Nice looking appliances, I really liked how the GE Cafe line looks.

I'm not a fan of being attached to a commercial space that's most likely going to be a food establishment. You'll be dealing with vermin issues. I know sounds a little NIMBY but too many food places don't do a good job dealing with pests.

No parking and not close to Skytrain kind of sucks. No yard kind of sucks.

That intersection can be busy during rush hour, but other times it's not bad. The city has changed how the traffic pattern works there when they connected Clarendon to 33rd Ave. Used to be much much worse.

Does it not have a powder room on the main floor? There should be space for it under the stairs, but it’s not indicated as such on the floor plans.

I doubt it's part of the sale. It looks like the property was divided up like welfare pizza.

1 unit beside (the posted ad)

2 units behind (aka Nanaimo facing)

1 unit ABOVE the store itself

I believe all our sold except for this adjacent unit.

I went to Waverly, so I vividly remember this neigbhourhood. Good times.

Fast forward to 2025 and I wouldn't be caught dead in that adjacent unit unless I was killed there and drained of my holy fluids.

Yeah, this is a spot for a particular type of person. It wouldn't bother me to live next to a commercial space, I'd be excited about being able to get a nice coffee or breakfast in seconds but I can get the concern about vermin or the noise.

I figure there's two types of people who could love that place - 1. Younger urban, fairly affluent, child free couple. Likely car free, goes downtown a lot (or works there). 2. Older empty nesters who have downsized and don't want to leave the city. 2nd bedroom is a hobby room or for the grandkids to visit.

The Skytrain isn't TOO bad from there - 17 min walk and the 25 bus runs there a lot. I used to catch the 25 from where the T&T is now to get to SFU - even back then it ran reliably enough that it wasn't too bad. There's also the 33 bus now which runs to 29th station which is a 5 min ride though it doesn't run a tonne.

Yeah, no powder room on the main floor. Not sure how they managed to avoid putting one on the main floor as I could swear that zoning requires an accessible toilet on the main floor of a house.

I got GE Cafe fridge + wall oven. So far so good. Almost 5 years old.

The pool is crazy but the whole design seems like a summer property rather than a winter one.

I love this guy's content, its pretty funny, and does make you think about design choices people make. I actually watched that episode yesterday, I def agree with him about the double decker deck, it looks out of place, and stupid, also just empty and unlikely to get used. Also I agree that most people will be looking for the classic post and beam chalet style, or long home style.

Its funny I watch this guys stuff with zero hope in hell of ever owning anything like the homes he reviews. :lol

Mortgage renewal coming up next month, what rate/term has everyone been getting recently?

Rbc / 3 weeks ago
3 year fixed 4.3
5 year fixed 4.4
5 year variable 4.6

BMO and dominion had similar rates

(This is for my rented dump in regina with small mortgage)

Just go var, tariffs baby

Don't make me google and just aware me. How do implementation of tariffs mess with interest rates?

If the economy slows down as a result of tariffs the BOC may lower interest rates to get the economy going or minimise the impacts of the tariffs. It's a tough thing to do right now though b/c the US economy is showing bad signals around inflation which tariffs will make even worse which would mean the US won't lower rates. The bigger the gap in rates the more likely our dollar gets weaker as a result.

4.2 var
3.99 fix

TD

last week i checked and TD offered like 3 year fixed 4.59 before requesting any exemption

the person working told me the rate (or maybe the exemption) depends on the amount borrowed, not sure how accurate that is.

^ yes, obviously the more you borrow the better the rate

Soooo evofire is basically fucked in the ass with a HUGE ass mortgage!?!?! cuz he got 0.5% off

what do you guys know about trying to redo a almost brand new mortgage?

closed on my place just after Christmas and got a -0.55% variable rate and not a small amount with first national. we didn't have time nor any other option that would make our close timeline.

as rates come down, depending on what BoC does with rates, i'd like to explore what talking with FN or another bank would mean for penalties. Do other banks sometimes give cash incentices to offset the penalties to switch over?

You can calculate the penalties independently, and determine if they are worth it for your scenario. The terms should be on your mortgage agreement.

I would say that given how recently you got it, it will not be worth it.

Talking with Banks is never a bad idea, cause yes, unfortunately -0.55 is pretty mediocre. My current variable is -1.13, now dont get me wrong i'm still getting bent over cause I could have signed fixed and been way better off, but such is life.

Definitely phone around, see if you can sit down with an MS at a local financial institution and see what they say. Ultimately yes, some banks will offer you cash to offset the penalty of breaking your current mortgage. This usually isn't right at the start of a term though, so you are definitely in for some pain either way you cut it.

You should also seek out an independent mortgage broker, the nice part about these guys is that they deal every day with almost every financial institution, which means they have better info on which banks are offering the best rates, or the hungriest for new customers.

Good luck.

This was great.

^ yah, I skimmed his video and saw some of his other ones ... he made a reputation of critiquing multi-million dollar mansions around the world, their designs, and shortcomings ... via real estate agent tour videos. I didn't see an example of a good mansion so it's easy to crap and critique things, from 'videos', not having walked through anyone of them and just seem like you know shit. Waste of time, he sounded like Hondaracer of million dollar mansions. Get a real job.

Your variable is Prime -1.13? Whats the term?

Doesn't hurt to ask around.

TD was willing to refinance me with no penalty. Obviously I forgo the signing "bonus" of $3k, but my penalty would be well north of $3k and I'm saving $750/month. My rate with TD is 4.2 variable, which is prime -1%.

I'd imagine if you tried to migrate elsewhere though, they'll ding you the full amount of the penalty. Depending on what banks are willing to dole out for signing bonus, you might still come out on top.

Home sales are at a low right now, and banks are willing to deal as no one is taking out mortgages.
From the chats I've had with various mortgage people, the sweet spot is right above 1 million for mortgage. Say if you have a 950k mortgage, you might end up saving if you just borrow 1.1m, then immediately paying back the extra. I'm no expert though so it's just my untrained observation

5 years.

Giving glowing reviews probably doesnt bring in the same views as showing the flaws in multimillion dollar homes does.

He definitely does give high praise occasionally. There are a few videos if you look he gives the flaws, but also sings praise about how much he loves the home, and the things they did right. And if you watch some of the stuff he has about homes in LA, many of them he has toured, or has been to the property at the very least.

Even in that whistler video he says the things they did right in the living room about the warmer tones, but then he explains how those warmer tones evaporate as you move through the rest of the house.

Not saying you need to like his content, but i mean people watch it, i'm one of them, i enjoy it. I went to school briefly for architecture, and i'm the type of person who thinks you gain a lot more from critiquing, than from just looking at something done perfectly.

He was actually wrong about something in the video... he said it was stupid to have access to the garage through the guest bedroom area, but the agent clearly said it was access to 1 of the 2 garages... so I don't think its the access point for the main garage, just the secondary one possibly for the guests to park in.

Small thing, but kind of a bungle. I liked the video though and how he talks about design.