was renting in the 90s-era low rise a block away for a year
zero noise, no safety concerns, north shore mtn view
it’s cleaned up a lot since high school/lan cafe days

versus Highgate area (more work/activities than living), man that feels more ghetto despite being even more modern/gentrified and it’s not even a transit hub

you can’t beat the Joyce area in terms of being at the center close to the highway, large shopping complex, park amenity, dt proximity and it strikes a great balance of car/transit usage versus river district or west end

The area is definitely interesting. I wonder why it's valued so low. It's around low 700's for 600 - 750sqft 1 brs (Sub $500k). Close to parks, Metro, No.1 Highway, Groceries on Granville, Brentwood, Richmond, Downtown.

The only complaints I've heard so far is the noise from Skytrain and crack heads lol.

Because young Asian ppl with parents money didn't buy new presales there. Their parents all bought at metro or brentwood. Or the towers on boundary. Those are keeping the price down. Only a few years old 500sq, with pool. All the youngins want to flex with newer gyms and pools.

That's a good thing haha. Keep it cheap for the broke boys who don't need to flex.

https://condos.ca/burnaby/vantage-po...-1001-R2521796

^

This might be the nicest reno I've seen on an older unit

https://gyazo.com/663bcd3b305effafbdda7464d45fd0f9

https://gyazo.com/663bcd3b305effafbdda7464d45fd0f9

^
Here: https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...avenue-burnaby

Then people don't need to make an account haha... it's nicely done if you want everything to be white

Been defaulting to condos.ca since it has data on sales history + strata fee history!

Ehhhhhhhh shared laundry though

Man, I sold my Joyce condo for about $290k 5 years ago and then saw it go up to $490k in assessed value in the 3 years after ($354k, $441k, $490k) after being flat for the 5 years before. That extra $200k would have come in handy paying down my mortgage.

But yeah, that area was a great place to live. The Skytrain is noisy (I faced the tracks) but other than needing a proper super market right at the station it was pretty nice to live around.

at that time some 1beds were 180k haha

Rather have aids than shared laundry

To be fair your new place went up to $200k+ in value too!

I saw a Kay market by bao bakery. Looks okay for cheap produce

Thoughts on the following rates?

1.59% - 5 Year
1.89% - 7 Year
2.34% - 10 Year

I wish I could get lucky with banks as I am with women.

Women always offer a 0% interest rate.

I’d say you have to be an extremely cautious person to take the 10 year lol

The extra percentage taken off the principal would hurt. The question would be where do you see rates in 5 years. I’d be willing to bet they will still be reasonably low. There’s so much bullshit to sort through in terms of what you would need to come out ahead, fees and switching lenders etc

Personally I have about 16 months left on mine and I looked into a blended rate but after fees and even credits I’m pretty much even so to me, I feel like I will wait it out until I’m clear of any fees in that sub 6 month period and then lock into the 5 year fixed rate at that time and the additional length of time I’m at that rate will hopefully be more profitable than going blended earlier. If that makes sense

https://gyazo.com/b44ab67f19bdb0ce6a482d7647a1a7b2
https://gyazo.com/b44ab67f19bdb0ce6a482d7647a1a7b2

Ran the analysis, you are way ahead with 1.69% Interest and 4.4% from Year 6 - 10.

1.69% Year 1 - 5 and 4.4% Year 6 - 10 ($75,139.60 Interest , $149,409.31 Principle Paid)

1.89% Year 1 -7 and 5.05% Year 8 - 10 ($84,094.30 Interest, $145,723.16 Princple Paid)

2.34% Year 1 - 10 ($104,285.60 Interest, $137,657.55 Principle Paid)

I'm looking to get a pre-purchase home inspection done in the next week. 50s-era Vancouver detached. Does anyone have recommendations? Much appreciated!

I don't remember who recommended him, but I seem to remember this guy being highly recommended. A bit pricier, however I remember him being pretty hardcore/serious about his work: https://tedgilmour.ca/

This is the advice he provided me at the time, specifically for condos so may not be applicable to your detached house:


I ended up using this guy, who was a bit cheaper but also probably not as thorough as Ted. Essentially it was like a multi-point inspection checklist he walked through: Surrey Home Inspections Carried Out by Experienced Home Inspectors

That stucco thing is not all encompassing imo.

Any inspector worth anything should be able to pull up to a stucco house and tell you within 15 minutes whether it’s any good or not. It’s all about overhangs and window/flashing details. While the majority may be shit, many were built properly as well.

Thanks for the detailed response! Really appreciate it. I'll give Ted Gilmour a call. Funnily enough, while you were writing that post another person recommended Firstclass - they're just over $500 for a detached, so Ted Gilmour's prices are definitely higher... but I am willing to pay a few hundred extra for thoroughness on this one.

If you don’t end up buying the house please post the inspection report.

You have to be weary on these inspectors that hang their hat on finding so many “issues” that you don’t end up buying the house.

Yeah - my realtor (who admittedly, may be biased, but overall I find quite honest & trustworthy) did caution that some home inspectors may have a tendency to over-call issues/defects so much so to scare off buyers. That said... I'd prefer to have the information and make the call myself.

$500 is pretty much the going rate for an inspection of a detached house.

They're useful to have as a second/third set of eyes for a property, but really, their recommendations should be taken with a grain of salt. They will tend to inflate the severity of issues because they are concerned about their own liability. In our case, we used the inspector's report to reduce our agreed price to take into account the cost of re-piping the house.

When you walk into a home, you should have a pretty good idea whether it's a solid home or not. Does it smell? Does it lean? A home inspector is not going to tell you about major flaws that already are not apparent when you view the property.

After talking to a few friends (I know I swung one way, then the other) about experiences, I ended up going with a $500 guy my realtor recommended.

Ted Gilmour quoted over $1000+ - from what I'm hearing, you do buy a more thorough report, but on a 50+ year old home there's going to be things that need fixing. The main thing is to get a second set of eyes on the fundamental things, and even then, like you said the report is to be taken with a grain of salt.

No judgement if another person decides a $1K+ report is worthwhile for their peace of mind - just explaining my rationale behind ultimately going for the $500 guys.

what's the difference of a few hundred dollars when you're about to hand over 2 million? especially if the dwelling is going onto its 8th decade

a thorough review like a car ppi also gives you bargaining power too

i disagree the average buyer can tell which big ticket item is due/when to run the other way unless you're getting into the crawl space and checking out the beams

My ppi on the house I bought was $625, and even then I wish I paid more for perhaps a better quality or indepth inspection. It wasn't terrible, but the things that he said that was okay, wasn't really okay - well to an insurer's perspective.

On that note, keep in mind the fixes required to allow your property to qualify for home insurance. We have aluminum wiring (house is from the 70s) and had it fixed by a certified electrician, and we still got denied from a bunch of insurers. We finally found one that insured us, but its about 5K/yr LOL.