Paying for Canadian rural property from a Hong Kong bank account

[Titus]

Hi guys

Has anyone purchased property in Canada, British Columbia to be specific, with payments from your Hong Kong bank account to the legal firm handling the realty transaction?

I am getting the run around from my buyer rep realtor saying that he needs to seek legal confirmation if my purchase transaction can be done that way. Something like I need to park my money in a Canadian bank account first for SIX MONTHS with proof that it's legit money; I can't just wire a payment from my HK account. So basically I need to wire from my HK account to my own Canadian account then to the law firm account. All of which means a trip back home.

I checked FINTRAC and there's no specific restriction that he described. Beginning to think the realtor is the one who is suspicious of me thinking I'm a corrupt mainland Chinese official from my last name *eyeroll* (If I were I'd be buying posh penthouses in Vancouver not middle of frozen nowhere BC!!!!)

Has anyone done a purchase just by direct HK to Canadian law firm account?

Thanks

[Edwardstorm]

Haven’t purchased property in Canada but I do know that FINTRAC has imposed a whole set of rules on the real estate sector, as also outlined in below link. I expect the realtor wants to cover his ass and by having you wire through a Canadian bank and parking it there he probably figures that the AML/KYC requirements have been fully executed by the bank so he is of the hook with FINTRAC. Could be that realtors are now doing it this way to avoid the hassle as the FINTRAC regime has heated up.

I understand the necessity of some of these measurements but it’s not a lot of fun anymore moving money around, I had similar challenges buying a few properties in Europe recently.

Real estate developers, brokers and sales representatives

[Titus]

Haven’t purchased property in Canada but I do know that FINTRAC has imposed a whole set of rules on the real estate sector, as also outlined in below link. I expect the realtor wants to cover his ass and by having you wire through a Canadian bank and parking it there he probably figures that the AML/KYC requirements have been fully executed by the bank so he is of the hook with FINTRAC. Could be that realtors are now doing it this way to avoid the hassle as the FINTRAC regime has heated up.

I understand the necessity of some of these measurements but it’s not a lot of fun anymore moving money around, I had similar challenges buying a few properties in Europe recently.

Real estate developers, brokers and sales representatives

Sigh so it seems I might need to find another realtor or.... Wait 6 months and have to look for another property by then

[emx]

So basically I need to wire from my HK account to my own Canadian account then to the law firm account. All of which means a trip back home.

You can't do transfers from your Canadian account online?

[Titus]

You can't do transfers from your Canadian account online?

I haven't touched the account for 10 years unfortunately. Still have the debit card and maybe 50 CAD on it lol

[civil_servant]

I haven't touched the account for 10 years unfortunately. Still have the debit card and maybe 50 CAD on it lol

It should still be active. Careful though, if you move money into the account, it may not be easy to transfer it out from overseas. Transfer limits may be set on online transactions.

[antyeung]

There may be an issue with Anti Money Laundering policy which has been beefed up literally on a daily basis. Transferring money from HK to Canada under the same named account should not be an issue. At least this will be a first step to get your money into Canada. It will however peak the interest of Canada Revenue (if you are tax residents of reportable jurisdictions) to seek Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information from HK IRD. You may need to fly over to your bank in Canada to refresh a few things, after which you will be able to re-activate and pay for your property from that account.

[Titus]

Ok, so did a spur of the moment trip back last week said fk it let's go.

Met 2 realtors for the properties on my short list and I figured out it's actually not an issue of sending my money from HK to the realty law firm for completion but more of a trust issue with the realtors. Apparently they thought I might be a time waster LOL As soon as I got my ID out in person and they did all the paperwork to confirm my existence and therefore done their part in their due diligence responsibility, they showed me around.

The banks will do their own anti money laundering deal but typically it's not a problem, lots of Germans, Austrians and Swiss buy BC rural properties from overseas.