This $1.7M Vancouver home was auctioned for half the price — but there’s a catch

VANCOUVER — The home on Windsor Street in East Vancouver has admittedly seen better days.

Its yard is overgrown, the weathered shingles are barely hanging on in places, and the back stairs have completely disintegrated.

But with an official BC Assessment valuation of more than $1.7 million, the house appeared to represent a bargain when it sold for $825,000 at Vancouver’s annual tax auction at city hall on Wednesday. It had a reserve price of just $72,051.

It was among more than 60 properties auctioned off in this year’s City of Vancouver tax sale, set off by owners who have not paid their taxes for three years in a row, with the reserve, or upset prices, set at the amounts owed to the city.

If East Vancouver is not to your taste, then perhaps Point Grey Road? It’s one of the most exclusive addresses in Canada, where neighbours include Lululemon billionaire Chip Wilson, whose $73-million home is the most valuable in B.C.

A few blocks down the road from Wilson are two side-by-side houses valued around $5 million and $6 million. They are steps from Jericho Beach and the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, and sold for less than half their values at $2 million and $2.75 million respectively.

There is, of course, a catch.

After auction day, the current owners have a year to redeem their property by paying their taxes, resulting in a refund to the bidder — plus interest at the rate of six per cent, far in excess of government bond yields or bank interest.

Ron Usher, a retired notary public, said tax auctions are “not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced.”

“I suspect some of these tax sales are more whoops than deliberate,” Usher said, citing situations such as inheritances.

“You can imagine the law is very much structured to give the maximum possible opportunity for the owner to sort out the problem,” Usher said.

Though a posting last week included 116 properties listed for auction, by the time it began at 10 a.m. Wednesday, only 66 remained. Owners of three more properties paid their taxes while the auction was ongoing and the homes were removed from the block.

Vancouverite Darius Wu attended the auction “mostly for fun, hoping I’d get a bargain.”

The 30-year-old likened the auction to buying a lottery ticket, but better.

“In a lottery, you lose money no matter what. Here, I would say, the odds are probably one in a hundred. You don’t lose any money, and if you win, it’s still … pretty good.”

It was Wu’s first auction in Vancouver, but he ducked out before noon after concluding he wouldn’t outbid others in attendance.

“I think there are way more serious people here,” he said, noting many of the bids were climbing to around half of the property value listed. “You need a lot of cash to actually participate here.”

As the auction dragged on, most of those who earlier jockeyed for a spot inside the chambers trickled out, with the attendees dwindling to about a dozen.

Among them was a man who cast winning bids on dozens of properties, including the home on Windsor Street. Though he declined an interview, he said he didn’t expect to be transferred the properties — he would instead collect the interest.

Winning bids are secured by paying the upset price. If the original owner pays their overdue tax within a year, the bidder is refunded the upset price with interest of six per cent. But if it is not redeemed after a year, the bidder takes ownership after paying the balance of their bid within 30 days.

Sean Holden, a longtime Vancouver Realtor, called bidding at the auction “an exercise in futility.”

He said he often steers clients away from the auction. When asked if he has ever attended himself, his response is quick.

“I wouldn’t waste my time,” he said through a chuckle.

Holden points out that tax auction sales that go through to completion are very rare.

But they do happen, both in Vancouver and other B.C. municipalities that conduct their auctions every September on properties with two years of unpaid taxes.

Three properties have changed hands in the last five years in Burnaby, while the City of Vancouver said in a statement that there “were only three instances in the last 10 years where a property changed hands from a tax sale.”

“The property taxes on almost all properties have historically been paid within the one-year redemption period,” the statement said.

The City of Vancouver tells potential buyers not to trespass, but recommends people do their own research before bidding, noting in a posting last week that it is not responsible for the condition or quality of the homes.

“Prospective purchasers are urged to research the properties and make all necessary inquiries to municipal and other government departments to determine the existence of any bylaws, restriction, charges or other conditions which may affect the value or suitability of the properties,” it says.

Holden, who has been a Realtor in the city for about three decades, said that adds risk for the buyer.

“You don’t know what condition it will be, and (if) the sellers are forced out by the bank, whether they knock holes in the wall or do other strange things. You’re taking a huge risk,” he said.

All properties auctioned on Wednesday received bids. Only one property was sold for the upset price, but that amounted to nearly $1 million.

The two properties listed for sale in Burnaby last year both went through to completion.

The minutes from the tax sale show the same person purchased both properties.

An empty 9,262-square-foot lot on Walker Avenue sold for the upset price of $845, while its assessed value is $37,700.

The other property, which had an upset price of $269, was sold to the same buyer for $5,000. That may be less of a bargain — the property measures just 94-square feet and has a valuation of $3,600.

The City of Burnaby confirmed both properties were transferred after the one-year redemption period expired.

The City of Kelowna said it had an average of “about three to four properties” sold at its auction over the past six years, but added that “actual transfers of ownership through this process are very rare.”

“City staff recall the last transfer occurring around 2016/2017,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.

Abbotsford did not auction any properties this year or in 2024, but in 2025, it had two properties on the block. One sale went through on what the city called “a small undeveloped piece of land.”

The highest bidders from Wednesday’s auction in Vancouver must pay the upset price by noon Thursday.

Holden said bidders need to be prepared for their money to be tied up for a while, noting that while a six per cent interest rate may be enticing, most owners end up paying their taxes.

“Certainly, it’s a way to put pressure on people to pay those outstanding taxes, and that’s basically the function of it, for what it’s worth,” he said.

That seems to be the case for the property on Windsor Street, where a man who identified himself as the owner exited the house, causing the entire structure to rattle as he closed the door.

The resident, who declined to give his name, said he was aware his home was going on the auction block.

The property was, he said, his family home, while acknowledging that its ramshackle condition made living there “a challenge.”

But he brushed off any concern about it being sold out from under him.

“I have a year to pay it,” he said of his tax bill.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press