Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[fliptuner]

I didn't see the listing for this til it was too late. At list price, there's probably over 200k left for reno's before it comes close to comps.

19781 N Wildwood Crescent, Pitt Meadows, BC, House For Sale | REW.ca

[UFO]

Originally Posted by Ulic Qel-Droma

who the fuck wants a slimy middleman when they're supposed to be helping you...

Maybe its just me, but anybody who works for me in sales, I always assume they are slimy and douchey. Sales people lie all the time, yet their position ij the chain of life is yet to be threatened. I'm not sure how one can get through life these days assuming everybody will be helping you and holding your hand. Its my responsibility to do my own due diligence. Accountability needs to be a two way street IMO

[UFO]

Originally Posted by IGTBAR

For those of you raised in Vancouver/Burnaby - would you make the move out to Coquitlam? It looks like you can still get detached homes for around 800k.

We made that move just over a yr ago. Grew up east van, lived in kits for 8 years, then out to the burbs. For us it came down to buying a townhouse in bby and staying in the same strata environment, or paying a couple hundred bucks more a month and owning our own land/grass and having full control of our property.

We're technically east Coquitlam, by Austin and Mariner so our access to hwy 1 is quite good vs other areas of Coquitlam we considered. The 'valley' area of coq/poco is a pain to access traffic wise during rush hour. For us, commute to false creek at 7am is 25mins with HOV. For me to get to central Richmond for work on my own avg 1 hr each way. Commute time sucks esp with a young family, but it is what it is and I like my job too much to consider relocating for now. It takes about 25 mins to drive to east van during afternoon rush hour to visit parents, with HOV again and going against traffic flow. Fwiw when we lived in kits it would take the same/more time to get out to east Van during rush hour.

[IGTBAR]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

I understand where you're coming from. I did the Skytrain commute from Brentwood to my office downtown for 8 years. A half-hour commute is ideal.

As most Econ professors will teach you, there's no "free lunch". You either pay for it in cash, or time. As others have said, Brentwood is very hot right now. You can get a good return on the equity you've built in your condo if you sell it today. Based on your income, you and your husband can go all in and buy a stacked townhouse on Commercial Drive for 850-900K. Huge risks with that of course, but if you really, really want to buy, then that is the risk you have to take. Even renting in today's market is fraught with risk. So is putting your equity into the market and hoping for 6-8% after taxes over the long term.

Or, you could buy something like this for 500-525K:

458 Carlsen Place - r2056094 : Port Moody Townhouses, Port Moody Townhomes : Portmoodytownhouse.com

Minutes away from the water, shopping, and the future Inlet Centre Skytrain station. Good schools in the area and a median household income over 100K. Save the rest on what you would have spent on your mortgage and put it into your future children's RESPs, passive index funds, etc.

I think it's very tough to make the jump from condo to freehold, detached unless you're going from Yaletown to somewhere like Pitt Meadows. It is what it is.

I agree - there is no free lunch. Time is money, just depends on how much you value your time.

Thanks for the feedback - just need to think about it some more. Crazy how insane prices are going now.

[IGTBAR]

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[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by IGTBAR

I agree - there is no free lunch. Time is money, just depends on how much you value your time.

Thanks for the feedback - just need to think about it some more. Crazy how insane prices are going now.

It's absolutely crazy right now, but at least you're in the market and have a property that will have no trouble selling (you will have potential buyers lining up out the door).

Or, have your kid now and make due. It can be done, even in a 1-bedroom. A baby can sleep in a bassinet which doesn't take much space. You may end up co-sleeping anyway. Don't get seduced by Pinterest and the nurseries no one uses.

[sam0m0]

yep, also in young 30s and got a 1 bedroom condo near brentwood like you too. Have a 11 month old now and put the crib beside my bed, it's a little tight but not too bad.

Bought a preconstruction in october last year and won't be done till late 2017, which would be a good time for kid to have her own room. In the mean time I just keep watching the price go up for both my places till I have to sell.

[m3thods]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

If you can get a property close to Harris Road, you're good. Based on my conversations with people who live there, they enjoy the city, but if they're looking to upgrade, they have little choice because Pitt Meadows has limited housing stock. I've been told that residents seem to prefer Walnut Grove over Maple Ridge.

Pitt Meadows will always have a niche that Maple Ridge won't. Based on growth projections, Maple Ridge could well become the next Coquitlam in 20 years. Lots of land that isn't ALR.

My wife works in Pitt (coming from Coquitlam), and the traffic heading west on Lougheed is usually bananas. Then again if you're heading west on the Port Mann you're stuck in Burnaby for a while. If I lived in Pitt I would probably look into WCE if I was working in/around Downtown.

IGTBAR-

I also just made the move from VanBurn to Coquitlam. You're right in that once you head out there, you're going to want to find new places that provide services (haircut, tailor, bakery, etc). This is mostly out of laziness because I don't want to drive 20 mins for a haircut when I can walk 5 mins and try a place.

Being Asian and growing up in Van/Burn for almost 30 years, the one knock on Coquitlam that I'm still struggling with are places for quick/cheap Asian eats. I'm thinking viet subs, easy HK noodles, BBQ/roasted pork and even an Asian butcher. There's a number of places that offer these services, but they're nowhere near as good as the places in Vancouver especially.

That said, I love the area I'm in. I don't need to drive anywhere once I am home. I'm walking distance (<5mins for most places) to grocery stores, wide array of restaurants, shopping, trails, water (if you count Lafarge Lake), and on a bad day at most 20 mins from the Cape Horn.

I'm not that old (30ish), but you quickly learn that detached homes are pretty much unattainable for most young workers like my wife and myself. I'm not going to pretend I know you, but you have your priorities and it's great you're trying your best to work around them. But if you're looking to continue to live in VanBurn (and especially in a detached home), I'm guessing you don't need someone to tell you that there will be some major sacrifices in one form or another.

If you can stomach living east of Burnaby in Coquitlam, it really isn't as far or as "bad" as you think.

[IGTBAR]

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[IGTBAR]

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[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by IGTBAR

I appreciate this - totally real and honest. Thank you.

Have a lot of thinking to do. I just find it really sad that a lot of 30 something singles/couples are basically battling each other for million dollar townhomes in the suburbs because the government refuses to step in.

Well, townhouses haven't reached a million in the suburbs.

For a standard 1400 square foot, 3 bedroom/2 bathroom townhome with a tandem garage and small yard (possibly 2) that was built 3-5 years ago, you're looking at 600K in the Tri-Cities. Do they have character? Not really, but they're perfectly functional for a young family.

If the going rate for a 1-bedroom condo in Brentwood is 370-400K, then you're looking at another 200K to get into something that will serve you for the next 5 years, at least. Not cheap, but not back-breaking either, particularly for an upper class couple. If you can stomach the carrying costs of the new mortgage at 4% (worse case scenario in 5 years), then you can make the leap.

As a relatively new father myself, your perspective on what's important will change once you become a parent. You may want to go back to work right away, or you may never want to go back. I understand the desire to buy a detached, but if you think about what our parents did, the small bungalow was the starter home, like the condo is today. I've become a big advocate of buying what you need for the next 5 years, as opposed to buying what you think need. Staying in Brentwood if you decide to have a child may not be such a bad thing. In my experience, having the mall, a local community centre, and a Winners helped my wife a lot during the first few weeks. Staying home, sleep deprived, with nothing around can make you depressed in a hurry.

[IGTBAR]

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[Great68]

I was in town last week, looking at a project for one of our corporate customers in North Van.

Man, after 9 years on the Island I really forgot how much commuting during rush in the lower mainland sucked.

Sure makes me appreciate my 14km, 2-traffic light country road drive to work over here (soon to be a 1.7km walk from my house when my office moves next year)

[UFO]

Originally Posted by IGTBAR

I would have to argue though, that yes, it might take he same amount of time, but driving through the city isn't really the same as spending all of your time on the highway.

It could just be my personal life situation, but even if I am cutting across Vancouver, growing up in the city you tend to have a favorite tailor, dry cleaner, grocer, family friends, etc. At least if you are commuting within Vancouver it's easy to stop by xyz to grab dessert on the way in to dinner with the parents if you've forgotten to at home, etc. Or to run a quick errand before meeting up with friends or on the way to work.

Things like that, but maybe I'm being too naive.

Totally your preference. When we lived in kits even, we always had an end destination in sight and rarely made unplanned stops. Now with a couple little ones time is at an extra premium so every stop is planned days in advanced.

You did bring up a good point about your friends though. Something to consider if/when you and your circle have family, will access be an issue? Will they be in a close-ish proximity?

Fwiw I hated driving through city traffic. And I hate it even more now when we have to go 'into town' to run errands

For us part of the decision to move up to a detached house was this is planned as a longterm home, 10-20yrs maybe even more. We don't like the prospect and process of moving, house hunting, house selling, moving in, unpacking, rearranging, refurnishing. With a 12-1400sf townhouse, we would have likely wanted to move again in ~5-8yrs

[nah]

Many potential home buyers putting forward desperate and dangerous offers: Sotheby's - NEWS 1130

[Mr.C]

Originally Posted by nah

Many potential home buyers putting forward desperate and dangerous offers: Sotheby's - NEWS 1130

When goddamn Sotheby's is worried and making people sign documents, shit is about to hit the fan. These guys have been in business for a long, long time.

Give it six months or a year...

[Hehe]

Looking to relocate to White Rock. What area is recommended for a young family?

Wife and I went there to visit a relative, and we really love the little town feel of it. Of course, my relative is retired and live near the beach, but there's no fucking way for me to afford that particular location and it's kinda far from highway to go into town and big stores. So, not really sure where to start looking. Any idea?

[Hondaracer]

Morgan crossing is turning into a ghetto ala Clayton heights in surrey.

So Much density there and people buying as investments renting out to unsavory types.

[supafamous]

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/S...olumbia-V5R3M8

My neighbourhood keeps getting crazier. 1530sf front duplex listed for $1.3M.

2000sf duplexes were going for $1M just a year ago.

[punkwax]

Originally Posted by Hehe

Looking to relocate to White Rock. What area is recommended for a young family?

Wife and I went there to visit a relative, and we really love the little town feel of it. Of course, my relative is retired and live near the beach, but there's no fucking way for me to afford that particular location and it's kinda far from highway to go into town and big stores. So, not really sure where to start looking. Any idea?

Ocean Park if you don't need to be in White Rock proper. Great family environment, good elementary schools and Elgin HS is really high rated as well.

Rosemary Heights if you really need to be near the highway.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Or, have your kid now and make due. It can be done, even in a 1-bedroom. A baby can sleep in a bassinet which doesn't take much space. You may end up co-sleeping anyway. Don't get seduced by Pinterest and the nurseries no one uses.

imo a bassinet is a waste of money that doesn't get used for very long. cost effective crib or mattress on the floor/low bed i say.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by supafamous

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/S...olumbia-V5R3M8

My neighbourhood keeps getting crazier. 1530sf front duplex listed for $1.3M.

2000sf duplexes were going for $1M just a year ago.

Same here! I am seeing Duplex being sold close to $1M. like WTF is not even that big. House are being sold for 1.2+M and a lot of them are being taken down to make Duplex which is sad because the House looks pretty nice and unique but the Duplex looks so the same and lame......

[A-Dev]

Website run by Shanghai-based company lists Vancouver properties | Vancouver Sun

www.vanfun.com

Probably nothing new but interesting how they can list online before they are advertised locally.

[roopi]

Originally Posted by nah

Many potential home buyers putting forward desperate and dangerous offers: Sotheby's - NEWS 1130

Realtors pressure potential buyers into making offers with no conditions so they don't miss the opportunity to buy. Make them sign a waiver so they have no liability. Not even sure what the point of a realtor is in majority of situations.

They have basically zero liability for anything. Drive you around and make phone calls.

[Harvey Specter]

We're already seeing the condo market heat up and looks like the condo market will rise further...

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Shadow flipping has become the poster child of unethical behaviour in the local housing market, but most of it is centred around the sale of single-detached homes.

A Richmond-based brokerage was slapped with sanctions this past weekend and the firm’s owner was quoted as saying the condo market “is the real gold.”

So, the question becomes whether or not less scrupulous realtors will see that as an untapped market.

The value of single detached homes in Metro Vancouver jumped by 25 per cent in the first quarter year-over-year while condo growth was a more modest nine-and-a-half per cent.

Nizam Dossa, the head of the Strata Property Agents of BC, admits the potential is there but doubts we’ll see a wave of shady dealings in the condo market.

“There is certainly the chance. But most of the realtors we deal with I’d say the vast majority of them are quite ethical and do follow the rules.”

He admits it is a buyer and seller beware world but says condo sales, at least where strata are involved, are transparent.

“The buyer and any potential assignee or shadow flipping or whatever can see what’s happening if they so wish. We just of course can’t control what happens just for the sake of speculation though.”

And Dossa reiterates that he trusts most realtors he deals with. “I can see the potential for it but again, most of the realtors we deal with are quite ethical,” he says.

Dossa believes the unethical behaviour is limited to a small number of agents.

Real estate investigation

There may now be even more competition if you’re looking to buy a place in Metro Vancouver.

It appears people who visit a Chinese-language website based out of Shanghai are getting the first look at local homes for sale before that information goes up on the Multiple Listing Service.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver is looking into it. The superintendent of the Real Estate Council of BC refuses to say if it’s investigating the website but tells PostMedia anyone in the market should make sure they’re dealing with a licenced realtor.