Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[supafamous]

https://twitter.com/pwaldkirch/statu...904202241?s=21

Homeowner grant threshold raised to $1.975m.

This grant is such bullshit - it's just a transfer of money from the provincial gov't to the cities and has been around so long that it's really just budgeted in by cities. It's a waste of administrative resources and the province and cities should just agree to phase it out in return for a change in the tax rate that would mean no net new taxes for anyone.

https://theprovince.com/opinion/colu...omeowner-grant

Edit: The grant is also a f****** transfer of wealth from (mostly) rich to poor. Us rich fucks don't need the help.

[PeanutButter]

I don't believe in giving the government any more money then they already have. They are so inefficient with their spending, I would rather have the money myself.

It's like CPP. For savvy investors, paying into CPP is not a good deal. I would love the option to opt out of CPP and invest the money myself.

Likewise, with the grant, I would rather use that money myself than give that money to my local municipality who would surely spend it recklessly.

[Traum]

Unfortunately, the Home Owner's Grant is here to stay. Even if the property tax rate is changed so that no net changes exist for home owners, there are far too many idiot home owners that just couldn't understand the concept of "no net changes". If any politician tries to sell that to the general public, it is going to play out exactly like how BC's switch to HST went -- overall, it would have been a good thing to have HST over the separate GST + PST. But too many idiots among the general public just wouldn't understand, and it would be political suicide for the person proposing the scrapping of the HOG.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by supafamous

https://twitter.com/pwaldkirch/statu...904202241?s=21

Homeowner grant threshold raised to $1.975m.

This grant is such bullshit - it's just a transfer of money from the provincial gov't to the cities and has been around so long that it's really just budgeted in by cities. It's a waste of administrative resources and the province and cities should just agree to phase it out in return for a change in the tax rate that would mean no net new taxes for anyone.

https://theprovince.com/opinion/colu...omeowner-grant

Edit: The grant is also a f****** transfer of wealth from (mostly) rich to poor. Us rich fucks don't need the help.

Awesome news. We went from just outside of the old grant, to just outside of the new grant.

[Hondaracer]

Poor you

[6thGear.]

If the government wants to scrap the HOG might as well throw in PTT in that pile as well

[Gerbs]

Appraiser messaged back. They said that the $60,000 increase is due to renovation from the previous owner but I can still appeal it if I like too.

These renovations makes the unit look like a 2014/15 unit? I don't think they're crazy expensive upgrades from my opinion. Kitchen cabinets and washroom are still original so the overall condo still looks a bit dated to the 2000's. Also I'm not sure if my new appliances such as dishwasher, dryer, washer are taken into their consideration. But seems like I'm not going to get too much out of the appeal. 1BR's in old condos by Joyce have hit $600k lol.

Upgrades listed
- Quartz countertop - Kitchen/Washroom
- Smooth ceilings
- Patio floor power washed
- Upgraded electric baseboards heaters
- New blinds (none before)
- Lamanite floors
- Custom closets (3 closets)
- Custom shoe rack at entrance
- New baseboards
- Opened the kitchen window that they have in the old condos
- New Kitchen backdrop / Fan

[GIZZ]

How do they know about the last owners renos?

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by GIZZ

How do they know about the last owners renos?

They pulled permits and did it legally. Most likely because of strata.

[m4k4v4li]

anyone have a lawyer or notary public reco to finalize mortgage financing / closing docs?

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by m4k4v4li

anyone have a lawyer or notary public reco to finalize mortgage financing / closing docs?

SUSAN TONG & ROSALYN MOW ? NOTARIES PUBLIC

Have had great experiences with them. Conversant with English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

[6thGear.]

This is my friend.

https://www.jylnotary.ca/

Originally Posted by roastpuff

SUSAN TONG & ROSALYN MOW ? NOTARIES PUBLIC

Have had great experiences with them. Conversant with English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

I know Rosalyn. She's good as well

[Special K]

Originally Posted by m4k4v4li

anyone have a lawyer or notary public reco to finalize mortgage financing / closing docs?

Good friend of mine, located near Metro. https://www.streamlinenotary.ca/

[68style]

Dang... if I need something sign I'm going to the pole dancing champion lol

[jing]

Alex @ Compass Notary gets my vote. Used him for a couple transactions now and he's been consistently approachable and easy to deal with.

[inv4zn]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

I don't believe in giving the government any more money then they already have. They are so inefficient with their spending, I would rather have the money myself.

It's like CPP. For savvy investors, paying into CPP is not a good deal. I would love the option to opt out of CPP and invest the money myself.

Likewise, with the grant, I would rather use that money myself than give that money to my local municipality who would surely spend it recklessly.

While you're correct, the idea of the CPP is that it's a societal safety net for everyone - and let's be honest, the vast majority of the population are not "savvy investors". A large number of people who think they are however, will opt-out, and then be completely fucked when they reach 65 and we'll be facing much bigger issues.

Think of it like you (or your employer now I guess) paying for MSP premiums even if you don't need the care. It's socialism, yes, but it's important.

[whitev70r]

Article dated Oct 2021 ... no surprise but some more details. What may be surprising is that the Bank of Mom and Dad also helped children moving up from starter homes.

Parents gave their adult kids more than $10-billion to buy houses in the past year

Canadian parents gave their children a total of $10 billion for down payments over the past year, a new report from CIBC Capital Markets says, a trend that’s driving up housing prices and wealth inequality.

Almost one in three first-time homebuyers received help from their parents to buy homes in the past 12 months, the report from CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal said. The average size of parents’ gifts was $82,000 after rising steadily from $52,000 in 2015.

Parents are also helping their children move into larger houses, the report found. Almost 9% of “mover-uppers” received gifts, a total that’s trending down even while the size of the gifts increased to an average of $128,000 in September.

Not surprisingly, children buying in Toronto and Vancouver are receiving the most help. For the first three quarters of this year, the average gift for first-time buyers in Toronto topped $130,000, while mover-uppers received an average of $200,000. In Vancouver, those totals were even higher: $180,000 on average for first-time buyers and $340,000 for mover-uppers.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

They pulled permits and did it legally. Most likely because of strata.

Yeah, still the only in that list that really needs a permit is the electrical work for the baseboard heaters and fan. That amounts to maybe a couple grand of value..

[waddy41]

Originally Posted by inv4zn

While you're correct, the idea of the CPP is that it's a societal safety net for everyone - and let's be honest, the vast majority of the population are not "savvy investors". A large number of people who think they are however, will opt-out, and then be completely fucked when they reach 65 and we'll be facing much bigger issues.

Think of it like you (or your employer now I guess) paying for MSP premiums even if you don't need the care. It's socialism, yes, but it's important.

and isn't it a pomzi scheme?

your contributions today are not paying for the future you but for the retirees now

[Hondaracer]

I’m actually impressed that the assessment takes into account the permits for renovations. Would figure they’d be way to inept to enable any sort of automation like that

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by waddy41

and isn't it a pomzi scheme?

your contributions today are not paying for the future you but for the retirees now

CPP Contributions are put into a fund, invested, then paid out to current retirees.

I imagine there's a risk strategy when outlays outweigh contributions + investment income.

[inv4zn]

Originally Posted by waddy41

and isn't it a pomzi scheme?

your contributions today are not paying for the future you but for the retirees now

I mean, yeah, call it what you want, but that's how it's designed to work. It assumes perpetual continuity.

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

CPP Contributions are put into a fund, invested, then paid out to current retirees.

I imagine there's a risk strategy when outlays outweigh contributions + investment income.

The strategy when payouts exceed contributions + investment income is to raise CPP contributions.

It is totally worse than a Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately, it is also necessary because as you were saying, too many people are horrible savers / financial planners, or they just plain don't give a shxt about retirement planning.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by waddy41

and isn't it a pomzi scheme?

your contributions today are not paying for the future you but for the retirees now

No, it's a remarkably well run fund that's safe for the next 75+ years. Sure, it's not aggressive but that's the point, this is the backstop for all Canadians but particularly those who can't/don't save money.

Let's remember that for the vast majority of its existence that the investment and savings options for working and middle class were absolute garbage. The mutual funds that were being sold (and still are sold) were little more than theft - they charged outrageous fees that reduced the returns so much that you were likely just better off letting CPP and OAS take care of you.

It's only in the last 10-15 years that there were retirement investing options that a working/middle class person could take easily advantage of that didn't royally screw you. Even then, the effort to educate yourself is often not worth it - if you're making $25/hr how much can you realistically invest to make the effort worth it?

CPP/OAS will account for a pretty small portion of my retirement income but I think it's a fantastic ground floor of my portfolio which allows me to make some bets knowing that I have something that's secure for life.

[Tapioca]

Those who dismiss CPP overestimate the knowledge and savvy of the average person. The average person often has high interest debt and is one paycheque away from insolvency. CPP has played a significant part in ensuring that we don't have a bunch of homeless seniors.