Olive25

Thanks in advance for reading this. I’m having issues with my strata council and need some help… not sure if anyone has gone through this in the past before.

My fiancé and I are trying to finalize our paperwork and we are hesitant in submitting it because my townhouse complex has a rental restriction and it’s currently at it’s maximum. I know there are a handful of people on the waiting list and each renter has a min 1 year lease… so I’m not sure what to do. I have contacted our property management company with no response (it’s been a week). I was reading the BC Strata bylaws and it states that exceptions can be made for those in financial hardships. But upon further research, I found a few old threads that said that you practically needed a lien against your property in order to qualify… in which case, I can’t prove financial hardship. They can also grant an exception if you were to get a job and had to relocate. Unfortunately I have a lot of clients who have expressed interest in hiring me but will not offer me a position without my Visa/EAD - which is 100% understandable. So I'm in a catch 22.

I have requested documents to get on the wait list as well as an exception hearing to plead my case to the strata council… I would be really upset if they will not grant me an exception and I have to wait years until I’m up next on the waiting list. I am also in a fixed mortgage for a few more years and feel that (financially) my best option is to rent it out (cash flow positive) versus selling. I won’t get the same return.

When should we start the process? This is mostly a logistical question for those who have been through this in the past.

Details: I will be moving to from Canada to the US. I own property here and will need to be put on a waiting list as there’s a number of rental restrictions in my complex.

We will be wanting to close the distance in 2014. We are saving money to buy a house (he lost some money in the stocks so there was a setback a few years ago) and is currently living with roomates (no room for me to live permanently with him). We are both in our late 20’s. We’re not exactly sure when we will get an accepted offer, but there are areas that we can afford. We are planning to buy in early-mid 2014, as we want to put at least 25% down and have a safety net in our savings. So the wait from now until then isn’t so bad… but once we buy a home, I’ll want to move there right away. I am also toying with the idea of using my income as a qualifier as well. Currently, my future husband and my name will be on the title of the home and I will be changing the title of my home to reflect both of us in Canada (investment property). If I can figure out my employment situation, we would be able to qualify for a bit more and still have enough to put at least 25% down.

1) When should we start creating our package?

2) We have decided we will be eloping when we get our K1 visa approved and have only 90 days to get married – too difficult to plan a wedding with out of country guests.

3) I know after our Visa has been processed we will have to file an amendment so I can get the EAD to work. I may have opportunities to work remotely with my current employer (we will need to discuss legalities of that), but there’s a chance because of legal issues of me working in the states for a Canadian company, that even though my employer wants to keep me on board, I won’t be able to. I also have a network of companies/clients in the area I am moving to who would be happy to hire me should there be a position available. However, I will need to prove that I can legally work in the US.

4) By going through the K1 visa process and keeping my property in Canada as an investment property and paying income tax on it, would I be able to keep my Canadian citizenship as well?

I guess I’m just anxious to start our lives and I don’t want to wait a year from when we buy our house for me to finally move. I’m trying to streamline all the logistics we are having to organize from now until 2014 because I’d really like to be settled in the US by summer/fall of 2014.