Same, finding someone in a trade that gives a flying fuck is next to impossible.

I'm in a conundrum right now.

Still looking to buy a 2 bedroom, haven't found much that we like with the low inventory levels. What we have liked, has gone for $40k to $70k over asking and we have been outbid.

Found a pre-sale unit in New West that has a floorplan that is exactly what we were looking for, with features that check most of the boxes. Only problem is that we would have to wait until 2019 for move-in, if there are no hold ups or delays. Obviously everyone is in different situations, but we would have to rent for 2 more years and wait for the building to be completed. Not ideal, but it also wouldn't be the end of the world.

From my understanding, if we bought pre-sale, we wouldn't get locked into a mortgage rate until the building was complete in 2019? And if mortgage rates go up, that would be an additional cost.

The other option at this point, is to wait out the summer and what comes on the resale market in August/September with hopes that there are less bidders.

Thoughts?

if you look on the last page my first post there i lost 50-70k in a 6 month span on a 2BR condo in a 31 year old building from January to today.

I'd say if you can afford it, i'd go with the presale personally, you may get a little more for your money if you can get a unit you like.

might take you up on this in a few months :p

Fuck this market and the speculators.

Remember this site? https://vancouverpricedrop.wordpress.com/

This was the market before dirty Chinese money came to town.

I've found UrbanOne and PCL to be very competent construction managers and contractors. If that's the market or service you're looking for.

2. Thind (The kind of cramming an extra bed room into a space just so they can say it's a 3 bed room for x price!)

I offered Monday when it was the deadline.

Whatever, my real estate agent informed me 6000 applicants applied for the units lol

I've done a lot of work for PCL they are one of my preferred contractor to work for. We've recently started doing some stuff for Urban One, I haven't dealt with them enough to get that first hand knowledge of how they work.

1. Westbank
2. Thind
3. Onni (the worst)

I've heard of Onni buildings where the common area walls would have a bit of a give if you pushed on it.

Damnit now you guys have me all worried about the walkthrough for my upcoming presale handover.

there should be a warning list for such shitty buildings.

Where can I upload a document and post a link here? I'll post up my walk through checklist again

alot of the issues you won't even find in your walk through
Youll need to live in the space to find the serious or really annoying problems. Then youll have the issue of having the developer fix any problems. They have your money and some developers could careless or think your being to picky.

BBC - Capital - The avocado toast index: How many breakfasts to buy a house?

brb, going to plant some avocado trees in backyard.

I honestly don't think this market is ever going to crash... there's a virtually unlimited source of buyers... if you think about the fact that 1% of a country's population is what you'd consider ridiculously wealthy, given China's population of 1.4 billion, that's 14 million people that are, for all intents and purposes, so wealthy they can outspend most anyone else on the planet.

It's not going to end soon at all... when a group of people numbering half the population of Canada can out-spend any single person in Canada, we're fucked.

The (out)flow of people & money out of China depends on a great extent on how effective China's money outflow control is. It has been gradually becoming more effective, but as I have said before many times, when it comes out securing their own money, Mainland Chinese not only become extremely resourceful, they also have an unbending will to get it done, whatever it takes and however it takes.

The Canadian immigration and business policies are also partly responsible for the inflow of the ultra rich. With Trudeau in place and his close ties -- or at least, his willingness to bend over and lick some Chinese balls -- we're fxxked on that front too.

It may not crash but it will definitely reach a point where it levels off. It will probably take strong government action to do so though, so I won't imagine it'll happen very soon, but it will happen.

This infographic makes a good point. Older gen already-home-owners don't understand that they too would be struggling in today's housing market even with their "hard work" and "ambition"

Isn't the regular single detached home market already kind of like that? Seems to me that I have seen quite a number of $1.7M+ older houses, along with a number of $3M (or near $3M) brand new houses being on the market for quite a few weeks, and they are still here.

Meanwhile, the sub-$1M townhouses / condo market is as scorching hot as ever...

dropbox
google drive
Microsoft Onedrive
https://uploadfiles.io

It was the worst 2 years of my life dealing with a shitty developer that didn't want to fix your problems. As someone said, buy something that's 2 years old.

1. deficiencies should be fixed by then
2. strata should be mature enough
3. don't have to pay tax (GST)
4. don't have to deal with the developer

^ This. I live in a duplex that I purchased new. It was a nightmare dealing with the deficiencies as the builder refused to resolve most of them (we talked with lawyers who basically said we were SOL). Our neighbour said they have a leak in the 2nd floor ceiling now (18 month old house) and the builder said he just wants to paint the stain rather than open it up and fix it.

What's the difference in price between the pre-sale and the value of the condos you're bidding on? If the difference is small to nil, that pre-sale will cost you more once you factor in GST and the mortgage you will sign onto in 2 years. Interest rates have nowhere to go but up and in 2 years, you will most certainly pay at least 0.5% or more. That pre-sale condo will also likely be smaller than current units on the market and will be built and constructed more poorly than what you're looking at.

Another strategy you could employ is to buy a pre-sale at 15% down, then continue shopping for a better older unit. Keep 5%, apply for the BC HOME ownership program to bump up your own payment, and make an offer for an older unit you like. Assign the pre-sale to someone else before you have to complete the sale in 2 years and take the profit and pay off your BC HOME loan. Risky, but worth thinking about.