I was looking at some listings around the Joyce Collingwood area for a one bedroom condo/apartment. The going price hovers in the range of $300-$350K. I've not made any offers and wanted to see what everyone's opinion is on buying at this time as we go into spring home financing where we might see a larger supply of inventory. The assessed values for the places I've looked at all fall anywhere between $10-$50K below asking and comparables that were sold around this time last year typically went for below assessed value vs asking. As this will be my first purchase, I just wanted some opinion on the current housing market.

^^ As a rule, I'd tend to avoid that area since there are gobs and gobs of inventory there. Essentially, the way I look at it is, when it comes time to sell your unit (because nobody lives in their first time purchase $350k apartment forever), it is going to be a tough sell.

But that's just me and my worthless 2 cents.

This is exactly what I thought when I owned in Brentwood.
We all know what's happened there. My personal view is that there isn't enough supply in the sub-500K category north of the Fraser to satisfy the demands of millennials who are now entering their first time home buying years.

There's no logic to real estate in this market anymore. Therefore, buy what you can afford and make sure you can live in the home for at least 5 years.

The townhouses they build now are gross, I personally built over 400 units in the last 7/8 years and you couldn't pay me to live in them to be honest. Quality of build, privacy, relying on having "good" neighbors etc. such an investment to take such a risk imo. Especially with this recent uptick in prices.

My electrician bought a town home in poco back in 98/99 I beleive he said, 3300 sq ft double garage with 2 large decks and private lawn, for somthing stupid like 340k

Now you're getting 1300 sq ft for 599+ :puke:

In terms of detached pricing in vancouver, from what I've seen there hasn't been very much true movement on prices. People are now pricing their homes at the right point instead of low and waiting for multiple offers.

Just finishing up 5 day vacay in Portland tonight, after exploring both Seattle and now Portland fairly extensively, these cities are 4/10's compared to Vancouver. It's honestly laughable that people even mention these cities in the same breathe as Van when talking about the Pacific Northwest. And with thay said Portland is wayyyyy nicer then the fucking dump Seattle.

When you're reaching 30 and living at home. Both you and your parents must admit defeat by remortgaging their homes and paying your down payment.

That how most of my friends got their foot in the real estate door. Aint no one saving shiet when living in Van.

Portland is a place where trust fund babies go to live their bohemian dreams and not have to deal with uncomfortable things, like race relations.

Seattle proper is nothing special, but all of the rich people live in Bellevue and Kirkland. No state income tax and corporate headquarters are the big draws.

pls explain

I think is that the lifestyle is advance that's what cost ppl not able to save.

Back then if you remember when your parents are buying a house there isn't much in terms of entertainment. I remember entertainment time for the family was like a walk down to the park, whopper wednesday at Burger King and the late night all you can eat sushi coz is cheap after 9pm. There is no cell phone, no Netflix, no ipads etc etc..... if I want to play is off to my bike ride around the park, basketball, soccer basically all the free stuff. Bach then I also didn't have very many new clothes and most of them I wear for years and years and with patch on my jeans.

Now if we want entertainment we go to movies, bubble tea, coffee, nice dine out with friends, karaoke, Pub night, hockey night, football. We also tend to spend a lot on our cell phone bills, new cell phones, tablets, new computers, designer clothing We also paid for exercise such as Yoga, hitting the gym, personal trainner etc etc.... everything we do now cost money. Literally the media have force feed everyone into thinking they must spend in order to have a happy life, on order to have friends you must have this and that and that.

That's one of the main reason people can't save.

Downtown and the surrounding areas of Portland are weird, and probably inhabited by the people you speak of.

Streets and spots are mostly dead but then you'll find a restaurant or bar that is packed with zero indication from outside

Where as in Downtown Vancouver there are people everywhere whether you are two blocks in from Davie or at the bottom of beach Drive. I appreciate places in Portland being opened past 11 on weekdays though

Back when our parents were buying homes a dual income of a mechanic and a receptionist could buy in North Van, now an engineer and an accountant can't buy in Surrey.

maybe , maybe not. We certainly put more emphasis on work-life balance, so I guess it does mean working less and spending a bit more. I think we travel more than the retiring generation, or they just didn't have Instagram to plaster all their selfies SeemsGood

It's just a different lifestyle. I mean... I love Vancouver but I consider Portland to be my absolute no.1 choice of city to live in US/CA, and I have been to many cities between the 2 countries.

If you want nightlife, a lot of entertainment and shit, PDX isn't for you. But I love it being the other way around: a hipster dream.

Biking everywhere: check
organic/local grown shit: check
not mainstream: check
legal pot: check
weird fusion food: check
and no sales tax for fuck sake... :awwyeah:

I mean, I'm as fake of a hipster as one can be... and Portland fulfills every requirement on my list of fake hipsterness.

Gf and I once took a wrong turn leaving Bellevue and stumbled into the city of Medina. Every house we saw had crazy views and were all mansions on gated properties. Clean streets and nothing but luxury cars driving around. Passed by 4 schools and 3 were private schools. Pretty sure that's where all the rich people are. After all Bill gates lives there.

First post....long time lurker! Really enjoy the content on this thread, everyone is very involved and many good points are made.

This post really holds true with me. My pre-sale is completing this year and I managed to get 20% down. Ever since making this commitment last year at the age of 24...(25 now) my morning commute to the office has been filled with unpleasant thoughts. Fear of losing my job, crashing economy, illness, and all the points listed above with the exception of kids. No kids yet. Just a dog.

Is this normal? Home-owners feel free to chime in with your thoughts!

My income is okay at 80-90k a year and I just can't see anyone making less than 200k a year owning a 1m+ dollar home, in the city. Going in the same vein as many others on the forum, first time home buyers are lucky to get into the condo market. I am hoping to get into a townhouse by the time I turn 28. That's when I plan on asking family for some support. Even (newer) townhomes out in the burbs are going for 700k+.

add to that list:
better beer
better coffee
way less pretentious
(marginally) warmer climate means better produce

Pretty normal. Buying sufficient insurance should ease many of your fears. Don't buy the crap your mortgage lender will try to sell you - work with an independent broker and get good disability and critical illness insurance while you're young. If you're planning to have a family at some point, it might be worth getting term life insurance now too while you're young and healthy.

History has shown that 20% is a sufficient amount of equity to protect you against any short term downturns in the market. If you hold for your condo for 4-5 years, you'll be fine.

Really? You think Portland is 4/10 and Vancouver is so much better? I definitely disagree with you, if anything going down to Portland reminds me how much we've been sold a complete lie up here in Vancouver.

Housing, taxes, affordability, I think Portland beats Vancouver in all of these factors. Given the cost of living in Vancouver, what exactly makes this city so much better than Portland? I'm not seeing it, and please don't say mountain and beaches, that shit is getting tired, Oregon has both.

^ then why the f**k don't you move there??? Love it or Hate it, many people choose to live here and deal with the stupid costs of living here....everyone must be stupid.

lots of people live in butt fuck nowhere shitholes too but just cause they don't move doesn't mean that they love living there. lots of things keep people where they are. family, friends, a good job, etc.. i like, but don't love this city. for me it's not worth the premium price tag. you could probably retire a decade earlier by living somewhere other than here.

Hard to move when your savings are non-existent from the cost of living in your current city.

PJSalt
:derp:

agreed 100%

Bitching ain't going to get you that detached home anytime soon

Neither is working two jobs at these prices.

Then do something about it??

Options include:

Rent
Buy something in your price range
Move somewhere that you can afford

Yah good idea guys, just move there if you love it so much... because it's SO EASY to get a green card in the USA right? :derp:

I am doing something about it, it's called not buying a detached house. If you bought a house all on your own good for you.