Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[RiceIntegraRS]

Originally Posted by jerche

Does this happen a lot? Did many of you get an audit for your first home years later? I can see a lot of ppl using their parents address for a lot of things since it's easier.

I had to do something simliar not too long ago where i had to prove my first HBP was for the condo i was purchasing 2-3 years later. In the end it got flagged cause 2 documents werent signed because TD thought my broker was supposed to sign them and vice versa. But i had to provide additional documents cause of this

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

^^ not really your kid has bank of mom and dad lol, like at least 50% of first time buyers do

Seems like most peeps growing up in East/South Van have a downpayment lying around from their SFH basements suites rental. Those parents don't do indexing or stocks so the money sits in a savings account until they can pass it off to their kid + cosign the mortgage as a family and that's another property purchased.

I wish that was me so I could've gotten a 2BR or TH lol.

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

All in on gme nok ^^ I've been hearing stories of lots of new millionaires. So maybe they are buying up the houses cash

I know of 2 people that just binked a downpayment from holding GME/ETH in the last week. I wonder if there are enough people in Vancouver that binked that could actually increase demand to more than what it is currently.

[Teriyaki]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

I know of 2 people that just binked a downpayment from holding GME/ETH in the last week. I wonder if there are enough people in Vancouver that binked that could actually increase demand to more than what it is currently.

Keep in mind that for every winner, there must be a loser

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by Teriyaki

Keep in mind that for every winner, there must be a loser

Just don't lose

[Harvey Specter]

More like GME bag holders lol and even a million dollars down isn't a enough for a new house in Vancouver

And most of the money locally is coming from parents who are downsizing and giving money to their kids. My friend who's parents sold their house in Vancouver for $2.5m gave him $1.5m. Some people are going to hit the lotto depending where their parents bought and settled.

[SkunkWorks]

Insert happyslip: "jUsT wOrK hArDeR aNd DoNt gO oUt duhhhhhh"

[SkunkWorks]

Originally Posted by BIC_BAWS

^ Or 10s bang your car and you get a nice ROI iykyk

Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk

You wish she banged you.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by SkunkWorks

Insert happyslip: "jUsT wOrK hArDeR aNd DoNt gO oUt duhhhhhh"

RIP

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Teriyaki

Keep in mind that for every winner, there must be a loser

"For every winner, theres 10 losers"
Fixed

[Euro7r]

Originally Posted by jerche

Does this happen a lot? Did many of you get an audit for your first home years later? I can see a lot of ppl using their parents address for a lot of things since it's easier.

I'm thinking of doing the same when I take possession of my condo in a few months. Hassle of changing address and also my parent place is a house, so shipping things is easier as someone is home to take delivery, rather than condo (where shit just get left at lobby depending if your mailman is a dick or not - my buddy condo they just leave shit at the lobby and you pretty much "find your own package"; your neighbor can just take everything at the lobby LOL....)

[GS8]

The new condo layouts are horrible. It's like they're made to be rented out. The 14 year old building I was living in Richmond had a slightly better layout than the 3 year old building I'm in now. Maybe these dumb layouts are just a recent thing...

The 52 year old building I once lived in had a better layout than both.

*heat and silverfish aside

I used to but don't actually live with four other people now unless you count the voices in my head.

[lilaznviper]

i find that older buildings have a better layout plus more space vs the current 700ish sq ft 2bedrooms 2 washroom or even the 2 bed/1 washroom

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by lilaznviper

i find that older buildings have a better layout plus more space vs the current 700ish sq ft 2bedrooms 2 washroom or even the 2 bed/1 washroom

No joke, some of the new building layouts are atrocious. Helping my cousin find a 1 BR apartment and saw this one the other day:

• Living/dining is tiny. There's nowhere really to put a TV in a position where you can put a couch without running out of room for a kitchen table.
• Bathroom is completely across the apartment from the bedroom
• Zero counter space
• Wasted like 50 sq ft on the WIC. I'd much rather have more space in the living/dining and a regular closet.
• Weird place for the washer/dryer as well, not to mention that the hallway in front of it is also wasted space...

I know it's a 500 sq ft 1 BR so there's only so much you can do, but I'd argue it's even more important to have an efficient, well thought out layout with small apartments. I had a 500 sq ft when I was training in Toronto that was actually quite functional... unlike this abomination.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by carsncars

[*]Living/dining is tiny. There's nowhere really to put a TV in a position where you can put a couch without running out of room for a kitchen table.[*]Bathroom is completely across the apartment from the bedroom[*]Zero counter space[*]Wasted like 50 sq ft on the WIC. I'd much rather have more space in the living/dining and a regular closet.[*]Weird place for the washer/dryer as well, not to mention that the hallway in front of it is also wasted space...[/LIST]

I can forgive couch issue, given that this is a 500 sq ft unit. At that size, something has got to give, and not being able to fit a couch in there without making the rest of the unit completely useless seems like an acceptable compromise to me.

On the other hand, I really dunno why developers are so hell bent on having WIC. The dreaded hallway that leads to the WIC seems to be frequently used design as well, as I've seen that in quite a few units. A variation on the theme is to have the hallway pass through the WIC leading to a washroom / bathroom.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Traum

.

On the other hand, I really dunno why developers are so hell bent on having WIC. The dreaded hallway that leads to the WIC seems to be frequently used design as well, as I've seen that in quite a few units. A variation on the theme is to have the hallway pass through the WIC leading to a washroom / bathroom.

Because women.

[JDMDreams]

I really don't know how they do it here but I've stayed in a 700sq 3 bed, 2 bath and storage closet maids room in HK and everything felt quite usable and not cramped. Maybe all the appliances are smaller there? Everything was well laid out and placed.

[68style]

Originally Posted by Euro7r

I'm thinking of doing the same when I take possession of my condo in a few months. Hassle of changing address and also my parent place is a house, so shipping things is easier as someone is home to take delivery, rather than condo (where shit just get left at lobby depending if your mailman is a dick or not - my buddy condo they just leave shit at the lobby and you pretty much "find your own package"; your neighbor can just take everything at the lobby LOL....)

I have done this for all the same reasons you're thinking... been in my place for 10 years and using my parent's address for all my mail the whole time and even my driver's license/insurance.... never changed anything.

I'm having a hell of a time with CRA now proving that it's my principle residence though. Fuckers are threatening to not recognize my status. I've got 10 years worth of cable bills and utility in my name, but to them its not good enough. Also, if I was ever in an accident I think ICBC would be pretty displeased with me.

So, be careful... or maybe change your shit but just don't deliver to your condo only.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by GS8

The new condo layouts are horrible. It's like they're made to be rented out. The 14 year old building I was living in Richmond had a slightly better layout than the 3 year old building I'm in now. Maybe these dumb layouts are just a recent thing...

The 52 year old building I once lived in had a better layout than both.

*heat and silverfish aside

I used to but don't actually live with four other people now unless you count the voices in my head.

They are trying to cram more units in per floor due to the cost of property which means less SF. You always have the windows or curtain wall depending on construction on one side of the unit, two sides if it's a corner unit. The Bedroom and the living room pretty much have to have windows which restricts what they can do with the layout.

Less units per floor and slightly larger units would make it better but that's money out of the developers pocket can't have that. As you said you're going to find more sf and better layouts in the older units.

Side note, Construction costs continue to rise putting upward pressure on prices. The price of lumber soared last year probably somewhere between 40-50% increase and steel has increased 25% in the last 60 days with two more increases of 10% + 15% coming in the next two months. For me as someone who gives fixed costs on construction as far out as 2 years a lot of uncertainty in the air, I thought they were full of shit when they were threatening increases during a pandemic and a recession but that shit is getting rammed through. Apparantly the main driver is the US market, Canadian companies can sell in the US for way more so their attitude is if you don't pay our prices we'll sell in the states take it or leave it.

[rb]

A buddy of mine does the floor plan designs for towers. The way he explained it to me was that developers have a certain price per sq.ft that they have to hit to make a build feasible and profitable enough. The larger the sq.ft on your standard 1-bed to 2-bed units would make the prices too high for the average buyer depending on the location. Break it down to smaller units and there you go.

The current coal harbour tower project he's been working on needs to hit $1400/sqft and its just got the green light from the last time I spoke with him

[Tapioca]

For singles or couples that are likely to occupy a 500 square foot apartment, they need space for clothing and won't likely use their kitchen much, aside from re-heating food. Prior to the pandemic, I understand the development industry was looking hard at whether or not ranges were needed in new apartments because people who live the condo life are spending most of their food budget on prepared meals or dining out. It certainly would save quite a bit of money in construction and permitting costs - no 220V or gas fitters and no venting would be required for a simple microwave.

Check out this article for further background: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opin...ewing-machine/

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by rb

A buddy of mine does the floor plan designs for towers. The way he explained it to me was that developers have a certain price per sq.ft that they have to hit to make a build feasible and profitable enough. The larger the sq.ft on your standard 1-bed to 2-bed units would make the prices too high for the average buyer depending on the location. Break it down to smaller units and there you go.

The current coal harbour tower project he's been working on needs to hit $1400/sqft and its just got the green light from the last time I spoke with him

Can confirm as well. I try to make reasonable suggestions to improve the suite layouts, usually it is met with heavy resistance but sometimes they see the light in our suggestions.

[Tapioca]

~$250K in household income for millennials in Vancouver is not so far fetched these days. So, maybe the problem isn't income, but it's expectations?

https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFin...eb2x&context=3

[Liquid_o2]

Yah I can tell you most millennials are not making $250k combined. People who post to Revscene and Reddit's PFC are outside the norm.

But I agree with that thread. My wife and I make a good combined income but feel poor as hell in this city.

[SSM_DC5]

Originally Posted by 68style

I have done this for all the same reasons you're thinking... been in my place for 10 years and using my parent's address for all my mail the whole time and even my driver's license/insurance.... never changed anything.

I'm having a hell of a time with CRA now proving that it's my principle residence though. Fuckers are threatening to not recognize my status. I've got 10 years worth of cable bills and utility in my name, but to them its not good enough. Also, if I was ever in an accident I think ICBC would be pretty displeased with me.

So, be careful... or maybe change your shit but just don't deliver to your condo only.

so which addresses do we need to update that the CRA cares about?