I can only speak for me, and I'd never buy into a place like that, I generally could not see anyone earning more than $35k living in a place like that, I just think the rental comparison In a better location would win out, or perhaps getting a room mate (most of us know someone they could room with, etc)

I think the big problem is anyone who sees their income growing above the rate of inflation wouldn't buy a place like this, they'd rent and buy a more "normal" place when they can afford that - but I could be wrong, a lot of "smart" people make very illogical decisions when it comes to finances...

Time will tell... Definitely an interesting discussion, as this is a new way of potentially living

Coming from a person that works in an RE related industry, I'm sure just on pure marketing and hype that there will be some buyers. One segment that I am concerned for are the young buyers who want to move out and want to own their own home, making $17 /hr. I wonder how many of these people have stable income and adequate savings if they end up losing their jobs. They are going to buy these condos and discover the risks of being a homeowner in a market with a high possibility of RE prices going down.

When they lose their job, they wont have any savings and may be forced to liquidate, only to find that their home may be worth less and after realtor fees and penalties, it just becomes a bad investment.

People feel like they need to own their own home, but there's nothing wrong with renting.

This is very true, however I think this could apply to anyone....doesn't just have to be a person making $17\hour. Someone making $50\hour living in a $400k condo takes the same risk....the only difference is getting another job at $15-17\hour COULD be easier than securing another $50\hour job.The ratio is essentially the same. And, coming up with a $500 mortgage payment is A LOT easier than coming up with a $2000 payment.

Also, you are right! There is NOTHING wrong with renting....people really need to start thinking this way. We need to stop thinking like generations before us where people thought owning real estate equated success.

Yuppies living in Whalley? Please look up the word. Last place a yuppie would live

Surrey are for people who can't afford to live in Vancouver. That's why there are no china mainlanders buying homes in Surrey, even if they do they will get laughed at for being cheap. A brown friend once told me, there are a lot of brown people in Surrey because you pay the least amount for the large houses compare to Vancouver. :fuckthatshit:

lay away the fails but I agree with this
if you are making a shoebox might as well put it in dt
this isn't Hong Kong where you need sucha drastic living space just for the suburbs

Yeah, I lived in small place like the one posted here, in Amsterdam (only for a 1.5 months) and it's definitely doable. It's common in places like that because it's part of the culture and unfortunately, that's not pervasive here.

As far as this being an investment, there are too many risks involved with such a niche condo. There is an oversupply of condos already and with these being at the smallest end of the spectrum, a quickly cooling market and not being in the most desirable neighbourhood (I didn't say not safe or decent, just from a purely RE investment POV, this area doesn't have the pull to draw the most desirable tenants in), I wouldn't recommend this as a place to put money and expect it to grow.

The price in 10 years will at best, slightly outpace inflation, and at worst, lose ~15-20% of it's value. For $40K, there are better investment vehicles out there.

How people perceive owning a home as success is only one part of the problem in today's reality. More importantly is that people need to shed the idea that owning a home as a way to fund your savings and retirement. With the CRA starting to come down on people who flip RE in Canada and/or buy condos with only the intention of it being an investment, that only accelerates the cooling of condo investors and buyers.

Wrong. Surrey is for people who don't want to be house-poor, get more for their money, and who don't want the congestion of Vancouver.

I don't give a shit what 'mainlanders' think.

O rly?

5 homes on my street have been sold in the past 3.5 years, 4 of them have Chinese families living in them.

I like how 1/2 this thread is actually about the topic, the other 1/2 is just about bashing Surrey. Like I said, ignorant people :lol

I agree, but this actually highlights one of the risks of investing in RE. Public perception of areas affect investors more than people just looking for a home. As a homeowner, I wouldn't give a crap what people think of the area I live in, because what works for me is priority one.

However, when I'm thinking about buying a place just to rent out, then the idea of higher rates of vacancy and how 1/2 the people just don't bother looking into an area because of hearsay, perception plays a big part of whether or not that unit is ideal to invest in.

I'd rather a used diesel pusher motorhome. More square feet, half the price, no strata and a turbo.

While this is true, I certainly don't take the opinions by most here as anywhere close to a general public consensus.

No offence dude, but not everyone wants to live in Vancouver. Downtown is not the center of our little universe here. I have worked in downtown a lot, at various condos, and at a high end rental building I maintained. I get fucking frustrated when all I ever get is, "you DON'T live here?" and even better: "wait. You don't WANT to live here?" The owner of the high end building was talking about having me live there...yay. Just what I want...$2000 a month in rent, which I now get to work off, as I'm not living in the basement thanks.

Not everyone that chooses not to live as close to Granville as possible is making a concession...they are making a choice. Not everyone is 21. If I lived a different lifestyle, probably without a car and worked downtown, then I might be inclined more to live there, but it doesn't need to be THE choice made by all.

Exactly, just because you live in Vancouver or anywhere else, that doesn't make you superior to anyone living here in Surrey. We can afford places in Vancouver but choose not to live there because you get MORE for your money over here. Some people like to get more for their money and want to be in a different atmosphere. You're very ignorant to assume that us people here in Surrey can't afford places in Vancouver. I used to live in Vancouver as a matter of fact then my family moved to Surrey so they could be closer to work so I've lived in Surrey for the majority of my life now. The area where I live is perfect because I'm right off the freeway.

That reason is such BS... its because Surrey is as develop as Vancouver/Richmond/BBY.... once that happens, you can be sure chinese people will flock there...
Plus the commute from Richmond/BBY is closer (especially traffic) then Surrey is...

I really live this idea and wouldn't midn buying one for myself. It is very affortable but as the post in this thread suggest I would want to live with normal people who actually wants pace and have regular jobs and not someone who is a druggie and werid all around.

So I don't know...... I actually saw some studio at the development near Brentwood mall (I think is call Solo) pretty neat but price seems to be a bit high.

So true. Why would I want to live in downtown where there are traffic congestion everywhere, hard to find parking anywhere, lound noise at night, super high cost to own an apartment. While I get can farther away, less congestion, more home feel(less noise, more quieter streets, more parking space), pay less.

Gf's unlce live in a building in downtown. We went to visit him las tnight , took aobut a good 20 to 30mins to find parking since the visitor parking is full and pretty much all the street parking is full, full of one way street and traffic move like a snail. Not even sure why he wants to live there when he already retire (his place is actually very expensive).

I think people will have a hard time getting anything over $500 a month if they want to rent these. My buddy rented a basement suite for $400 with heat and hot water included.

Basement suites are a vastly different beast from other forms of rentals. No one in this city does them right.

I had, in one of our buildings, a 1 bedroom unit on the ground floor, which in that building was the basement. The lobby is a floor above.

It was fucking nasty. Ceiling was brown, and I could tell where the sofa was as there was a brown circle on the ceiling above, from cigarettes smoldering away.

Bathroom pipes were leaking and the whole thing smelled like funk.

I reno'd to the tits. Crown molding, new lights, new paint, new sliding door, new railings. New bathroom. There was NOTHING left.

It has, and continues to rent for more than any other unit in the building, and I've renovated others to the same spec.

Every other basement suite apartment I see has the same melamine white cabinets and second hand stove that is 20 years past its prime.

In the...oh christ, I'm going to use a term I hate..."new normal" of more and more people renting, I think there is a growing market of quality rentals where its no longer a duct tape type of situation.

I don't really agree with this. $400\month for a basement suit is almost unheard of.

I think that rent on these units would $650+ depending on location of the suit.

Like I said in a previous post, I have some bachelor apartments in my building and the are priced $650 (1st floor)-$720 (3rd floor). I can't keep them on the market and my phone rings all the time with people wanting bachelors. There are BY FAR the easiest things to rent....they are the same size but a lot older, no dishwasher, and no laundry. They are clean, etc....but certainly not updated, etc.

What Big Earl said was pretty ignorant and I agree not everyone WANTS to live in the core/heart of a city.

But you can replace the word 'Surrey' in your statement with any suburbs/rural communities in Canada.

I do believe the majority does choose to live in Surrey because of affordability and not so much because they can have a 4 car garage or a horse shed.

I find it amusing that people completely write-off Surrey because of the area highlighted in yellow:

Attachment 16658

It is incredibly narrow-minded.

Some area in Surrey is actually really nice. I think my aunt leaves around 182b or somewhere around there. Very night neighbourhood and is really quiet.