I can attest to crayon.

The area is upcoming, developing and growing.

I lived in the Firenze Tower from 2006 to 2010. In the earlier 06 it was pretty bad. Place was a ghost town, not many shops around and the constant DTES zoombies roaming around.

TNT was already there so that was a plus, soon Costco came, the Espana towers were completed, the retail shops along abbott and keefer were slowly being occupied (now they have a local bar, dentist office, nail salon, pizza places, 7-11, starbucks, blenz, tim horton's).

In 2009 there were literally 10 new towers (about 800 condo suites) in the tinseltown, rogers arena area alone.

In 2010 it was the Olympics and this was literally ground zero for all the Olympic memories. IT WAS AWESOME THERE!!!!

There's always events that happens in the area.
- Major marathons
- Hockey, Football, Concerts and Convention shows
- CNY parades

Gastown is a easy 5 minute walking distance away. The cheapest groceries can be found in Chinatown. And for all that you are only a 2 stop train ride or a quick 10 minute walk into Downtown.

You can easily raise a young family there was there are 2-3 preschools nearby and some decent parks too.

That aside, you can live in Yaletown but it's at least 20-25% pricier and the entire vibe may not fit with a urban young family.

Oh yeah plus all the towers there have swimming pools, gym, saunas, hot tubs, entertainment rooms - great amenities imho.

I have information but not sure if it's still considered "internal details." But once I get it, I'll let you know.

yeah i live next to rogers arena in the new towers, and i have to say this is the best place to live in vancouver, 10 min walk to robson and the clubs downtown. not even 5 min walk to gastown costco underneath me for all my groceries and tnt for things they dont have

I wished they didn't outlaw Tobacco and Alcohol sponsorships. Imagine "Joe Camel Towers" or "Benson & Hedges Cancer Center".

my point is that ppl who make money from a real estate ponzi scheme can't really give unbiased information - that is not a personal attack, i don't know you, nor do i have any intention on busting out personal attacks on the internetwebs but there is a fundamental flaw in teh system here that people will not wake up to until it hits them on the head over the next 24-36 months

i know, i know, 'it's different here' 'we're not america' 'everyone wants to live in Vancouver'

oh wait, no they don't, net migration isn't big here - everyone moves to Alberta because of the jobs, there are no jobs here, very few large corporations, and our downtown is becoming all residential apartments - hardly a great long term economic plan

and so what if that area is a ghost town - its that way because there isn't sufficient demand from people wanting to live there, simple as that. i live in downtown, don't pay too much for rent, and see LOADS of empty apartments in the surrounding buildings to me (i'm smack in the middel of yaletown too)

this is just the same old typical pump and dump - i have friends who live in the Aquilini building where Richards on Richards was - terrible construction on that project, he's glad he's renting there

and for those who say 'we're different, we're not america' - we are exactly that - our properties are being funded by cheap and easy mortgages - EXACTLY what drove the US crisis, well its happening here, won't be as bad as our mortgages are all recourse (thank god) unlike in some states in the US, but the same economic principal remains

but wait, the chinese are buying - are they? are they really? yes, tehre are naturalized canadians of chinese heritage buying, but they're canadian not chinese - look at teh numbers of people buying from outside of BC and outside of Canada, insignificant portions - and those that are buying are buying the high end, the high end doesn't float with the rest of the market and is such a small volume, they won't have any trickle down effect.

people have and will all flame me, but i'm not going to lose my shirt by paying $500k to $1M on an apartment (Whcih i'd advise everyone to never do - you're stuck in an apartment with potentially shite neighbours and own no land, land is the true value of a principal residence) which I can rent for $1500-2000 (people will say 'where do you get that kind of deal - you look, you negotiate, there's a falacy that there is a real shortage of rental units in good areas in vancouver - i found my one in 1 day and got it for 12% less than asking, owned by a Canadian of chinese heritage- who has lived her for at least 20 years (i cant account for his movements before then) - but everyone will claim, because he is of chinese heritage that its teh chinese buying vancouver)

/rant - but ppl, please open your minds, eyes, and ears - why do our friends in seattle get to buy properties for WAY less than us? its not the mountains, that's for sure

Hmmm interesting. 4444
Posted via RS Mobile

The next target for the Aquilini's is the viaduct.

4444, just out of curiosity, what do you pay for rent and what sort of suite do you live in (1 bdrm, 2 bdrm, etc)?

all i'll say is that on my 2bed/2 bath w/ office & parking (although i'll admit i don't have a pool), if my landlord were to buy at today's prices, with today's downpayments, at today's rates, on a 25 yr amort - my place would result in a cash outflow for him of approx. $800-900 a month.

However he bought it brand new, 14 yrs ago so his cost base is about 2/5th of what it is now (approx) so he's not likely to be having any cash outflows - but i think my point is proven, that's one HELL of an ownership premium

Thank you! It's nice to know that others have had the same thoughts that I had on this. I follow these trends fairly closely and so many people think that if this is what everyone else is doing, its got to be the way to go.

My gf and I went a different direction when we kind of sat down and said...so what are we gonna do?

That's when we got into managing the first building, which at first was going to be it. Cool. We live for free, collect some rent and vacuum some halls. We both worked contract jobs at the time(me literally a contractor) so having the base salary in place to cover the essentials took a huge load off. Then we picked up a second one on a whim, we were already doing it, then 3 and 4 came as a package deal and 5 is owned by #1, so that was kind of a gift. I may have to make some phone calls for 6 through 10. ;)

I have a guy that mows the lawn for peanuts and at any point could hire someone to clean the building if it ever gets to the point of wanting to be above cleaning, and its ended up that we are VERY well compensated for the actual 'work' we do.

Oh...plus, I'm nice, I don't charge labour for improving my own apartment, but materials are free. Be a sweeter deal if I actually had time to reno my own apartment....

I have been saying for years that I don't see how Vancouver can sustain some of the numbers that I see. Here is a prime example. Three towers squished around a goddamned sports arena in a less than 'prime' location sold on the fact that this area is going to improve.

Hell, it happens all the time. There is a small complex being built here in New West. 16 units, wood frame construction squished in between apartment buildings. I finally see a sign out front with a website. Starting at 390k! Starting...meaning ground floor 2 bedroom. This was a plot of land that had 2 houses and literally the complex is right on the line of bare minimum clearance to neighboring buildings. Not even a known developer.

I just look at Vancouver and surrounding area as built on a house of cards. We manufacture? Nothing of consequence. We have forestry, mining yes, but minimal corporate headquarters outside of BC biz. Even drop housing out of it and its still expensive to live here.

At the end of the day, I look and I say do I want to go and drop a huge sum of cash down on an apartment, have a big mortgage payment to make to live there and look around and say, well, I own the 'rights' to an apartment. For me? Nope. Oh, and I get a stuck up strata council in my shit telling me what I can and cannot do in my own home.

Since we are talking about debt obligations on a new home, I will sneak this article in here:

Bank of Canada issues fresh warning on debt - The Globe and Mail

Realtors/ "Property Advisors" / "Home Sales Consultrants" : Feel free to address

Can't do much when you have double digit growth in Greater Vancouver Real Estate prices in the last 7 years. Your shit shack in East Van that was 350K in 2004-5 is 700K in 2012.

A correct RE cycle is only suppose to see 7 years max of uptrends.....where are the downtrends?????????

For the average Vancouverite:
The generation in the 30-40's are smiling and flying (assume you were able to buy in early and reap the benefits of price increase)
While the generation in the 20-30's will have to figure out how and where they can afford.

When all is said and done the people that have overextended themselves by the means of a large mortgage and other debts (credit, loan, etc) will be the one under the water and this is when shit hits the fan.

It depends how financially intelligent and prepared the person is.

If you have a dual income family that has been reaping the benefits of the real estate game. Bought a modest home early 2000's and selling/moving/trading up. Their investment (value at risk) you would say is large but I would assume their mortgage may be small or negligible.

I would probably look at the bigger picture and see if the person can service their personal debt

I.E
Total Monthly Income > Total Expense + Debt Service = OK

With that said however, wages in Vancouver are pretty low, expenses (food, housing, etc) is pretty high...