Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Traum]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

The ballest thing I buy on my card is car insurance

Get yourself a Crappy Tire MC, and pay your property tax with it!

$8k credit card bill, baby~! That's the baller-est thing I ever pay for with my credit card. And I even do it on a recurring (annual) basis.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

You are probably right. I can probably go sign up with any big bank for a 20k cc right off the bat.



He is Chinese. His mom has some money so he'll never go bankrupt. But funny you say that because I was talking with my wife about him when he told us they are pregnant. Yes congrats! But I think we probably can't be friends anymore because I won't be able to stand the BS he's gonna put his kids through.



Funny you say that as well, because that's exactly what my wife and I think as well. They are engaged and aren't married, and quite frankly I think the girl will jet once the stress of raising a kid gets to her. She is hugely irresponsible where her lash appointment is more important than anything else.

People can change. One of the BEST mom's we know, I would have never put her as being a great mom, but damn having a kid changed her. But I'm not sure that's something that'll happen to this girl.

Part of the problem is apparently me. This friend of mine, he thinks I've made it and he wants to emulate me. I own a M3, so he tried his best with the M340. We bought a X3 when we had our first kid and he's also doing the same. I keep telling him I make 2.5x his income, but it doesn't seem to stick.

Try telling him you live pay cheque to pay cheque and see if that sticks.

Originally Posted by Traum

Get yourself a Crappy Tire MC, and pay your property tax with it!

$8k credit card bill, baby~! That's the baller-est thing I ever pay for with my credit card. And I even do it on a recurring (annual) basis.

Doesn't the city charge extra for using credit card to pay?

[Traum]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

Doesn't the city charge extra for using credit card to pay?

The Triangle Crappy Tire MasterCard is special. When you go to the CT MC website, set up your municipality property tax account as a payee on your CT MC, and go through the [make an online payment] from the CT MC website, you just pay the bill and get 0.5% back from rebate. It just gets treated as a regular online payment through the bank (bcos CT Financial Services is considered a bank), so there is no extra charge.

So I end up getting ~$40 as rebate in CTM. It's hardly anything, but a freebie $40 is still a freebie $40.

[bcrdukes]

Can you pay your federal taxes using the Triangle Canadian Tire Mastercard using the method you mentioned above?

[Badhobz]

What ?! You guys aren’t paying your taxes with cash like all the old money laundering Chinese people ?!?? Psshhhh

[68style]

^ chill, they don’t pay taxes bro they claim welfare with no income and full cctb

[Badhobz]

Me so poor !!! Give me money !!!

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

What ?! You guys aren’t paying your taxes with cash like all the old money laundering Chinese people ?!?? Psshhhh

I would if I collected as many bottles as them. Competitive bottle collector is a job that's way too competitive

[JDMDreams]

Yea can you pay taxes with it? I'm trying to figure out what else you can pay since there's no real account number and you can't direct debit

[blkgsr]

signed up for the elite card yesterday

did i read here or reddit that it comes with road side assistance? any other perks?

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Can you pay your federal taxes using the Triangle Canadian Tire Mastercard using the method you mentioned above?

No =(

I only use it for Property Taxes, Fortis, BC Hydro.

Still pretty good since all of the above you typically can't pay with a credit card.

Check out the updated list of payees here; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...=1&gid=0#gid=0

[unit]

so you just accumulate tons of CTM so every 5 years you can buy a new lawnmower? doesnt seem like a bad idea

[Traum]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

Can you pay your federal taxes using the Triangle Canadian Tire Mastercard using the method you mentioned above?

Actually I've never tried it. I should probably look it up this tax season if I somehow end up needing to make an additional payment.

[supafamous]

The time capsule house next to my parents finally sold and only for $1.66m after originally being listed for 1.788m. I'm kinda shocked it sold for that little considering the near teardown across the alley from them sold for 1.655m in November (https://www.zealty.ca/mls-R2881468/2...-Vancouver-BC/)



https://www.zealty.ca/mls-R2914683/2...-Vancouver-BC/

[6793026]

^ the lot is so small thou

[Gerbs]

3.6k lot, detached is dropping from peak peak, the last 3-4 months, that tree also gonna cost $$ to demo

[Harvey Specter]

I've noticed that smaller lots are dropping in price. I assume they're too small to build a duplex, so most of these lots are for single family homes. With the current market conditions and cost to build, not many builders are willing to take the risk of constructing a single family home to sell.

[EvoFire]

^ Compound that with the fact if some one has enough money to do a new build for themselves at the current prices, they'd have money to buy a bigger lot.

[spacemanrick]

Not Vancouver but from yesterday's Globe and Mail discussing the Toronto condo market. I know Toronto has had a condo construction explosion the past few years and more so than here in Vancouver. With possible reduction in immigration and foreign investment will we see a similar ripple here in Vancouver?

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...ow-worth-less/

During the real estate frenzy in late 2020, Joe Baradziej decided to buy a $2.195-million preconstruction condo in his tree-lined neighbourhood of Leaside in midtown Toronto. He provided the developer with a deposit of $439,000, the equivalent of 20 per cent of the purchase price. His two-bedroom place with a grand view of city was on the fifth floor of an eight-floor luxury condo building.

When the building was nearing completion last fall, Mr. Baradziej got the property appraised in order to secure a mortgage. Documents viewed by The Globe and Mail show the appraisal came in at $1.6-million – 27 per cent below his purchase and sales agreement, a legally binding contract with the developer.

Lenders will only provide a mortgage based on the appraised value, so Mr. Baradziej was on the hook to bridge the $595,000 gap. He could not sell the rights to his contract, also known as an assignment sale, until the developer sold 90 per cent of all the building’s units, a common practice in the industry.

Because the condo market is in the gutter, Mr. Baradziej did not want to risk refinancing his current home to make up the shortfall. In the end, he decided to forgo his deposit.

“It comes down to simple math,” he said. ”By me walking away, I am saving money.”

According to documents viewed by The Globe, the developer, Gairloch, sent him an e-mail saying it had partnered with Royal Bank of Canada to offer a so-called blanket appraisal, which would allow buyers such as Mr. Barardziej to secure mortgages for their units by having the bank appraise the unit at the original contracted price. Mr. Baradziej declined.

“I wasn’t financially comfortable to take a mortgage out against a value I know isn’t real,” he said. “I won’t do it.”

Mr. Baradziej’s situation is an extreme example of what is taking place across the Toronto region. After a crazy period that led to record sales at lofty prices in 2021, preconstruction condo sales have dried up over the past year. As developers finish constructing buildings, properties are going underwater because buyers agreed to pay more in past years than the units are currently worth.

Appraisals are typically coming in 10 per cent to 30 per cent below a condo’s original selling price, according to appraisers, leaving scores of buyers to come up with the difference. If they can’t, they will lose their deposit and could get sued by the developer for breaking their contract.

“I haven’t seen this much of a drop in value,” said Lorenzo Presutti, an appraiser with Sharp Appraisal, who has valued properties in the Toronto region for more than two decades. His team appraised about 100 preconstruction condos in 2024.

The problem will grow this year, as developers are on track to finish constructing condo buildings totalling 30,793 units in the Toronto and Hamilton region, according to industry research firm Urbanation Inc. That will top 2024’s record of 29,800 condo unit completions.

The mismatch in value is not just occurring in the luxury segment of the preconstruction condo market. Appraisers say they are seeing it in all types of buildings.

For example, a one-bedroom 535-square foot condo in Toronto sold for $850,000 in January, 2020. The building at 55 Charles St. East was completed in 2024 and when the unit was appraised, it was valued at just $700,000, according to brokers.

Appraisers rely on comparable sales to help figure out the value. They will look at sales of condos that have already been constructed, but if the comparable examples were not built recently, then it is not an ideal measure.

Appraisers can also look at new units being sold on the assignment market, but that’s also not a perfect comparison as those can be done at fire sale prices, which are not reflective of the true market because the owner is desperate to sell.

In a market with very few sales, appraisers have to rely more on active listings, and when values are falling, appraisers have to use the lower current sales prices.

Some buyers are walking away from their purchases and losing their deposits like Mr. Baradziej. Others are relying on family to make up the difference, or on other types of financing. Many of those who have managed to bridge the gap and are renting out their units are likely burning cash every month because their mortgage payments and other condo expenses are higher than the rent they can fetch.

It all puts more downward pressure on the preconstruction market where investors are no longer interested in the product.

When Mr. Baradziej decided to buy the Leaside unit, he thought it could be an investment or his primary residence if he sold the condo he is currently living in.

His preconstruction condo was tentatively due to be ready for occupancy by September, 2022, according to documents viewed by The Globe, but the date was set back by about two years. During that period, the Bank of Canada aggressively hiked interest rates, the real estate market slowed, mortgage rates shot up and demand plummeted for preconstruction condos.

He was told he could start occupying his condo in August, 2024, while Gairloch continued to work on the building. As per industry practice, he was required to pay an occupancy fee, which includes a portion of the condo’s maintenance expenses, property taxes and the interest on the unpaid balance of the purchase price. That amounted to $13,000 per month given that Mr. Baradjiez’s purchase balance was $1.756-million.

Mr. Baradziej paid the $13,000 once, then stopped paying, defaulting on his contract and losing his $439,000 deposit.

Mike Rivait, Gairloch’s director of sales and marketing, said RBC provided all their purchasers in the building with appraisals and financing options based on their original purchase price. Mr. Rivait said RBC’s blanket appraisal program supported the purchase prices, and all purchasers had the option to arrange financing through RBC. He said no other purchaser in the building had issues with appraisal values or financing.

RBC said its appraisals are based on market conditions at a particular moment in time. “We continuously monitor market conditions and may reassess a blanket appraisal where circumstances warrant,” said Leah Robinson, RBC’s vice-president of home equity financing policy and regulatory management.

Damian Guiducci, a veteran appraiser, calls the current problems across the preconstruction housing market a byproduct of an insane period that led to record sales during the pandemic.

“Buying a preconstruction condo was such a safe thing to do,” said Mr. Guiducci, director of business development for Home Value Inc. Appraisal, whose team appraised dozens of preconstruction condos in the Toronto region last year. “Now things have hit the wall and these are the repercussions.”

[HonestTea]

I saw that Toronto's market is like 20% from the highs and Vancouver is 10%, we're in correction territory and Toronto's closer to recession territory. I wonder if we'll follow in Toronto's drop as well..

[PeanutButter]

Are you allowed to simply walk away like that, if you forfeit your deposit? Doesn't Mr. Baradziej still have to complete on the purchase?

Or is there a clause in pre-construction that says you can walk away as long as you forfeit your deposit?

I would think the developer would rather you complete than walk away even if they get the deposit, especially in this market climate.

[68style]

That's the main reason I sold my condo... there's hardly any sales history in my building, but I think at the very peak I could have sold my condo for $630k and I sold it for $608,000... and that was with a possible $12k (my unit's share) assessment upcoming and on record in the minutes.

I only got ONE offer and zero other interest... pretty much had to take it and I don't feel too bad given the market. I think if I hung onto it I would be much worse off... didn't want to rent, didn't want to pay vacancy tax and every month it sat there cost me ~$700 between strata fees, property tax and insurance.

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Are you allowed to simply walk away like that, if you forfeit your deposit? Doesn't Mr. Baradziej still have to complete on the purchase?

Or is there a clause in pre-construction that says you can walk away as long as you forfeit your deposit?

I would think the developer would rather you complete than walk away even if they get the deposit, especially in this market climate.

Most that I've seen, they just let you walk... but technically they can sue you.

[Razor Ramon HG]

I think it depends on the contract. Some developers may sue or fine you for the difference if they sell the unit for less than what you agreed to pay for.

[JDMDreams]

He doesn't sound broke if he's willing to just lose $400k

[unit]

who said he was broke? the guy was trying to buy a 2.2m 2br condo