Do you mind sharing the link to the foreclosures?

repost

thanks for the info, i might PM you at a later date when we are more serious in what direction we want to go in.

Lawyers like it old school because there is less competition that way.

There is no link, it is a piece of paper stuck on a board at the Law Courts every morning in the form of hearings for that day.. you see what you like, you pay cash (usually via a lawyer), the item that is being foreclosed is yours. Obviously no warranty, no cool down period etc etc.

You need to be 33x108 at the current rules I think.. but they are looking into changing the rules yet again.. also there are areas that you can't build coach houses.

do those rules apply to a carriage house? i might be mixing up my terminology but i'm thinking of a studio-type living space above the garage when i say carriage house?

AFAIK Coach houses = carriage houses.. the word came from the time when there are horses.. the houses above the stalls are those houses.

From Building your laneway house - City of Vancouver:

Wonder what would happen if Vancouver were to go bankrupt like Detroit......

I'm in my mid-30's.

So you bought early and rode the wave. Good move. You also bought really young.

Parental help?

Yes we did have some help from our parents on our first purchase. :)

But my wife and I aren't like your typical Vancouverites - those that need to get a new car every 4 years, eat out at fancy restaurants on a regular basis, go on trips several times per year, etc. :) As a result, we were very aggressive with paying off our mortgage.

Although our current/upcoming mortgage will be much larger than our first mortgage, our lifestyle hasn't changed, and we will have a 2 br basement rental suite.

Well. Could always move to Detroit.

$1 house anyone?

4700 Saint Clair St, Detroit, MI 48214 - Zillow

^ you need to pay the back taxes and liens

plus high chance of dying lol

from gumby's link:

good to know info. i've seen some properties that are 29-32 ft in width

Does anyone have a resource for learning about both current zoning in BC and the process for rezoning?

I plan on buying some property when things get back to normal level (5 years away?) and build my dream home, and perhaps build some other homes, and would like to educate myself on that stuff - I'm comfortable on the high level economics, but am not in the details at all yet

I think it will be available on the municipality's website, both current and proposed zoning changes should be available.

That's what I used when I researched a couple months ago, in the 416 anyways.

Not what I'm looking for - I want to learn the process for rezoning land, and to understand current zoning types and what you can do with each

Vancouver Zoning Information | Jeff Fitzpatrick - Realtor
This site has a brief insight on all the zoning codes currently in the City of Vancouver.

For a map of current zoning: http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/Zoning-Map-Vancouver.pdf

As you can see, say if you want to buy somewhere in Mount Pleasant once prices are corrected and want to put in a single family home, it would be difficult to try to rezone your plot as everywhere around you are RT-5/6 and they might not allow just a single-family home there. I don't have too much info on how the actual process is in Vancouver, as my parents rezoned their land, but that was in Richmond and it was fairly painless as the area they are in was already getting rezoned (neighbours and what not).

And we're off on planning for the next bubble!

Haha, not at all - when you think about the value added in property, in a flat market, i see it as when you zone it appropriately and then when you build a quality product. The only time you don't want to do this is in a down market... So I'll learn what I want to learn and perhaps apply my knowledge when things settle down

The website has those info as well, as far as I can remember

Fair enough

Right now is all about interest rate and the economy. Since election is due in 2015 AND the US feds have already signaled they won't raise interest rate until end of 2014. I think the market will go up cautiously until after the Federal election in 2015.. unless something drastic like earthquake.. Actually I think more meltdown in Europe will increase real estate prices in Canada in general since there will be higher capital flight.

Reached my limit for the month already, will read next month lol

These low interest rates gotta end. Can't be inflating prices forever, no one is going to do anything real if you know it's going to end soon. Look at the QE in the states, stock market at all time highs but so are food stamps? I understand the gov't is raking in higher taxes but it's just driving away business and the only people making money are in real estate