Craig Johnston Personal Real Estate Corporation · Brokerage: Royal LePage Elite West
Craig Johnston Personal Real Estate Corporation · Brokerage: Royal LePage Elite West
The five line items that quietly cost Coquitlam move-up families money they didn't plan to spend.
Property transfer tax at the higher purchase price. The bridge financing gap most families don't plan for. The catchment premium they didn't know they were paying. School-year timing nobody coordinates. The three things every pre-listing inspector finds. Most move-up families never see these until it's too late to do anything about them. This guide shows you all five — before you list.
Quick Answer
What is the Coquitlam move-up tax trap?
Five line items that quietly cost Coquitlam move-up families money they didn't plan for. Transfer tax, catchment premium, bridge gap, school timing. Free 14-page PDF. Craig Johnston, Top 1% Team — Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, 2023–2025 and 47+ year Tri-Cities resident, can walk you through the local context. Free Strategy Call ends with a written one-page plan in 24 hours.
This is the math I'd want you to see before you list, not after. I'd rather you list when the math works than list when it doesn't.
Everything in the guide comes from the Coquitlam Move-Up Protocol — the five-step process I run for every family, every time.
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Before you book a call, spend ninety seconds with Craig. You’ll know in the first thirty whether he’s the right realtor for your move.
Property Transfer Tax steps up at $2M (3% instead of 2% on the portion over) and again at $3M for residential property (an additional 2% on the portion over). Here's where Coquitlam's move-up inventory sits relative to those thresholds — and where the math quietly changes.
The $2M threshold lives right in the middle of Burke Mountain's move-up inventory. A $2.2M detached pays the 3% PTT rate on the $200K above $2M — $2,000 more than the 2% band, for $44,000 in PTT. GST applies only to a brand-new or substantially renovated home ($2M x 5% = $100K). This is the neighbourhood where careful price-point negotiation preserves the most equity.
Luxury tier, $3M+ territory, where both the 3% and the additional-tax bands apply. A $3.4M Westwood Plateau detached triggers $88,000 in PTT alone — before legal fees, moving, staging, or the bridge financing most families don't plan for. This is where the tax line gets very large, and where pre-list strategy matters most.
Port Moody's detached move-up market — Heritage Mountain's detached benchmark is $1,933,800 (September 2026), just under the $2M PTT threshold, so individual homes land on both sides of it. This is the neighbourhood where smart timing on a move-up can keep your total tax load inside the standard PTT band. Heritage Mountain can be the math-friendly answer for families who want detached without the top-bracket tax exposure.
Thresholds that change the math
Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS® (GVR) stats package, September 2026. Last refreshed October 7, 2026. Coquitlam MLS® data. Updated monthly. Medians are from the GVR® Stats Package (MLS® Sales Facts) for the Coquitlam geographic area; PTT figures use the general BC Property Transfer Tax schedule. Individual neighbourhoods vary. Verify current data before making buy/sell decisions.
A five-step process built around clarity, strategy, and no-surprise execution — whether you're buying your first home or selling a property you've owned for twenty years.
We start with a real conversation about your goals, timeline, and numbers. I'll pull current comps, assess your buying power or home's true market value, and tell you exactly what the data says — not what you want to hear.
I build a written strategy around your priorities: target neighbourhoods, pricing strategy, timeline, financing structure, and the trade-offs at each decision point. Every recommendation comes with a reason.
For sellers: pre-list prep, staging direction, pro photography, and a pricing framework that draws interest without leaving money on the table. For buyers: offer structure, subject clauses, and the due-diligence checklist for every property that matters.
This is where experience pays for itself. I negotiate price, terms, subjects, deposit, completion dates, and the small details that don't show up in listings but decide whether a deal closes well or falls apart.
From subject removal through completion and possession, I coordinate with lawyers, lenders, inspectors, and trades so nothing drops. After closing, I stay in your corner for everything from tax-assessment appeals to the next move.
Real reviews pulled from Google. No paid placements. No curated-only-positives. Every client below closed with Craig.
“Craig sold my property in just 6 days, which is an incredible feat. After receiving one offer, he quickly reconnected with all the other realtors who had viewed the property, and before I knew it, we had multiple offers—all over asking price!”
“We received seven offers, and Craig held firm on our priorities: no subject to sale and achieving our price. We took the home off the market over Christmas, but behind the scenes Craig continued working. When we re-listed in January, it sold in just three days to buyers he had been nurturing — at the price we wanted.”
“Craig worked with my wife and me for over 3 years to find the perfect home. He was endlessly patient with us through the process. Eventually, we found our perfect home and he moved fast to execute on our behalf. He negotiated fairly and thoroughly with the sellers and was our advocate all throughout our first home purchase.”
“Craig kept me informed of the local market for a couple of years before I asked him to handle my Coquitlam sale. He laid out the strategy upfront, the listing generated a lot of interest, and we had an acceptable offer in under a month. I was stressed going in — Craig helped me overcome a lot of my anxiety. I’ve already introduced him to my sister, who plans to sell soon.”
“Craig was there with us everyday. Guiding us to our next step we were kept informed daily sometimes multiple times a day as to what was happening… Our home sold in only 6 days with multiple offers.”
“After searching for several years, I knew exactly what I was looking for—and Craig delivered. We viewed a handful of properties, and the home he ultimately found was exactly what I had been searching for. I couldn't believe how quickly he nailed it.”
“We had a fantastic experience working with Craig, who was recommended by a friend. He patiently guided us through the process to purchase our family forever home in Vancouver, explaining all the steps and answering all of our many questions. He was always responsive and available whenever we needed him and always felt like he wanted the absolute best for us.”
“One of the sales was my Mom’s home. She is 97 and so this was a very emotional issue to be leaving her beloved home of so many years… Craig was extremely patient in explaining the market and was very sensitive to her concerns. We can’t thank him enough for his empathy and understanding in working with an elderly person through a difficult time in a very caring manor!”
“Craig is a true professional and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell their home. His approach is clear, data-driven and resulted in multiple offers for our sale.”
More on The Move-Up Play
Every page below is built on the same ground-truth data and the same negotiation playbook Craig uses for every client.
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