Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[originalhypa]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

1.3 mill (assessment price) and it's yours!!!

Originally Posted by Badhobz

i want my stinking acre lot in high point langley.

No way are you touching anything in high point for that kind of money.
And that's the thing that people don't understand about Langley. It's old money out here, and there are so many generations of wealthy families that the top properties are completely out of reach for most people.

Basic homes are closer to $3 million for a small property, and upwards of $10 million for one of the nicer lots. It's a nice area, for sure. But there are ten properties that I can think of off hand that I would prefer over High Point.

[Badhobz]

Ohhhh I know broski. I'm looking at the 2.5mil range. This shitty rathole is just the Down payment. And by shitty rathole, I mean awesome, succesful, totally worth it cowboy mansion right in the heart of exceptionally diverse Richmond.

[originalhypa]

Langley has gone completely nuts. Fort Langley especially, with it's "Yaletown of the Valley" bullshit marketing catchline. Man, I hate realtors so much.

The problem with Langley is that no less than 10 years ago, I was taking shit from the Vancouver elite about how it's too far away, and has no amenities. Now those same folks are paying $1.5 million for a teardown on 4 acres. I guess when an "offshore" investor gives grandma $7.2 million for her Dunbar home, it's a lot easier to spend $3,249,000 on a 1.5 acre property just off the 232 st exit.



Pffft, 232nd.
That's too far out for even me!


But I love this one. It's not far from me, and I've been following the construction of the home since day one.
$2,798,000


What got me was the tagline in full caps at the bottom of the listing.

Fort Langley's premier luxury homes. LEGAL BASEMENT SUITE COMING SOON IN HOME.

I'm closer to fort langley than this house, and I don't have the audacity to say that I live there.
Plus, the fact that you need to advertise having a basement suite in your $2.8 million dollar home makes me realize that the market is going stale quicker than Kanye's antics.
Really, like the extra grand a month is going to make a difference in your "Est. $10,326/mo" mortgage.

[Hondaracer]

If you're familiar with Fort Langley Hypa my old company built the 3 homes beside the Fire hall, what a killing my boss made on those.

Fort langley is pretty nice, but its very segmented and feels like wanna-be hipster shit sometimes. Although im never there anymore outside of going fishing

[originalhypa]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

If you're familiar with Fort Langley Hypa my old company built the 3 homes beside the Fire hall, what a killing my boss made on those.

Fort langley is pretty nice, but its very segmented and feels like wanna-be hipster shit sometimes. Although im never there anymore outside of going fishing

I know those places. They're across the street from the new medical building, and almost right in the heart of Fort Langley. They're also not far from the trains that pass by there multiple times daily.

And that's what I don't get about Ft Langley real estate. The river is prone to flooding, there's a major train artery that goes right through the north side of the town. A family friend has a beautiful house in North Langley. Or at least that's what I thought until a freight train ripped past us last summer while we were hanging out in his pool. It was really close, and I grew up in Port Moody right on the tracks!
Then there's the biggest issue, which is that there is one road in, and one road out. Construction on 96th? Expect 88th to be backed up almost to Surrey. It happened to us last year, and it was a terrible 10 weeks.

The area truly does have a hipster feel to it. It was like someone ran Commercial Drive through an industrial wash and cleaned it up. On the odd sunday morning, I'll pop into the barber there for a hot shave and haircut. Then across to Wendels for some avocado toast and a cappuccino. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm absolutely not. Their avocado toast is pretty damn good

Originally Posted by Jurio

Interesting thread you have here. Was reading articles regarding property in Vancouver couple of days ago. It doesn't look that bad or are they exaggerating a little?

Hello.
Are you a bot?

[Badhobz]

yes yes Hypa, this is exactly the crap im looking for. The only problem is 1) its buttfuck far away from the ports where i work, and 2) my wife cant do jack shit, so ill end up with a glorified petting zoo in my backyard.

[Euro7r]

The rent versus buying topic will get beat around over and there will never be a right or wrong. Here is an example where I get puzzled every day. My renting neighbour, has a huge family, like 8 people, likely either entire top floor or top floor and one side of a basement suite of my neighbours house.

To me it makes no financial sense to rent considering if each person chips in even $500 bucks a month, that turns out to a $4000 pool that can be used for a mortgage where they can own their own place. Why pay for someone's mortgage paying like possibly $2000-$3000 renting someone's house....

Am I missing something I'm not seeing here? I guess not everyone wants to own?

[Hondaracer]

Can’t get a down payment.

[Acurapinoy]

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/inve...ted-to-follow/

Rates actually went down eh.

[Acurapinoy]

Originally Posted by Euro7r

The rent versus buying topic will get beat around over and there will never be a right or wrong. Here is an example where I get puzzled every day. My renting neighbour, has a huge family, like 8 people, likely either entire top floor or top floor and one side of a basement suite of my neighbours house.

To me it makes no financial sense to rent considering if each person chips in even $500 bucks a month, that turns out to a $4000 pool that can be used for a mortgage where they can own their own place. Why pay for someone's mortgage paying like possibly $2000-$3000 renting someone's house....

Am I missing something I'm not seeing here? I guess not everyone wants to own?

Is that a family of 8 working adults or just 2 families with kids? Maybe the stress test isnt letting them get into the market big enough to hold 8 people? Or as hondaracer said.. maybe downpayment. Or some people just prefer renting and use the $$ difference elsewhere (travel, cars etc)

[twitchyzero]

you're assuming everyone has good credit

[hud 91gt]

One thing a lot of people don’t think about are divorce rates and alimony. I know a guy making 200k a year and can’t get a mortgage. Pretty tough when your paying your ex 4K a month. Lol.

Do we need reminders divorce is common? Lol

[Ludepower]

Originally Posted by Acurapinoy

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/inve...ted-to-follow/

Rates actually went down eh.

Glad I took the variable 2.5% last summer.

[originalhypa]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

yes yes Hypa, this is exactly the crap im looking for. The only problem is 1) its buttfuck far away from the ports where i work, and 2) my wife cant do jack shit, so ill end up with a glorified petting zoo in my backyard.

Like my parents when we moved from Vancouver to Cloverdale back in the 80's. We had a sheep and some chickens, but didn't do much with them.

Commuting back then was not too bad. Driving from 72nd and 192nd to Port Moody usually took about a half hour. The Port Mann was busy, but not too bad. It wasn't until the late 90's that things really started to get busy.

I wouldn't want to commute now. I had the chance to run a medium sized company based in Richmond a few years ago. The money was great, and the benefits were something that one only dreams of. But the thought of fighting in and out of Richmond 5 days a week gave me an ulcer. 10-15 hours per week of commuting just wasn't appealing to me, and I let the offer go. But the issues with the tunnels and bridges, the lack of skill and/or consideration on the roads, along with the high cost of fuel make me happy that my commute is only about 15 minutes now. That said, it's an 18 minute bike ride, so traffic is rearing it's ugly head again.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by Euro7r

The rent versus buying topic will get beat around over and there will never be a right or wrong. Here is an example where I get puzzled every day. My renting neighbour, has a huge family, like 8 people, likely either entire top floor or top floor and one side of a basement suite of my neighbours house.

To me it makes no financial sense to rent considering if each person chips in even $500 bucks a month, that turns out to a $4000 pool that can be used for a mortgage where they can own their own place. Why pay for someone's mortgage paying like possibly $2000-$3000 renting someone's house....

Am I missing something I'm not seeing here? I guess not everyone wants to own?

Short term commitments like renting is easy to deal with. When shit doesn't work out, or there's something else better, it's only a month to month commitment, at most 3 months including notice to move.

When it comes to buying a house together, it's a huge and long term commitment. I've seen too many people, even siblings, who become hated enemies because of money over a shared property. The pretty obvious problems are, if one party wants to sell and move the other doesn't, or disagreements over maintenance, or costs, or ownership............ Too many to list.

[quasi]

How fucking ass backwards is this? If you don't apply for the exception you get taxed, 99% of people are exempt.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ault-1.4982212

British Columbians in urban areas will have to apply for an exemption to the province's new speculation and vacancy tax — or else they'll automatically pay by default.

Declaration notices will be sent to homeowners in the Lower Mainland, Greater Victoria, Kelowna and Nanaimo in the coming weeks. They'll have until March 31 to fill out the exemption form.

The speculation tax was introduced to prevent housing speculation in B.C.'s overheated real estate market and help turn vacant properties into rentals. The tax targets vacant or underutilized properties, and homeowners who live at their properties — or rent them out — will be exempt.

In a release, the Ministry of Finance said more than 99 per cent of British Columbians will be exempt. However, owners still must register to claim their exemption.

B.C. government moves ahead with speculation tax on vacant homes

It means that, of the 1.6 million households that will receive the letter, only about 32,000 homes will be taxed, according to ministry estimates.

For 2018, the tax rate is 0.5 per cent of the property's assessed value for all properties subject to the tax. For 2019 and subsequent years, the tax rate is two per cent for foreign owners and satellite families, and 0.5 per cent for Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada who are not members of a satellite family.

Satellite families are those families where the majority of the combined income is earned outside of Canada.

[Mr.HappySilp]

^^ what about people who don't understand this or didn't read the news about (IE old people). So they get tax? Lot's of people are going to complain about this and there is going to be a huge backlash.

[68style]

I’m not a fan of it... but how else will they do it?

Ask people with vacant homes to let them know and then sit back and hear......... nothing? Lol

[Hondaracer]

In b4 oblivious people fill the news when the bill shows up

[bobbinka]

Hmmmm let's see.... what to complain about?

real estate prices too high.... check
foreigners buying properties and leaving them empty.... check
gov implements tax on vacant homes and needs people to fill out a form.... better get on that!

[Jmac]

Declaration notices will be sent to homeowners in the Lower Mainland, Greater Victoria, Kelowna and Nanaimo in the coming weeks. They'll have until March 31 to fill out the exemption form.

So, they'll be arriving late-January, early-February; have to be filled out by March 31.

I'll just say this: My aunt and uncle live in Texas from October 1 through March 31; in BC from April 1 through September 30.

8 weeks is not enough time for a small percentage of the population (snow birds, people who have long vacations booked, people who work out of country, single military-service men/women, etc).

[dark0821]

^ I assume you can claim it back? Or no... shit... good thing I read Revscene lolol... yea.. I am one of those, don't really read mail/news type of person hahaha...

[westopher]

RS logic
Can’t afford it here? Just work harder.
Fill out a form? No that’s too hard.

[SkunkWorks]

Originally Posted by westopher

RS logic
Can’t afford it here? Just work harder.
Fill out a form? No that’s too hard.

That's just happyslip's logic.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Jmac

So, they'll be arriving late-January, early-February; have to be filled out by March 31.

I'll just say this: My aunt and uncle live in Texas from October 1 through March 31; in BC from April 1 through September 30.

8 weeks is not enough time for a small percentage of the population (snow birds, people who have long vacations booked, people who work out of country, single military-service men/women, etc).

I also happen to be traveling from Feb 15 to March 15 cutting it a little close. So I guess if I do miss the due date I have to phone the local gov or go to their office? Is stupid why can't they put the tax together with property tax and you can check if you want to get expemt or not. Must easier that way.