Imo it doesn't hurt to go with a realtor as their commission doesn't come out of your pocket anyways. The chance of getting discounts and or other perks b/c you didn't bring one is pretty low overall. Unless you're fairly familiar with the whole process, asking the right questions etc etc having a realtor who's in your corner does help more than it doesn't help you.

I was told realtors would give you nice gift, cash or big appliances since they dont do any work. Pretty much show their face and get commission.

My realtor gave me a fruit basket on my move in day :seriously:
Ofcouse i had to :pokerface: cuz it's not written anywhere they have to give back....

As a realtor in the last 5 years, this market now is out of control.

Tax assessment, market price, it's all doesn't matter anymore.
My client bought a 19 year old 33x122 home in 2014 for 1.3
He decided to sell last month, the home is in south east van.
Market price comparing to similar homes in the area is 1.75
It sold for 1.94... It blew my mind who would pay so much. Buyers are going nuts.

Seeing a lot of complaints about real estate prices. Yes it's insanely high.
Should I buy Land vs Air etc...
Ultimately, you buy what you can afford. In the end, it's just a roof over your head.
It's great to own land, but you don't want a million dollar mortgage.

Renting is not a bad idea too depending on your finances. Like some fellow members have mentioned, they were able to live life up instead of putting money into a home. However rent isn't cheap these days. Marine/Cambie 1 beds are going for $1600. A 2 bedroom at Metrotown goes for $2100.

Or take this advice I took from my neighbor, live at home for as long as you can.
If you want out of your parents basement, then buy/rent whatever you can afford.

28 years old living with parents and 300k in the bank is not fucking bad at all...that discipline!

i agree...her downfall is not doing anything with it to grow it but i guess she's trying to keep it as liquid as possible to pull the trigger when she thinks she's ready to buy?

Where does it say she's keeping it liquid or doing nothing to grow it?

I'd argue that living at home at that age with that much money is simply taking advantage of your parents.
Different cultures/situations definitely dictate wether thats the case or not however.

I would suggest in the future for anyone buying pre sale condos that you are set on purchasing (agreed on the price et. al) before the guidance of a realtor, to negotiate with potential realtors how much cash back you get from their commission for them to validate everything.

I know for my dad, he just verbally agrees with his clients about giving charging less / giving $$$ back on this type of situations. He literally just charges the cost of validating the paper plus a small fee on top since he is just there to help validate everything for the clients.

Its something to be proud of for sure.
She has it invested but easily accessible
^^
Pretty much this, she is still treated like a 10 year old. The minute life gets alittle rough its boohoo to the parents, cant make a decision on her own. Its not all her fault though, parents need to give her a kick in the ass. Sad really.

Depends. I pay rent to my parents, pay for the grocery bills, help cook, clean the house etc etc.... while saving as much as I can to pay for my apartment. If you are free loading off your parents that's a different story.

Wow, she sounds super disciplined! Just curious what she does?

Keep up with that and sooner or later it will be willed to you...

that's 1 way to get 1-up on your siblings :lol

A teacher
No drugs, doesn't drink, doesn't travel, BF for 6 years, doesn't go out at night.
If i did none of the above i would have a cool 1m in the bank. Forget that.

Just took possession of my condo about a week ago, and was in the same boat as to whether or not to utilize a realtor. My thought process was essentially that I had done the majority of the "hunting" on my own already (going to open houses, determining my wants/needs, finding a unit I liked, etc).

And then it came to negotiating... Developer wouldn't budge on the pre-sale price (no upgrades, incentives, etc) and mentioned that prices were going to increase shortly (which they did after about a month after I paid my deposit and locked in). So I reached out to a realtor who was listing for the developer and we essentially agreed that since I was already set on which unit I wanted, that should I have him represent me that we would split his commission via a kickback.

Ended up working out for the both of us, he was a really easy to work with guy and made handling the paper work easier (he helped bring documents to me to sign while I was at work, etc instead of me having to go out of my way). He got his cut for having to meet with me less than a handful of times, and I was given a cash incentive on my place that I couldn't get through the developer.

I wish they would raise the rrsp for new home buying from $25k to $100k. $25k made sense back in the 90s......

^ you'd get the same crowd of complainers who'd say that move only benefits the "rich". What you said would be nice, but I'd want the gov to bump up the TFSA contribution limit back up to 10k instead.

people have a hard enough time retiring as it is, so the gov doesn't want to let them borrow from their future too hard.

MY sister did the same thing when she purchase her first pre sale unit years and years ago. She line up for hours got in got fight her way to get 2 units and the developer won't get her any discount. She called her agent friend, and he came out. Got his commission and split it with my sister. Pretty good deal for him given the fact that he did absolute nothing and got paid pretty well for doing nothing.

I purchase a pre sale apartment should be ready to move in summer 2017. But I am considering selling it now and try to get a bigger unit. 500sq ft 1bedroom apartment seems a bit small even for 1 person.

Since the market is such that no subjects are the norm, how are people (normal, working class, that don't have an extra 3, 4, 500+k) able to compete for properties w/ a subject to sale? Or are they selling and just hoping something comes up before the possession date or willing to live somewhere temporarily?

side job


jk FeelsBadMan

Then you'd have the task of repaying that 100k over 15 years. Feel like debt.

Same here, except I already own a place. They're more than happy to have me around, and vice versa.

I have 3 friends who sold in the last 6 months and 2 out of 3 are currently living with parents or inlaws because they cannot get back in the market.
A realtor might have a better answer to this question.

Well from what I read or heard ppl go to the bank and see how much they can borrow. Once they have rough idea just look for properties around the range. So they can put in an offer right away.