Brentwood Burnaby
SOLO 3 preview on Sunday - bad planning coinciding with SUN RUN but alas condo crowd doesn't mind.
Apparently pricing going higher due to unforseen demand... EleGiggle

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What your thoughts on Gilmore Place? Pricing for 1 bedrooms is under $600k.

I'll probably get 4-5 1BR there for various clients - been touring that place since late March.

I'd say its even better buy than SOLO - unless you're superstitious about seeing cemetary and/or feel iffy about living near a transmitter station.

1) true hub - don't even need to cross street to Skytrain, right below you.
2) Onni office buildings vs BOSA, not even comparable. 1 million sq ft built by ONNI vs siblings BOSA build at SOLO (Appia)
3) 300,000 sq ft retail below you. SOLO District has weak retail honestly... Amazing Bretnwood will blow it away. LCBO and Wholefood only anchor tenant. Basic starbucks isn't pulling anyone to SOLO.
4) 75000ft amenities is insane for 3 towers. SOLO 1 & 2 is weak AF... my buddy has a subpent we got for $600K years ago for him - he loved it for the basketball court on 5...except they haven't even gotten around to installing it.

Moved in Nov 2017... half a year later still nothing yet. Gym is maybe 1000ft.
Paying $400/month for that weak gym and an empty penthouse clubhouse....yeah... not great.
SOLO 1 doesn't even cross over to 2. No cohesion.

Long story short - Gilmore Place is much more luxurious. 3 proper towers none of this first 8 floors are commercial business. It's lame seeing people in suits and office wear when you're going down to pick up your parcels.

question about tenancy.

so i gave a 2 month's notice april 20th for them to vacate by june 30th. they found a place and will give me notice in the upcoming days to move on may 11th. how does compensation work? Let's say they already paid rent for may. I only have to pay them back the remaining days on may which is 20 days correct?

You have to pay for the whole month.

Looking at potentially getting a presale with the gf. Our budget is around the 700-730k range for a 2br 2bath. Anyone else have any leads on potential "good buys" in the Burnaby and Vancouver area? We just started looking and it's so overwhelming

It might be tough since most of the 2bed 2bath are going a bit over of what you are willing to pay, that's for pre sale or new. Why not look for somethings tha'ts within 5 to 7 years range? Should still be very new and you can actually see the minutes and get an idea what type of people lives in the building?

2bdrm for low 900s for a presale, holy fuk.

Getting to the price point of why bother.

900k for 2br/Ba, fucking 850k for some gross row home in Sullivan heights. You can get a detached in Coquitlam and Burnaby for a mill

Tip # 1. Make sure you include GST and PTT in your budget. Taxes are killer.

If you want access to the better units in a development, you'll need to get early access, either through friends/family or a realtor who gets allocations. By the time general public gets access, all the good units and/or better-priced units are sold out. I wouldn't consider buying something that's already been on sale for a while, unless you are getting a decent discount by buying one of the last remaining units. Instead, start researching what is going on sale anywhere from now to 3 months from now, and focus your efforts there if your goal is to get one of the better units.

In either case, you should hire a realtor to help you, it costs nothing (commissions paid for by the developer).

I think you will have a hard time finding something in Van/Bby for that budget unless you are ok with it being tiny, the range is anywhere from $850 - $1050 psf, and some developers now want 25% deposit. Skyscrapers are estimating completion in 2022, low rises get built faster (2020 - 2021).

Demand for trades is very high and construction costs keep going up, so I'd only buy from a developer with a very, very good track record to minimize chances of things falling through. That being said, I feel the bigger developers tend to cheap out on finishings and quality, but at least you know it will get completed! If the development fails to be built, your chances of compensation are very, very low given the contracts are written to favour the developer.

I went through all of this last year, let me know if you have more questions.

Unless you don't have your full down payment in hand now and/or you're waiting to get married before you move in with your partner, I don't see much upside with buying a pre-sale these days.

- You don't know what you're going to get in terms of the final product
- Your closing interest rate will likely be higher 3-5 years from now than it is today
- The first 3-5 years of living in the complex won't be ideal as the strata council will be fighting the developer on deficiencies, you will be seeing lots of wear and tear as people move in-out, break-ins, etc.


The sweet spot for buying into a multi-family complex is between 5 and 10 years. Your unit will still feel somewhat modern, you'll get to see the actual unit and building you'll be living in and all of their faults before you buy, and the strata council should have a handle on how to run the complex properly which should limit your strata fee increases during your ownership.

I have lived in a brand new building so I know first hand of all of the pitfalls of new home ownership. I will never buy a brand new home again.

Not to sound harsh, just telling it as it is. Your budget for Vancouver/Burnaby is more catered for a one bed + den for presale these days.

In that range, you are looking at a 5+ year old, 850 - 950 sq ft unit in the Tricities.

^

What are the major pitfalls of a new home ownership

If you are a local resident with a decent paying job, I would sway you a bit away from the presale market for now because the prices are just way too high for something you're paying for a brochure. These presales are being marketed overseas to people that have no idea what area or product they're buying but just a way to park their money in Canada. Tapioca is right on point with those cons he listed. Buying something tangible (whats already in the market and you can walk in a have a look at the actual unit) is probably better for first time home buyers. Presale units simply have too many surprises on the finished product and good luck asking developers to come back to fix deficiencies on a timely manner.

Nah, it's all good. All these informative posts are exactly what I'm looking for. I'm sure everyone benefits from the sharing of all these opinions and info.

Depends on the developers and how you handle everything. I would say if you want something done faster you have to keep nagging and nagging and calling and email them daily. If you don't bother them then to them it is not an issue so you can wait. If you bother them enough they will send someone out first. Is annoying but that's reality. I experience it first hand. Play nice and you will have to wait.

I wouldn't buy from a small developers. A few friends of mine purchase from small developers for their low raise and it have so many issues and developers simply will not fix the issue till a bunch of owners start suing the developers.

in my experience, at least the developers we built for, the product we sold was far and above the quality and cleanliness of "large" developers but thats really on a case by case basis.

Honestly if you walk into a new home for a walkthrough and there is dust inside the cabinets/closets, you've got a shitty developer, period.

Like i was occasionally yelled at for water marks on floors and counter tops, having dust and dirt on a unit you're showing is insane as far as im concerned.

You shouldn't have to fight the developer to get things fixed - it's your first home and you should be fighting each other over things like paint colours, furniture, and where to put your BBQ.

For what it's worth, 700K today buys you a 3 bed/2.5 bath townhouse with garage in the Tri Cities.

If you are talking modern (ie built mid 2000s or newer), basically only Poco is going to hit that pricepoint. 3BR townhouses in my complex in Port Moody are in the 900s for ~1300sf.

My apartment is 975sf 2BR/2BA in a 10-year old wood framed building in Port Moody and would likely fetch ~700.

-Mark

^ 700k wow. I can't even get 700k for my 5 bed 3 bath small 2010 detached house in Langford.

A shout out to Verity Construction. One of the bigger developers in Langford. They have an iffy reputation on google but I have had a great experience. Despite being out of warranty They have repaired items for free on three occasions.

Multiple doors had torn weather stripping from dogs. They dropped a bunch extra on my door step for me.
Laminate floor had shifted leaving large gaps in the kitchen. They quickly came and made adjustment to hide the gaps.
Then a tenant backed their car into a non structural pillar. Verity came and put the 4x4 post back on it's base and rebuilt and painted the wooden cladding.

https://verityconstruction.ca

It means whatever difference exists between your detached house and that $700k, you can afford to blow that difference on yourself and your family. If I have an extra $200k kicking around, I'd use half of it to pay down my mortgage, and blow the other half on a nicely equipped P car or C7.

The kid in me wants a GT3 but the adult in me wants to pay off my personal house mortgage first.

Flipping of condo units by insiders fuels hot Vancouver market

TLDR: Nothing people shouldn't be surprised about but the article sheds light on the numbers involved

"The most sought-after condos under construction in Canada’s priciest real estate market are being snapped up in private deals involving developers, select realtors and speculators.

Many of those players later flip the units for much higher prices, sucking up supply, further driving up prices and leaving Vancouver-area residents increasingly desperate for an affordable place to live.

In the six developments − three completed and three under construction − there were at least 24 realtors among the speculators who bought in early. Another 20 had the same names as local realtors, but some of them listed their occupation on property records as “businessperson.” (Realtors are required to disclose their interest in a property but only to the other parties involved in a sale.)"

Lol. This market is just so retarded.
Here I am thinking it's nuts to buy into a condo right now with all this dense supply being built but it doesn't even seem to matter.
It still won't drop prices apparently