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i literally just scrolled into the province and randomly selected the house but i'm wondering what this could rent for lol. not going to see much increase in value i bet
Not saying any of what JDMDreams and EvoFire have said is false, but esp on the issue of Queensborough traffic, even if you were to factor in the traffic jam time, I'm sure it'll still be faster to get to places in Burnaby, Vancouver, and Richmond than if you were to start the drive from Maple Ridge.
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Took possession today. Appreciate all the tips (home inspection, notary) here so thought I'd share my experience to provide some data points.
Have been in the market in earnest since summer 2019, looking in the detached, East Vancouver, <$1.5M segment. Hats off to my realtor for being amazing through it - PM me if you want a recommendation - very reasonable, never pushy/impatient, provided some really helpful insights. In the end saved me $15K off the final price by suggesting I reduce my offer.
Home 1: Summer 2020. 3121 E 17th Ave. Renfrew Heights, 33x110' lot, livable 2 BR main floor with a basement that needed a lot of work (I would not have been able to rent that at any price in good conscience). List price $1.2M. Submitted an offer in the mid-$1.2M's; seller received 7 offers, ultimately went with an offer for $1.24M ($10K lower than mine) with no conditions. Honestly, probably best I didn't end up with this one as this home is probably better for someone who intends to rebuild.
Home 2: Fall 2020. 946 Lillooet Street. Hastings-Sunrise, 33x100' lot, good condition 2 BR main floor and good condition 1 BR basement suite (tenanted for $1500/m.). Re-listed from the summer under a new realtor, new list price $1.15M. Submitted an offer in the mid-$1.2M's; seller accepted another offer for $1.24M with no conditions. Not sure how many offers received.
Home 3 - Winner: Winter 2020. Renfrew Heights/Collingwood. 33x110' lot. Extremely well maintained/clean home, 2 BR main floor, 1 BR basement suite, albeit with decor that hadn't been updated since the 70's - newer furnace, roof, water tank, etc. though. Listed in the high $1.2M's. Submitted an offer close to asking. Seller received 3 offers - mine was accepted. Not sure what the other offers came in at in terms of price, but I was willing to offer the (elderly) seller quite a lot of flexibility re: completion date, option to lease back while they find an independent living placement.
(Not providing an address on the final home for obvious reasons.)
Very happy with the ultimate outcome - feels like I lucked out somewhat with the 3rd home, as for some reason it just wasn't a busy first showing weekend. The listing agent had over 100 requests for showings in the week between offer acceptance and subject removal, and it's a much better property than the first two.
Definitely a long process. There's a lot of homes out there in this price range that are in very poor condition (we saw one where I'm pretty sure no wall was straight). There's a lot of listed-low-for-multiple-offers as well. My realtor was good at helping me to set a budget, set realistic expectations, and not be tempted to get emotional about any one home.
Loose ends:
- Went with John Chow for home inspection on recommendation from my realtor. Cheap ($400), nice guy, I felt he did a thorough job (from a layperson's perspective) and he was happy to explain things and point things out as he went. I wish he'd documented things a little better for reference (e.g. pipe materials, wiring materials, service amperage) but overall I'm a happy customer.
- Went with Jerome Tsang for notary. Reasonable price (though not bottom of the bucket) but was comfortable using technology (seriously, some notaries wanted me to fax/courier things to them?). Took plenty of time to explain things along the way. Thanks @JDMStyo and @sonick (as well as others for other recommendations).
- HSBC was pretty aggressive with mortgage rates. $1.49% 5-year fixed, $2500 cashback. Additionally, they offered more credit than I needed given my downpayment and gave me the option of taking anything that I didn't need in mortgage as a HELOC. I accepted as I may be starting a small business in the next couple years, so the flexibility is nice to have in my back pocket.
^ because queens borough will sink? My friend told me that you can't get earthquake or flood insurance in Richmond. I forgot which
I thinks both. It's either can't get or REALLY expensive. LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by EvoFire
Queensborough traffic is a shit show morning and night, when most ppl actually need to leave or come home. Transit is non-existent as well.
train tracks also runs there and blocks some of the roads right next to the neighborhood.
It's a good deal, but nope....
It usually takes me 20 mins to get anywhere from Nordel. But if I have to go through Queensborough, easily 40mins or 50mins. Bulk of the time is spent waiting to get on the bridge LOL.
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Took possession today. Appreciate all the tips (home inspection, notary) here so thought I'd share my experience to provide some data points.
Have been in the market in earnest since summer 2019, looking in the detached, East Vancouver, <$1.5M segment. Hats off to my realtor for being amazing through it - PM me if you want a recommendation - very reasonable, never pushy/impatient, provided some really helpful insights. In the end saved me $15K off the final price by suggesting I reduce my offer.
Home 1: Summer 2020. 3121 E 17th Ave. Renfrew Heights, 33x110' lot, livable 2 BR main floor with a basement that needed a lot of work (I would not have been able to rent that at any price in good conscience). List price $1.2M. Submitted an offer in the mid-$1.2M's; seller received 7 offers, ultimately went with an offer for $1.24M ($10K lower than mine) with no conditions. Honestly, probably best I didn't end up with this one as this home is probably better for someone who intends to rebuild.
Home 2: Fall 2020. 946 Lillooet Street. Hastings-Sunrise, 33x100' lot, good condition 2 BR main floor and good condition 1 BR basement suite (tenanted for $1500/m.). Re-listed from the summer under a new realtor, new list price $1.15M. Submitted an offer in the mid-$1.2M's; seller accepted another offer for $1.24M with no conditions. Not sure how many offers received.
Home 3 - Winner: Winter 2020. Renfrew Heights/Collingwood. 33x110' lot. Extremely well maintained/clean home, 2 BR main floor, 1 BR basement suite, albeit with decor that hadn't been updated since the 70's - newer furnace, roof, water tank, etc. though. Listed in the high $1.2M's. Submitted an offer close to asking. Seller received 3 offers - mine was accepted. Not sure what the other offers came in at in terms of price, but I was willing to offer the (elderly) seller quite a lot of flexibility re: completion date, option to lease back while they find an independent living placement.
(Not providing an address on the final home for obvious reasons.)
Very happy with the ultimate outcome - feels like I lucked out somewhat with the 3rd home, as for some reason it just wasn't a busy first showing weekend. The listing agent had over 100 requests for showings in the week between offer acceptance and subject removal, and it's a much better property than the first two.
Definitely a long process. There's a lot of homes out there in this price range that are in very poor condition (we saw one where I'm pretty sure no wall was straight). There's a lot of listed-low-for-multiple-offers as well. My realtor was good at helping me to set a budget, set realistic expectations, and not be tempted to get emotional about any one home.
Loose ends:
- Went with John Chow for home inspection on recommendation from my realtor. Cheap ($400), nice guy, I felt he did a thorough job (from a layperson's perspective) and he was happy to explain things and point things out as he went. I wish he'd documented things a little better for reference (e.g. pipe materials, wiring materials, service amperage) but overall I'm a happy customer.
- Went with Jerome Tsang for notary. Reasonable price (though not bottom of the bucket) but was comfortable using technology (seriously, some notaries wanted me to fax/courier things to them?). Took plenty of time to explain things along the way. Thanks @JDMStyo and @sonick (as well as others for other recommendations).
- HSBC was pretty aggressive with mortgage rates. $1.49% 5-year fixed, $2500 cashback. Additionally, they offered more credit than I needed given my downpayment and gave me the option of taking anything that I didn't need in mortgage as a HELOC. I accepted as I may be starting a small business in the next couple years, so the flexibility is nice to have in my back pocket.
Not saying any of what JDMDreams and EvoFire have said is false, but esp on the issue of Queensborough traffic, even if you were to factor in the traffic jam time, I'm sure it'll still be faster to get to places in Burnaby, Vancouver, and Richmond than if you were to start the drive from Maple Ridge.
I think it ultimately depends on where you need to go. I can't argue that Queensborough is more attractive than Maple Ridge for me, but neither are places that I would be looking at. I work a "regular" 9-5 and the commute frustration out the possible 2 routes would destroy me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS
It usually takes me 20 mins to get anywhere from Nordel. But if I have to go through Queensborough, easily 40mins or 50mins. Bulk of the time is spent waiting to get on the bridge LOL.
Quicker through Queensborough or quicker through Pattullo to get to Metrotown? Bit of a coin toss?
For anyone looking for lawyer for real estate, consider Jina Kim. I dealt with handful real estate notary/lawyer, but she was the best I've yet to see. I once emailed her at 4AM and got response within 5 minutes. I had some issue with last real estate deal and had I email back and forth the lawyer and she always responded within 30 minutes. I was truly impressed. I rarely if ever refer anyone but Her, I can recommend her to anyone looking for solid real estate lawyer without a second thoughts.
i literally just scrolled into the province and randomly selected the house but i'm wondering what this could rent for lol. not going to see much increase in value i bet
Lol, you can still buy houses in Regina SK for 70-150K but they'll be like 750sf on a 3000sf lot in the middle of the hood. Become a slum lord over there but don't be to upset when your tenant takes the copper pipes with them when they leave after not paying their rent for 3 months.
Such a fucking dump, it was bad in the 80's as a kid I had a knife put to my throat, had some kids jump me for my bikes 3 times yeah 3 different bikes, sucker punched and jumped in an arcade for my fucking quarters all before the age of 13 and it's 5 times worse now. God I hate that place, my parents still live in SK but they live on the outskirts of a small town 30 minutes outside of that dumpster fire of a city, every time I have to go back there I cringe.
__________________
The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I donīt care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. Thatīs how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. - Rocky Balboa
I'm not seeing many new babies or weddings in my demographic anymore; instead, we are finally starting to see older millennials entering senior management and C-suite roles and moving up to detached homes. It seems that old habits about the desirability of single family homes are very hard to break.
I purchased this house...brand new..in 2017 for $999,000 taxes in.
sold it in 2019 but it was the toughest place to sell...
why? no 'mortgage helper' i.e. rental suite. Back in 2019 apparently alot of folks would never get approved without this. the realtor kept saying to drop the price drop the price...and then even had the insane idea of spending 50k to add a rentable suite lol..wtf.
realtor had around 50 showings over 4 months with NO offers.....I finally got 1 offer and that won the deal but didn't make much out of it at all.
so...if you're looking for detached, might be a good thing to have the suite option for quicker resale in the future.
I purchased this house...brand new..in 2017 for $999,000 taxes in.
sold it in 2019 but it was the toughest place to sell...
why? no 'mortgage helper' i.e. rental suite. Back in 2019 apparently alot of folks would never get approved without this. the realtor kept saying to drop the price drop the price...and then even had the insane idea of spending 50k to add a rentable suite lol..wtf.
realtor had around 50 showings over 4 months with NO offers.....I finally got 1 offer and that won the deal but didn't make much out of it at all.
so...if you're looking for detached, might be a good thing to have the suite option for quicker resale in the future.
Less buyers for sure but they are out there. I know when I was looking in 2019 a suite was a deal breaker for me did not want one. For sure though much harder to sell without.
__________________
The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I donīt care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. Thatīs how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. - Rocky Balboa
Was it really an “insane” idea to add a suite when it took 4 months to sell the house?
That's true for sure, on the house I sold even though I didn't want a suite I added one to my house to make it easier to sell lol.
This house I'm in now I'll probably stay here for 15-20 years and then when the time comes I'll sell it to someone who's going to put a wreckingball through it. Almost a 10,000 foot lot you can build a big house with lots of suite potential haha. They actually knocked the house down on the end of my street on Wednesday, that was funny to wake up to because I didn't even know it was vacant.
__________________
The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I donīt care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. Thatīs how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. - Rocky Balboa
Less buyers for sure but they are out there. I know when I was looking in 2019 a suite was a deal breaker for me did not want one. For sure though much harder to sell without.
It was a deal breaker for me this summer when purchasing my first home. But mostly because without one we couldn't have possibly qualified.
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I'll be following this thread in the next couple of months and will be using any tips you guys share in this thread. I'm afraid of the future costs in living in a high-rise condo and I don't think it will get any better especially of how many are/will be built in the next couple of years.
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
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I paid $1300 and that was the cheapest out of the quotes I got.
