Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[originalhypa]

Originally Posted by CharlesInCharge

Im trying to raise money selling tinyhomes infused into a stealthy van first (coming to a neighbourhood near you)... then I'll be going to that other free country, Iran, not Russia.
https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers...unity/dveq9gu/

People here are butt hurt because there are a set of humans out there that have opted out of rat race slavery.
Houses, a place to hold my stuff (George Carlin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

Smoke another bowl, CIC.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by originalhypa

More power to them?

I'd love to see one of these eye sores parked out in front of your mom's house. See how quickly you'd be posting up "how do get rid of homeless in front of my family home?"

these guys are not parked in the conventional residential areas...at least not overnight. AFAIK they are in parking lots and under metro tracks.

[zyzzjr]

uh oh...

U.S. Federal Reserve nudges up interest rates again, expects more to come - Business - CBC News

U.S. Federal Reserve nudges up interest rates again, expects more to come

[Hondaracer]

yea the concept of a "home" is so stupid, you know, a safe, insulated roof over your head and a bed that you dont have to unroll every night.. fuck the rat race i'll just live in a broken down vehicle :/

[will068]

Originally Posted by zyzzjr

uh oh...

U.S. Federal Reserve nudges up interest rates again, expects more to come - Business - CBC News

U.S. Federal Reserve nudges up interest rates again, expects more to come

A downtrending US Economy guarantees a downtrending Canadian Economy.

An up trending US Economy does not guarantee an up trending Canadian Economy (e.g. our Brain Drain from the 90s).

Who knows, BoC may not increase our IR. Is the Canadian Economy doing well ?

[!LittleDragon]

Not raising our rates would also turn our Dollar into the Canadian Peso. More investment dollars will head down south as there are better opportunities down there. That would mean less investment in Canada further pushing down our economy.

And with Trump in charge, companies are more likely to invest in America. You're not going to see companies like Burger King move their headquarters to Canada anymore.... at least not until the next guy...

[mikemhg]

Originally Posted by originalhypa

More power to them?

I'd love to see one of these eye sores parked out in front of your mom's house. See how quickly you'd be posting up "how do get rid of homeless in front of my family home?"

You're taking the argument elsewhere, as usual. Where did I say they should be parked out in front of someone's "mom's house"? There are industrial areas in the city in which these people park their vehicles, or should be doing so. I have no problem with that, nor should you. Living in an RV or van on a residential street with houses is silly, no one is claiming that should be happening.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by 68style

Personally I prefer our method. I'd rather pay a special assessment at some point than to be constantly tipping buckets full of money into a never-ending abyss named "maybe"

Easy to say now, but cost certainty is pretty important to most people. In the 6 years we lived in our building, we paid about 55k in special assessments ontop of the standard monthly maintenance fees. 40k of that was in full exterior envelope remediation, basically a one shot deal. We were fortunate to have had savings that we were planning for a down payment towards a house, but most didn't have that luxury. The costs were not recouped really when we sold despite basically a new exterior with 10 year warranty for peace of mind

And I had already advocated pretty hard to have about 25k worth of building projects be paid for out of our contingency reserve, because what's the point the reserve fund if you won't ever use it.

Since moving into the house 2 years ago, we're in another 30k for maintenance issues. Maybe we just pick all the winners. But happy to be the boss of my own land.

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

We paid $235 a month strata and we had: a huge pool, great change rooms, a sauna in each change room, a gym, 2x full sized racquet ball courts, a 25x40 workshop AND a paint room! Lol not to mention 4 levels of covered parking and additional spots were only $25 a month. Strata was great and elevators were done right before we moved in, 3 elevators.

We were paying just under 350/mth, 800sf 1br 1 den. Our building had zero amenities, 2 level underground parkade, and 1 level, a couple of really small grass areas that needed upkeep. Smaller 30 unit lowrise though. And this was back in 2015 when we left.

You guys paying under 250/mth for condos are atypical I would say. When we were looking at townhouses a couple years back it wasnt unusual to see those monthly fees at 200-250.

[westopher]

We pay about $235 for our condo. New build, a nice gym and some fountains. The landscaping is quite nice and most importantly we have a car wash bay in the underground I use weekly. Our unit is just shy of 700sq/ft and the balcony is another 100

[stewie]

Odds are this question has been posted somewhere within the past 400+ pages but I'll ask anyways.


I've been looking for a place for myself for a while now with no luck, and over the past few days me and my girlfriend have strongly been considering doing a joint purchase. My bosses, our parents, and relatives were suggesting we look into this route and now it's seeming like a pretty good idea. We'd be able to get something better and more desirable to live in with the two of us paying for it.

My question - is there some type of contract we should/need to sign as a "worst case scenario" situation to plan out what would happen? We each take our initial down payment back and split the rest 50/50. Furniture etc we both could care less about, we've both got family we could fall back on.

Other than the possibility that one day we may split and part our separate ways has anyone done this and have reviews about it?

[unit]

i think it's smarter that one of you pays for it and the other rents from the person who paid. if you guys get married then you can share it all, but until then i think this is the easiest way to do it.

[68style]

Originally Posted by UFO

Easy to say now, but cost certainty is pretty important to most people. In the 6 years we lived in our building, we paid about 55k in special assessments ontop of the standard monthly maintenance fees. 40k of that was in full exterior envelope remediation, basically a one shot deal. We were fortunate to have had savings that we were planning for a down payment towards a house, but most didn't have that luxury. The costs were not recouped really when we sold despite basically a new exterior with 10 year warranty for peace of mind

Hate to say it, but whoever went over your minutes or advised you on the building that you lived in to purchase didn't do a very good job. You can see these assessments coming from a mile away on buildings reading the strata minutes and making a timeline for the building on what maintenance it has had done.

[Traum]

To me, this just more or less sounds like a prenup. As long as both of you agree to whatever terms you deemed is fair (between the 2 of you), I don't see why you should stop.

Bear in mind that the definitely of "fair" may seem fair right now, but it might not appear so fair later on. For argument's sake, let's say you came up with $60k, and your gf with $40k, for a grand total of $100k deposit. Also for argument's sake, let's say the place you buy is $400k right now.

A few years down the road, you guys paid the mortgage off, and the property doubled in value to $800k. If you break up then, what would be a "fair split"? Is a 50/50 split fair because you paid a bigger share on the deposit? What if one party paid more on the mortgage payment?

Split ups are almost always ugly, quadruply so when money is involved. Sometimes it brings out the worst in a person. I have unfortunately wittnessed that a few times on my friends.

[UFO]

Originally Posted by 68style

Hate to say it, but whoever went over your minutes or advised you on the building that you lived in to purchase didn't do a very good job. You can see these assessments coming from a mile away on buildings reading the strata minutes and making a timeline for the building on what maintenance it has had done.

It was a mid 90s build, not uncommon to have leaky condo symptoms. It had a partial remediation done in the early 2000s. My wife had been living in the building for more than 5 years prior to us buying it, so we feel we had a thorough first hand history on the building prior to buying in.

The minutes only tell you what the investigative reports reveal. In our case we chose to have an engineer assess our envelope as part of the routine maintenance, not because of faliures and poor performance. Had we chose not to have the investigation done, we probably would have been just fine until we sold. Theres nothing maintenance wise that can be done to prevent leaky condos based on poor building code of that era.

Somewhat related, in light of the mandated depreciation reports, I do sense that often times potentially costly investigations are put off by stratas for the same reason. Especially if owners are not in it for the long term and looking to flip for a buck or two, ignorance is bliss.

[stewie]

Originally Posted by Traum

To me, this just more or less sounds like a prenup. As long as both of you agree to whatever terms you deemed is fair (between the 2 of you), I don't see why you should stop.

Bear in mind that the definitely of "fair" may seem fair right now, but it might not appear so fair later on. For argument's sake, let's say you came up with $60k, and your gf with $40k, for a grand total of $100k deposit. Also for argument's sake, let's say the place you buy is $400k right now.

A few years down the road, you guys paid the mortgage off, and the property doubled in value to $800k. If you break up then, what would be a "fair split"? Is a 50/50 split fair because you paid a bigger share on the deposit? What if one party paid more on the mortgage payment?

Split ups are almost always ugly, quadruply so when money is involved. Sometimes it brings out the worst in a person. I have unfortunately wittnessed that a few times on my friends.

I've seen friendships fall apart between friends over a feud from a purchase. High school buddies and they work together still but don't say a word to each other.

I'll use your down payment of 100k as an example. When we were talking about it she was saying that if I were to put down 60 and she put 40, even though it's joint owned 50/50 I'd still own "60%" in the event of a worst case scenario and money would be split 60/40. The other option we decided was we each take our initial 60/40 down payments back and split the rest 50/50 after that. If it's gone up in value, awesome. If it's gone down in value we're pretty sure we'll at least get our each initial payments back.


We're just trying to brainstorm some ideas as to how to go about this and find other peoples experience with it.

[Tapioca]

If you want to purchase property with someone else whom you're not sure about, then you should read up on what the current provincial legislation on marriage and families says about the division of property here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/l...amily-property

If you purchase property and register both names on the title, the property gets split 50/50 by default. If you both agree to a different split of the property should your relationship not work out, you need to get it in writing and notarized at minimum. Preferably, though, you should spend a bit of money and see a lawyer to draft something that is clear and will stand up to any potential lawsuit from you or your partner.

Remember that if you split up, you don't need to sell the property - one can buy the other person out based on the agreement you signed before you purchased the property. You would just need to qualify for a new mortgage based on the value of the former partner's interest in the property.

One more thing to consider is how to register the property. There are two options in BC:
- Joint tenants
- Tenants in common

Registering the property under joint tenancy is usually picked by married or common law couples as in the event of death of one of the partners, the title of the property transfers in full to the surviving partner or spouse. That means you don't need to need to file for probate, or ask permission from the province to assume full control over the property if your partner or spouse dies.

Tenants in common means that if one of the property holders dies, then that person's interest goes to his or her her estate. If your partner has a will and designates her mother to be beneficiary of all of her assets, then your partner's share would be assumed by her mother based on her will.

[stewie]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

If you want to purchase property with someone else whom you're not sure about, then you should read up on what the current provincial legislation on marriage and families says about the division of property here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/l...amily-property

If you purchase property and register both names on the title, the property gets split 50/50 by default. If you both agree to a different split of the property should your relationship not work out, you need to get it in writing and notarized at minimum. Preferably, though, you should spend a bit of money and see a lawyer to draft something that is clear and will stand up to any potential lawsuit from you or your partner.

Remember that if you split up, you don't need to sell the property - one can buy the other person out based on the agreement you signed before you purchased the property. You would just need to qualify for a new mortgage based on the value of the former partner's interest in the property.

Beauty of an answer for me
We had already planned that a lawyer would be involved in the contract to cover all the what if's.

We could both easily fall back to our families for a short bit if needed to get our feet back on the ground until we could find different places to live while renting the place out. I think if we were to want to sell right away it would probably have a lot of mixed emotions and probably wouldn't be the best thing to do. Wait until everything's cooled down and we're ready to talk to each other when clear minded to make a rational decision.

[stewie]

It just got tougher to take Quebec’s back door into Vancouver and Toronto real estate



It says it did this on Wednesday but this is the first I'm hearing about it. Must've missed this on the news or not notice it in any papers.

Quebec has also introduced stricter requirements when it comes to the selection of candidates, said Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.

In an email to Global News, he said applicants will likely be rejected if they have relatives outside Quebec, if they have a child attending a school outside the province and if they have owned any property in Canada outside la belle province.

“Plus, if you have travelled to Canada but not Quebec, the case is eyed with suspicion,” Kurland wrote
With changes like these in place, Kurland expected the “trampoline effect” from Quebec to B.C. and Ontario to reduce by adjusting “intake.”

He also expected that Quebec would address “output” by “ramping up enforcement of cases where the person left Quebec at the time the person tries to renew their permanent resident card.”

Kurland said such a person many find themselves “gummed up in immigration processes for failure to locate in Quebec.

“And that would send a signal, if your plan is to apply here and move there, it won’t work.”.

I remember talking about this many pages back about the investors coming in through Quebec and then instantly jumping ship to a more desirable province when they should be staying in Quebec where they applied to go or to have limits to which province they can go to. Resulted in someone saying something along the lines of that would never happen, you cant restrict someone from living in Canada etc etc. Looks like it might be a slight baby step in that direction.

[twitchyzero]

probably considered unconstitutional but i'll drink to that

[Rallydrv]

^ since when does quebec give a shit about canadian constitution.

[d1gbick]

Originally Posted by stewie

Odds are this question has been posted somewhere within the past 400+ pages but I'll ask anyways.


I've been looking for a place for myself for a while now with no luck, and over the past few days me and my girlfriend have strongly been considering doing a joint purchase. My bosses, our parents, and relatives were suggesting we look into this route and now it's seeming like a pretty good idea. We'd be able to get something better and more desirable to live in with the two of us paying for it.

My question - is there some type of contract we should/need to sign as a "worst case scenario" situation to plan out what would happen? We each take our initial down payment back and split the rest 50/50. Furniture etc we both could care less about, we've both got family we could fall back on.

Other than the possibility that one day we may split and part our separate ways has anyone done this and have reviews about it?

GF? do not do this grasshopper, your boss, friends and relatives are giving you bad real world advice. Wait until you are married and committed. You would be considered common law which legally is the same after 2 years of living together

why? This goes way beyond property. Unless you see your future as a avg. salary 9-5er with an easy going type of life and no plans to hustle and make it big its totally not worth the extra buying power you would have with the 2 of you going into it

Few examples. All your assets and investments up until you decide this do not count, but lets say 3 years after you have moved into your $400 000 condo, you receive an inheritance or win the lottery. Guess where half that is going

You come up with a great idea and start a successful business out of it while in your new place. Guess who owns 50% of the shares.

You decide to buy a couple bitcoins. 5 years later they go on a 10x run again. Half of that isnt yours

Your gf develops a shopping addiction and starts buying every single thing she sees on credit. Guess who is on the hook for half that debt.

See where I am going.

Understand the risk you are taking on when making this decision, its not all sunshine and rainbows which it sounds like you are being told. Having a gf vs a wife are worlds apart and women change. I have seen this time and time again with buddies who have all been warned but are too blind to see reality

[westopher]

All of those exact things can happen with a wife, or girlfriend. With current common law situations its all the same, assuming you guys have been living together long term already. If you haven't been living together long term, agreed, the advice you have been given is awful. Like full fucking retard awful.

[Hehe]

Some mis-information I see here.

Honestly I don't see it as a problem as long as you can answer one question without hesitation: is the relationship stable enough for you to consider to tie the knot one day?

If the answer is a simple yes... no if or buts... just a firm yes, doing it now and 3 years down the road makes little difference unless you want to start predicting prices.

Anything else is just anybody's guess.

BC law specifically addresses certain things when it comes to divorce proceedings.

Lottery: well, if you are lucky enough to win big, what difference does it make? It's one in the million chance... just think you only won half of it and be happy. Think it another way, if she buys one and she wins, she'd have to split with you too.

Inheritance: this is generally considered as a separate property to the person who receives it. The condition for it to be considered as a joint property is very limited and very hard to prove in court. This doesn't just apply to windfall when your parents or relative pass away, but also gift, in any form from them while they are still alive because unless it's specifically gifted to BOTH of you, it's considered a separate property.
The only thing that's considered joint is the proceed that's generated by this gift. Say you inherit 1M cash and put that into a GIC. Any interest you make up to the point of separation could be subject to split as that part then became yours and no longer a separate property.

If you are really worried and actually have enough to be worried, put most of the stuff in a form of trust and voila.

Anyway, I'm no lawyer and not offering any legal advice and definitely don't take as one.. just clarifying some misunderstandings people seem to be having about the divorce process.

[twitchyzero]

Douglas Todd: Here?s the next weapon in the battle for B.C. housing affordability | Vancouver Sun

is that new café posted a year or two ago with dozens of beneficiary still around?

[JDMStyo]

Happy Easter long weekend - we are officially 1/3 through 2018 and boy it's still looking pretty rosy from the presales and condo market with developments selling out hard despite prices rocketing higher.

Brentwood
Gilmore Place - ONNI coming soon. 75000sq ft amenities and 3 floors of premium small scale mall, 10 towers on Gilmore & Lougheed. Marble and tons of standard features at $1050/ft start.
What's not to like?
1% assignment fee - it's like Onni expects you to flip and make a healthy profit. Tower 1-3 will have over 1,600 residential units and Toronto style height buildings.

VIP access now - DS not ready yet but should be writing in month. 25% deposit in 1.5 yr.

Bordeaux by Solterra
Boutique European builder brings a luxury high-rise right beside Juneau (sold out) on Willingdon across from Costco turn in. Expect $1000/ft and better South side view towards Metro/Richmond.

Eternity on Kingsway
$300K 2br from first phase has done well at Infinity, Dimex Group brings low rise second phase to Royal Oak + Kingsway. I see lots of development potential here.
$850/ft all sold out except 3BR. 2 yr completion. Low rise wood frame.

Southgate by LedMac
It's coming... it's coming...
But no news since late last year and some teasers.
Expect $900/ft since Kings Crossing across street is doing so well.
Assignments are asking $850ft regularly.
2016 pricing were $350K 1BR and $460K 2BR. Assignment lift are in $200K range.

Burquitlam
520 Clarke - following in footsteps of Burquitlam Capital, 567 Clarke, this LedMac project will slate to open in next 6 months. Should be nice and central for those who love Lougheed.

City of Lougheed 2
Tower 2 of ....TWENTY THREE. Public preview Apr 28.
The gongshow and delays of SHAPE continues but finally start process end of April. Will try and get details for you guys - but Wynwood which is well down Austin Rd sold out at $920/ft. Can't imagine this going for less.

Still waiting to pay second 10% on Tower 1 though... $350K 1br clients, congrats on making at least $150K on your $35K down so far...!

Vancouver
LANDMARK
High end and luxury with concierge and heated swimming pool, $2500+ a ft on Robson with breathtaking views. 1BR starts at $1.5M, you can do the math.

Park HouseProper Vancouver on Langara & 59th. Those $700K 1BR were a steal IMO. With BOSA/Onni building Canadaline addition to Cambie + 59th and 20+ towers coming to Pearson area, this is hot.

Transca's Primrose Cambie Corridor gems $900K 1br along King Ed.

More later - check our mailing list or WeChat for more info!