Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[DA9ve]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

No seller wants a subject to sale these days.

Refinance your current property or get a home equity line of credit. Once you have a sufficient down payment after your line of credit is secure, start making offers with as long of a close as you can (90 days). Once you have an accepted offer on your next property, secure financing using a down payment from your refinanced mortgage or your new line of credit. Then, put your property immediately on the market. If you're lucky, you can line up the closing date for the sale of your home prior to your closing date for the property you purchased, so you can use the proceeds of your sale to fund your new mortgage. If you can't line up the dates, you can at least carry two mortgages temporarily and get the keys to the new home without bridge financing.

Or sell first and rent/move in with family.

[jcmaz]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

I thought new rules stated that dp cannot be used from borrowed funds (ie. LOC) - am i missing something?

Are you a broker because I'm thinking of doing exactly what you are saying but from I'm reading its not possible. would like to chat if you are broker...

Rules are only there and meant to be broken. Banks or developers won't do a check; they really don't care how the money arrives in their hands as long as you pay up.

Just put a deposit a pre-sale 2 bedroom condo in Burnquitlam and I plan to sell my place once the markets pickup again. It's not due until a couple year later so it works quite well.

[mikemhg]

Originally Posted by zyzzjr

Any reasons why besides it's being rushed/low quality work?

Can someone expound on this? I've always been curious if this entire rush boom of condo construction in Vancouver would end up to another eventual "leaky condo" scandal. I've heard rumblings of rushed work, cut corners, a pool of substandard contractors working on these buildings throughout the city.

Is there any validity to this, should people be paying attention to issues that may arise down the line such as in the 90's?

[Ludepower]

Originally Posted by mikemhg

Can someone expound on this? I've always been curious if this entire rush boom of condo construction in Vancouver would end up to another eventual "leaky condo" scandal. I've heard rumblings of rushed work, cut corners, a pool of substandard contractors working on these buildings throughout the city.

Is there any validity to this, should people be paying attention to issues that may arise down the line such as in the 90's?

Condos are built with better building codes now. You shouldnt see catastrophic failures. The fit and finish and cheap materials is what you'll be griping about.

Do your due diligence and stick to reputable developers.

[jcmaz]

Originally Posted by Ludepower

Condos are built with better building codes now. You won't see catastrophic failures. The fit and finish and cheap materials inside is what you'll be griping about.

Do your due diligence and stick to reputable developers.

Agree with the fit and finish. Mine is pretty bad; you can tell the contractors rushed their job. I can't complain though since its worth way more than I originally paid for.

1) There are touch up spots on my wall
2) Leaky sink due to gasket improperly installed
3) Floor trim loose
4) Creaky laminate floor after 2 years of use

I would get a trusted inspector to do the pre-purchase inspection so you can bring up these points to the developer before delivery.

[Eff-1]

Originally Posted by Ludepower

Every condo is getting hammered with insurance rates. Be more specific why you should stay away from this building.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why: one or two major claims, plus an extremely high appraised value. You can do the math.

Btw not every condo has been hammered. In our case, we actually saved $100k this year simply by shopping around to another broker.

In another case, I know of a strata who proactively invited the insurance company to see their condo condition and improvements in person, and therefore avoided an increase.

If your building is lucky enough to have avoided too many claims, and you have a Strata who takes the right steps, you can possibly avoid a big increase (no guarantees obviously).

[donk.]

/ strata fees / insurance premium

My condo insurance premium in pomo went up 92% this year. 30$ increase to original 260$/mo. 0 claims in last 6 years
In comparison to usually just getting a 3% total year over year strata increase for everything.

My dump in vancouver also had a 120% increase. 37$ increase on original 330$/mo
A couple of water claims over last x years

[Ludepower]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

It doesn't take a genius to figure out why: one or two major claims, plus an extremely high appraised value. You can do the math.

Btw not every condo has been hammered. In our case, we actually saved $100k this year simply by shopping around to another broker.

In another case, I know of a strata who proactively invited the insurance company to see their condo condition and improvements in person, and therefore avoided an increase.

If your building is lucky enough to have avoided too many claims, and you have a Strata who takes the right steps, you can possibly avoid a big increase (no guarantees obviously).

You said stay away from the ARC and blamed their insurance when this is affecting majority of condos.

I live in a 2 year old condo with no claims and our strata fees jumped 50%.

I guess you're the lucky one but clench your ass cheeks tight cause you might get raped next year like the rest of us.

[jcmaz]

You know that the developers advertise new condos / prebuilts with low strata fees and they usually jack it up a couple years after?

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by tiger_handheld

I thought new rules stated that dp cannot be used from borrowed funds (ie. LOC) - am i missing something?

Are you a broker because I'm thinking of doing exactly what you are saying but from I'm reading its not possible. would like to chat if you are broker...

Not a broker, but this was the strategy that we were prepared to use. Fortunately, we sold our previous home in less than a week and had a quick close and bumped up the closing date of our current home.

You can use borrowed funds for down payments for mortgages that don't require CMHC insurance. Even if you use CMHC insurance, you're still allowed to use home equity to secure another mortgage. You're not allowed to use credit cards or other unsecured loans for CMHC mortgages.

[Ludepower]

Originally Posted by jcmaz

You know that the developers advertise new condos / prebuilts with low strata fees and they usually jack it up a couple years after?

Yes of course. Most of the strata fees increase is because our insurance premium jumped 150% this year and expected to rise again for 2021.

Unless the government gets involved this is affecting everyone through no fault of their own.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Ludepower

Unless the government gets involved this is affecting everyone through no fault of their own.

But then if the provincial government gets involved, a crown corp will be set up to offer insurance to everyone. And then a few years down the road, people will bxtch and whine that the insurance monopoly is making insurance expensive, and will then demand to have insurance opened up again because competition will bring cheaper prices!

<insert rolleyes emoticon here>

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by Ludepower

Condos are built with better building codes now. You shouldnt see catastrophic failures. The fit and finish and cheap materials is what you'll be griping about.

Do your due diligence and stick to reputable developers.

Who's reputable nowadays?

I've looked at older units and it some of them don't seem to be around anymore.

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by donk.

/ strata fees / insurance premium

My condo insurance premium in pomo went up 92% this year. 30$ increase to original 260$/mo. 0 claims in last 6 years
In comparison to usually just getting a 3% total year over year strata increase for everything.

My dump in vancouver also had a 120% increase. 37$ increase on original 330$/mo
A couple of water claims over last x years

Any regrets with buying your unit?

[Ludepower]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

Who's reputable nowadays?

I've looked at older units and it some of them don't seem to be around anymore.

Im in a concert building. I have no deficiency in my unit and reading the strata minutes theres been no major complaints about the build.

I also heard good things about Cressey and bosa.

You gotta dig deep and ask around. Honestly its really bad out there. Westbank and Onni seem to get the most horror stories.

[JDMDreams]

^^ my realtor also told me to stay away from Thind

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

Any regrets with buying your unit?

Pomo, no
Van, hella yes

Yeah, you and dukes never came by to use my pillows

/ 2x10 ceiling beam nails snap in and out of place, cut my ceiling open and moved them over
/ the owners upstairs are heel walkers, ive lived in a dozen condos, and nothing compares to this couple
/ they flooded my bathroom twice
/ elevator squeels on every stop, and half the time is 1" too high/low
/ hydronic check valve or pump is under neath the wall in my bedroom, and you can hear it 24/7, useto it now
/ 72 hours for diy full bathroom reno, never again, but looks OG

[Eff-1]

Originally Posted by Ludepower

Im in a concert building. I have no deficiency in my unit and reading the strata minutes theres been no major complaints about the build.

I also heard good things about Cressey and bosa.

You gotta dig deep and ask around. Honestly its really bad out there. Westbank and Onni seem to get the most horror stories.

Strata council minutes don't nearly tell the whole story. Ask your council for a copy of the 15 month and/or 2 year warranty review (as an owner you're entitled to see it) and you'll get a deeper sense of the workmanship.

[Teriyaki]

Originally Posted by donk.

Pomo, no
Van, hella yes

Yeah, you and dukes never came by to use my pillows

/ 2x10 ceiling beam nails snap in and out of place, cut my ceiling open and moved them over
/ the owners upstairs are heel walkers, ive lived in a dozen condos, and nothing compares to this couple
/ they flooded my bathroom twice
/ elevator squeels on every stop, and half the time is 1" too high/low
/ hydronic check valve or pump is under neath the wall in my bedroom, and you can hear it 24/7, useto it now
/ 72 hours for diy full bathroom reno, never again, but looks OG

I'm not a particularly frightful guy and I understand how safe elevators are. But there's just something about elevators that don't align properly that give me the creeps whenever I get in/out of them. Anyone else?

[BIC_BAWS]

Friend bought a unit at River Park Place by the Richmond Oval. Apparently it's completely shit. Built by Intracorp, not sure who manages the property but it's so bad that break-ins should just be expected. They did a security audit and found out that the developer cheaped out on a lot of stuff where it's a huge security concern.

Friend's fridge broke and it's a new build LOL. Friend called into Intracorp to complain. They're paying about $450/mo in strata fees, so you would expect good service or smt. But devs don't care haha.

So yeah intracorp, no go.

[JDMDreams]

^^ my friend who lives in the metro town towers says similar things. Things are beat to death and everything is like China, no one gives a crap about any of the strata rules

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS

Friend bought a unit at River Park Place by the Richmond Oval. Apparently it's completely shit. Built by Intracorp, not sure who manages the property but it's so bad that break-ins should just be expected. They did a security audit and found out that the developer cheaped out on a lot of stuff where it's a huge security concern.

Friend's fridge broke and it's a new build LOL. Friend called into Intracorp to complain. They're paying about $450/mo in strata fees, so you would expect good service or smt. But devs don't care haha.

So yeah intracorp, no go.

It's not uncommon for the security to be poorly thought out by the builder. It's usually one of the first things that the strata has to tackle in the initial years of operations.

Getting service for a new fridge has no relationship to the strata fee you pay. An appliance that breaks down is a warranty issue and if I were the developer, I would just tell you to deal with the manufacturer, provided that you're still in the appliance's warranty period. Most modern appliances are a crapshoot these days.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS

Friend's fridge broke and it's a new build LOL. Friend called into Intracorp to complain. They're paying about $450/mo in strata fees, so you would expect good service or smt. But devs don't care haha.

I sure hope it's a free-standing fridge instead of those built-in-the-wall type of bullshxt. Gonna be a major PITA and $$$$ to get those fixed / replaced.

[BIC_BAWS]

Originally Posted by Traum

I sure hope it's a free-standing fridge instead of those built-in-the-wall type of bullshxt. Gonna be a major PITA and $$$$ to get those fixed / replaced.

Nope, it was a built into wall kinda shit LOL. I honestly thought new builds would have better quality than the Reno that I bought in Delta. Turns out both places are the same - it just looks nice on the surface

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

[Ludepower]

Your building is gonna need night time security 7 days a week. No matter how much u beef up your locks they'll still damage it and eventually get in. Its just gonna get worse in our current recession state.

Another reason why strata fees will keep goin up.