Maybe part of the reason why insurance for apartments have gone is due to international students or new immigrations not knowing how things work in Vancouver?

In my pervious (Apartment was completed in 2017, move in July 2017 in Burnaby) Within a year there was already 3 times of major damage (maybe 4) Is all due to people not knowing how the sprinkler system works.

1st time 32 or 33rd floor someone though the sprinkler was used to hang clothes so she hang her clothes on it and BAM sprinkler went off flooded all the way to 12 floor over 20+ units were affected some need major reno coz of water damage.

2nd time Someone was cooking and I guess it caught on fire fire something and I guess they didn't put out the fire on time and sprinkler went off again. Not sure how many units was affected but it was pretty bad.

3rd time a bunch of international students rented a 2 bedroom apartment and I guess one of the bookshelf they had was too tall so it hit the sprinkler when they try to move it and sprinkler went off. Damage I think was 8 to 9 floor. Again major damage and people have to move out when reno was being done.

This is all within a year in a brand new building. There should be a policy/law if you are too stupid/dumb/do dumb things that cause major damage you should be 100% liability for all the damage not the strata. Strata can't fix stupid.

Which unit is this? Imagine you offend him again by offering listing price

A renter at my mother in law's building did this. They hung clothing off the sprinkler head and set it off. Did you happen to live in Met 1?

Met 2.

Afaik strata insurance covers common property and building only. Individual units have to have their own water damage coverage. For our building if someone is found responsible for starting water damage to the building and affecting other units they will have to cover the strata $25k deductible.

so is it a bad deal in this current market if you purchase a house at assessment or slightly above it?

But even when the owner responsible for causing the water damage is the one that pays up for the whole strata deductible, a strata insurance claim is still made to the insurance corp. And then the next year when renewal comes around, the strata is still going to be hit with a rate hike (because they made a claim).

Yes. Very true. But it kind of puts part of the responsibility onto the owner as well to know they can be on the hook for such a large deductible

For a primary residence, I would say it is still a good deal if you like the house enough to make it your home.

A few years ago when we wanted to upsize from our tiny 2-bedroom unit, we got outbid by the other buyer by $10k. The wifey and I really liked that larger unit we made the offer on, but at the time, I wasn't too comfortable with splurging that extra $10k+ for the higher bid. But later on when I looked back at my outbidded offer, even if I offered $20k over, it would only have been an extra $4 - 5k per year if we stay there for 4 - 5 yrs.

We liked the place, but I just didn't know how to play the game well enough. I told myself not to make that mistake again.

You buy/sell houses baed on comparables. Ie If you and your neighbour have identical houses and they sell theirs for 1.5, then if you pay more that's could be seen as bad, pay less thats good. Dont look at assessments for what the house is "worth."

It depends on buyer trends moving forward. Over the past few years assessments didn't mean much because everything was selling way above. Now it seems like buyers are more concerned about assessments and sellers will have to adapt and be willing to sell at or near assessment.

The thing you have to consider is assessments might go down further next year, if this happens expect prices to follow. If you're buying for long term this shouldn't matter as much because prices will eventually start trending up but if you're buying to flip in a few years assessments are going to play a bigger roll when selling so buy accordingly.

Does anyone have any experience living in Delta (specifically the Sunshine Hills area)? Is it a great place to start a family?

^lived near there growing up and I’d say yes. Nice neighbourhoods around the watershed.

got my assessment, down 11%

single family, coquitlam center area

Not sure if my math is wrong, if it is 4k-5k more on the mortgage per yr is quiet a bit.
I was caught on this dilemma also, but I went on the crazy safe side. I can float 400-500 dollars per year more cause its only 40 dollars per month on the mortgage, if it it was 4-5k per yr, 400 dollars more on a mortgage is a big chunk.

Now, having 1 income and being sole contributor is rougher to find an extra 5k per yr, guess its a bit diff if it was a married couple.

It all depends on how much their budget was in the first place. If they were ultra conservative then an extra $400 per month isn't much.
If they were mortgaged to the tits, then an extra $400 is a lot.

Anyone see that letter in the Province discussing how many people have effectively failed the stress test and be unable to renew their mortgages because of the property value decline?

Going to cause a major shitstorm.... government learning at our expense that they can’t regulate their way out of fuckery!

https://theprovince.com/opinion/lett...box=1578276965

I don't think they should have any issues renewing if they stay with the same lender. I haven't heard of people having to requalify to renew. Their current lender should want to keep that business. What I'm worried about is if the lenders will do anything since the property is worth $200k less. But they shouldn't as lenders usually do their own appraisal independent of assessment. And it sounds like they went to a private lender, I also have never heard of anyone purposely wanting to do a 1 year mortgage unless they want to flip, or is at a private lender. As the rate is stupid high for 1 year. Most lenders want you to lock you in for longer.

sounds like they were stretched quite thin to begin with
and if you bought in 2019 it was already starting to look bleak...yet signed on a 1 year term?

No evidence backing any of those claims. All hearsay and opinions that doesn't pass the sniffer test.

Well it is a letter to the editor, which is just an opinion piece. The fact that they blame the wrong government for implementing the stress tests speaks volumes about how misinformed or dumb the average person is in this province.

As I understand it, if the mortgage renewal is done with the same lender, it is unnecessary to go through the stress test again. However, if you switch lender, the stress test will once again become necessary. In a sense, that may deny the borrower from shopping around to get a better rate.

Went down 14% apartment also near Coquitlam center. However I have a feeling property tax will go up by 5% or more this year.

Would you have an issue refinancing for the following?

Purchase a home for $900,000
$180,000 down payment

$780,000 left on mortgage after five years.

Assessed value / Independent Asseses value is $690k? Household Income has stayed flat at $145k