Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Yeah go back to the 90s you pay phoney bastard ! You wanna break out the yellow pages and the pager while you’re at it? Or how about you call moviefone while I rollerblade to your house.

Landline…. Stupid ah mo

Pager? Rollerblades? What is this you hooligan!

[Badhobz]

[PeanutButter]

Having your full name, address, and phone number in the white pages is wild if you think about it. And everyone did it.

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

I think with the advent of the internet, information is so much more available for our generation, so I think we will be way more informed in the future.
The lady at my church doesn't even use a cell phone. She only uses a landline.

Lol reminded me of another funny thing about my house. Bought in 2021... the house had never had internet service before. Yet every room had a phone hookup.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by donk.

People could not fathom spending 150k for a house in 1980, 1.5 mil in 2020, 15mil in 2060

Lazy math but just on inflation $1.5M in 1980 is $5M in 2020, so if it does the same again and add in continued real estate fuckery and you're probably not far off for 2060.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by carsncars

The guy I bought my house from - he was a guy in his 80's who had bought the house in the 1960's.

I got to know him a bit because part of the terms of the sale were that he leased back the basement suite while he waited for a place in a retirement home. His granddaughter who was helping with his move said he initially balked at retirement homes because he didn't think he had a way to afford $30-45K/year. He thought his house was worth maybe $120-150K... not 10x that. It was actually a little sad - although he was obviously happy with the $$$ - he regretted that he didn't know earlier and didn't take the opportunity to travel a bit more before he got more frail.

I may be wrong, but when someone goes into a public retirement home, as payment, they take a portion of your income. With a fat payout when selling a house, does the government take a large lump sum of that, then after that just take a portion of your OAS, RRIF, pension, or whatever else you have left as income?

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Her husband always took care of the bills, taxes, finances, etc. and when he passed away her daughter and son runs the house for her, so I suspect that's why.

Interestingly her youngest daughter who lives on the island and doesn't help out at all is the favourite out of the three children and i've heard rumors that this youngest daughter is getting the lions share of the estate. Which is wild if it is true, since the two other children are doing everything for you, I would think the estate to be at least split evenly.

The one that's not involved is probably loved the most because they don't have to be the one to take away the independence of the parent.
You can't drive anymore, give me your license.
You can't eat this, you can't eat that.
You can't have alcohol anymore.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

The one that's not involved is probably loved the most because they don't have to be the one to take away the independence of the parent.
You can't drive anymore, give me your license.
You can't eat this, you can't eat that.
You can't have alcohol anymore.

Oh interesting, I never thought of it like that before. That might contribute to it for sure. The youngest daughter who isn't here only has positive interactions with her mother, so even on a subconscious level it makes a huge difference.

We had a church lunch a month ago and I distinctly remember the daughter that's here speaking to her mother very abruptly, pretty much ordering her around. You have to eat, you have to take your medication, and you have to go with so and so to drive you home. There's probably a level of resentment for sure.

Damn, I think you may have hit the nail on the head there.

[whitev70r]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Interestingly her youngest daughter who lives on the island and doesn't help out at all is the favourite out of the three children and i've heard rumors that this youngest daughter is getting the lions share of the estate. Which is wild if it is true, since the two other children are doing everything for you, I would think the estate to be at least split evenly.

That is one way to create a family rift for the rest of the three adult children's life. Plus, if the other 2 want to contest, they will probably win and get a fairer share. If I ever get the chance, I tell seniors that what they do with their money in terms of inheritance is their perogative but think about what you are doing to the next gen by your actions.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

The one that's not involved is probably loved the most because they don't have to be the one to take away the independence of the parent.
You can't drive anymore, give me your license.
You can't eat this, you can't eat that.
You can't have alcohol anymore.

I'm getting a good chuckle here bcos somehow I have taken up that role for certain things with my MIL, so in her eyes, I am probably the bad guy among her children (and their spouses) lol~ So there is no hope of me inheriting anything from her, although of course I don't care about it at all, nor have I ever expected to receive anything from her. As far as I am concerned, whatever assets that remain after my MIL passes away should be split between her children and grandchildren.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by whitev70r

That is one way to create a family rift for the rest of the three adult children's life. Plus, if the other 2 want to contest, they will probably win and get a fairer share. If I ever get the chance, I tell seniors that what they do with their money in terms of inheritance is their perogative but think about what you are doing to the next gen by your actions.

If you write in your will that X gets this share, there’s nothing to contest

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

If you write in your will that X gets this share, there’s nothing to contest

It's not about what's to contest but more the hurt feelings especially if the wishes are not communicated in advance. It's the parents prerogative to split things up how they want but I think if it's anything but "normal" then it needs to be discussed before death if they want to avoid family drama.

My wife comes from a family when the men are favoured (she has 2 brothers) yet she does all the parental care - she's the one that does their taxes, takes them to their doctor's appointments, and handles anything that comes up - her two brother are, frankly, entirely useless - I do more for my in-laws than they do. As a result she's made it a point to say that anything less than an even division between the siblings would be an issue and if that's what they want to do they need to tell her now so she can process it.

[Hondaracer]

Well hopefully she gets sonthing in writing because the parents ain’t gonna care about hurt feelings when they are in the ground lol

In most cases like that unless it’s extreme I think it’s honorable to just take your share and walk away, she likely isn’t doing it for any other reason than it being the right thing

When it gets fucking grossssss is if it was to be divided equally and then people start questioning why she got an equal share, that’s when you want to fucking strangle someone lol

[whitev70r]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

If you write in your will that X gets this share, there’s nothing to contest

Wanna bet ... ? Read up on the latest estate laws.

Will Variation in BC - https://www.linleywelwood.com/blog/wills-variation-in-b-c/#:~:text=Wills%20variation%20is%20an%20opportunity ,have%20the%20deceased's%20Will%20varied.

What is Wills Variation?

Wills variation is an opportunity for a surviving spouse or child, including an adult child, of a deceased will-maker to apply to court for a court order to vary the Will. In British Columbia, children (natural and adopted), including adult children, can apply to court to have the deceased’s Will varied.

Spouses including married spouses, common-law spouses, and spouses of the same gender may also apply to court to have the deceased’s Will varied. Under WESA, married couples are no longer considered to be spouses if they have lived apart for at least two years and have both intended to do so as a permanent arrangement. Common-law spouses are no longer considered to be spouses when one or both end the relationship.

What factors are considered in a Wills Variation Claim?

In deciding whether to vary a Will, courts will consider the following factors:
The will-maker’s legal obligations to a spouse or child;
The relationship between the spouse or child and the will-maker;
Promises made by the will-maker prior to death;
Any wrongdoing and/or estrangement and the role that the will-maker played;
The amount of support given by the will-maker to the spouse or child and the level of reliance by the spouse or child;
The needs of the spouse or child;
The size of the estate;
Contributions made by the child or spouse;
Gifts and benefits made by the testator outside of the Will both during and after the deceased’s life; and
The will-maker’s reasons for the disinheritance.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Having your full name, address, and phone number in the white pages is wild if you think about it. And everyone did it.

Nah, no different than today: everyone has their face DNA, family members, voice, personal interests splattered on instagoogletweetface now

Combine the above with AI, and i think its far worse than whitepages

[Hondaracer]

I’d like to see how often any of that holds up against a legal will

If you really wanted to break it up under any circumstance you could pro ably just say between 2001 and 2020 I provided Jennifer with $30,000 in cash which was assumed would be taken off x portion of the will”

I highly doubt estranged people or people who have had no input and no tangible reason to fight a will would be awarded any huge amount if there were legal docs stating why money should be portioned in a certain way.

Honestly just another gross Canadian legal system overreach it feels like. If you’re of sound mind and write a will, that should he binding not to be argued over in court after your death.

[donk.]

On topic of wills: i think i asked it here before, at what point do you get one done?

I havent talked to anyone i know about the subject

#derail the RE thread

[GLOW]

i'd say when you have assets (investments, property, etc) and want to see it go somewhere.

i think it's important when you have kids and when they're young

when i did mine up, our lawyer did tell us it's possible for wills to be contested. that being said a will acts as a documented last wishes of how you want your stuff to go. how the people you know legally react to those wishes is another story.

[Traum]

I'm pretty sure the will question has been discussed before somewhere on RS lol~

Generally, the recommendation seems to be as early as possible, and it should revised every few years -- 5 to 10? -- as your financial or relationship situation changes enough to warrant an update.

And esp about the note on relationship changes. Years and years ago, my uncle had married someone in China, adopted a child, and they ended up separating with the wife taking custody of their adopted child, never to be seen or heard of again.

When my uncle passed away a few years ago, somehow his ex-wife has learned of the news, and came back into the picture out of nowhere to proclaim herself and the adopted child as the rightful persons to fully inherit my uncle's assets. As it turned out, my uncle never properly went through the legal procedure to divorce, so legally speaking, his ex-wife was 100% entitled to the inheritance. My uncle did not have a will, and was not rich by any means, but his assests still amounted to HKD ~$300k or so (~Cdn $50k+). And all of that just went to his ex-wife.

It was 100% my uncle's fault, and he was never a smart man. It wasn't my money, but I was still upset by the outcome because my aunt had been the one that has dutifully looked after my uncle through the thick and thin all these years, and she is not rich by any means either.

With some people, will is a difficult topic to bring up. They just resent it so much that the resentment will spill over to affect the relationship with whoever brings it up. If your parents fall into that type, I would advise against continually pressing on the topic.

[Hondaracer]

Ye we had that convo before re:wills

My stance hurt peoples feelings that pressing your ignorant parents into creating a will is better than flushing 100k down the toilet because they don’t want to consider their mortality.

Their hurt feelings could pay for a couple university degrees or day care for the entire span of a child’s life. No biggy though hehe

Honestly the mortality thing isnt even the worst part of it, it’s cutting a fucking cheque for tens of thousands of dollars to the useless govt. when through VERY simple paper work, that could have been avoided and put to use for their children. If you live in some dumpy 1 br appt and your parents live in a rotting Vancouver special and they are unwilling to have a conversation over a will and where the money is going, all that’s doing is setting up the generations they brought into this world for more stress and hardship when in reality the whole stupid reason most of these people bought homes and came here was FeR a bEtTEr lIFe!!!

Thankfully my parents have half a brain and everything is already lined out precisely and gets updated every 3-5 years.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Ye we had that convo before re:wills

My stance hurt peoples feelings that pressing your ignorant parents into creating a will is better than flushing 100k down the toilet because they don’t want to consider their mortality.

Their hurt feelings could pay for a couple university degrees or day care for the entire span of a child’s life. No biggy though hehe

Honestly the mortality thing isnt even the worst part of it, it’s cutting a fucking cheque for tens of thousands of dollars to the useless govt. when through VERY simple paper work, that could have been avoided and put to use for their children. If you live in some dumpy 1 br appt and your parents live in a rotting Vancouver special and they are unwilling to have a conversation over a will and where the money is going, all that’s doing is setting up the generations they brought into this world for more stress and hardship when in reality the whole stupid reason most of these people bought homes and came here was FeR a bEtTEr lIFe!!!

Thankfully my parents have half a brain and everything is already lined out precisely and gets updated every 3-5 years.

Not just wills. I'm in the midst of finding a financial planner/wealth advisor as I realise I'm in not well equipped to be making financial and life decisions on my own anymore - the sums have gotten too big to ignore getting good advice. That ignorance/laziness in the past 10 years is likely to end up costing me in excess of $200k in taxes - the bulk of it built up in the last few years as the stock market took off and I was busy with raising a new kid. A bit of earlier life planning could have saved me enough money to get the dream car today.

[Hondaracer]

100%

Unfortunately I’m sure a lot of people are in that position, where wealth and taxes caught up quicker than you realized and now unfortunately since you weren’t on top of it as best you could have, there will be a tax going forward

Again though that’s a lot more understandable than puting off a will for 20 years and then eventually just dieing out of the blue and leaving a huge burden on your children minus the govts. nice cut

[whitev70r]

While you're at it, do a Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney, and a Representation agreement (for health decision-making).

[donk.]

Originally Posted by whitev70r

While you're at it, do a Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney, and a Representation agreement (for health decision-making).

canada and usa sure love wasting money on lawyers and legal matters. Some things are so overcomplicated here its a joke

Note taken tho

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by whitev70r

While you're at it, do a Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney, and a Representation agreement (for health decision-making).

Second this.

While at this, I'll add one more. Alter-Ego Trust.

I don't think it applies to most of us here yet except MG1 (65yr+), but it's a great tool that can be used for estate planning. One of the key benefits (IMO) is the ability to by-pass, well, technically postpone, the 21yr deemed disposition problem that Canadian Trusts face.

This is great for passing down things like family estate home. My in-laws have this kind of setup for their place that would pass their real estate when they pass away one day to their grandchildren. Skipping their daughters.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by whitev70r

While you're at it, do a Power of Attorney, Enduring Power of Attorney, and a Representation agreement (for health decision-making).

If you don't have anything designated, the responsibility defaults to your spouse, then your adult children, and then your next of kin, right?