Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[TOS'd]

Originally Posted by lilaznviper

i've seen some 1 br TH that have no bedroom closet, and washer and dryer in where the closet is suppose to be in their bed room, plus no door between bedroom and the rest of the house. only door is the front door and the washroom door.

Value engineering

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Better question is do we get enough sun light to make it worth paying to get the solar panels installed.

I know you will need to clean them at least twice a year as the dirty and stuff will reduce their efficiency.

https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/r...ar-energy.html

BC Hydro says it'll take 20-25 years for a solar panel install to pay itself off at current rates so I'd generally say it's not worth it if we also consider opportunity cost (what could $3k do in an investment account).

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by supafamous

https://www.bchydro.com/powersmart/r...ar-energy.html

BC Hydro says it'll take 20-25 years for a solar panel install to pay itself off at current rates so I'd generally say it's not worth it if we also consider opportunity cost (what could $3k do in an investment account).

What???? 20-25 years to pay off the $3K to install the solar panels?



Um no thanks.

[68style]

But... the environment

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

What???? 20-25 years to pay off the $3K to install the solar panels?



Um no thanks.

That includes the panels. That's only like a 3 panel system. Host houses will have 20 plus panels.



Matt Risinger is a contractor out of texas and has a bunch of video's on passive houses. Here are 2 from BC.

YouTube

YouTube

[donk.]

Every time I see a video with huge arrows pointing at random shit that noone cares about, I click the video, dislike it, then go on my ways

On the topic of high efficiency equipment, it might be efficient, but your wallet is going to say otherwise once something breaks wiping out your 50$/month savings for the next 7 years.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by donk.

Every time I see a video with huge arrows pointing at random shit that noone cares about, I click the video, dislike it, then go on my ways

On the topic of high efficiency equipment, it might be efficient, but your wallet is going to say otherwise once something breaks wiping out your 50$/month savings for the next 7 years.

Saving $50 at current rates. Who know what energy prices are going to be 10 years from now. If I am planning to stay in a house long term I would rather pay a bigger one time upfront cost they pay more monthly. That first video is from a house in Vancouver that only needs 1600 watts to stay warm. That's a hair dryer.

[Hondaracer]

^ if my 120 year old home only used a gas furnace I’d only be paying like $500 a year to heat my entire home. A 120 year old house with little to no insulation

I don’t think building this hermitcally sealed home and spending an additional 250k+ really justifies long term savings lol. A typical build with proper insulation, heated with a gas furnace and gas hot water will be very cheap to operate

[GLOW]

2 more things i'll add about PH:
1)
north america has their Passive House standard
europe (germany iirc) has their Passive Haus standard
i assume what most single family home builders are doing here is the NA standard

Europe is more strict, where House i believe is a bit more pragmatic and applicable to north american design in a nut shell

2) with beefing up the building envelope, trapping in all this heat to keep you warm and fuzzy so you don't need heating...in the summer, it becomes VERY hot, in a PH building you *MUST* have active cooling or you will melt, as shown on a couple of early days PH condos in the lower mainland that can be comfortably lived in ~9-10 months of the year.

if you're all about "green" and reducing "carbon footprint", you also need to consider what materials are being used to achieve this level of efficiency. i guess this is 3)

[punkwax]

Originally Posted by Hehe

I got an Ego lawnmower a few years back. Never an issue and highly recommended. I've gone on and got many other tools from them (snowblower, hedge trimmer... etc) and they have all been excellent.

I'd suggest to take a look at Ego's offering. They are more expensive... yes, but they are worth every penny of the difference.

Originally Posted by quasi

Also have ego lawn mower, weed whacker and hedge trimmer they've been good. Pricey initial investment but quality is there.

Another ego fan here. I have a 13k lot and the mower doesn’t even begin to lose power. Also have the leaf blower, hedge trimmer and even the chainsaw lol

Weed whacker is next.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

^ if my 120 year old home only used a gas furnace I’d only be paying like $500 a year to heat my entire home. A 120 year old house with little to no insulation

I don’t think building this hermitcally sealed home and spending an additional 250k+ really justifies long term savings lol. A typical build with proper insulation, heated with a gas furnace and gas hot water will be very cheap to operate

That's at current rates. How many people wanted to buy an electric car 10 years ago vs today.

Originally Posted by GLOW

2 more things i'll add about PH:
1)
north america has their Passive House standard
europe (germany iirc) has their Passive Haus standard
i assume what most single family home builders are doing here is the NA standard

Europe is more strict, where House i believe is a bit more pragmatic and applicable to north american design in a nut shell

2) with beefing up the building envelope, trapping in all this heat to keep you warm and fuzzy so you don't need heating...in the summer, it becomes VERY hot, in a PH building you *MUST* have active cooling or you will melt, as shown on a couple of early days PH condos in the lower mainland that can be comfortably lived in ~9-10 months of the year.

if you're all about "green" and reducing "carbon footprint", you also need to consider what materials are being used to achieve this level of efficiency. i guess this is 3)

Isn't a passive house cheaper to actively cool because it keeps the cold air in and the hot air out?

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Manic!

Isn't a passive house cheaper to actively cool because it keeps the cold air in and the hot air out?

That's my understanding as well - a well made PH doesn't require A/C in most environments b/c it keeps the heat out really well. Some of this is affected by building orientation - North/South works better than East/West I believe - but a PH will get up to 25-26 degrees even in heat wave like temps. The few PH I've seen didn't have A/C though some do b/c of the design/location.

[Alpine]

I hope PH have enough airflow for Asian cooking lol

[GLOW]

yes solar heat gain is highly affected on west & south facing orientations, if you have passive cooling options such as awnings, solar shading, it'll help quite a bit.

yes - less leakage = better retention of cooling, my point is, you NEED cooling, if you have a PH and cheap out and NOT have cooling (i.e. a developer that gives zero f's)... then it's gg and be a case study

well made PH won't have leakage, it'll generally be warm until you cool it which it'll retain. in order to keep said cooling it needs to be, well ... cool ... it'll be magnified in MURBS ... for a SFD, where in addition to passive cooling you may get away with passive measure such as cross ventilation (creating natural airflow), but in this day & age, if you're doing a PH building, please for the love of God whomever lives in that building, add cooling - my 2 cents.

disclaimer - i'm not a sustainability engineer, but used to champion sustainable principles for projects b/c i'd rather buildings be lived in vs ticking a box & having abc certification

and ventilation for asian cooking? are you gonna achieve that by a ductless hoodfan with a charcoal filter?

i'll hop off my soapbox now

[JDMDreams]

Surprised no one is talking about this but 5 year fixed is at 3.5% already and var is just under 2%. when gov only has raised 0.25%. we'll be at 4% fixed by June at this rate

[GLOW]

so what would be the play? fix it at 5 year and just accept it or keep it variable and see how things play out?

[Gerbs]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Surprised no one is talking about this but 5 year fixed is at 3.5% already and var is just under 2%. when gov only has raised 0.25%. we'll be at 4% fixed by June at this rate

RFD has fixed at high 2's still

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/offi...d-351105/4053/

[JDMDreams]

Rate depends on the city and property. But I know rates are going up

[Alpine]

Variable easy, with this spread. Also 3 month penalty for breaking your mortgage (which happens far more often than not).

[320icar]

Originally Posted by Alpine

I hope PH have enough airflow for Asian cooking lol

An old room mate of mine moved to new west in the towers above the skytrain station. She had FOB people move in across the hall. They installed a screen door on their front door and kept it open all day long because all they did was fry stuffs

She complained to the strata multiple times. Not only was the smell and noise annoying but it’s a fire code violation. For two years nothing happened even tho she complained monthly

[cafe22]

Originally Posted by Alpine

I hope PH have enough airflow for Asian cooking lol

Not with those shitty microwave/exhaust fan combos that seem to be the go-to options nowadays.

The real OG aunties will swap it out for a Sakura fan.

[Hondaracer]

So people with variable rate mortgages, are you guys thinking of locking in?

[Special K]

I went variable for the first time after 6 years of fixed. Rates went up by 0.25% but my payment remains the same. Essentially the bank is extending the amortization period beyond 30 years. That’s crazy.

Unless the spread is within 40-60 bps, I don’t think I would fix again.

[6thGear.]

The bank will also adjust your interest and principal ratio on your mortgage payment.

[EvoFire]

Went with variable and there's zero reason to lock. Even by the time the rate has gone up 1.5% (6 hikes) we are still ahead than locking in.