Let me do some math for you all.

you want to buy a place that's 300K, which is decent size apartment (really big but old, or really new but small) property. If you want to do an INVESTMENT, don't even think about it.

300K, let's say in 2 years your place goes up to 350K, when you consider lawyers fees, commission to realtor (even at super cheap commission or minimal fees)and HST, you are WELL into 50K of your profit.

you have to remember, in those 2 years, even if you were lucky enough to FIND a tenant to pay for say... 1300 hundred of rent (better be a super nice apartment, but at 300k, good luck), your mortgage is going to be at 1500. you are short 200 bucks a month + property management fees + property taxes, sewage...etc.

within those two years, you would have forked out well over 5000-8000 dollars. For those who are home buyers, please be sure to sit down with your Realtor and tell them your short term goals. If they say NOT to buy your dream 500k apartment and trying to rent it out to make a profit... don't do it.

I'm sure these very buyers wanting to back out on their contracts now that the market is on the downturn wouldn't make a peep if they could flip them for profit.

You assume far more risk buying a presale and considering the huge PR machine Rennie used to push this development at a time when the market is nearing its peak it's not surprising to hear this as the market softens. There are always deficiencies in buying a presale I'm not even sure how that was an oversight for these buyers.

what?... probably around 10k not 50. however in 2 years it'll still be worth 300 if you're lucky. I wouldn't count on any profit from short term reselling this way.

so you are investing 2-300 a month and getting around 800? a month in equity (and that's if the place doesn't go up in value which it will over time). a ~300% return per month.

right now my money gets me about 1.5% / year...

there are a lot of people have only a 3-4 years time investment frame and it's unreasonable.

investing 200-300 a month just in difference in the mortgage
+ 200 in property management fees
+ 120 in property taxes
+ sewage of 40 dollars
you're deep into a hole for 600-800 bucks a month. just to HOPE for a 10% profit which in reality is ZERO.

Downtown solid investment
 

Downtown Vancouver I believe is a solid investment .. They say that real estate is like an earth quake it explodes from the inside out.. When the market booms closer you are to the core more that it generally rises..When the market slows down its usually from the outside in.. downtown will always have value and more value when the market is hot...

Joe Manhas
Sutton West Coast Realty
http://www.bchomez.com

What are the predictions for the next few months, should buyers wait?

It really depends. I've had clients tell me they regret being too passive in putting serious offers in while in the meantime prices kept climbing for what they were looking for and now they're further behind than before. At the same time I've closed a couple of deals this year where both my clients and I didn't think we could at the price we went in with so mileage does vary from listing to listing.

Typically the winter months are the slowest and tend to yield a slight advantage for the buyer. Apparently 2011 is still suppose to see a slight increase in price..
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http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/12/real...tune/index.htm

http://www.vancouversun.com/business...103/story.html

yeah, i read else wheres not a buyers/seller market. it right inbetween, whatever that is lol