Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

They could always buy into the Marquis Grande and pay a special assessment for new windows

isn't that a new building? what's the story there?

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by GLOW

isn't that a new building? what's the story there?

Google says it was built in 2005, built by Onni.
Some complaints of deficiencies as if the building was rushed.

Nothing else that I see online.

Never mind. I see some reports of leaking windows and Strata was trying to sue Onni.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by GLOW

isn't that a new building? what's the story there?

I don't know first hand, but an inspector I talked to who knows most of the buildings in the area told me that the owners are on the hook for close to a million total for replacement windows. This building is just over 10 years old.

There have been quite a few units for sale in that building over the last couple of months, including a 2-bedroom currently for sale that is 10% below market value. Could be a good deal if you're willing to shell out some money down the road for new windows.

[Mr.HappySilp]

^^ Even if it is 30% below market price is not a good deal. Window replacement is going cause way more than your savings. And not everyone in the building is willing ot pay out that much money.

[noclue]

I don't get it. He said it's gonna cost a million.. I looked at that condo has 182 units so around $5600 per unit. Not that bad.

I've seen special assessment for roofs that are like $20k+ per unit lol

[Hondaracer]

the special assessment will be based on your unit type, not a general split among all units.

The building we currently live in was built in 1986, 30 years old. However, it still has the original double pane metal frame windows, they are technically over their expected life span, However, due to care and maintenance we wont have to have a special assessment for replacement until 2025

for our unit, its going to cost approx 10k to replace every window and the patio slider.

Fucking sucks we cant replace them ourselves because i've got a killlerrrrr hookup with Starline windows, and already had our patio door panes replaced for free where as some people were paying $2500 or more lol

If units there are being listed for 10% or more below market, i'd take a serious look personally. Unless it's to the point where the entire envelope is in question and major leakage is going to cause huge problems down the road

EDIT*

one more thing i'll add, some people are fucking stupidddddd when it comes to these special assessments..

So lets say you've got a mortgage for 150-300k remaining on your place, whether it be a condo, townhome, etc. somewhere where the strata is going to drop the special assessment bomb. If you cant afford to add that 10k back into your mortgage to continue to live there, you're fucked.

a buddy of mine i work with lives in Langley just off fraser hwy in some older townhouses, decent places but nothing crazy, and also about 25 years old. Special assessment came in because they HAD to replace the siding and windows, like there was no other option, this had to be done because a large portion of the units had failing envelope systems, so they have to go ahead and replace all of them.

Strata council voted down going with the more expensive Hardi option, and opted for new vinyl. Already a mistake imo at a slight price increase (i think the hardi quote was another 5k a unit) but anyways.. for a total replacement of siding and windows it was like $15,000 a unit. Hefty special assessment, but i'd say reasonable value for the amount of work being done.

People were so fucking scared by this, they were selling AT A LOSS to get out.. so they wouldnt be hit with the assesment..

that was like 1.5 years ago.. those people who sold, some who i was told had lived there for 15+ years, now lost the largest exponential growth their property had probably ever seen since they had owned it... lol nice move.

[westopher]

If you have been living in a place for 15 years and can't manage to scrape up 15k, considering you can take out a line of credit if you have the home equity, what in the fuck have you been doing?! Probably the same people that say renting is ridiculous because you are "paying someone else's mortgage."
Financial illiteracy.

[Tapioca]

You would either get a home equity line of credit, or do a mortgage re-finance if you didn't have the cash. However, chances are that mortgage rates are not as good now as they were a year ago for a lot of people and I guess people are running tight, tight budgets. I was on a variable with a prime-0.7, but not anymore. Unless you're under a collateral charge mortgage, you gotta pony up for legal fees again too so that's another grand or so.

If the complex is in good shape and you can see yourself living there for another 5+ years, it makes sense to pony up the cash and pay the assessment. As long as the work performed is solid, having a major project done, like a roof or the envelope, is a major selling point.

[Hondaracer]

and the thing is.. odds are you're going to get some, if not all and more back in the value.. cause if you dump before the special assessment, anyone who is willing to buy is going to take at least the value of the assessment, plus probably a premium for having to deal with the headaches out of the sale price

[westopher]

A fool and his money are easily parted, one way or another.

[d1gbick]

What does everyone think of the Burquitlam area with the new skytrain going up next year. A lot of development around the station area and pricing is reasonably lower than Lougheed area.

[winson604]

Originally Posted by d1gbick

What does everyone think of the Burquitlam area with the new skytrain going up next year. A lot of development around the station area and pricing is reasonably lower than Lougheed area.

I pondered it at one point in my search.

http://www.revscene.net/forums/70145...questions.html

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by westopher

If you have been living in a place for 15 years and can't manage to scrape up 15k, considering you can take out a line of credit if you have the home equity, what in the fuck have you been doing?! Probably the same people that say renting is ridiculous because you are "paying someone else's mortgage."
Financial illiteracy.

Maybe these people took out a line of credit to buy sub-par coilovers and an amp and sub for their E46 M3.

[westopher]

It's what I plan on doing once we move in. Finally some equity so I can get some alpine type Rs in the trunk.

[GabAlmighty]

On another note, I bought my condo over the summer and sold it about a month ago and made decent coin for not doing anything to it. That was downtown in the West End. Had a good team of realtors though.

Originally Posted by d1gbick

What does everyone think of the Burquitlam area with the new skytrain going up next year. A lot of development around the station area and pricing is reasonably lower than Lougheed area.

If you buy at the early bird prices, you're going to make money. That's my plan, and it's what a lot of realtors do. Buy all the pre sales/early birds and sell them once the units are complete.

[winson604]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

On another note, I bought my condo over the summer and sold it about a month ago and made decent coin for not doing anything to it. That was downtown in the West End. Had a good team of realtors though.



If you buy at the early bird prices, you're going to make money. That's my plan, and it's what a lot of realtors do. Buy all the pre sales/early birds and sell them once the units are complete.

Some of the early bird prices are pretty insane too. Back in Nov I had signed a deal to purchase a presale townhome in Burnaby for $679 during their Phase 2 release but ended up backing out for personal reasons. Phase 3 was released 2 months later and the exact same unit was now selling for $799.

[heleu]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

On another note, I bought my condo over the summer and sold it about a month ago and made decent coin for not doing anything to it. That was downtown in the West End. Had a good team of realtors though.



If you buy at the early bird prices, you're going to make money. That's my plan, and it's what a lot of realtors do. Buy all the pre sales/early birds and sell them once the units are complete.

I wish I had the luxury to take this type of risk. You're basically borrowing money (a lot) to make money, on the assumption that the market goes up.

I remember in 2009, Bosa went after a lot of presale buyers that put down deposits and then flaked; they made them follow through with the sale. I guess if you have the credit to wait it out until the market goes up again, its ok.

[fliptuner]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

On another note, I bought my condo over the summer and sold it about a month ago and made decent coin for not doing anything to it. That was downtown in the West End. Had a good team of realtors though.

Since you just dealt with it, do you know how they calculated the capital gains?

[pastarocket]

This family in Burnaby got outbid 16 times in the last two years during their attempts to buy a house.

Frustrated Burnaby family outbid on 16 homes in two years - NEWS 1130

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Being outbid 16 times in the last two years is disheartening for one Burnaby family of four.

Maria Dosen and her husband sold their home in 2014, they moved in with her parents but assumed it would be short term until they found a new place to live.

“We are searching in Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and New Westminster,” she explains. “It’s been beyond frustrating to put my kids through such an emotional ride. One of them is a special needs child, so it has been even more emotional for him. It’s put a strain on me and my husband. It’s really frustrating when you know there are anywhere from six bids to 20 bids coming in and you know that you’re not going to get that home.”

With a budget of $1.2 million, the family has often put in $70,000 over asking price but they’re no closer to owning than they were two years ago.

As a result, the Dosen family has had to change their expectations. They plan to push their search further out and may have to consider smaller homes.

“We are going to re-evaluate and now start looking at townhouses and downsizing which is really not what we want to be doing. That just seems like the next logical step.”

Describing the situation as worse than a rollercoaster ride, the couple has been told they need to go $100,000 over asking.

“My son needs therapy [and] I need to be able to pay for his needs, so we can’t go [higher].”

UBC Real Estate Expert Tsur Sommerville says outbidding is dramatically getting worse.

“With prices rising really quickly, the idea of what is the right price for a unit becomes really hard to figure out. You can put in a bid over asking but someone else is seeing the market differently and they’re bidding more than that,” says Sommerville.

He says more people are chasing fewer units and that results in multiple offers and bids

[GLOW]

funny believe i was in their situation during that time too.

i'd like to see some examples of homes they bid on and the asking price. the listings could be priced "low" to spark a bidding war, especially at that budget it's not out of the norm. i'm guessing in the current market it's even worse (no need to set a 'an attractive' price).

something tells me their expectations and reality were a bit apart in 2014 and now that the market is hot it's making things worse for them.

[jackmeister]

Originally Posted by pastarocket

This family in Burnaby got outbid 16 times in the last two years during their attempts to buy a house.

Frustrated Burnaby family outbid on 16 homes in two years - NEWS 1130

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Being outbid 16 times in the last two years is disheartening for one Burnaby family of four.

Maria Dosen and her husband sold their home in 2014, they moved in with her parents but assumed it would be short term until they found a new place to live.

...

With a budget of $1.2 million, the family has often put in $70,000 over asking price but they’re no closer to owning than they were two years ago.


...

He says more people are chasing fewer units and that results in multiple offers and bids

sounds more like a sore loser that lost their gamble

[Hondaracer]

[UFO]

Once again 1.2M buys quite a bit in the tricities, for now. Obviously some important points are being ignored in the article, or that couple need to re-evaluate the realities of a constantly changing market and pay up. If you've been outbid so many times in such a short period, that should be a message that your bids are no good.

[Hondaracer]

As soon as it came to "we have a special needs child"

bye bye.

a good friend of mine is looking to tear down and build either in Burnaby or Richmond, said within the last month he put in an offer of somthing like 1.55 on a house listed at 1.2, even at that overpayment he figured they would have a chance on the certain property, and didnt exactly feel comfortable at that price point but said fuck it, we gotta take a chance.

realtor phoned him back and said "sorry but the owners are going with a significantly higher offer"

[Tapioca]

When I read stories like the family's above, I feel sorry and embarrassed for them at the same time. I feel sorry that they've been getting outbid each time, but I also think that they should have modified their expectations much, much sooner, particularly because they have a special needs child. If they're working with an agent, they should have access to listings before they hit MLS and they should have access to sales data so they can figure out where the hot spots and soft spots in the market are.

On another note, considering the constant media attention, I doubt the summer inventory is going to increase because people who were thinking about selling their home are probably scared shitless because they'll never get into something else at a price they can comfortably afford.