Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Bonka]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

The only advantage I ever had was being able to buy a unit at the stage where developers were offering “VIP” buyers (anyone who signed up via email) a chance to sign. Maybe it was cheaper than a week or a month later would have been, but there was equal opportunity

I still had to have the capital to buy these units. And the credit etc to secure my financing. I was building the units I was buying into, it wasn’t like I was gifted these units at 20% discount. I was living at home and would have probably claimed bankruptcy if they didn’t pan out.

Maybe I'm mistaking you for another member but notwithstanding the skin you had in the market earlier on, didn't you and your spouse inherit a detached in East Van? Unless you paid market value, it's a lottery win.


It's not a knock or anything, this is the new norm. Confirmation bias aside, there are fewer and fewer people able to buy without financial support, well paying salaries, lowering expenses, lowered expectations. Frankly, if one is fortunate enough to get any help, take it. You'd be stupid not to in this city if you're looking to built roots. If you're grateful, pay it forward.

[Nabatron]

housing market is getting to the point that you will have to venture out to Chilliwack or further just to find somewhat reasonable priced housing and the commute to your job in Van. This to me is just Ludacris! If your job is dependent on working in Van but have to commute every single day from the boonies its just crazy. Cant afford to buy a detached house in lower mainland so we are selling our townhome and getting out of dodge lol

[GS8]

Question:

With the amount of:

• New developments going up
• Old developments rezoned, demolished and rebuilt
• All the above selling out quickly (historically)

Are there numbers to support the notion that the GVRD is in fact having a population increase so huge and so fast that land needs to re-purposed for these new developments?

OR

Are most of these new units actually glorified transparent bank vaults used to hide taxable money both on shore and off shore?

AND / OR

Are these new places the equivalent of planned obsolescence where everything will be shiny and fresh and not last anywhere as long as the buildings they replaced? Meanwhile more debt due to crappy workmanship for anyone who just wanted a place to own and live in (what a concept).

I feel like the demolition of old (YET SAFE) buildings crosses the line into unreasonable territory.

I make good money and pay low rent because I got damn lucky with the place I found. It's allowed me to have some savings but with my place now falling into rubble, there goes another affordable place. When does it stop?

[yray]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

I had a condo downtown Van that I sold for 270 a couple years ago. Not sure what it's worth now but cheap 1 bedroom condos in the city are out there.

walk up? leasehold?

[GabAlmighty]

Originally Posted by yray

walk up? leasehold?

Nope and nope. Freehold in the west end. Chelsea Terrace, 1040 Pacific St. I should've toughed it out and just kept it empty but I was leaving town and couldn't rent it out.

edit: I knew I shouldn't have done this... The sister building next door which is a few years newer is selling a 1bdr for 550k... Fuck me.

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

Nope and nope. Freehold in the west end. Chelsea Terrace, 1040 Pacific St. I should've toughed it out and just kept it empty but I was leaving town and couldn't rent it out.

edit: I knew I shouldn't have done this... The sister building next door which is a few years newer is selling a 1bdr for 550k... Fuck me.

Lol yeah man no point in beating yourself up over it

[yray]

Originally Posted by GabAlmighty

Nope and nope. Freehold in the west end. Chelsea Terrace, 1040 Pacific St. I should've toughed it out and just kept it empty but I was leaving town and couldn't rent it out.

edit: I knew I shouldn't have done this... The sister building next door which is a few years newer is selling a 1bdr for 550k... Fuck me.

ohh thats prime for being strata bought out

can't win it all man, market could've crashed right now

[yameen]

any good recommendations to get house insurance on a small 1 bedroom condo? don't know where to look since there are so many out there. just wondering which ones you guys would recommend.

[Ludepower]

Square one. They'll do it all online.

[Gerbs]

How much did u guys manage to save for a down-payment by the time you were like 26 to 32?

[R. Mutt]

I moved here just before the olympics, so that’s what, 2010? I was 26 then. Went to VFS for one year. Got a work permit one year later, started an entry level position internship and worked for three months for free to break into the film industry and get some experience for my reel/resume. Applied again to another company that previously wasn’t interested and got an entry level position early 2012. Worked 10-12 hour days 5-6 days a week...sometimes 7 for around $14 an hour. Did this for about 1.5 years. Worked my ass off only to pay rent, msp, food and pretty much have nothing left.

Work permit expires and if no company wants me my ass goes back where I came from. Lucky I made a good impression because of my work ethic and performance so I literally got 3 offers because my superiors spread word to other companies looking to hire. Started at 35/hr which was a HUGE jump for me. Worked my way from $35 to a six figure gross per annum since then.

I saved $15k between 2013-2017 (33 yrs old). Honestly I should have been able to save more but I was spending money on my car too. Took some additional money out of rrsp (one time tax free because first time home buyer). And my fiancé was able to contribute 10k from her savings. We were very lucky though because her and my parents contributed an additional 20k as a gift.

It’s not easy but many things need to be in your favour. I feel as an immigrant who came here with nothing and started from scratch with no family here I can really see it for what it is. Many things have to align for you to afford a 5xxK 1 bedroom with a solid down payment . Good income, saving and help from family or whereever you can get it. I feel genuinely lucky that our parents were in a financial position to gift us where as many people aren’t so lucky.

[!LittleDragon]

At 26 (2006), I was $10k in debt still recovering from the dot com bubble. Finally got another decent job and paid off that debt by 27 and started saving. I saw an opportunity of a lifetime in 2008 when the stock markets took a shit. Instead of saving, I invested all my money instead (to this day, I still invest everything and only keep $1k in the bank). By 32 (2012), I had about $230k that paid about $1700/month dividend. I didn't buy real estate at the time because it didn't make sense to me. Why trade in a bunch of cash for a bunch of debt and only collect maybe $1k in rental income?

I opted to keep growing my investments instead. Today, I have over twice as much invested with a monthly dividend of about $4500. Maybe I'll buy another place one day when rates return to normal (I do co own a rental property from 2003).

I've been in a position of debt with no income and it's scary. When the dot com blew up, I couldn't find work for 2 years and during those two years, I racked up almost $30k in debt and it took almost 5 years to pay it back once I started working again. I don't want to be in a position of debt again. That's the main reason why I don't own my home at the moment. If I do plan to buy, it'll be with cash. For now, I like the idea of still being able to live if I lose my job.

[68style]

^
you could have made 10x as much money buying pre-sales with long build times and selling them on assignment prior to completion, don’t have to have cash invested in RE owning it with mortgages and trying to rent it out to have won huge at the RE game.

Not saying I did, no liquid cash for down payments due to marriage / life but just surprised you didn’t go that route yourself as you’ve always been a big investor type and wouldn’t suspect you of dismissing RE so easily.

[Gerbs]

That's a fat 8.9% dividends on 230k

[Mr.HappySilp]

Was in 60k + debt when I was out of secondary school (most of it was credit card debt so yea hard lesson learn never again). Work my ass off working 7 days a week from 10 to 12hours work days every day. Luckily I live at home so I only pay like $500 to my parents. That lasted like 4 or 5 years. Trust me it wasn't easy basically you have no life coz you work so much and feel so drain. But I paid my debt off.

Manage to save enough to get a pre sale apartment back in 2014 when price was still low. I think I paid 286k in total for a one bedroom with all the tax credits and promos the developers were giving out. Paid it in full when I move in 2017. To be honest I wasn't planning to buy at all in 2014 but my parents basically force me to buy it. In fact they wanted me to get a 2 bedroom unit which was only like 100k to 150k more expensive at that time. But I was scare to shit after my credit card debt and having to get a mortgage I want to avoid. Thinking back if I only I got a 2 bedroom unit I would have made a lot more than I do now and the 2 bedroom apartment could easily last me till I have kids lol.

[!LittleDragon]

Originally Posted by 68style

^
you could have made 10x as much money buying pre-sales with long build times and selling them on assignment prior to completion, don’t have to have cash invested in RE owning it with mortgages and trying to rent it out to have won huge at the RE game.

Not saying I did, no liquid cash for down payments due to marriage / life but just surprised you didn’t go that route yourself as you’ve always been a big investor type and wouldn’t suspect you of dismissing RE so easily.

I know there's money to be made in RE. Most of the RE I own is in the form of REITs and half of a rental property I bought in 2003. I prefer the long term regular income route over constantly flipping assets. Less to worry about

[yray]

DAM YOU 80S OGs... US 90+ RS Newbs ARE FUCKED

looking at kids at mcdicks yesterday working... damm are they fucked

Everyone seems to forget what happened in HK in 1997. So many people lost all their savings in a matter of days. I guess thats why they call this place hongcouver.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opini...-unlucky-seven

[68style]

Haha damn the 80’s kids?

Damn the boomers who paid $140k for houses here and held onto their jobs unnecessarily long preventing us 80’s kids from making managerial money and taking advantage of the booming market around us. I was always too cash poor from school and shit to take advantage of what was happening around me despite being the right age.

[noclue]

Originally Posted by !LittleDragon

At 26 (2006), I was $10k in debt still recovering from the dot com bubble. Finally got another decent job and paid off that debt by 27 and started saving. I saw an opportunity of a lifetime in 2008 when the stock markets took a shit. Instead of saving, I invested all my money instead (to this day, I still invest everything and only keep $1k in the bank). By 32 (2012), I had about $230k that paid about $1700/month dividend. I didn't buy real estate at the time because it didn't make sense to me. Why trade in a bunch of cash for a bunch of debt and only collect maybe $1k in rental income?

I opted to keep growing my investments instead. Today, I have over twice as much invested with a monthly dividend of about $4500. Maybe I'll buy another place one day when rates return to normal (I do co own a rental property from 2003).

I've been in a position of debt with no income and it's scary. When the dot com blew up, I couldn't find work for 2 years and during those two years, I racked up almost $30k in debt and it took almost 5 years to pay it back once I started working again. I don't want to be in a position of debt again. That's the main reason why I don't own my home at the moment. If I do plan to buy, it'll be with cash. For now, I like the idea of still being able to live if I lose my job.

Nice move, people forget quickly and hindsight is 20/20 but in 2008/2009 real estate was dropping so people were scared of buying property, banks werent giving mortgages even with 30%+ down and fleeing from deposits in precons in yaletown. A acquaintance of mine bought a 1600sqft 3bed precon in yaletown in 2006, it completed in 2009 but he wanted to walk away from closing but concord pacific was going to sue so he stuck with it. Broke even in 2015 and has profit now but it's hard to sell a $2M+ condo today so after all the strata fees + property taxes it wasn't worth it.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

How much did u guys manage to save for a down-payment by the time you were like 26 to 32?

I was a head chef of a restaurant at 22 in Edmonton, that paid me far more than they should have as the economy was fucking booming. Couple that with living at home, and working as a snowboard coach on my days off I saved 20k in a little over a year. I also had been investing small amounts of money since I was 16, as my Mom basically forced me to, since she was a banker. That was another 20k. My Grandparents and Mom also pitched in 20k. I bought a condo @ 23. Moved to Vancouver at 25 after some tough times with life in general, and rented it out while I lived here, and got myself into credit card debt. Once my girlfriend (now wife) moved here then I sold the place, paid off my debt, got a good job again, paid my wife's way through school while she worked part time as an LPN and still took a massive dice roll and bought a presale we totally couldn't afford, knowing that when she was an RN she'd make decent money and we could afford the mortgage, when interest rates were low, and entry level condos were only like 60% of what they cost today. Got into debt AGAIN while we paid for her schooling and her only being able to work part time for the 3 years of school, and are now debt free again after about 1 year of her with a full time RN job, me as a head chef, making somewhere in the realm of 140k+ between us throughout that whole last year.

I'm 33 now and she is 29. We are finally comfortable(ish), but theres not a lot of safety net yet. It will be another year or 2 before that happens even.

The moral of the story. So much shit happened. We both have great jobs. We got so fucking lucky. We took so many huge risks. We both had parental support if/when shit hit the fan.

It shouldn't be that fucking hard.

[quasi]

My first place only required 5% down, 2001 I think it was? I was 25 and my 3 bedroom townhouse cost me a massive $153,000, down payment of $7,650. I can't remember but I think we had saved about $20,000 which paid the down payment misc costs and allowed us to buy some furniture. The market was pretty flat when we bought had been for a while. Eventually we upgraded to a house which is where we're at now.

It's a completely different world now, I feel for anyone trying to get into the market now.

[Liquid_o2]

Fiancee and I saved up $125k for a downpayment and bought a 1 bedroom in Vancouver last year. We both have good jobs, but god damn! With that kind of cash we could have bought a townhouse 4 years ago. Frustrating, but what can you do? I don't know too many first time home buyers that have that kind of liquid cash sitting around unless they get help from the parents.

When I finished grad school in 2013 and moved back to Vancouver, my parents were pushing me to buy a condo in Surrey. $225k for a 2 bedroom. Developer would cover all the taxes. I decided I would wait and continue saving because I wanted Vancouver. Similar condos in that area are now $400k, so yah I could have made some coin, instead we have a huge mortgage and we likely bought near the peak.

[winson604]

Originally Posted by quasi

My first place only required 5% down, 2001 I think it was? I was 25 and my 3 bedroom townhouse cost me a massive $153,000, down payment of $7,650. I can't remember but I think we had saved about $20,000 which paid the down payment misc costs and allowed us to buy some furniture. The market was pretty flat when we bought had been for a while. Eventually we upgraded to a house which is where we're at now.

It's a completely different world now, I feel for anyone trying to get into the market now.

Jesus lol those prices. I too feel for people like holy fuck I see coworkers giving up their careers at work and staying front line taking calls just so they can be a remote agent and move out to the boonies vs staying in the City, having a career but starving.

I bought and just started living in a townhome I bought during a presale 2 years ago in Vancouver. This was our journey at the time.

Jan 2015 started looking with a budget of around 450-500k. Wife and 1 year old we were going for the 2 bed condo or townhome as a starter place and then upgrading 5-10 years later.

About 14 months later, backed down on 2 presale offers and rethinking that the whole upgrade thing is not realistic and that we would never chase the upgrade. So we decided since we were capable to go all in now and future proof our future and looked fora 3 bed townhome. Vancouver was still our only option and we upped our budget to about 900k.

Found a 3 bed presale that fit almost all our wants for $600/sq foot in early 2016 and while I said we could afford it I often questioned at the time how the fuck we were going to do it. 2 years go by and we've collectively doubled our income, saved an extra 5% down making the total 20% and now the thought of $600/sq foot is laughable.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by 68style

Haha damn the 80’s kids?

Damn the boomers who paid $140k for houses here and held onto their jobs unnecessarily long preventing us 80’s kids from making managerial money and taking advantage of the booming market around us. I was always too cash poor from school and shit to take advantage of what was happening around me despite being the right age.

That reminds me of one of my uncles, he retired from decades long career with Air Canada, full pension etc.

He got bored with retirement pretty quick, so what did he do? Gets a job moving cars around for Enterprise.

Geez

[Gerbs]

Haha, I'm spooked. However, if I grab a older place close to work downtown. It'd be about $600k for 1 br. I hope I can save $120k by the time I hit 27 (5 years). I do have the privilege to live at home during this time. We'll see an update to this post in like 5 years.