Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Hondaracer]

I remember when we sold our condo had a weird interaction with the idiots who bought our place because I had to go back in to fix a window once they had already taken possession.

The guy followed me into the bedroom and opened the electrical panel on the wall

“Heh.. this looks pretty old?!?”

Yea man.. you just bought a condo built in 1986, no shit it’s old lol

[G]

Its getting pretty rough out there. I was told by a seller agent that they are not even looking at offers with subjects.

I also agree with no point in putting in inspection for condos, but people try to sneak it in as a way to back out of the contract. The inspection for condos really doesn't do anything other than check to make sure all appliances and mechanicals are functioning and noting them to the potential purchasers. If its a newer condo (1-2 years), there is honestly no point.

Also note that, yes you have 3 day rescission period but it also costs $$.

[Traum]

Damn... I'm not aware of the (Vancouver) market being so hot again. And interest rates haven't even started dropping yet!

[SSM_DC5]

Realtor: buy now before interest rates drop because it'll be too hot!

[68style]

Also realtor: Buy now because I'm starving, supply is low and demand over 1.6 is non-existent lol

[Eff-1]

We've been looking for a while and it seems any kind of entry-level detached house, no matter how old, sells very fast. The rates haven't necessarily slowed down that segment.

Houses priced at over 2, or say 2.5, are sitting a bit longer.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

We've been looking for a while and it seems any kind of entry-level detached house, no matter how old, sells very fast. The rates haven't necessarily slowed down that segment.

Houses priced at over 2, or say 2.5, are sitting a bit longer.

Have you thought about a duplex?

My buddy is in the same boat as you. He's been looking for the past year, but he just had a kid so they haven't been looking as much lately.

But, he said he's considering a duplex now. His wife wants to be in Vancouver because it's closer to her friends and family (same with him). They're in Richmond now.

He's been looking for detached with a rental suite, but I told him being a landlord isn't very glamorous and can be a pain, so he's thinking maybe just getting a single family without the rental.

Anything around $2M still needs a good amount of renos.

[RabidRat]

Thanks folks.

Yeah it's for a detached. At least out here, they look for stuff like cracks in the foundation, signs of termite damage, signs of flooding, signs of issues with the roof, etc. It's good advice that maybe I can arrange to have an inspector come with us. Not during open house lol: the agent's got a private showing booked for us.

Originally Posted by G

Also note that, yes you have 3 day rescission period but it also costs $$.

Good lookin' out. Yeah to your point, seems backing out in that 3 day period doesn't come free: it's a 0.25% penalty, which is thousands of dollars geez.

Ok, seems it's probably worth at least posing the question to the seller: do you want me to inspect this house right now, and be able to give you a clean no-subjects offer? Or, do you want me to just make you an offer with subjects? I'm good with either, you pick.

My skin in the game is spending $800 to do it: no one's spending that kind of money (and time) for shits and giggles lol.

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

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

We haven't put an offer down yet, but another place we were just looking at got 5 offers.

[Eff-1]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Have you thought about a duplex?

My buddy is in the same boat as you. He's been looking for the past year, but he just had a kid so they haven't been looking as much lately.

But, he said he's considering a duplex now. His wife wants to be in Vancouver because it's closer to her friends and family (same with him). They're in Richmond now.

He's been looking for detached with a rental suite, but I told him being a landlord isn't very glamorous and can be a pain, so he's thinking maybe just getting a single family without the rental.

Anything around $2M still needs a good amount of renos.

Ideally we wouldn't want any kind of shared accomodation. We are currently in a strata and ready for our own 4 walls and land.

Duplexes kind of scare me because it's technically classified as a strata and the strata property act applies.

If you happen to buy one and your neighbour is a nut job, you're in for a life of hell, after paying 7 figures for the privilege.

At least in a larger strata, there are more owners who can cancel out the actions of a single nut job.

[yray]

what really bugs me about subject to inspections is the seller is not being privy to the report to the buyer

heard a story where a inspector said the house was previously a grow op by looking at the drywall but the seller has been there for 20+ years and did not know it was a ex - grow op when they bought

[68style]

Why should the seller be privy to the report?

If the seller was, the buyer is paying out of pocket for the seller to now have a full consult on their house for free. They can then turn around and use those findings to market their house and potentially profit from it handing out the report to prospective buyers and enticing higher bids from them all paid for on someone else's dime.

[yray]

Originally Posted by 68style

Why should the seller be privy to the report?

If the seller was, the buyer is paying out of pocket for the seller to now have a full consult on their house for free. They can then turn around and use those findings to market their house and potentially profit from it handing out the report to prospective buyers and enticing higher bids from them all paid for on someone else's dime.

Would you hand out an inspection report saying your house is shit?

If the buyer rescinds the offer to buy a house based on an inspection report, the report should be accessible to the seller. I just find it crazy to say someone's house was ex grow op based on a bulge on the drywall. Every damm house in Richmond has drywall issues.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

Yeah it's for a detached. At least out here, they look for stuff like cracks in the foundation, signs of termite damage, signs of flooding, signs of issues with the roof, etc. It's good advice that maybe I can arrange to have an inspector come with us. Not during open house lol: the agent's got a private showing booked for us.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about a questionable roof too much, esp if it is an asphalt shingles roof. For a normal sized detached home, it should only cost ~$15k at most. Not a small sum to be sure, but it is something you can budget for.

If a proper restoration job has been done (after a flood), there shouldn't be any signs of flooding at all -- it would look no different than how a typical renovation would look.

[GS8]

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

There's a company in Alberta that does exactly this.

When I put my conditions in for my recent purchase in AB, my realtor told me about a company called "Condolyzers" that is based in Alberta. I literally sent them all the Condo docs (50 ish pages) and they went through every document, word-for-word, line-by-line and in 3 business days, were able to return a condensed 'findings report' to me where I was able to make sense of everything. Not only that, but they will also phone you and go through the document and answer any and all questions you have in regards to their findings. I spent about 45 minutes with my analyst and she was amazing. She even mentioned that she had briefly served as property management at that complex and recognized some of the strata board members. It was such an enlightening experience. TL;DR: The strata is run very well with lots of surplus funds.

Just like an inspection, they are expensive, but save so much headache in the long run. Easily a 5 star experience!

But. now that spring is here, the AB market is ramping up, even in smaller towns like Sylvan Lake and Blackfalds. As Calgary and Edmonton become Vancouver, more people will move to the sticks for some semblance of space and detached ownership.

[JDMDreams]

I dunno man, I have a friend who listed their under 10y old town house up with two weekends of open house with no offers. I think everyone is waiting for rates to drop.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Have you thought about a duplex?

My buddy is in the same boat as you. He's been looking for the past year, but he just had a kid so they haven't been looking as much lately.

But, he said he's considering a duplex now. His wife wants to be in Vancouver because it's closer to her friends and family (same with him). They're in Richmond now.

He's been looking for detached with a rental suite, but I told him being a landlord isn't very glamorous and can be a pain, so he's thinking maybe just getting a single family without the rental.

Anything around $2M still needs a good amount of renos.

I have some friends who moved into duplexes over the last few years. They paid $1.5-2m so they can be in/or as close to Vancouver as possible. Based on their feedback, their #1 goal was to remain in Vancouver (or go as far out as Burnaby). If your friend has a $2m budget, they can find a newer duplex with a rental suite in Burnaby.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

Ideally we wouldn't want any kind of shared accomodation. We are currently in a strata and ready for our own 4 walls and land.

Duplexes kind of scare me because it's technically classified as a strata and the strata property act applies.

If you happen to buy one and your neighbour is a nut job, you're in for a life of hell, after paying 7 figures for the privilege.

At least in a larger strata, there are more owners who can cancel out the actions of a single nut job.

Here's a duplex horror story that my realtor told me about. It's been a few years so the details may be fuzzy. Long story short, their basement flooded due to an issue with a sump pump (I think that's what the issue was), but the sump pump was located within their neighbor's duplex. Their neighbour was on vacation and they could not reach them so they could not get in until the neighbour came back.

[68style]

Originally Posted by yray

Would you hand out an inspection report saying your house is shit?

If the buyer rescinds the offer to buy a house based on an inspection report, the report should be accessible to the seller. I just find it crazy to say someone's house was ex grow op based on a bulge on the drywall. Every damm house in Richmond has drywall issues.

It's none of your business as a seller why someone rescinds their offer. Likewise if I'm buying something and I don't want to, I'm under no obligation to explain to the seller why. I just say thank you but no thank you and goodbye.

If someone used a shitty inspector and that inspector said it's an ex grow-up because of a bulge in the drywall, what difference does it make whether you have that report or not? You're not going to convince that buyer otherwise, it's that buyer's loss and on to the next buyer.

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

We've been looking for a while and it seems any kind of entry-level detached house, no matter how old, sells very fast. The rates haven't necessarily slowed down that segment.

Houses priced at over 2, or say 2.5, are sitting a bit longer.

To be fair, the people that I know who are paying $1.6 - 2.5M aren't taking out a $7 - 15K/month mortgage.

it's mostly cash offer and 50-75% down hence why the rates don't really matter.

[Great68]

Before we bought the house that we currently live in, we nearly bought a different house. We were in subject clearing phase, we had done the inspection but the more we thought about it the less we liked the house and location. So we just simply said we're not proceeding, and walked away. We didn't give the sellers any specific reason nor did we need to.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

Thanks folks.

Yeah it's for a detached. At least out here, they look for stuff like cracks in the foundation, signs of termite damage, signs of flooding, signs of issues with the roof, etc. It's good advice that maybe I can arrange to have an inspector come with us. Not during open house lol: the agent's got a private showing booked for us.



Good lookin' out. Yeah to your point, seems backing out in that 3 day period doesn't come free: it's a 0.25% penalty, which is thousands of dollars geez.

Ok, seems it's probably worth at least posing the question to the seller: do you want me to inspect this house right now, and be able to give you a clean no-subjects offer? Or, do you want me to just make you an offer with subjects? I'm good with either, you pick.

My skin in the game is spending $800 to do it: no one's spending that kind of money (and time) for shits and giggles lol.



We haven't put an offer down yet, but another place we were just looking at got 5 offers.

If I were you, this is what I would do. If I see a detached house I really like, I would make the offer without inspection and possibly no subjects (if you can) and then hope you win the bid, then during the 3 day period do the home inspection. I would say most often than not, the home inspection will not be significant.

That way if you really find a place you like and it's within budget, you can make a strong offer.

And if they do find a significant issue, then just pay the fine. I would hate to miss out on a good deal because i'm worried about an inspection that most times doesn't show anything that significant.

Originally Posted by Alpine

I have some friends who moved into duplexes over the last few years. They paid $1.5-2m so they can be in/or as close to Vancouver as possible. Based on their feedback, their #1 goal was to remain in Vancouver (or go as far out as Burnaby). If your friend has a $2m budget, they can find a newer duplex with a rental suite in Burnaby.

They definitely don't want to be in Burnaby. They said they would rather be in Richmond (where they live) over Burnaby. They want Vancouver proper where their friends and family are.

They live in a townhouse right now and for whatever reason they don't want to buy an old detach and slowly renovate. They foolishly want to buy something move in ready even if it's a duplex. I tried to tell them a detached is always best, even if you have to renovate slowly, but they want new or newish.

[Eatman]

Originally Posted by G

Its getting pretty rough out there. I was told by a seller agent that they are not even looking at offers with subjects.

I also agree with no point in putting in inspection for condos, but people try to sneak it in as a way to back out of the contract. The inspection for condos really doesn't do anything other than check to make sure all appliances and mechanicals are functioning and noting them to the potential purchasers. If its a newer condo (1-2 years), there is honestly no point.

Also note that, yes you have 3 day rescission period but it also costs $$.

Just wanted to confirm that the market has changed since the end of January, market definitely heated up in certain areas of Vancouver/BBY. I was involved in multiple offer bidding wars on a few houses, with 1 situation I was the top bidder, but still lost out due to a no subject offer on a BBY detached. Chatted away with some groups of prospective buyers at some open houses and the consensus is that everyone was tired of waiting on the sidelines and are afraid once interest rates go down, the frenzy is going to come back. I even encountered a couple doing a pre-inspection during an open house, most likely to put in a subject free offer.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by yray

what really bugs me about subject to inspections is the seller is not being privy to the report to the buyer

heard a story where a inspector said the house was previously a grow op by looking at the drywall but the seller has been there for 20+ years and did not know it was a ex - grow op when they bought

Isn't it important to know about ex-growops for insurance reasons? I heard they black flag the address and won't insure you if it's ever been a grow op.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

They definitely don't want to be in Burnaby. They said they would rather be in Richmond (where they live) over Burnaby. They want Vancouver proper where their friends and family are.

They live in a townhouse right now and for whatever reason they don't want to buy an old detach and slowly renovate. They foolishly want to buy something move in ready even if it's a duplex. I tried to tell them a detached is always best, even if you have to renovate slowly, but they want new or newish.

I can't blame them for not prioritizing their financial situation over other variables. We moved further away to get ourselves a detached + rental suite, but most of our friends chose to stay in a TH/duplex (for the same $) in/just outside of Vancouver.

I don't think most people are cut out for a reno, too many horror stories about budget/timeline overruns. Most want an easy solution.

[Hondaracer]

If you can’t do a lot of the work yourself, it’s a daunting thought.

With that said I’d take a dumpy detached over a comparatively priced duplex or townhome every time