If you live in British Columbia or for that matter anywhere in Canada I am sure you have noticed more and more advertising of properties for sale in the United States in local Canadian newspapers and real estate guides. I have seen whole multiple page inserts for development projects in Palm Springs and a lot of advertising for Las Vegas also. Recently, the Superintendent of Real Estate in BC came out with a statement regarding purchasing in these projects. The Real Estate Development Marketing Act continues to govern the marketing in BC of development properties located anywhere in the world. Under the Act, local and foreign developments must meet similar requirements in order to be marketable in BC. The developer must file a disclosure statement with the Superintendent of Real Estate before marketing begins. Deposits must be held in BC by a lawyer or notory unless deposit insurance or an exemption has been obtained. If you go to the Superintendent's website you can see these exemptions. They basically disclose where the project is located and how the deposits will be held and under what circumstances they will be released.
So if you are considering buying a property in the U.S. based from marketing you saw in BC, call the Superintendent of Real Estate and ask about the developer. There is a good chance they are registered with the Superintendent. If they are, then you as the buyer have some additional protection in your purchase of foreign property.
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