your thinking about renting out a place that hasnt even been completed... who knows how the economy is by then...

I have many friends working for condo developers. According to my sources, 80% of the buyers for some of these new condos coming up in Burnaby have Asian last names.

The reason is I can have a way larger down payment in 3 years than now thus smaller mortgage and less money going to interest. For example, let's say I can put down 20% now and another 30% down in 3 years, I will also save a ton on interest (~15k over 3 years). Another upside is that I can secure it for $269k with a security deposit of $20k. I don't need to make any mortgage payments for 3 years until it is built.

My friend bought a condo in 2009 for 350k in downtown and it is hovering around 400k right now. Profit is good but my goal is to pay it off as fast as I can without incurring so much in interest.

50K is nothing after realtor fees and taxes that your friend had to pay when he purchased the unit. Besides, he may not be able to sell his unit for 400K because the market may still be in a slump when he wants to sell his unit.

Honestly you haven't done ANY research in the real estate market.

Few points:
1) HST. Your buying, and with that comes tax. HST will be dissolved by 2013 (hopefully) and the GST/PST system will come back into place. Once this happens, the tax on the purchase price of your condo will drop significantly.

2) "Experts" say that the real estate market is taking a dive. They predict in 2-3 years that it will drop 10-15%. If you buy now your taking a LOSS on your property. This can be backed up by research showing that in Burnaby alone, the apt/condo market is going stale. I am tentatively watching as I'm looking to purchase in 2-3 years for myself in Burnaby.

3) Buying in the "hype" of the moment I wouldn't suggest. A pre-sale could be nice, but as others have explained. Alot of the "little things" can change. It could also be a hassle as dependant on the builder, the quality could be below-par. (I don't know the builder for SOLO so I'm not about to judge.)


-As lots of people are saying. I also WOULD NOT recommend buying right now. There are too many signs showing that it isn't a good time. Even though a ton of buildings are going up, like Toronto, doesn't mean anybody is buying them. I'd sit donw and think about this.

SOLO is being developed by an offshoot of Bosa.

It's becoming clear that the OP is dancing to the beat of his own drum. You will be taking a huge risk if you buy a condo for investment purposes in Burnaby-Brentwood.

With that said, would you be interested in buying a unit that is available now, is in a well-run building, and has the best layout of any suite in any building in the area?

Can't stress enough to do lots of reference and background checks on potential tenants. A quality realiable tenant is what you want even if it means settling on less income.

I forsee a rush to buy until July 9th when the maximum amortization changes to 25 years. After that prices will likely come down.

Given a rising or even a flat housing prices trend, people will generally pay a lot less in pre-sale vs buying the house when it is completed.
(My parent brought a pre-sale in 2003 for 440K, it was supposed to be completed by 2005, but the builder delayed the completion for almost 2 years...
by the time they got their house in 2006/2007, the house was worth 700k+)

Of course this could've gone the other way if the housing market tanked...


Definitely wouldn't recommend buying a condo for the purpose of renting it out tho ... you really wouldn't want to deal with a tenant if you don't have the time or stomach for it...
to me it is just not worth the headache...put your money into stock or other financial investment

many of whom are probably citizens/born here
what a dumb comment

I've been fooled like that before. Back in high school, went to Tom's Video to rent some porn. Saw the last name was Lee and thought sweet asian chick.
Turned out it wasn't and I had to fap to some blonde chick. :okay:

I would be interested in that as well. If I buy now, I may put down 30% for down payment on a 300k condo vs 60% down in 3 years thus I'm keen on the pre-sale condos. It doesn't have to be this condo but it can be any pre-sale condo.

I would rather put a very large down payment at 60% vs incur lots of interests at 30% down.

How did you miss the "Jones" part of Tommy Lee Jones? :fullofwin:

*hi from TCL*

out your money somewhere else, dude.

you wouldnt put 90k into something for 3 years to not make any money, would you?

think about it.

FYI: The going rate for a 1-bedroom, 650 square foot unit in my building is 350K. The going rate for a 870 square foot, 2-bedroom unit in my building is 415K. 300K for new construction is going to get you something smaller than 650 (which I consider the bare minimum as livable.) If anything, please look around Craigslist to get a sense of the rental market in the area.

If I had 200K in cash, I would not drop it on a condo today. If you can save 100K in cash in 3 years, why not save for a decade and buy a bloody detached house?

It's the other way around. It's 20k down now and then in 3 years, I may consider putting down another 40% down.

It's not 60% down now and wait 3 years.

you said 30% of 300k. that is 90k.

but whatevs...it doesnt matter....20k sitting there doing nothing for 3 year is just as wasteful a 90k.

personal (non offensive) question...how old are you?

Not being defensive but how does this relate to the condo market?

Your age and your situation in life are relate to what kind of investments are best. If you're 25 and have just started pulling good money, and are killing to lock all of the money you've put aside into this, it'll be a bad move, especially if you've also got car payments payments other debts. It also depends on when you expect the payoff for this investment to be. 2020? 2040? It seems like you're looking to build equity quickly so you can flip quick for maximum cash. At 30% you're not likely to go upside down, but if you plan to cash out within the next 10 years, there's no way to know what kind of values anything will have.

For the exact reason Graeme S pointed out.

Also, you could be around 18...have yet to go to university, etc. Maybe being locked into property is not the best investment. What if you travel overseas for work...would being a landlord be the best choice?

If you are in you 30s and are wanted to buy property, pre-sale is probably not the best choice either.

Are you in a relationship? Are you renting now or living at home?

None of these questions are meant to offend you....there are many people here from all different walks of life and are all different ages....it is just a way to relate to your situation so we can offer the best advice.

I am 31. I bought a pre-sale in 2008 that was completed 14 months later in 2009. I currently rent it to a small family for $1550/month. This covers mortgage, strata, and property tax...it leaves me with about 100$. If I were to sell, between realtor costs, etc., I would lose money.

Do I wish I did something else with my money? Yes. I don't really regret buying a place, but I would have done it differently.

I may consider cashing out in the next 10 years or I may consider paying this condo off fast and use it for passive income so I can get another mortgage for a 2nd condo or dwelling for passive income once paid off.

I'm in my mid twenties. I have some luxury of time of doing more overtime to build up my capital.

Why is it not a good choice to buy a pre-sale condo in your 30s?

Is your condo called Richards Living and what would you have done in hindsight?

Even if you were in your 30s, I wouldn't recommend buying a pre-sale condo for investment purposes. The numbers simply don't work at today's prices - we've all laid it out for you. At best, you will be cash flow neutral and at worst, you will lose $200-500 per month. Remember, CRA only allows you to declare a loss on capital investments for 5 years. I don't think we'll see a market recovery for at least a decade, if not more.

I don't know what type of job you have, but your age is somewhat relevant because your 20s are a time to take chances. You should be mobile and you should manage your life and assets accordingly. If you're in your 20s and really want to invest your money, play the market. You're young enough to suffer losses in the short-term. At least once a stock starts to go down, you can panic sell the shares and mitigate your losses. Real estate is a completely different animal as it's a tangible asset. Moreover since real estate is a physical asset, it ties you down to a certain extent. At least with stocks, you can manage them from anywhere on the planet. Sure, you can manage real estate from abroad, but you'll likely have to hire a third-party property management company which will eat into your margin. If you're making 6-figures, then you should really just wait and buy a house because at least you'll own land.

As many have said in this thread, the days of flipping condos for a 10-20% profit margin are over in this town.

^that pretty much sums it up.

If I'm understanding you right, you are implying that even if I don't have a dwelling now, I should continue to rent until the market is not at the peak?

If this wasn't an investment and I planned to live in it, would that change the scenario to buy?

What do people do in their 30s when they have paid out their dwelling and have just cash sitting in the bank? Do they just put it into RRSP until they retire? I can see some money going into stocks but I don't see them putting 50% of their cash into stocks.

This is a discussion to have with an investment advisor, not Revscene. IANAIA; IANAIB; IAN[insert financial job here].