Downsizing in Kelowna

A condo puts everything on one floor. A townhome usually gives you your own front door and more separation from neighbours, but it adds stairs to every day. At Serenity, the plan drawings show all three townhome layouts with the living space on the main level and both bedrooms upstairs, while every condo plan is on a single level with a balcony.

If stairs are fine now but might not be in ten years, give that real weight. A single-level home reached by elevator is the easier long-term choice for many downsizers, and a townhome is the better fit for others who want a ground-level entry and room to host.

A presale's completion date is an estimate. BC's regulator, BCFSA, warns that completion can be delayed, and the disclosure statement gives the developer's estimated construction dates in section 5.1. That uncertainty is the main planning problem for a downsizer, because your house sale has its own timeline.

The usual approaches are to sell after the completion window firms up, to sell early and rent in between, or to arrange bridge financing so you can close on the new home before the house sells. Each trades certainty about your budget against carrying costs or a second move. A mortgage professional and a lawyer or notary can model your case; this guide does not give financial advice.

A house concentrates its costs in property tax, utilities, insurance and repairs you pay for when they happen. A strata home spreads part of them into a monthly strata fee that funds the building's operating budget and its contingency reserve fund for future repairs. You still pay your own property tax, utilities and contents insurance.

Two things make the comparison honest. First, look at what the strata fee covers, not only its size; the developer's estimate appears in the disclosure statement in section 3.8, and BCFSA warns that fees can come in higher than that estimate and tend to rise over time. Second, the BC home owner grant still applies to a strata home that is your principal residence: the regular grant is $570 from 2027, seniors may qualify for a higher additional grant, and the 2026 assessed-value threshold is $2,075,000.

The newly built home exemption removes the tax on a new home worth up to $1,100,000, with a partial exemption up to $1,150,000. You need to be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, the home must be your principal residence, and you must move in within 92 days of registration and live there for the rest of the first year. It is not limited to first-time buyers.

GST works the other way. A new home carries 5% GST, and a downsizer usually pays all of it, because the first-time buyers' rebate needs you not to have lived in a home you owned this year or in the previous four calendar years, and the regular GST new housing rebate is not available once the price reaches $450,000.

If you keep your house after you move, check whether it still qualifies for an exemption from BC's speculation and vacancy tax. Kelowna is in the tax area, and a second home that is neither lived in nor rented for at least 6 months of the year can owe it.

Downsizers often keep a car, so ask early how stalls are assigned. The City of Kelowna's June 22, 2026 report on development permit DP24-0017 lists 27 residential and 4 visitor stalls for 33 homes, with a car elevator serving the upper level of the parkade. Allocation has not been published, and storage lockers are not described in the report.

For errands on foot, Ray's No Frills is a 4-minute walk, Martin Park a 4-minute walk and the Okanagan Rail Trail a 10-minute walk. Kelowna General Hospital is a 6-minute drive. Times are approximate, from 1085 Martin Avenue.

Pets, rentals, renovations and the use of shared spaces are governed by the strata's bylaws. The disclosure statement has to say whether the strata will use the standard bylaws in BC's Strata Property Act and set out any changes, in section 3.5. If a bylaw would change how you live, such as a pet limit, read it before you sign.