My family did the whole "few families under one roof" with other relatives about a year back. Moved from a 3br 1000sqft unit (other families from a Van Special) and moved out to Surrey where the majority of them work. My parents (read: me) were initially worried that there would be no "free space" and that the common areas were contested. I know from personal experience that as I was getting closer to moving out, my family was driving me absolutely nuts.

They quickly realized that the common areas weren't used as much as people thought (minus the great yard and patio space), and that everyone tended to be in the main kitchen eating/interacting or their respective rooms minding their own business.

I was a huge opponent to my parents essentially pooling their money with other family members because there's always that risk of "someone not pulling their weight" and ruining family ties. Seeing it in person over the last year has made me believe that the stigma of buying with close family members to make it work (it being having a detached home) here in Vancouver isn't as big as I thought.

Edit: It's not very clear in what I typed, but I'm not in said house.

What the fuck is EI?

East Indian

Not employment insurance

East Indian people is a demonym that may refer to the following related groups:

people from South Asia, South Asian ethnic groups, or
people from India, Indian people
This usage is particularly popular in countries in the western hemisphere to differentiate people of Indian origin from Native Americans (also referred to as Indians) or people from the Caribbean (known as West Indians).[citation needed]

Well, thanks for the detailed explanation.

Money and family don't mix (for most) so my advice is avoid going in on a primary residence with relatives if at all possible.

Not 100% true. Depends how close you are with your family. For us we share our assets and make it grow together as a team.
Oh didn't see the (for most) part. Lol

parents plan their retirement (not sure if its mine yet lol) is to sell their current home, larger home we built/grew up in, then give us X amount to build a new house on a property, most likely in Vancouver, and they live in a suite which is part of the home.

They want to travel and downsize, but with the lots i could potentially get into, dont know if it's going to work just strictly based on the potential size of what we could build.

That's a great idea plus you get free baby sitting and some one to pick your kids up from school.

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/S...olumbia-V3S2S7

anything wrong with this one?

Yeah, the price is from 2007.

I'm assuming there would be lots of noise with it being on 88th and 152nd.

WTF is the obsession with owning. why does the government want to interfere with lower income people's ability to buy a place.

i do understand the theory that ownership makes for more stable neighbourhoods, and their is truth to that, but it also limits flexibility and mobility to a large degree which is a massive negative in our more and more globalized economy.

personally, i hate these types of programs. if you can't afford to buy, don't. but then again, we all know that this is just a way to force people to save... even though this is basically making real estate a massive ponzi scheme.

governments really just need to protect their residents' interests, not mess around with low income/ high income/ whatever income people's ability to do this, that, or the other. they should concentrate on tightening their borders, banking, and real estate activities if they want to bring reality and affordability back to the masses.

municipal taxes are levied based on house value, but usage is more so based on a per capita basis.

an EI house with 15 people in it will pay a similar municipal tax as the house next door with 3 or 4 people in it, yet will be a cost to the municipality in a factor of 3-5x

A poll tax is a better idea, tax each adult in the municipality, this only is a detriment to those without kids, but they usually have more disposable cash anyways, so fuck 'em

they are in every market but to varying degrees

genuinely curious to understand how an 'average investor' can net 3x their principal @ 6% p.a without assuming fixed linear returns in equities and no leverage ?????

Any thoughts on pre sale homes? (River District - R+R)

Honestly there isn't anything special about R+R other than its only 1 phase(ie not crowded). River District is 4 phases with a 14,000sf amenity building which is a good selling point but with 4 phases it may feel congested to you. Although their price per sf is like mid to high $400/sf

Ain't nothing wrong with pre sale homes imo but like everything there are pros and cons. I'll just list a few pros and cons.

- locked into price so even if the prices sky rocket during build it doesn't affect you although a negative if shit tanks during build

- everything is first hand although from a build quality point of view you just don't know how good it's where as with a non pre sale you know

- ability to lock in and continue to save more during build vs a non pre sale where you need to have the money and ready to move now

- no bidding wars

- have to wait 1, 2, 3, sometimes even more years to be ready

- have to pay GST

As for River District I think other people have touched on it in this thread but my own personal thoughts are this. Probably the last remaining "deal" in Van, pretty decent bang for buck in terms of $/sq. Will be the next Olympic Village and then some so the future outlook is great.

However, I think you'll have to deal with years and years of construction and depending on where you building is it may be really bad or maybe not so bad. Noise and road detours and closures will be your life for a while just like Olympic Village was or still is. I've been working in the village since the beginning of 2009 and I've been driving by construction omw to work for over 7 years with no end in site, it has been of minor annoyance to me so far as they've been pretty good with the road closures/detours and I'm far enough that the noise is a non issue but I can't imagine having to live in the construction zone.

says the man whose parents own multiple properties and runs a landlord business. hypocrite like you don't know when to STFU and just leave this thread once and for all.

Polygon is a decent developer. You're not going to get anything extraordinary in terms of finishes or the exterior, but you'll probably get something that won't break down in 10 years (i.e. Just long enough to pass the headaches to the next buyer)

My wife and I had a meal at Romer's down there last week. Aside from the mosquitoes at dusk, it's quite a pleasant community. No transit aside from a bus, but that hasn't stopped people from buying into other car-dependent areas such as Burke Mountain or Morgan Heights. The city of Vancouver is probably pretty motivated to turn it into a good community considering that the sale of the land was not without some controversy.

Construction isn't that big of a deal here. I've been here 2.5 years and it hasn't been bad at all compared to other areas where everyday is a headache. GF and I want to stay in this area if we don't pair with my parents to buy a house. As for Polygon build I haven't experienced anything bad *knock on wood* however the sales manager at R+R did state that each one of there projects will be slightly different versus their cookie cutter builds around the lower mainland. As for River District the developer is WesGroup and their buildings may be more cookie cutter style. Keep in mind Polygon only has pockets of buildings here since this whole community plan actually belongs to WesGroup. As for the comparison to Olympic Village, yes, it will be based on the same idea.

What does his parents owning multiple properties have anything to do with what he said?

they're the man/woman upstairs. the big shots. the fat cats stuffing their faces while we peons break our backs trying to make rent. eating their truffled meatballs while we drink ice soup and eat grass salad.

sorry dude, i own lots of different types of assets (remember, I preach diversification, so owning lots of different assets and rebalance, this totally includes a portion of RE): buy low sell high. you can't win them all, but follow that advice and you'll do well.

not sure why you're talking about my parents, i'm not some 20 something punk who considers their parents' stuff as their own.

... and they don't at that