I have heard a lot about assessments these days. It is my understanding that they had not been kept up to date and with skyrocketing housing prices in the Lower Mainland, some homeowners are going to be hit with a big increase in the taxes. To help residents determine if their assessment is fair, BC Assessment has opened up their online database for free to the general public until March 15th. Type in your address and the query will return the last sale price and the value of your assessment for you and other residences on your street. Want to know what your neighbours paid for their house last year? Check it out on the BC Assessment website – Assessments and Sales by Address 2007.

Another great feature, if you are looking to buy or sell a home, is their Sales Select Sysytem 2007. The system allows you to specify a neighbourhood and property type and returns the selling price of the first 100 sales closest to July 1st, 2006 are returned. These services are always available to the general public but are free of any fees for the next 2 months.