Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Infiniti

To think that some people are content to basically spend their entire monthly earnings on mortgage payments. Don't get me wrong, I see the appeal of owning, but at the cost of being able to do nothing else with my life? Nah, thats "too much" ownership for me.

Given the current stress test requirements, are people really going to be blowing that much of their paycheques on mortgage payments? Cuz if I am understanding the practical outcome of the stress test correctly, it is noticeably reducing the amount of money a person can borrow on the mortgage, and smaller mortgages means smaller monthly payments.

Of course, if they want to, I suppose people can always pay down the mortgage principal with any money they have left over. With the low interest rates we are seeing right now, I don't think that makes a lot of sense.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Special K

^^^ would your payments be okay without the rental income downstairs? I think banks are pretty strict on rental suites now too.

Yeah, I could easily carry the payments without rental income to the point that we've considered not renting out the suites at all (we won't do that though as we don't need the extra space right now)

We didn't declare any rental income in our application either, TD said they'd only consider 50% of it so it would basically be a rounding error for our total income. In any case, I've always treated my suite(s) as bonus money since they've been unauthorised so I only borrow what I can afford to comfortably pay on my own.

This is where I think the stress test kinda makes things weird - if your household income is 80-120k then the test makes tonnes of sense. Your leftover disposable income needs to pay for stuff like cars, clothes, utilities, FOOD etc. A tripling of interest rates for this group of people is REALLY, REALLY BAD and will result in a lot of more quality listings on the CL Good Buys thread ("Must sell, financial situation has changed, make me an offer")

When you're high income the amount of leftover disposable income that the stress test creates can be pretty big and a tripling of interest rates is not the end of the world (but it sucks). But still, it's a good thing - we need to slow down the housing market - I just wish I could take more advantage of the financial markets.

[mikemhg]

Originally Posted by Manic!

https://streamable.com/xltfx1

Is this guy on IG? I can't find him

[PeanutButter]

I think it depends on the families. I have a lot of Indian friends who live with their entire family. So their buying power is really high.

I have close friends who live with multiple families in these very large homes and it works for them.

Or if you can actually afford a $3M house you definitely don't want any tenants.. screw that.

[bcedhk]

Question on picking a realtor to sell a home:

1. I the interview process expected to be over the phone or email only? If they book a time to come over to my house, are they expecting me to sign the agent's contract?

2. What are the typical rate for marketing fees? The realtors I've been referred to provide video, photos and site plan service.

[6793026]

Originally Posted by bcedhk

Question on picking a realtor to sell a home:

1. I the interview process expected to be over the phone or email only? If they book a time to come over to my house, are they expecting me to sign the agent's contract?

2. What are the typical rate for marketing fees? The realtors I've been referred to provide video, photos and site plan service.

Great and really good question. I hit them point blank.
1) If ____- realtor is top in Van, and there's you, what makes you better?
*those who can't answer and a noob, I chose someone else.

2) marketing rates and fees always included (video + photos and staging is pretty much given)... so... just ask for what the realtor can do for you.

You have to be honest, if your place is a 500 sq ft place and hoping to sell for 400k in surrey, you're not going to have realtor going to your place. They are chasing at places that are listings that are 3.5 m. Blah blah blah... we shoudl get the same service... in reality, you gotta know your worth.

There are lots more but I honestly base it on first impression, their charisma and if they can work smart for you.

if you don't care, and just wnat lowest price; simply say " i don't need you to drive over to do showings, I don't need you to do this and that... I just wnat someone to provide contracts... would you _____________" and negotiate from there.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by bcedhk

Question on picking a realtor to sell a home:

1. I the interview process expected to be over the phone or email only? If they book a time to come over to my house, are they expecting me to sign the agent's contract?

2. What are the typical rate for marketing fees? The realtors I've been referred to provide video, photos and site plan service.

#2 is easy - there should be zero additional costs above the standard commission unless you're doing some wild staging of your place and they need to bring in $10k of furniture, a super car and a model to pose on the car.

For #1, this may depend on what you're selling but my agent came over to my apartment at the time which was only worth $300k (6 years ago) and walked us through what she and her partner did and how the process would work. This time around she came by our house, did a walkthrough, and again walked us through what would happen. There was no expectation that we'd sign with her though we gave no signals that we were shopping around with other agents - I knew I wanted to use her.

If you don't know who you want to use then I'd say start with a 10-15 min phone call - find out how well they know your area, if they've sold similar products, how much product they are moving, what's their approach to selling (my realtor has backbone but doesn't play games or give attitude, she's pretty clear about being professional - her counterpart in the last round was very much not like that but it's worked for that guy really well). If you get a good vibe, invite them over to see your place and ask them to bring some comparables with them. Tell them you're talking to a few agents.

Ask for a few references - ask they what type of sellers they like working with - are their sellers experienced? newbies? hands on/off? Are you a seller who is realistic about the sale price for a relatively quick sale or are you willing to let it sit for 60 days to get the price you want? Make sure they know what you are as well.

My agent has very good attention to detail when it comes to contracts which my wife cared a lot about - it's where the trust was built for the two of them. I cared a lot about her knowing the market and providing me with good advice about what homes I should consider - she pushed me to consider homes I said I wasn't interested in to get me to open my mind which I appreciated. These were the things I cared about - you may care about very different things.

As for big or small agents, know that if you go with a big name agent you may spend most of your time with their assistant(s) and not them. A high volume guy like Michelle Yu or Paul Eviston gives you a nice wave and that might be it. If that works for then go for it since they have a brand/reputation. Your small volume agent will likely be the person you deal directly with for the whole deal - this might matter a lot to you. Even some medium volume folks have their assistants handle things for them.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by bcedhk

Question on picking a realtor to sell a home:

1. I the interview process expected to be over the phone or email only? If they book a time to come over to my house, are they expecting me to sign the agent's contract?

2. What are the typical rate for marketing fees? The realtors I've been referred to provide video, photos and site plan service.

Others have chimed in on but for question #2, be mindful of what you are selling and your target audience.

I picked a higher end real estate firm / brokerage with a solid marketing strategy and a global reach. I sold my condo in 3 hours from listing. It cost me 4% in commissions (expensive) but we were in a very dangerous market here in Toronto last year and I'm glad we sold it just on time. On the plus side, it set the benchmark for the building and everything after that has taken a very long time sell (or has not been sold since.) I would be living on the street right now.

[68style]

Living on the street hahaha sleeping in your Porsche more like it

[bcrdukes]

[carsncars]

3184 E 8th Avenue - I remember seeing this listing last October and liking the deck/main floor but not the low-ceiling basement suite.

Sold for this month for $1.489M after selling last October for $1.408M. Not really much profit there after LTT and realtor fees ($17K for buyer's agent commission).

[carsncars]

In other news, I'm about to rent out my house while I'm out of town for work for ~1.5 years.

I got a quote from TD about converting my home insurance to rental property insurance, and TD quotes $4K/year. and can't offer Guaranteed Replacement Cost on total loss. Square One is offering $1.6K/year, otherwise similar coverage, with Guaranteed Replacement Cost. Anything I'm missing here with this discrepancy?

Also - anyone have experience letting their mortgage lender (HSBC in this case) know/asking permission to rent the property? I took out the mortgage in Feb as owner-occupied not knowing about this work placement, and there is a clause in my mortgage about not letting or subletting the property without permission from the lender...

[donk.]

Originally Posted by carsncars

In other news, I'm about to rent out my house while I'm out of town for work for ~1.5 years.

.

Thats because hsbc wants their 0.2% more in interest once you go rental status. Thats what they told me when i was applying at least

As for insurance, your gonna need to read the 40 pages with a lawyer to find out the discrepancies. Insurance text is always written in a way beneficial to the company.
That being said, rbc is a bank, square one is an insurance company and has the ability to offer much cheaper rates. Id go with square one.

[m4k4v4li]

looking to rent my condo out, should I consult with a lawyer? or is there a standardized draft template to work off of? sorry am a newbie and would be first time renting a property out. any one stop shop to do research with links would be greatly appreciated (downtown vancouver) TY

[Hehe]

^

You should take a look at RTA

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/h...tial-tenancies

In there you can also find their template contract, which is the one I'd use if I were you as it doesn't matter what other contract you use, you need to follow RTA guidelines anyway.

Generally speaking, if it's residential and you are following RTA guidelines, there is no need to consult a lawyer.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by m4k4v4li

looking to rent my condo out, should I consult with a lawyer? or is there a standardized draft template to work off of? sorry am a newbie and would be first time renting a property out. any one stop shop to do research with links would be greatly appreciated (downtown vancouver) TY

Verify your unit allows rentals. Some bylaws have 0 allowed, or a cap. That cap is usually full. Ask your strata.

Take photos of your unit
Find out comparable rent prices in your area
Post your unit on rentfaster, zumper, craigslist, etc
Show your unit
Pick the correct tenants
Get them to sign the forms
Get the deposits
Get the first months rent
Trade keys
Walk through inspection
Now your a slumlord, congradulations, now you can work your way to unit 2,3.....10 to achieve max slumlord status

The reply above with RTA will have more details in every section. Once you have done your homework, feel free to reach out for an opinion

[Hondaracer]

Also if you allow pets you can take a full months rent as a damage deposit. Half a month for regular damage, half a month for pet damage

[m4k4v4li]

thank you !! any major line items I should add in addendum page you guys would recommend? maybe things that often get overlooked but are important

[Hondaracer]

You can really add anything you want. I believe I said in mine no smoking anywhere on the property, no growing cultivating marijuana or any other substance legal or not which may cause excess moisture or damage to the property, etc etc.

Anything you feel is reasonable just add it and word it in a way that isn’t over the top

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

You can really add anything you want.

Anything you want so long that it doesn't contradict any right, obligation or standard terms defined by the RTA... Anything that does so would be considered void.

[GLOW]

what's included (appliance, utilities etc)
what's not included (site parking, storage, insurance on their belongings, etc)

the space cannot be used as a place of business, cannot be sublet/rented out/etc., no smoking, no illegal drugs (i guess goes without saying), i know people are allowed to have guests but wording something like the space is only going to be lived in by the person/people named on contract.

i recall if you write anything unreasonable, it doesn't matter if they sign, if it goes against RTA etc it won't hold water.

[Euro7r]

Couple weeks ago HSBC approved me for my mortgage @ 1.39% (their so called exception rate or whatever the fucking premium rate they wanna call it). They offered 1.29% + 0.20% = 1.49% (extra 0.20% premium for borrowing more). They got me down to 1.39% + $1,200 cashback.

So I asked another friend of mines which had a buddy at CIBC, they offered 1.23%. Also also asked TD, they offered 1.20%.

Today I asked both CIBC/HSBC to beat TD. Both seemingly interested to beat on written communication. Do I keep playing this back and forth game on rate battle until one of the bank throws the towel? I'm set with going to TD now since they have offered the lowest rate so far at this point unless one of them legitimately goes even lower than that.

[donk.]

^ take the 1.2

Then when the other 2 banks ask why they havent heard from you, you tell them because another bank gave you a lower rate and you took it.
Then when they say, they could have beat that rate
You tell them "next time dont play games and give me the best rate right off the bat"

[Hondaracer]

Sooner than later one of them or all of them are going to come back and say the rate changed and you’re SOL so probably better to get the legal and whatnot out of the way asap

[m4k4v4li]

what do you guys ask for in terms of paperwork / supporting docs from tenants? aside from 2 piece gov't issued ID

is it too invasive to ask for proof of income / employment / pay slip? I guess I could always do a credit check