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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
Why are Chinese investors only targeting Vancouver?
I know Vancouver is most expensive(if not, one of) place to buy real estate in North America, so I would've guessed Chinese investors would be more attracted to San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, etc...
The reason of targeting Vancouver and Toronto is because our politicians have no guts. Hence lower risk for foreigners to park their money.
If you ever try to reside in US, purchase property with no financing and you file taxes, wait for the IRS to audit on your income. Furthermore, US politicians are highly sensitive on voters' opinions. If a place had enough support for anything, you'd see lawmakers making proposals. Here? They simply reply they've got no data.
WTF? You are the fricking gov't... if there's a data you need and you don't have, you go and find people to get those data. The gov't is the only one who's capable of obtaining such data in the first place.
Favorable government policy. US immigration are 2x 3x stricter than Canada. These foreign "investors" will keep bidding the price up until it is fair for them. Take away the favorable policies and the bidders will disappear. Thats when price correction can happen.
Easier said than done though. So dont sit there hoping and calling for a crash. There is no such thing as price is "too high" it can't go up any more. Market determines the price and if these guys are sweeping up RE 20, 30% over ask and by cash then there's still lots of room to go up.
What Vancouver really, really needs is to focus on densification. And people have to simply accept that the city has changed irreversibly, and if you want a huge house with a yard, well, Langley and Maple Ridge are only 45 minutes by car away.
The biggest problem with going the densification route is traffic, or at a larger scale, city infrastructure. For better or for worse, Vancouver is mostly designed to primarily support vehicular traffic. In many residential areas, even the main roads would only support single lane traffic. When you turn a plot into even just a low rise apartment, it will create traffic problems. My crappy condo is exactly like that. Leaving the apartment in the morning, it often takes a solid minute's worth of waiting or more just to get onto the main road partly because there is often a constant stream of traffic, and partly because people don't know how to drive (ie. keep waiting for a completely clear, no-car-within-500m-either-way type of opening). Coming back into the apartment is even more of a gong show if you are on the "wrong" side of the road. Because the main road is single lane traffic, a long line of cars are often found behind the single left-turning car that is trying to get back into the complex.
A friend lives in a 30-something storeys condo around Metrotown, and the entrance lane into the parkade is even more of a gong show.
Well look around metro. My buddy bought in the tower that is connected by the pedestrian bridge 6 years ago. In this 6 years 12 new towers have come into the area.
Same thing that I posted a few pages back are: Lougheed mall, they are going to take a 30 acre parcel of land and build 20 towers in what is essentially a 4 block radius.
Thank god I'm on the other side of Lougheed
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Dank memes cant melt steel beams
You should show these untraveled over privileged vancouverites what traffic looks like in Rio.
Oh do tell me the population of Rio, compared to GVRD.
I honestly don't understand these people in this thread trying to compare Vancouver to cities like New York, London, Rio, HK, etc.
It's like comparing Apples to Oranges. With the relative low population of this city, there is no reason other than shitty planning.
The developers are moving faster at putting up these condo's than our government is at attempting to improve this shitty infrastructure.
It's becoming infuriating to drive downtown for work, and I live right beside Brentwood Mall, which is a stones throw away from the downtown core.
It blows my mind how many entries into DT are becoming bogged and closed down due to condo development. It might take me 20-30 mins just to get to Clarke and Venables, then you can take on an additional 30 mins just to get into downtown to Pender/Thurlow area. It feels like our city planners almost don't want people to work downtown, or care that people actually commute there in the first place.
Why do you think they have all these "aids" that help you brake and gas below certain speeds. Soon you wont have to worry about driving at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikemhg
Oh do tell me the population of Rio, compared to GVRD.
I honestly don't understand these people in this thread trying to compare Vancouver to cities like New York, London, Rio, HK, etc.
It's like comparing Apples to Oranges. With the relative low population of this city, there is no reason other than shitty planning.
The developers are moving faster at putting up these condo's than our government is at attempting to improve this shitty infrastructure.
It's becoming infuriating to drive downtown for work, and I live right beside Brentwood Mall, which is a stones throw away from the downtown core.
It blows my mind how many entries into DT are becoming bogged and closed down due to condo development. It might take me 20-30 mins just to get to Clarke and Venables, then you can take on an additional 30 mins just to get into downtown to Pender/Thurlow area. It feels like our city planners almost don't want people to work downtown, or care that people actually commute there in the first place.
Oh do tell me the population of Rio, compared to GVRD.
I honestly don't understand these people in this thread trying to compare Vancouver to cities like New York, London, Rio, HK, etc.
It's like comparing Apples to Oranges. With the relative low population of this city, there is no reason other than shitty planning.
The developers are moving faster at putting up these condo's than our government is at attempting to improve this shitty infrastructure.
It's becoming infuriating to drive downtown for work, and I live right beside Brentwood Mall, which is a stones throw away from the downtown core.
It blows my mind how many entries into DT are becoming bogged and closed down due to condo development. It might take me 20-30 mins just to get to Clarke and Venables, then you can take on an additional 30 mins just to get into downtown to Pender/Thurlow area. It feels like our city planners almost don't want people to work downtown, or care that people actually commute there in the first place.
When i was working at trump tower, i could get from Lougheed mall to the parkade walking into the trump in under 30 minutes every single day taking Hastings.
Mind you, we were starting at 630, but i rarely have a problem getting DT on hastings or Mcgill.. first is another story
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Dank memes cant melt steel beams
The developers are moving faster at putting up these condo's than our government is at attempting to improve this shitty infrastructure.
It's becoming infuriating to drive downtown for work, and I live right beside Brentwood Mall, which is a stones throw away from the downtown core.
It blows my mind how many entries into DT are becoming bogged and closed down due to condo development. It might take me 20-30 mins just to get to Clarke and Venables, then you can take on an additional 30 mins just to get into downtown to Pender/Thurlow area. It feels like our city planners almost don't want people to work downtown, or care that people actually commute there in the first place.
Unless you're talking about a freeway through the city of Vancouver (which the city tried to build in the 1970s, but were forced to back away after strong protests), what can city planners do with the current road system?
The politicians are reluctant to upset detached home owners (since they vote), so they have no choice but to rezone underutilized commercial and industrial lands for high-density development.
I drove from the Brentwood area to my office in the core for over a year. It sucked for the most part which is why I started biking. Unless you're carpooling or using your car for business purposes, it doesn't make a lot of sense to drive from that part of town since Skytrain is right there.
The city planners actually want people who live downtown to work downtown. It works well until people hit their 30s and want to start families. 800 square feet doesn't go a long way, and neither does shopping for overpriced produce at IGA, or Nestor's.
Oh do tell me the population of Rio, compared to GVRD.
I honestly don't understand these people in this thread trying to compare Vancouver to cities like New York, London, Rio, HK, etc.
Wait, I keep hearing Vancouver is a "world class city", how every comparison ever is to these cities (in the media and in this thread), how Vancouver is awesome, and this and that. Well, if it wants to be a part of the big leagues of cities, this is how it's going to be going forward.
It's either a "world class city", with world class challenges, or it's a little backwater city in Western Canada. You can't have it both ways.
Also, not Rio, but similar traffic. Except Rio is smaller and has hotter women and better scenery:
Also, geez, if I lived at Brentwood you couldn't pay me to drive downtown for work. I'd just take the train... That's, like, the whole point of living in the Brentwood area.
Finally, here are some interesting stats:
Metro Vancouver has a density of 856.2/km2
Metro Rio has a density of 2,535/km2
Amsterdam (because everyone here seems to love Amsterdam) has a density of a whopping 4,908/km2.
Vancouver needs to severely densify.
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As a landlord I'd like to extend a big FUUUUCK YOOOU to Pooya and the renters of Vancouver.
Here are some reason's why AirBNB blows away renters.
1. What better way to get an idea of what your customer is like than to read reviews on them? I'd take that any day over doing credit checks, calling employers and references who may or may not be buddies with them.
2. Look at all the BS dinosaur and gridlock had to deal with
3. Hoarders, Dump Fee's and Pest control will cost u a few grand minimum
4. Professional renters that know the RTO rules favor them and know they can get free rent everytime they move and choose not to pay.
5. Evictions, unless someones life is in danger your looking at min 30 days to get someone out and thats ONLY if all the moons and stars align and they dont play any games. Which will also cost you starting at 1k+ minimum if you need a bailiff to get them out. Plus all the months of lost rent before you even get to that stage.
6. Never had an airBNB client wind up babysitting a pet even when the contract states no pets.
7. Your likely to get customers that are actual owners and know how to unclog their toilet and turn off a shut off valve under the sink if something happens. Not worry about these renters that dont know how anything works.
8.Higher ROI, you do more work and have more turnover but you stand to make more than you would with a normal month to month rental.
9. No need to worry about sublets behind your back or grow ops.
10. RTO. Being that you wont need to deal with this group of individuals who gladly take from the owner and give to the poor poor renter.
Vancouver has lost it's appeal to me, all but 1 of my properties has construction cranes making noise and causing gridlock. What good is a commute when your doing below 50km most of the time. Would you rather a 30 min commute with 2 traffic lights or 20?
Whats the point of having a modded car in vancouver? Unless it's a auto or DCT your going to punch yourself in the balls if your stuck in traffic. You never get to enjoy it, may as well use the EVOO service. Or get a big fat cushy sofa SUV.... until you had to find parking for it.. and with the way bikeboy is running this city soon the dt core wont be getting any better.
Moving a couple hours in any direction and getting out of the GVRD makes alot more sense to me. I just signed a 6 month contract with some realtors to let go of a few properties closer to the downtown core. The only rentals I'll be keeping are the ones where I know my tenants wont be moving in the next 5 years and have been with me for 5 years already with no issues. I keep the rents well below market they do some maintenance makes things easy for everyone.
So the end solution is that the renters want more rules to make things even more difficult for landlords LOL! Well if I was a foreign investor I would rather keep my property empty than to risk dealing with the sh1tty Vancouver renters.
I suspect the only people that rent to locals are the ones that still read newspapers daily. They simply dont know a better way.
Hey if there are any landlords that disagree I'd love to hear it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by GS8
Not sure if this is legit or more fear fodder. Kinda sorta related to real estate if you wanna stay on the rental train
I live right beside Brentwood Mall, which is a stones throw away from the downtown core.
Sorry first time I've heard anything in bby described as being a stone's throw from the DT core.
Quote:
It blows my mind how many entries into DT are becoming bogged and closed down due to condo development. It might take me 20-30 mins just to get to Clarke and Venables, then you can take on an additional 30 mins just to get into downtown to Pender/Thurlow area. It feels like our city planners almost don't want people to work downtown, or care that people actually commute there in the first place.
I'm almost feeling a sense of entitlement of how things should be tailored to your commute. Imagine what your commute will be like once that construction is done, and the roads will be flooded by the people who will be living in these developments. I'd argue the change is coming/here already: start taking the bus/skytrain/bike. The infrastructure IS there, nobody's fault you choose not to use it.
You chose to live so far away from work, sure maybe your commute has changed over time. Guess what, you're not the only one. You can 1)get a job closer to your home, 2)move closer to your work, 3)work hours outside of peak traffic; and if those aren't options all you can really do is deal with it.
Sorry first time I've heard anything in bby described as being a stone's throw from the DT core.
I'm almost feeling a sense of entitlement of how things should be tailored to your commute. Imagine what your commute will be like once that construction is done, and the roads will be flooded by the people who will be living in these developments. I'd argue the change is coming/here already: start taking the bus/skytrain/bike. The infrastructure IS there, nobody's fault you choose not to use it.
You chose to live so far away from work, sure maybe your commute has changed over time. Guess what, you're not the only one. You can 1)get a job closer to your home, 2)move closer to your work, 3)work hours outside of peak traffic; and if those aren't options all you can really do is deal with it.
Have you not been reading the headlines speaking about how Vancouver's economic future could be in serious danger due to the issues people are having getting into the Downtown Core, clearly I'm not the only person with these complaints. My job actually requires me to have my vehicle, at times I will need to leave the office to meet clients. I plan to bike to work this summer, but if you think Brentwood is far from Downtown Vancouver, you are crazy.
I would never claim to think my commute should always be the same, the problem I'm having is the absolute unfettered amount of construction going on throughout the city, downtown in particular. Let's be real here, downtown is still the economic core of this city, so to say "get a job closer" is a pretty ignorant thing to say.
We all know there are not many entry ways coming from Burnaby/East Vancouver into the downtown core, so one has to wonder this city's logic when we allow construction to completely shut down, or severely slow the few entry ways we have into the city.
I have no problem with growth and process, but I would like to see it managed better so that the folks that actually LIVE HERE (not those investing from across the ocean), can still traverse this city in a realistic manner. Throwing up Condo's and slapping a bunch of extra traffic lights along major entry ways is not the answer, at least not in my opinion.
There is no entitlement in my bones here, I was born in this city and have grown up here for most of my life. Most citizens here just want to see sane progress, and not this cash grab that our government has sold this city to wealthy investors.
Shit, if this city was a real economic hub full of vibrant individuals that actually live in these buildings that are going up, this would all make perfect sense. You and I both know this isn't the case, though.
^so I provided you with 3 possible solutions to your problem. You called me ignorant, yet have no realistic solutions but to complain. Let's be realistic, nobody's going to solve your problems for you. So you can't find a job closer to where you live, fair enough, probably something you should have anticipated when you decided that you were going to move a stone's throw away from your work. Then you could always move closer to work if this really is such a thorn in your side.
If you're complaining about the unfettered construction affecting you right now, just wait til the Brentwood construction really kicks in.
BTW I as well as many others don't believe that this economic center you speak of downtown is as important as you think it is. Have you read up on the shortage of commercial real estate through out the whole region, light industrial land, etc, outside of the downtown core?
As an aside I used to work in north van living in kits. Until you do that commute every day, and there are many others' commutes much worse, you really dont have much to complain about.
Millennials thinking small for affordable housing Rising housing prices and culture shift causing Generation Y to seek new types of housing
By Joseph Quigley, CBC News Posted: Feb 21, 2016 11:00 AM ET Last Updated: Feb 21, 2016 11:00 AM ET
The "Getaway" tiny house projects gives people a chance to taste what living simpler means, says Pete Davis, the co-founder of the project. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)
Harvard law student Pete Davis says he wants to live in his own tiny house someday. In the meantime, getting a taste of the lifestyle now — by offering it to others — has been an unexpectedly successful venture for him.
Davis is the co-founder of Getaway, a project that rents out tiny houses in the woods around Boston, Mass., for people seeking a retreat, or for those who want to test if tiny house living could work for them on a more permanent basis.
The project is one of many small housing initiatives in what amounts to a growing industry in millennial housing, particularly as rising real estate costs in both Canada and the U.S. have made traditional home buying much less affordable.
The tiny house movement, which has seen entire tiny villages spring up in Oregon and Texas in recent years, is working to fill that niche, and was the inspiration for Getaway.
The kitchen and bath area of one of the homes in the "Getaway" project. Davis says downsizing living space to get in touch with the world around you has a lot of appeal. (Charles Krupa/Associated Press)
Davis said the appeal of tiny housing is in the shifting priorities of millennials, those in their 20s and early 30s, who seek humbler existences.
"I think it's because there's been a transition in lifestyle of what people think the American dream is," he said. "The idea of the nineties over-consumption — of showing off all the stuff you have and getting the big screen TV — has changed to the desire for more authentic experiences."
Communal living
A layout for Commonspace, a coliving apartment in downtown Syracuse, N.Y. Though units are small, co-founder Troy Evans says the community atmosphere appeals to people.
Another small housing idea that's gaining traction in the U.S. is the idea of expanding dorm-style living into post-university adulthood.
Commonspace, a real estate venture situated in downtown Syracuse, N.Y., is selling the idea of living in a tiny apartment that is part of an active community. Set to open in May, the project will see residents live in small, 300-square-foot micro-units with larger shared areas like kitchens and relaxation areas.
Troy Evans, one of the co-founders of Commonspace, says the idea is about providing residents with both a community atmosphere and a private space.
"It's a very warm and welcome space. It's not like you're going to be unhappy when you're in your private space," he said. "We'll give you that and a combination of public space — so trying to create that perfect balance."
Evans noted the space has received a lot of interest, and affordability is a big selling point.
Units in Commonspace rent for $750 to $900 per month, compared to the $1,100 price range of other single-bedroom apartments in downtown Syracuse.
Evans expects the communal living idea — which has already taken root in New York City and San Francisco — will continue to gain traction.
"I think you're going to start seeing them pop up everywhere," said Evans. "I think other people — they're going to try it just like we are."
Deferring the American dream?
A new report suggests U.S. millennials are choosing to wait longer to buy a home in an effort to balance how much debt they take on. (Getty Images)
This new housing movement seems to be coming along as U.S. millennials are delaying when they purchase homes.
A recent study out of the University of Illinois suggests the country's millennials are taking more time to buy a house, deferring on what's often called the American dream for financial reasons.
"A lot of millennials are paying off their student loans and that would take a big portion of their paycheque," said Yilan Xu, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the university, who co-authored the paper.
The study notes that while millennials are still interested in buying a home eventually, they are seeking different types of living arrangements from what their parents had.
"They are more open to the options of having a town house versus a single family house," said Xu. "They are open to those kind of options and they typically desire a smaller home than their parents' generation."
Small houses in Canada
Tiny houses, such as this one in Victoria, B.C., have made their way to Canada as a way to address a lack of affordable housing. (Canadian Press)
The home-buying power of millennials is stronger in Canada. A report released in January by TD economics shows over 50 per cent of Canadians aged 25-35 own a home, as opposed to 36 per cent of their U.S. counterparts.
But small housing initiatives have been making their way to Canada as well. Tiny housing has been springing up across the country and the condominium market is booming in urban centres like Toronto and Vancouver.
Steve Jackson, program manager of the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, says his organization has also been trying to appeal to millennials looking for affordable housing, but a lack of new co-op initiatives has been a roadblock.
"It's unfortunate that there are no major programs to develop new co-op housing," said Jackson. "We know that a lot of millennials do see co-op housing as a wonderful option. It would be great if the waiting lists weren't so long."
While Davis doesn't think smaller houses will supplant traditional ones, he sees it as a market that will grow.
"Cities are going to start allowing it, businesses are going to come up to make this happen," he said. "There's going to be a new age of real estate developers who are going to build these."
Okay seems like Vancouver isn't the only target for Chinese investors.
Not too long ago, Japan was undeniably the most powerful country in Asia.
Fast forward today, investors from Shanghai and Beijing are now targeting Tokyo
Okay seems like Vancouver isn't the only target for Chinese investors.
Not too long ago, Japan was undeniably the most powerful country in Asia.
Fast forward today, investors from Shanghai and Beijing are now targeting Tokyo
without reading those articles, that sounds crazy.
japan has a decreasing population. real estate was in a massive bubble and then burst, it's been dead ever since.
i can't see a catalyst for anything positive in Japan until they open their doors to migration (will happen in 20-30 years when all the baby boomers are out of power).
not even sure it makes sense from a currency play.
Have you not been reading the headlines speaking about how Vancouver's economic future could be in serious danger due to the issues people are having getting into the Downtown Core, clearly I'm not the only person with these complaints. My job actually requires me to have my vehicle, at times I will need to leave the office to meet clients. I plan to bike to work this summer, but if you think Brentwood is far from Downtown Vancouver, you are crazy.
Definitely agree with your point, which is why you can almost understand why the City of Vancouver is promoting public transit and other ways of getting downtown (such as bike infrastructure) for people who don't need their car for business but choose to drive because they don't want to deal with the riff-raff on public transit so people like you who need their car for business can get around the city. But, hey, people didn't vote in favour of the transit tax (because they think that somehow sending a message to the province is actually going to force them to reform/dismantle Translink) and people bitch about bike lanes (when if given the opportunity to try them the infrastructure is actually very, very good).
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikemhg
We all know there are not many entry ways coming from Burnaby/East Vancouver into the downtown core, so one has to wonder this city's logic when we allow construction to completely shut down, or severely slow the few entry ways we have into the city.
Up until a few years ago, there was a huge demand for office space in the downtown core. The city did the logical thing and approved construction of new office towers. You either build slowly and risk losing anchor tenants, or you deal with the inconvenience now so the anchor tenants can set up shop, employ people, and increase the tax base. I don't know what I would do if I was in the planner's chair, but it's easy to see why the city made the decisions it did.
The road system is what it is. The city and province aren't exactly interested in expropriating land (politically impossible and very expensive) to serve a minority of people who need to drive around the city to do business.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
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