draws from the Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam watersheds, and the granite and metamorphic rock up there doesn’t give up much in the way of dissolved minerals. Metro Vancouver’s 2025 water quality report puts treated-water hardness at roughly 20 mg/L as calcium carbonate (about 1.2 grains per gallon) from the Capilano and Seymour supplies and about 2.4 mg/L (0.14 gpg) from Coquitlam — all comfortably inside the “soft” band, which runs to 60 mg/L, and a small fraction of Prairie levels. The single biggest argument against tankless in most of Canada is scale buildup in the heat exchanger. Here, it is a much smaller problem than it is in Calgary or Winnipeg. You should still descale annually — manufacturers generally require it to keep the warranty alive — but you are not fighting the water the way homeowners elsewhere are. Nor, for what it’s worth, do you need a water softener.

**2. Permits are not optional, and there’s a shortcut most people don’t know about.** Coquitlam requires a plumbing permit for “performing any work on a plumbing system in a new or existing building,” and Port Coquitlam and Port Moody run comparable requirements. (Both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam carve out straight like-for-like replacement of code-compliant plumbing *fixtures*, and neither bylaw names water heaters either way — so confirm your specific job with the City’s Building Division rather than assuming.) On the gas side, Technical Safety BC runs a **Gas Appliance Replacement Decal Program** that lets a contractor do a like-for-like replacement of certain residential appliances — including water heaters of **50,000 Btu/h or less** — without a separate inspection request. That is one reason a straight tank-for-tank swap is fast and cheap.

A conversion to on-demand does not qualify. Technical Safety BC’s own directive is clear that the decal is not acceptable where the replacement changes the venting method, changes the energy source, or goes from tank-type to instantaneous — which is exactly what you’re doing. So a tankless conversion is a full installation permit, and Technical Safety BC is explicit that where the required inspection request or declaration hasn’t been received, the permitted equipment is not authorized to be placed into service. Get the paperwork. It surfaces on the sale.

**3. The rules are moving — slowly, and not here yet.** The City of Vancouver has adopted a rule taking effect January 1, 2027 requiring replacement water heaters in detached homes and duplexes to meet a highest-efficiency standard. That is **City of Vancouver only**. It does not apply in Coquitlam, Port Moody or Port Coquitlam. Provincially, BC has been consulting on Highest Efficiency Equipment Standards covering furnaces, boilers and domestic water heaters, with proposed point-of-sale standards targeted at January 1, 2030. That is a proposal in consultation, not law. I mention both only because if you’re installing equipment in 2026 that you expect to run for fifteen or twenty years, the direction of travel is worth knowing — and it is one more reason a high-efficiency condensing unit is a better bet than the cheapest thing on the truck.

## Rebates: check before you buy, not after

Rebates in BC are mostly pointed at electrification rather than at gas tankless. FortisBC currently offers a **$1,000 rebate for upgrading to a high-efficiency electric heat pump water heater**. CleanBC Better Homes runs additional programs whose amounts depend on your home type, household income, household size and location, and they are explicit that they can’t tell you what you qualify for until they know about your home — their energy coaches take calls at 1-844-881-9790.

Two rules I’d follow. First, **confirm eligibility before the equipment is ordered**; most programs require the work be done by an eligible contractor and won’t pay retroactively. Second, don’t let a rebate pick your system. A $1,000 cheque doesn’t rescue a heat pump water heater installed in a space too small to feed it air — these units need a reasonable volume of surrounding air to work from, and they cool and dehumidify the room they sit in, which is a feature in a garage and a problem in a finished basement hallway.

## What it means when you sell

I get asked whether tankless “adds value.” Not as a line item — nobody pays a premium for a water heater. What it does is remove friction, and in a market where buyers are cautious, removing friction is worth real money.

A twelve-year-old tank is a red flag on an inspection report. The inspector writes “at or beyond expected service life, budget for replacement,” and now there’s a number in the buyer’s head during subject removal — usually a bigger number than the actual job. A recent, permitted, high-efficiency installation with paperwork does the opposite: it’s one fewer thing on the list, and it signals a house that has been looked after. On the strata side, an unpermitted vent penetration or an unapproved alteration is exactly the kind of thing that turns up in a Form B or the strata minutes and costs you leverage at the worst possible moment.

One more practical note, and it applies to every property type. Policies differ, but a common pattern is that the failed appliance itself is treated as wear and tear and isn’t covered, while a sudden and accidental escape of water may be — subject to your deductible, any water-damage endorsement, and exclusions for gradual seepage. Insurers increasingly ask about the age of your tank. I’m a REALTOR®, not a broker, so read your own policy wording and ask the person who wrote it. What I will say is this: if your tank is over ten years old, treat replacement as maintenance rather than an emergency. Emergencies are always more expensive, and they never happen on a Tuesday morning.

## Who I’d call in the Tri-Cities

For mechanical work in this corner of the Lower Mainland, the company I point people to is **[Woola Mechanical](https://woolamech.ca/)**, based right here in Coquitlam at #110–42 Fawcett Road. They cover HVAC and refrigeration, plumbing, and gas, they are part of the wider Woola group (Woola Mechanical, Woola Power and Woola Build), and they work across the Lower Mainland. Dispatch is [604-732-1441](tel:+16047321441), Monday to Friday, 8am–4pm.

Two things worth being straight about. Their residential work is focused on **strata properties** alongside their commercial book — which makes them a strong fit if you’re on a townhouse or condo council trying to get a sensible, code-correct answer on a building’s domestic hot water, or an owner in a complex that needs the strata brought along. If you own a detached home, call and ask whether they’ll take the job before you count on it; they’re a Coquitlam shop with gas-ticketed people, but scheduling for single-family work depends on their book.

And regardless of who you call: get **three written quotes**, insist each one itemizes permit, venting, gas line and electrical separately, and confirm the contractor is licensed and pulls the permit in their name. Nobody pays to appear on this site, I have no financial or ownership interest in this company, and I don’t take referral fees — this is simply who I’d phone.

## Craig’s bottom line

Detached, duplex, townhouse: go on-demand. It costs roughly two to three thousand dollars more up front than another tank, and in exchange you get a unit that should outlive two tanks, hot water that doesn’t run out, a closet back, and one fewer flood risk sitting in your house. Our soft water removes the main reason people elsewhere regret it. Size it for January, not July, and get the permit.

Condo: leave it alone. In most Tri-Cities buildings the hot water is already made for you and already in your fee. If you do have an in-suite tank, replace it with a good tank, add a pan and a leak sensor, and spend the difference on something you’ll actually notice.

And if you’re weighing this because you’re about to list — call me before you spend the money. Sometimes replacing the tank is the right pre-list move. Sometimes a credit at the table is cheaper than the job, and I’d rather tell you that than watch you spend five thousand dollars you didn’t need to.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is tankless actually cheaper to run than a tank?

On energy, yes — Natural Resources Canada puts the average energy factor of a gas tankless unit at 0.85 against 0.62 for a gas storage tank, and the difference is almost entirely the standby loss you stop paying for. Whether it pays back the higher install cost depends on your household’s hot water use and how long you stay. For a family of four staying ten-plus years, the case is strong. For a couple selling in two years, it isn’t — and I’d tell you so.

### How long does a tankless water heater last compared to a tank?

Published Metro Vancouver contractor guidance puts storage tanks at 8–12 years and tankless units at 15–20 or more. Heat pump water heaters land in between at roughly 10–15. Those numbers assume the unit gets serviced; an un-descaled tankless in a hard-water area can fail far earlier, though our regional water is soft enough that scale is a much smaller factor here.

### Can I put a tankless water heater in my Coquitlam townhouse?

Often yes, but not unilaterally. The unit usually sits inside your strata lot and is your responsibility to replace, but a gas tankless needs sealed venting to the outdoors, and that new penetration goes through an exterior wall that is common property. Altering common property requires the strata corporation’s approval — in practice, written permission and usually an alteration agreement. Check your bylaws and write to your property manager before ordering equipment.

### My condo’s strata fee includes hot water. Should I install my own system?

No. If the building produces domestic hot water centrally and bills it through the strata fee, installing your own unit means paying twice — the fee doesn’t drop because you stopped drawing from the building. Where a condo has its own in-suite tank, replacing it with another tank is almost always the right call; venting a tankless unit in a stacked apartment building is difficult, expensive and needs the strata’s cooperation.

### Do I need a permit to replace a water heater in Coquitlam?

Usually, and certainly for a conversion. Coquitlam requires a plumbing permit for “performing any work on a plumbing system in a new or existing building,” though it exempts straight like-for-like replacement of code-compliant plumbing fixtures, and the bylaw doesn’t name water heaters either way — so confirm your job with the Building Division. Municipal permit fees typically run $75–$200. On the gas side, Technical Safety BC’s Gas Appliance Replacement Decal Program allows like-for-like replacement of certain residential appliances — including water heaters of 50,000 Btu/h or less — without a separate inspection request, which is part of why a tank-for-tank swap is quick. It expressly does *not* cover a change of venting method, a change of energy source, or a move from tank-type to instantaneous, so a conversion to on-demand needs the full permit and inspection process.

### Can I install it myself?

If you own a detached home, Technical Safety BC does allow qualifying homeowners to pull their own gas permit, subject to eligibility, inspections at each stage, and a request for inspection within 180 days. But owners of a strata property or a non-strata duplex are expressly *not* eligible. For most people the honest answer is to hire a licensed contractor, who pulls the permit on your behalf — and who carries the liability if something goes wrong.

### What about a combi boiler instead?

A combi is worth serious consideration if your home is already heated hydronically and the boiler is also nearing end of life, because one appliance then does both jobs. Expect roughly $8,000–$14,000 supplied and installed for a combi in BC, versus $9,000–$16,000 for a system boiler paired with a separate hot-water cylinder. If your boiler has years left in it, a standalone tankless unit for domestic hot water is the cheaper path.

### Are there rebates in BC for a new water heater?

The meaningful ones point toward electrification rather than gas. FortisBC currently offers $1,000 for upgrading to a high-efficiency electric heat pump water heater, and CleanBC Better Homes runs additional programs whose value depends on home type, household income, household size and location. Confirm eligibility and contractor requirements before the work is booked — most programs won’t pay retroactively. Program amounts and rules change; check the current listings directly.

## Sources & methodology

1. **Natural Resources Canada** — *Water Heater Guide*: energy factors for gas tankless (0.85) vs. gas storage (0.62), elimination of standby losses, winter inlet-temperature derating, gas supply line upsizing, and the limitations of electric on-demand units in Canadian whole-home applications.
2. **Technical Safety BC** — homeowner gas permit eligibility (strata and non-strata duplex owners excluded; inspection required within 180 days); the Gas Appliance Replacement Decal Program and its directive on like-for-like replacement of residential water heaters of 50,000 Btu/h or less, including the exclusions for changes of venting method, energy source, or tank-type to instantaneous; and guidance that permitted equipment is not authorized to be placed into service until the required inspection request or declaration is received.
3. **City of Coquitlam, City of Port Coquitlam and City of Port Moody** — plumbing permit requirements and the fixture-replacement exemption.
4. **Condominium Home Owners Association of BC** (bulletins 300-181 and 200-015) and the **Province of BC** (Strata Housing — division of repair duties) — default owner responsibility for hot water tanks within a strata lot, the ability of a strata to assume that responsibility by bylaw, and the Standard Bylaw 6 requirement for written strata approval before altering common property.
5. **Metro Vancouver** — Greater Vancouver Water District Water Quality Annual Report (2025): treated-water hardness of roughly 20 mg/L CaCO3 from the Capilano and Seymour supplies and about 2.4 mg/L from Coquitlam.
6. **FortisBC** and **CleanBC Better Homes** — heat pump water heater rebate and program eligibility structure.
7. **City of Vancouver** — water heater efficiency standard effective January 1, 2027 (City of Vancouver jurisdiction only). **Province of BC** — Highest Efficiency Equipment Standards regulatory consultation, proposed point-of-sale standards targeted at January 1, 2030 (proposal, not in force).
8. **Published Lower Mainland contractor price guides**, August 2026 — installed equipment ranges, permit fees and typical service lives. Published ranges differ meaningfully between contractors; the bands above are planning figures, not quotes.
9. **Craig Johnston, REALTOR®** — direct experience with mechanical systems, inspection outcomes and strata alteration issues across Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Greater Vancouver.

Methodology: cost ranges reflect published supply-and-install pricing from Lower Mainland contractors as of August 2026 and will move with equipment costs and labour rates. Service-life figures are typical, not guaranteed. Permit requirements, strata bylaws, insurance wording and rebate programs vary by municipality, building and provider and change over time — verify against your own municipality, your own bylaws, your own policy and the current program listings before spending money. This article is general information, not engineering, legal, insurance or trade advice.

Signed: Craig Johnston, REALTOR® V99960 · The MACNABS Team Royal LePage Elite West

## Spending money on the house before you sell?

Before you write a cheque for a mechanical upgrade, twenty minutes with me will tell you whether it comes back at the offer table — or whether a credit is the smarter play. Straight answer, no pitch.

Direct: [604-202-6092](tel:+16042026092) · [Craig@SoldByCraig.ca](mailto:Craig@SoldByCraig.ca)

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## Related reading

- [Pre-listing home inspection](https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/pre-listing-home-inspection-coquitlam-seller-guide/) — What an inspector writes about a twelve-year-old tank — and how to get ahead of it
- [Strata special levies](https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/strata-special-levy-coquitlam-buyer-guide-2026/) — How building mechanical projects turn into assessments
- [Buying a townhome in Coquitlam](https://soldbycraig.ca/buying-a-townhome-in-coquitlam/) — What the bylaws actually control — and what they don’t
- [Buying a condo in Coquitlam](https://soldbycraig.ca/buying-a-condo-in-coquitlam/) — Reading a strata fee properly, including what it already covers
- [What it costs to sell in Coquitlam](https://soldbycraig.ca/blog/what-does-it-cost-to-sell-a-house-in-coquitlam-2026/) — Where pre-list spending fits in the real numbers