Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Hondaracer]

I’ve never once been in a relationship where I thought about paying 50/50 or that I wasn’t getting a shared benefit etc. lol that feels like a recipe for disaster.

Now my wife makes substantially more money than I do and we are both happier for it. We have shared finances in every aspect and we don’t think twice about spending money on ourselves or together because we have an understanding regarding savings, investments, etc.

Trying to justify your spending based on your income between the two people is one step into divorce imo

[Gerbs]

Seems like the meta is to assume 70/30 or 60/40

People who are uptight on 50/50, will probably be on a quick road to divorce / issues.

[Great68]

I've made over double my wife's income for most of our 24 years together, but I just can't fathom ever thinking it's not "our" money.

Maybe it makes a big difference that we both really had no real assets in our early days, and that everything we do have now was basically aquired together.

There was a brief time where I went back to school and had very little discretionary money, and during that time she basically picked up the tab for all of our outings on her retail job. And that was a big step to allowing me to advance my career.

It all works out.

Another big thing that helps is she's not a big spender. She's not into material possessions. Probably the biggest thing she spends money on is plants and dirt, gardening is her hobby, so be it.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by Traum

Damn... is that how the dating scene works nowadays?

Back in the day I have certainly dated my share of girls who were richer than I am, and the money aspect isn't too different compared to girls who are in a similar or poorer financial situation as I am. Sometimes we split the cost. Sometimes I'd pay, and sometimes she'd pay. As a matter of fact, there were a few girls in particular that probably paid more often than I did.

I guess I just lucked out?

Most of us are lucky we were born before social media, dating apps, etc.

Add: Back then, our in real life social circles provided us with context/guidance/etc. Now, you've got some psycho bitch or basement incel on reddit giving you advice and depending on the social media app, could very well be the most upvoted advice.

[snowball]

Originally Posted by Traum

Damn... is that how the dating scene works nowadays?

Back in the day I have certainly dated my share of girls who were richer than I am, and the money aspect isn't too different compared to girls who are in a similar or poorer financial situation as I am. Sometimes we split the cost. Sometimes I'd pay, and sometimes she'd pay. As a matter of fact, there were a few girls in particular that probably paid more often than I did.

I guess I just lucked out?

social media man, everything you do it for the gram and the glam, your dates, your food, your clothes, your house, your car, your kids

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by snowball

social media man, everything you do it for the gram and the glam, your dates, your food, your clothes, your house, your car, your kids

I find the social media game kind of ironic nowadays because all the people who used to “flex” almost never post anymore. So whenever I’m out living my frivolous carefree, child free life and do sonthing worth posting, I see those same people view my post but not like it etc. lol

Damn… ya mean that upward trajectory you tried to portray prior to things getting actually expensive didn’t pan out? Crazy bro

[BIC_BAWS]

Originally Posted by westopher

LOL I see we all have at least one of those friends.

The question is.. if their decision are ethically/morally wrong, do you remain friends with them?

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Posts IG stories about how good dads do this, and it’s the bad women who prevent the good dads from seeing the kids

^ aint that the truth lol. Some people are undeniably crazy. I don't know how people get to being so far ahead in life yet be so ignorant to their own actions. #victim

[RabidRat]

Is there any downside to getting an inspection done on a house before making an offer? (other than possibly having wasted money on said inspection if you don't wind up going for it)

Our agent is saying that an offer without a condition is stronger, because it doesn't risk the seller having to start again if you back out. So I figured this could be a way around that?

On a side note: pretty annoying that it seems uncommon in Canada for sellers to have an inspection report available upon sale. Out here they usually do, so at least you have some idea of what you're getting yourself into :/.

[68style]

Your agent sounds like he's just looking for a guaranteed commission instead of looking out for your best interests.

I just bought in Calgary as most of you know, and the market is too hot there to do ANY inspections for listed houses. Everything is being sold no subjects, which is incredibly dangerous anywhere let alone a place with severe weather like Calgary.

In my case the house was not listed and our offer was made subject to inspection which was completed on Wednesday. I got 109 page PDF with every detail imaginable and even pushed a few things back onto the seller to fix, which they have agreed to do. I feel way better about what I'm getting into and know exactly what to expect now... I don't know how people are rationalizing spending millions on something without even getting it checked out, yet they freak out about buying used cars privately that weren't inspected in any way.

In a really hot market, one way around this that a co-worker of mine used here a few years ago when everything was being sold with no subjects, she brought an inspector with her to every house they were viewing and seriously considering and he basically did an inspection while they looked at it. It cost her a bit more, but she said there were 2 places she looked at that she was sure as shit were solid homes that he was like don't even consider it, walk away... she feels like it saved her ass bigtime.

[Great68]

I wouldn't trust an inspection report from any firm that I didn't hire myself.

As to getting one done before making an offer, I guess you could but usually you don't the time in the process to arrange that and the sellers would have to be amenible to allowing one to be done without an offer on the table.

[68style]

I know if I was selling my place and someone asked me for an inspection before making an offer I wouldn't accept, they're pretty invasive and I'd want the buyer to have some skin in the game if they want that from me unless I'm super desperate to sell.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by 68style

I know if I was selling my place and someone asked me for an inspection before making an offer I wouldn't accept, they're pretty invasive and I'd want the buyer to have some skin in the game if they want that from me unless I'm super desperate to sell.

I agree with what 68 has said here -- if you are not even making an offer, what incentive does the seller have to allow a stranger and his inspector to spend a good few hours looking into every nook and cranny of my house?

If I were the seller, I'd tell my agent to tell the other agent to either submit an offer with a subject to inspection, or go pound sand.

[Hondaracer]

When I was doing a home inspection segment as part of my construction management program, I beleive in BC now you can actually go after the inspector if there are grevious errors or things missed in their report

So I kinda doubt anyone would want to provide a pre-purchase inspection report on behalf of the seller which the new home owner could go after the inspector who didn’t even order the report to begin with

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by 68style

I know if I was selling my place and someone asked me for an inspection before making an offer I wouldn't accept, they're pretty invasive and I'd want the buyer to have some skin in the game if they want that from me unless I'm super desperate to sell.

What if they made an offer subject to inspection?

[68style]

That's just normal isn't it? I see no diff between that and an offer that's subject to results of an inspection. Just semantics.

Think about it in car sales speak... you're selling your Porsche... do you let someone inspect it first and then make their offer based on the inspection? Or do you accept an offer subject to an inspection? For sure the latter... any loser buyer doing it the other way is gong to use the report to lowball you and waste your time. Speaking from experience here for sure lol

[6thGear.]

You can still back out within 3 business days on a subject free offer. It's the Rescission period every buyer is entitled to. Within that time frame you do your due diligence. Your realtor didn't mention that to you?

Originally Posted by RabidRat

Is there any downside to getting an inspection done on a house before making an offer? (other than possibly having wasted money on said inspection if you don't wind up going for it)

Our agent is saying that an offer without a condition is stronger, because it doesn't risk the seller having to start again if you back out. So I figured this could be a way around that?

On a side note: pretty annoying that it seems uncommon in Canada for sellers to have an inspection report available upon sale. Out here they usually do, so at least you have some idea of what you're getting yourself into :/.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

Is there any downside to getting an inspection done on a house before making an offer? (other than possibly having wasted money on said inspection if you don't wind up going for it)

Our agent is saying that an offer without a condition is stronger, because it doesn't risk the seller having to start again if you back out. So I figured this could be a way around that?

On a side note: pretty annoying that it seems uncommon in Canada for sellers to have an inspection report available upon sale. Out here they usually do, so at least you have some idea of what you're getting yourself into :/.

Unfortunately, in this market if you're not subject free, you're not getting the place.

Have you made an offer on a place already, if so, how many offers were there?

I've been hearing places getting 10+ offers again. If a place is getting 10+ offers at least one or two are going subject free, that's just the reality.

The downside is only the financial cost, it's like $500-800 per inspection.

What type of place are you looking at? if you're in a condo, doing an inspection is useless. What are they going to tell you that is significant? Stratas have depreciation reports and all the stuff is already covered. If it's a detached house, then I can see it being more important, but even then I would only be concerned with the foundation or the roof.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by Traum

I agree with what 68 has said here -- if you are not even making an offer, what incentive does the seller have to allow a stranger and his inspector to spend a good few hours looking into every nook and cranny of my house?

If I were the seller, I'd tell my agent to tell the other agent to either submit an offer with a subject to inspection, or go pound sand.

It's pretty common for buyers to do a pre-offer inspection in this market. Usually, if the selling agent is doing an offer day, for example, open house sat/sun, offers on Tuesday.

The selling agent will say all pre-offer inspections will be one on Monday. That's pretty standard in the industry. No one is doing an inspection without intending to put an offer in.

[Great68]

The sellers/realtors are letting viewers bring in inspectors, set up ladders, and crawl throughout the house and pop open inspection covers during an open house day?

I don't think so.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by Great68

The sellers/realtors are letting viewers bring in inspectors, set up ladders, and crawl throughout the house and pop open inspection covers during an open house day?

I don't think so.

Not during the open house, they would likely do it on a Monday or Tuesday after the open house. This is standard practice in the industry. Especially if they know the house is going into multiples. They will set a date.

[68style]

If they're getting multiple offers, especially 10+, selling agent is not going to bother letting anyone inspect. He/she is going to say fuck off unless its no subjects.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

.

What type of place are you looking at? if you're in a condo, doing an inspection is useless. What are they going to tell you that is significant? Stratas have depreciation reports and all the stuff is already covered. If it's a detached house, then I can see it being more important, but even then I would only be concerned with the foundation or the roof.

I think there is still value in inspections for apartment units as water damage is a high frequency event in condos. Having a second set of eyes might be helpful to point out where water damaged has occurred and whether or not it has not been rectified or if the repair was poor.

[Hondaracer]

In a condo, if you don’t have someone who thoroughly understands a depreciation report, an inspection is useless.

My dad is legit one of the best people to review depreciation reports, he knows the ins and outs of virtually every aspect.. should maybe start a side gig reviewing them.. lol

[68style]

^ Agreed inspections in condos are totally useless unless you read the depreciation reports and past strata actions. Any idiot can walk around a condo sticking testers in outlets and looking at faucets/pipes under sinks.

The real costs are in the common areas and mixed use stuff like drainage pipes and exterior surfaces and roofs. Buildings aren't letting inspectors at that stuff, so the reports are the only way.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

In a condo, if you don’t have someone who thoroughly understands a depreciation report, an inspection is useless.

My dad is legit one of the best people to review depreciation reports, he knows the ins and outs of virtually every aspect.. should maybe start a side gig reviewing them.. lol

provide a service to review them and create a capital plan for owner.