Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[underscore]

Noob question here.

To buy a rental property requires 20% down. If I buy a new property to live in and rent my current house out instead, do I still need to put 20% down on the new place or could I do 5% again? If I am allowed to do 5%, how long do I have to actually have the new place as my primary residence?

[sdubfid]

Originally Posted by underscore

Noob question here.

To buy a rental property requires 20% down. If I buy a new property to live in and rent my current house out instead, do I still need to put 20% down on the new place or could I do 5% again? If I am allowed to do 5%, how long do I have to actually have the new place as my primary residence?

You can do 5% on the new place if it’s your primary residence. May need to use a different insurer eg genworth or whatever they changed to vs CMHC depending how long you’ve been in the current house.

[Liquid_o2]

What are people's thoughts on the Deer Lake area of Burnaby? Thinking about a townhouse... but considering the long-term value and desirability. Does it make sense to buy a $1 million dollar townhouse with a strata fee north of $400/month, or a single-family home much further out with a rental suite?

[Hondaracer]

If you’re talking about those town homes across from esso etc. Personally I’d be pretty weary, especially if you’re getting into a bidding war etc.

I’ve gone into a few open houses and the build quality is what I would consider borderline acceptable. Basically I’d say given the current prices and market trends those places will be going for like the maxxxxx you should pay imo. Also you’re right beside the firehall and major rush hour traffic

[cafe22]

You're also sandwiched between two major roads so air and sound quality is questionable.

I also find Burnaby's streetscape and overall public amenities to be lacklustre.

[carsncars]

I have a friend that just moved out of a complex called Saville Row. Bought presale, sold last year.

Although central on a map, he didn't like it for a few reasons:

• Surprisingly poor transit options: hard to get to SkyTrain, Highway 1 to the north and a steep hill to the south
• Constant traffic - although close to Highway 1, it's in the most congested part, and you can hear the traffic
• Just as hard to go North-South, as Canada Way is busy throughout most of the day
• The busy-ness of the streets in the area made walkability poor - him and his wife couldn't see letting kids walk to school, esp. in winter
• Certain amenities/services, e.g. grocery store, were too far & inconvenient (partly due to the traffic issue)

On the bright side, he said it was nice being near Deer Lake, and it's clearly desirable for some as it sold within days.

They ended up moving to a townhome in Port Moody (George) for about the same price as they sold for. Edit: just checked with him - slightly more, essentially the 5% for the GST on the new build townhouse. Further out but a way more pleasant neighbourhood and more convenient transit options. I suspect PoMo has greater long-term upside too with the downtown redevelopment plan, although it's not a good area if you need to commute by car to downtown (if you transit though, WCE and SkyTrain have you covered).

[JDMDreams]

Regarding the down payment question. Is your current house free and clear? Can you just buy the rental with the a heloc? Or are you buying something very expensive. Gonna be tougher to do it on paper as you have to service double the housing costs. Do you have any cash as down payment?


Not familiar with deer lake town houses but is it the ones behind bcit? Those are like 40 years old. I rather buy in a place with more infrastructure or family friendly. That area seems like you need a car to do anything.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Regarding the down payment question. Is your current house free and clear? Can you just buy the rental with the a heloc? Or are you buying something very expensive. Gonna be tougher to do it on paper as you have to service double the housing costs. Do you have any cash as down payment?

It isn't, we still owe ~40% on the current house (8 years in). There's a decent sized HELOC attached to it sitting unused, and we have some cash as well, but from my understanding the less we can put for a down payment the better with rates being so low.

In addition all the paperwork for this house is in my name only, so from what I can find my wife technically qualifies as a first-time home buyer. I just can't see anything that says how long the home you buy has to be your primary residence, since we want to live in this house when the kids are in school (still a few years out from starting that).

[vash13]

Originally Posted by cafe22

Probably sold for 1.5 million without conditions

Pretty close. Sold for 1.48 million without conditions.

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by JDMStyo

Gerbs,
Buying realtors if anything take lots more expenses - driving around, time, printing tour sheets, it's a real grind for when you're starting out.
If they're doing 30+ a year they are doing well - if you average $500K per property you are likely grossing $8,000+ per property.

x30 = $240,000! That's a pretty good number... until you look at expenses side.

Expenses and obviously marketing costs (rebates to clients, dining, gifts, marketing expenses, realtor fees, license fees, etc) can take a big chunk out of that. If they are REALLY discounting 50% on all deals (before tax), they may not be making much at all NET. Still at 30+ deals a year they are definitely ahead of many realtors in the industry, most average less than 5 a year (stats). In that instance they would be wise to incorporate and build out a PREC (Personal RE Corp) to defer taxes and income for leaner years.

I don't think a 30% rebate back end of the day especially for a larger house ($1-2M) is unreasonable but in my own experience most people who appreciate your efforts and fact you got them a good deal / sold property for more $ isn't going to nickel and dime you for an extra $2-3K.

With low rates again and presales heating up - if I got anyone a great smoking unit that 5 other people will write with me with no ASK of 50% rebate, guess who I'm calling first?
With most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Thanks for your input! Referred 4 friends to my buddy who all bought in Dec. They all ended up getting 30% of Gross but I got 50% because we are closer.

However, just wanted to make sure it was a fair offer at 50%. They didn't tour, drive or print anything. Just had to draft an offer and sign off. Just wanted to see where the value-added input was.

[Liquid_o2]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

If you’re talking about those town homes across from esso etc. Personally I’d be pretty weary, especially if you’re getting into a bidding war etc.

I’ve gone into a few open houses and the build quality is what I would consider borderline acceptable. Basically I’d say given the current prices and market trends those places will be going for like the maxxxxx you should pay imo. Also you’re right beside the firehall and major rush hour traffic

Sorry, I should have been more specific. All the complexes east of Royal Oak, the Oaklands area or whatever it is called. I agree that transportation connectivity isn't great - have to drive everywhere. But access to Hwy 1 is decent, proximity to Metrotown and you can pretty much walk into Deer Lake Park.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Liquid_o2

Sorry, I should have been more specific. All the complexes east of Royal Oak, the Oaklands area or whatever it is called. I agree that transportation connectivity isn't great - have to drive everywhere. But access to Hwy 1 is decent, proximity to Metrotown and you can pretty much walk into Deer Lake Park.

Oh yea, those would be much preferred to the ones I referenced imo.

Honestly, don’t discount being close to the highway. Living by the PNE, a lot of my friends and my parents still live in Surrey. In non-peak times I get get from cassiar to Fraser Heights in under 20 minutes

If I lived around Main Street or even between say, nanaimo and Clark, it might take 20-30 just to get to the HWY, likely turning me off from going and seeing friends/family all together

[68style]

^ plus you develop Vancouver syndrome, where crossing a bridge becomes an equivalent effort to visiting a foreign country (pre-Covid )

[Liquid_o2]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Oh yea, those would be much preferred to the ones I referenced imo.

Honestly, don’t discount being close to the highway. Living by the PNE, a lot of my friends and my parents still live in Surrey. In non-peak times I get get from cassiar to Fraser Heights in under 20 minutes

If I lived around Main Street or even between say, nanaimo and Clark, it might take 20-30 just to get to the HWY, likely turning me off from going and seeing friends/family all together

Yah we live near Main Street now - and that's the thing. Takes 15 minutes at minimum to get to Hwy 1, usually take Grandview.

My wife and I's biggest issue moving east is that we love our neighbourhood, the walkability, cafes, restaurants, parks, etc. Hard to replicate elsewhere. But we understand that we need to upgrade soon, and the reality is we either get a large 2 bedroom in our area, or move into a Burnaby townhouse, or move farther east for a house with mortgage helper (which is going to make our commutes shitty).

[Alpine]

I picked moving further away (southwest coquitlam) over a townhouse in Vancouver/BBY. Had some bad experiences with strata living and that was enough for me. That + the appreciation of land + the mortgage helper (assuming you have a good tenant) really makes the financial side an easy decision.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by Presto

After trying a couple offers in Coquitlam, we went to Poco.
2,000sqft house can be split into 2 suites. Sub-dividable. Listed just below $1.0m.

Mortgage was already approved, and we took our realtor's advice and went in at $1.1m and sniped it from the other bidders trying to decide if $1,050,000 would be sufficient. The similar properties we wanted in Coquitlam were listed at $1.2m. I think we did alright.

Good move. A few houses in poco sold for 1.3, 1.19, and 1.365 today. (Not sure if they are comparable to yours). 2148 Hawthorne, 1855 Jacana, 1829 Mary Hill.

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by Liquid_o2

What are people's thoughts on the Deer Lake area of Burnaby? Thinking about a townhouse... but considering the long-term value and desirability. Does it make sense to buy a $1 million dollar townhouse with a strata fee north of $400/month, or a single-family home much further out with a rental suite?

A house on land will always appreciate more than a townhouse because after all, you're buying a defined area of land, rather than a somewhat vague interest and a strata lot. Detached houses on non-strata land are an extinct species in the Lower Mainland and will become more scarce each year as lots are subdivided and stratified.

It comes down to your lifestyle. A house is more work, whether you outsource maintenance to others or you put in the work yourself, but at least you have control over your property. With a strata property, you have to trust that your strata council and your property management company are acting in your best interest. Even if you're the president of a strata council, there are no guarantees that you can maintain your property in the way that suits your needs and objectives.

[rb]

A lot of these strata/building management companies that "work" for a new strata were actually recommended or placed there by the developer. The management companies essentially do more favors for the developers than the strata they are suppose to be working for and are often canned a few years later when strata catches on. Just be aware that sometimes, no matter how good the council is, they are at the mercy of the management company to deal with the developer if its a newer build

[Traum]

Originally Posted by rb

A lot of these strata/building management companies that "work" for a new strata were actually recommended or placed there by the developer. The management companies essentially do more favors for the developers than the strata they are suppose to be working for and are often canned a few years later when strata catches on. Just be aware that sometimes, no matter how good the council is, they are at the mercy of the management company to deal with the developer if its a newer build

I don't see that as an issue at all because the strata can always choose to vote a management company out. If the starting company is not doing a good job, it'll be gone very soon after that first AGM.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by Traum

I don't see that as an issue at all because the strata can always choose to vote a management company out. If the starting company is not doing a good job, it'll be gone very soon after that first AGM.

It really all depends. If the builder decided to keep a few units then there may not be enough votes to get rid of the management company.

Rancho is the preferred company for a lot of builders and all the ones that I have dealt with suck.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by Acura604

crazy times....

put the house for sale at $1,499,900.

showed up on realty.ca on Jan 6th.

had a viewing next morning Jan 7th 11:30am

got the offer from those viewers Jan 7th 4pm. ($1,465,000)

... wife delisted it ... but confident if we countered with $1,490,000 it would have been sold.... a 4hr sales cycle.

Why are you teasing us. Inquiring minds would like to know why your wife delisted it.

[jing]

Too busy swapping tires on/off for the failed snowmageddon

[RiceIntegraRS]

Lets not make him the new Mr.HappySilp

[bcedhk]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Why are you teasing us. Inquiring minds would like to know why your wife delisted it.

Greed

[Euro7r]

Originally Posted by bcedhk

Greed

If I were the buyer, would have came back and egg-ed the OP house for wasting my time LOL.