Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Fafine]

Where do you guys post your rental suites?
Only craigslist?

[Raboragaroo]

Originally Posted by Fafine

Where do you guys post your rental suites?
Only craigslist?

I've had a lot of success with zumper.com

[donk.]

i use zumper/padmapper 75% of inquiries, rentfaster 20% of inquiries, CL 5%

then again, zumper has the most time wasters

[HonestTea]

Anyone have comments on “StreetSide Developments”? They’re building a wood frame development called “Forte” and I’m concerned if it’ll be noisy af cause it’s wood.

[Alpine]

Never heard of them before but being a wood frame I would expect to hear your neighbours if they have a loud conversation, if they have the tv/music at a loud volume, and you'll definitely hear footsteps above you.

If you can I would recommend an end, penthouse unit. Conversations aren't too bad, but footsteps above can be annoying AF.

[VR6GTI]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Never heard of them before but being a wood frame I would expect to hear your neighbours if they have a loud conversation, if they have the tv/music at a loud volume, and you'll definitely hear footsteps above you.

If you can I would recommend an end, penthouse unit. Conversations aren't too bad, but footsteps above can be annoying AF.

X2

[JDMDreams]

You will hear your neighbor's sex or they will hear yours for sure. Even in a concrete highrise I some times hear foot steps if they have hard wood and still get noise complaints

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

You will hear your neighbor's sex or they will hear yours for sure. Even in a concrete highrise I some times hear foot steps if they have hard wood and still get noise complaints

The choice of flooring has a big impact on sound. Laminate and hardwood are loud and transmit everything while carpet and vinyl are much more muted. God forbid the person upstairs wears shoes indoor or has a young child though...

[Fafine]

Make sure you get the top floor for low rises.
Noise from units above suck.
And face the alley if the other side is a big street, otherwise your unit will be very dusty when you open the windows. Drawback of facing the alley is, garbage days the garbage trucks are a bit noisy lol

[Hehe]

Anyone can recommend a general contractor team?

And also an amazing re project manager

Asking for a friend who’s looking to tear down and build a house

[donk.]

People are living in lala land that buy wood condos.

Nothing wrong with buying one, but dont you dare open your mouth that "i can hear you walking around upstairs"
No shit. Buy a top floor unit next time.

Im all for trying to keep quiet, but you signed away your silent living rights the moment you moved in anything other than a house, or concrete highrise.

Had some people underneath me that useto live in a house, bought the unit under me, and would bitch and whine anytime they heard a fork drop.

[sonick]

As an alternate viewpoint, I bought and have lived in a wood framed building the past 5 years or so, and am very fortunate that either the building is well built and well-designed to isolate from noise, or that I have very quiet neighbours. The developer is Adera, and I can tell some thought was put into the design of it for noise transmission.

I am on a corner unit on third floor (out of four). Once in awhile I will hear stomping from my upstairs neighbours during football season, and once in awhile will hear voices from above/below, but total is probably less than a handful of times a year I am disturbed by it.

Although it was a bummer at first but now appreciate it, is the fact that our strata does not allow hardwood floors to be installed to avoid noise issues, although some units have been grandfathered in when they had them installed prior to the bylaw.

Considering at the time the price I paid for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200+ sqft unit, I am very happy with the decision.

[Hondaracer]

Many of the cookie cutter wood frame townhouses are absolutely terribly designed for sound transmission and you wouldn’t know it unless you saw how they are constructed or take a very close look at the drywall and exterior overlaps of neighbouring units

Of the 500 or so units I was a part of building when I was still in construction I’d say the last 200 or so had units where the master bedroom of your unit is essetntiallt half way overlapped into the neighbouring living room. So your bed is pretty much right over the neighbours TV..

Of course no one realized this until you moved in and had a Neighbor

[RouRK]

Originally Posted by Hehe

Anyone can recommend a general contractor team?

And also an amazing re project manager

Asking for a friend who’s looking to tear down and build a house

i am a electrical contractor. I rarely do residential but i have been doing it lately with this general contractor. They are in my experience really good.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by RouRK

i am a electrical contractor. I rarely do residential but i have been doing it lately with this general contractor. They are in my experience really good.

If you can pm me their info, that’s great.

They are shopping around, but want to see if anyone had good experience with any team in particular so they can have some reference rather than “portfolio” where only the good/nice ones are shown.

[Teriyaki]

Have lived in single houses, to woodframe condos, to 100 year old concrete builing, to 60 floor concrete apartments that can withstand a typhoon and godzilla attack.

Anything other than a single house is going to have to deal with some level of sound transmission. I'd say, the unit layout is so much more relevant vs IS IT WOOD?

Things to note off the top of my head:

The most important room to note in a floorplan is the bedroom of course. If your kitchen is adjoining another units kitchen, who cares. If your bedroom is adjoining their living room where most would put their TV and 8-subwoofer soundsystem then that's something no concrete is going to save you from.

Is the unit next to an elevator shaft? Is it next to stairs? Is it next to emergency stairs that will never get used? All of these can be both positive and negative.

Is your unit in-between other units? or is it a corner unit? What about hallway noise, if its close to the elevators you're going to have to deal with constant foot traffic.

So, if you have get access to the floorplan you can have a much better idea of what you're getting into. I mean, building floor-plan, including individual unit floorplans if possible. If in a pinch, I guess the fire-escape plan could help in a jiffy?

[hud 91gt]

Myself, my sister and my mom have all dealt with contractors in the last 3 years. 2 of the 3 were absolute nightmares to deal with. My brother in law was in management of large developments for many years and did research for his team. End up being an absolute nightmare.

My mother.... guy talked a big game. I was there during the whole process. She is a strong independent woman who you don’t want to $&@k with. He was a full blown crook and ripped off multiple people in her development. Most recently a similar scenario happened to her with good reference (for a small job). COVID has the guy under money pressure and ran off once again.

My scenario was the only decent one. General contractor was good. Wasn’t the best work I’ve ever seen. But honest, fair and reliable. My custom cabinetry? 2 week estimate turned to 7 months.... and honestly they still aren’t up to my expectations but we gave up.

What was the common denominator in all bad scenarios? LOW pricing.

You get what you pay for in this game. Go with someone who is priced right, not cheap. With excellent reliable reference and a solid portfolio. I’m amazed at what crooks are in the industry and how easily it is to get away with.

[RouRK]

Originally Posted by Hehe

If you can pm me their info, that’s great.

They are shopping around, but want to see if anyone had good experience with any team in particular so they can have some reference rather than “portfolio” where only the good/nice ones are shown.

i think i sent a private message, if not
https://www.koruconstruction.com/

[RouRK]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Myself, my sister and my mom have all dealt with contractors in the last 3 years. 2 of the 3 were absolute nightmares to deal with. My brother in law was in management of large developments for many years and did research for his team. End up being an absolute nightmare.

My mother.... guy talked a big game. I was there during the whole process. She is a strong independent woman who you don’t want to $&@k with. He was a full blown crook and ripped off multiple people in her development. Most recently a similar scenario happened to her with good reference (for a small job). COVID has the guy under money pressure and ran off once again.

My scenario was the only decent one. General contractor was good. Wasn’t the best work I’ve ever seen. But honest, fair and reliable. My custom cabinetry? 2 week estimate turned to 7 months.... and honestly they still aren’t up to my expectations but we gave up.

What was the common denominator in all bad scenarios? LOW pricing.

You get what you pay for in this game. Go with someone who is priced right, not cheap. With excellent reliable reference and a solid portfolio. I’m amazed at what crooks are in the industry and how easily it is to get away with.

i have worked with a really terrible contractor or 2. Mainly i upgrade the house service (proper permit) and they get some under qualified apprentice to do side work, roughing in electrical without a permit. ALWAYS make sure they are pulling permits, its not that much money to pull a permit for a residence. If they are doing ANY electrical re configuration/addition it should be inspected. Inspections are there to make sure the job is done right.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by Teriyaki

The most important room to note in a floorplan is the bedroom of course. If your kitchen is adjoining another units kitchen, who cares. If your bedroom is adjoining their living room where most would put their TV and 8-subwoofer soundsystem then that's something no concrete is going to save you from.

Don't forget to check all the bedrooms, not just the master, or your guests will have a bad time when they visit. Ask me how I know lol.

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

What was the common denominator in all bad scenarios? LOW pricing.

You get what you pay for in this game. Go with someone who is priced right, not cheap. With excellent reliable reference and a solid portfolio. I’m amazed at what crooks are in the industry and how easily it is to get away with.

My general rule has been to call 5 people for quotes, usually 3 will actually show up. Of those 3, look at the prices and pick the middle. Obvious there's more to it than just that but it's a start.

[1337]

Originally Posted by Fafine

Where do you guys post your rental suites?
Only craigslist?

I personally like using Facebook marketplace. It allows you to see the profile of the people messaging you which could help with your vetting process.

[unit]

from what i know of working loosely in the construction industry, its hard to find a fantastic GC that is just available to take on work that easily. the really good ones are generally booked doing lucrative jobs and won't easily take on new clients unless the money is really there.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Myself, my sister and my mom have all dealt with contractors in the last 3 years. 2 of the 3 were absolute nightmares to deal with. My brother in law was in management of large developments for many years and did research for his team. End up being an absolute nightmare.

My mother.... guy talked a big game. I was there during the whole process. She is a strong independent woman who you don’t want to $&@k with. He was a full blown crook and ripped off multiple people in her development. Most recently a similar scenario happened to her with good reference (for a small job). COVID has the guy under money pressure and ran off once again.

My scenario was the only decent one. General contractor was good. Wasn’t the best work I’ve ever seen. But honest, fair and reliable. My custom cabinetry? 2 week estimate turned to 7 months.... and honestly they still aren’t up to my expectations but we gave up.

What was the common denominator in all bad scenarios? LOW pricing.

You get what you pay for in this game. Go with someone who is priced right, not cheap. With excellent reliable reference and a solid portfolio. I’m amazed at what crooks are in the industry and how easily it is to get away with.

This is my life like everyday, mind you commercial not residential but having to try and compete with companies that don't used qualified manpower, proper materials, don't pay their suppliers or their subs working out of their house and we're expected to compete with them on price when we're the complete opposite.

The problem is in a competitive bid format low price is almost all that matters because if that general contractor doesn't carry the low guy someone else will and they'll get the job and he won't.

It's a little different when your in a construction management situation at least then the GC is choosing who they want to get pricing from and low price isn't always the only consideration.

Anyway I'm just ranting because your rant is what I deal with on a daily basis except I'm the guy going how the hell can I compete with these scabs........frustrating.

[BIC_BAWS]

Does anyone have an issue insuring a pre 1980s home with aluminum (mixed with Copper) wiring? Completion is in 9 days and its still extremely hard to find an insurer.

In our inspection report, it mentioned that a wiring update was recommended but it's not a hard must. HOWEVER, it was a hard requirement that we should get the breaker box panel coated with anti-oxidant paste. This was fixed today.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by unit

from what i know of working loosely in the construction industry, its hard to find a fantastic GC that is just available to take on work that easily. the really good ones are generally booked doing lucrative jobs and won't easily take on new clients unless the money is really there.

Yeah, that's the info I gathered from a buddy in the trade in Ontario.

The main problem he brought up though, quite sure it's not an ON only issue is that you might pay for quality price, and yet get subpar work.

Thus, when my friend came to me, I made it very clear to him, the idea is not to go cheap, but to be fair... to actually find someone who's truly "you get what you pay for" and does good/honest job while charging the rate they rightfully deserve.

Of course, if someone is good AND cheap, that'd be ideal, but those 2 words rarely show up in the same sentence in this particular industry.