Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Alpine]

Remember that cameras are more of a deterrent than anything else. Chances are, the film will be unusable, and the perps are likely routine offenders and will be back on the street in no time.

Make sure you have ample lighting around the house as well (light pollution can go f itself in this case). The goal is to deter potential thieves from your house and onto your ... neighbors lol.

With that being said, I have Hikvision installed in my home.

[quasi]

I could be totally wrong here but most times I would think the cameras really only serve to show you how your shit went missing, at that point it's too late. Even if you have clear images of the act it's probably not going to help you get your stuff back and lets be honest, the justice system DGAF about theft even if the perps are caught.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Their rezoning plan for that along Oak.. lol

Yea cause adding 2.5 mill townhomes is the solution

Beats doing nothing though.

That said, provincial legislation will end up making that rezoning moot anyways. All those lots that could be made into townhouses will end up as quadplexes at a minimum which isn't that different than building townhouses in terms of size and cost (but with more variety in size and cost).

[Hondaracer]

Yea they are nothing but a deterrent really and maybe cover your ass in terms of an insurance claim etc.

Even the best cameras have a hard time getting a clear face etc. at night. And in order to get those clear, usable images, the cameras have to be mounted somewhere low enough where they are prone to damage/tampering etc lol

[6thGear.]

Originally Posted by supafamous

The devil will be in the details and the results will vary by city.

3 key details:
- How much more floor space will they force cities to allow? There has to be enough to justify tearing down a decent house (there aren't enough tear downs). Right now Vancouver and Burnaby mostly allow ~3400sf on a standard lot either as 2 or 3 suites and a typical 50 year old house is around 2000-2500sf. You need to allow around 5000sf to make it worthwhile to tear down a decent house.
- Will parking minimums be changed? Some cities will use parking minimums to make it nearly impossible to build a fourplex.
- The plan says that areas near transit will have more aggressive zoning - possibly stuff like 6 or even 12 story buildings. If the distance is 500m from transit then almost all of Vancouver qualifies and about half of Burnaby does. If the distance is 1000m then it'll be seriously transformative.

Detached homes will definitely go up in price but this is a good thing - restrictive zoning has depressed the price of them. If the policy is aggressive enough you'll start to see housing prices get "better" (it may not go down but rather just flatten).

New Zealand has gone down this path with zoning and seen prices stabilize both for renters and buyers. It takes a LONG time to shake out though - can't just magically construct all the housing that's needed in a couple years.

COV currently is proposing 1.0FAR up from the current 0.86FAR.

BC government also has set aside $400mil to purchase public land next to public transit. That's where people will see the most in SFH prices rising.

[jing]

Sure there are $500 4K Costco specials but those are not real 4K as you can only get 5fps out of them and at that price point, are guaranteed to be upscaled and in general look like shit. Manufacturer's support is also a joke as are software updates.

There are a ton of Hikvision systems out there but many are white label/OEM products again with poor support from the distributor and/or installer. Dahua is another manufacturer that also OEM's for other brands. There are a lot of trunk slammers in the industry that will sell/install you the white label product and disappear once they get paid leaving you with no after sales service or support.

You get what you pay for.

In related news, 1 of the biggest North American distributors will no longer carry Hikvision or Dahua. Will be interesting how this plays out over the near future.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by 6thGear.

COV currently is proposing 1.0FAR up from the current 0.86FAR.

BC government also has set aside $400mil to purchase public land next to public transit. That's where people will see the most in SFH prices rising.

1.0FAR isn't going to move the needle too much as there's just not enough profit to be made at that size to cause a bunch of houses to be torn down (though my parents and my in-laws would probably be pretty interested). 1.2 seems to be the realistic number as a starting point and even that might go up if prices keep going up. (Business case: https://morehousing.substack.com/p/proforma-video)

This is another classic case of city planners not giving a shit - their excuse to not go higher is that they weren't sure the Engineering dept could support it (upgraded sewers etc) and they never bothered with asking Engineering to figure out what upgrades would be needed and when. They just flat gave up and threw the laziest answer back at city council without costing out what what's needed.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by supafamous

1.0FAR isn't going to move the needle too much as there's just not enough profit to be made at that size to cause a bunch of houses to be torn down (though my parents and my in-laws would probably be pretty interested). 1.2 seems to be the realistic number as a starting point and even that might go up if prices keep going up. (Business case: https://morehousing.substack.com/p/proforma-video)

This is another classic case of city planners not giving a shit - their excuse to not go higher is that they weren't sure the Engineering dept could support it (upgraded sewers etc) and they never bothered with asking Engineering to figure out what upgrades would be needed and when. They just flat gave up and threw the laziest answer back at city council without costing out what what's needed.

Has the city announced if they will be rezoning all detached lots in one fell swoop? Or will they be rezoning bit by bit (and therefore restricting supply like they currently do).

[twitchyzero]

the current bldg setbacks on side streets are kinda ridiculous

the % actual using their front yard is so minute

if it isn't a busy street they should consider at least allow for zoning another 1/3 up front

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by jing

Sure there are $500 4K Costco specials but those are not real 4K as you can only get 5fps out of them and at that price point, are guaranteed to be upscaled and in general look like shit. Manufacturer's support is also a joke as are software updates.

There are a ton of Hikvision systems out there but many are white label/OEM products again with poor support from the distributor and/or installer. Dahua is another manufacturer that also OEM's for other brands. There are a lot of trunk slammers in the industry that will sell/install you the white label product and disappear once they get paid leaving you with no after sales service or support.

You get what you pay for.

In related news, 1 of the biggest North American distributors will no longer carry Hikvision or Dahua. Will be interesting how this plays out over the near future.

You a low voltage guy? I kind of want install an 8th hikvison.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Has the city announced if they will be rezoning all detached lots in one fell swoop? Or will they be rezoning bit by bit (and therefore restricting supply like they currently do).

The intent is that they are rezoning the entire city (minus Shaughnessy which no one will touch) with 4plex allowed on standard 33' lots and 6plex on 50' (and higher lots. The current proposal has been blasted by housing advocates, builders, and outside planners as being entirely inadequate but the planners and current city council are pretty chicken shit and lazy so decent odds that this is what will end up passing next year.

What will likely then happen is that the provincial legislation will override the city's proposal which will make it all moot. Some cities will likely threaten to sue (and fail) while others will find ways to make it really hard to build more homes.

I'm really looking forward to how it changes Burnaby which is only 40% as dense as Vancouver meaning it has tonnes of upside for densification with little downside (it has shitloads of street parking for example).

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by beatdownvictim

Just wondering if anyone has any referrals to a cctv/security cam residential install?

Home we are looking at only has a ring doorbell cam =\
I can go ghetto and just put up eufy cams but rather not unless it really is cost prohibitive.

What kind of house do you have? Do you know how to run ethernet cable (cat 6)? if you do, it is pretty simple to install a Power over ethernet (POE) security system. You don't need power, just an ethernet cable to your desired location.

I use REOLINK and it's been great. App is super easy to use and you can download videos easily.

https://reolink.com/ca/product/rlk8-520d4/
This is the one I got and I added a few more cameras. I had an attic that I could run the cable so it wasn't that difficult. I have seven camera's with a 2TB hard drive and I can get up to seven days of playback before it deletes files.

[PeanutButter]

And you guys are correct, the system is more of a deterrent and to have eyes on the perimeter of your house. I had a car that broke off my tenant's side mirror and I didn't have the resolution to get the license plate ~50ft from where my camera was. We could make out the car, but that was it.

[beatdownvictim]

Im not handy i rather just pay someone to do it right. My current setup is all poe but it was all prewired when we built.
My 6 year old hikvision cameras cant see crap at night i was thinking about buying a ir emmitter with the light sensors. I was trying to help my neighbour get video of who was kicking her door but the video was grainy and didnt help.

[donk.]

I will also add in, you get what you pay for.
I bought a futureshop special like 6 years ago for 400$, offering "4k" and all that bullshit for a home security camera system. It was 240p at most.

The cameras were garbage, the recording setup menu was a joke, could not attach to the computer. And I consider myself pretty tech savvy per day.

Pay the money, get a proper system, or don't buy one at all

[yray]

use blink and have battery cameras everywhere

the resolution is meh can literally plop a camera anywhere as long as theres wifi

[Badhobz]

i like the blink system.

it work well and they are cheap enough that if they ever go down, i can easily replace it. The battery lasts about 4-6 months and the image quality is good during the day. The IR image at night is only okay, but enough to capture motion and image of individuals.

[GLOW]

i was actually thinking of getting blink, doorbell to point outwards, and a mini came to point out the back as i'm a standard rectangle e.van lot, not a lot of angle to approach my property.

mini cams on sale 30% off but RFD says they're not very good, only record for 30 seconds, slow etc.

if i'm just looking for the doorbell and maybe 2 mini cams and a hub vs paying a monthly fee for a server, is it still worth it?

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/amazo...amera-2612100/

[blkgsr]

i've got a blink, works great as a trap camera seeing all the bears walking across my front lawn

[Gerbs]

I wonder what the rent 4 plex or 6 plex could pull in on a standard lot. Building costs for sounds like $1.6-2.5M + $1.6M for a lot.

Are there any proposed 4 plans? I'm imagining 4 condos instead of our current design of upstairs entering from front, middle floor from back + basement suite + laneway design

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

I wonder what the rent 4 plex or 6 plex could pull in on a standard lot. Building costs for sounds like $1.6-2.5M + $1.6M for a lot.

Are there any proposed 4 plans? I'm imagining 4 condos instead of our current design of upstairs entering from front, middle floor from back + basement suite + laneway design

Here's a mockup from Lanefab based on the proposed zoning: https://twitter.com/Lanefab/status/1...085202432?s=20





It's 3 stories above ground with 4000sf in total so two 1400sf 2 story units sitting on top of two ~600sf units (the rest goes to stairs).

A 600sf unit rents for about $2k and a 1400sf unit rents for $4k so figure $12k/mo if you rent it all out. Market price to sell all 4 is around $4-5m. $$$$.

Building costs run $300-450/sf so $1.2-1.8m.

[Gerbs]

You think people will start tearing down rundown 1990 to 2005 builds to make this?

600sqft units @ $750K Each x 2 = $1.5M
1,410qft units @ $1.6M Each x 2 = $3.2M

Easily $4-5M for the entire unit.

A rooftop patio space for the upper units would be sick, then lower garden for the 600sqft folks.

[Great68]

If one of these pops up next to me, I'm fucking moving.

[Tapioca]

Since this thread is one of the more active ones, who here is in the process of doing HVAC upgrades?

We've had our energy assessment done and are enrolled in the federal program, so it's just a matter of ensuring that whatever equipment we go with is on the list of approved models to get the rebates from the feds and the province. I'm talking to HVAC contractors this week and have a couple of ballpark estimates. Current furnace is over 25 years old and is oversized for the ductwork, so it's noisy. We're looking at a dual-fuel set up with a single stage side discharge heat pump. Any thoughts or experiences to share?

[Great68]

Keeping a fossil fuel backup heat system is going to only qualify you for partial provincial & federal rebates.

IMO dual fuel systems are not necessary in our climate now with Cold Climate Heat Pumps a thing. My new ccASHP had no issues with heating my house all winter with no other backup heat.