happens to the majority of the new buildings. when buying buildings, look at the strata minutes and contingency reserve funds.

They should have lots of money in the CRF unless they just use a bit to do some work on the building.

Also look at the depreciation report. I notice that most of the "better" buildings have a depreciation report, and most of the shietty buildings that have leaks and stuff, the owners vote not to have the report.

honestly, I've lived in some buildings where owners are just full retard. they vote against raising strata fees and or any reports. the buildings had major leaks and problems. it seems like owners just want to defer everything and it's like the new buyers will have to fix it. However, most new buyers are too stupid to do their due diligence and then get stuck paying levies 2 years down the road.

^^ Come to think of it, it might have been the depreciation report or deficiency report that has become mandatory.

At any rate, a responsible strata council together with the help of a good property management company is what you want to look for when condo / town house shopping. Of course, too few people bother to look into this, and at times, it is difficult to tell whether the property management company is any good.

Any rational consumer should know the risks before going hundreds of housings of dollars into debt.

And inspectors are usually half arsed butt buddies with realtors- never use a realtor recommended inspector, another simple must do for people taking on more debt than they can pay off within 20 years (I still don't get it how ppl can take on that much risk on 1 asset)

Realtors and home inspectors are not liable either in a lawsuit. The previous owner maybe for not disclosing issues but it'll be very hard to prove that they were aware of said issues.

My family have had the fortune of working with Ed Witzke, a very well known and well-respected home inspector. Realtors hated him, but he was practically a saviour to countless potential home owners. I just wish there are more inspectors like him around. (Unfortunately, he has retired a little over a year ago...)

You just gotta find the right person, but it is probably not an easy task.

LOL so true when my grnadma sold the her townhouse the inspector was so detail he even check all the outlets to make sure they are working. I think 2 wall jacks had the wiring wrong (I guess postive and negative were put in opposite) and he still know lol.

^^ Dude, you need to tell me who this inspector is. Name and phone number please.

New buildings always have low strata fees because the initial strata fee is setup by the builder. Once the building is completed, the owners have a meeting and vote in the new strata council. Then the new strata council will go through the financials with their property manager and bring up to vote the topic of increased maintenance fees in the AGM and have the owners to vote on it.

First off, please don't use your example as an example for everyone and all circumstances.
I also know of a friend who is renting a brand new building where the washing machine broke and since it broke on a friday night, she had to go the whole weekend without a washing machine. First world problems right?
As for wifi, your landlord is being nice but that doesn't mean every landlord is going to bend over backwards for a new tenant.
Just read some of the stuff Dino and Gridlock had to say about the tenants in the Surrey buildings they managed.

To each their own. I can come up with a bunch of reasons that I think buying was a better decision for me versus renting just like I am sure you can come up with reasons for yourself. But I am having the most trouble with is you failing people for having their own logical reason and for you to be bashing people that thinks differently from you.

Nothing in life is every guaranteed. All you can do is make the best decision based on as much of the information that you have and try not to make any decisions on a whim or based on emotions. I can name you a bunch of rich people who own their own homes too that didn't make their wealth in China in the past 10 years.

It's easy to show a loss of money in the short term when comparing owning vs renting, but once you look at it over a longer period than 10 years, even at the current market situation, owning doesn't seem that bad of an idea. But of course it does sound like 4444 might have some commitment issues since he needs to be able to move on a whim. But I digress.

Witzke, that fellow knows his stuff but he also had his own schtick. He's been known to bail on home inspections without even going on the premises since apparently a drive-by is enough to cast aspersion on a home. While his standards are high they need to reflect reality and using fear-mongering to say a home is unsafe and uninhabitable without laying out the actuality of realistic potential issues in the future is too self-serving.

I remember the sell job he tried to do on my mom with his rat-bagged bungalow in Southeast Vancouver when it was for sale. Funny thing is this guy wouldn't stop complaining if it wasn't his own home.

While I whole-heartedly agree that the home inspection industry is equally if not even worse that the Realtors, there are fairly household names around if you want piece of mind without bias.

Frankly, I would prefer to use a structural engineer and a contractor to do a home inspection rather than an inspector.

Man this thread needs to be broken up.

i can't disagree more about owning a place for the next 10 years being a good idea at current values, but i've gone over that in great length numerous times.

i certainly hope your comments about my 'commitment' don't made with any negative connotations, owning a place, to me, has nothing to do with commitment, is one really committed to a city? just becuase i like the freedom to move at a moment's warning, doesn't mean i'm not committed to my partner (who supports me in my career, especially where i've gone somewhere that is WAY better, socially, and historically, than vancouver - but more importantly where we can both push our careers forward 10 years in a space of 1 move).

even if i had the job of my dreams in vancouver, i still wouldn't buy on financial reasons - but also because there are places i want to live in the world before i have kids, vancouver is not the be all and end all of cities, like how the main stream media like to tell you, it's a city, a pretty one, a nice one to retire, a safe one to raise kids, but equally a relatively expensive one with few very good career prospects.

if it were financially viable (that is returns at or higher than investing in equities given the illiquidity) to invest in real estate. i'd buy, of course i would, whether i live in that place or not is actually a decision i would make based on my current living situation.

i just don't understand the obsession people have with owning where they sleep - most people move every 6 years, is it? so is there really that great of an advantage to owning if you're just moving every decade?

i dunno, i have that view, i respect people who want to make roots in a community (especially once they have a family).

but, please, never question my commitment to people - freedom and commitment have nothing to do with one another (that is, unless i were moving and leaving my partner and fucking around, which i most certainly do not)

How much money you'd have to earn to buy a house. I guess we're comparable to San Fran.
Salary Needed To Buy A Home In 25 Cities - Business Insider

except renting a place in SF is extremely expensive compare to vancouver. a 3-bedroom apartment in city center is almost $5000 to rent whereas in Vancouver you can get it below $3000.

people who've been buying in Vancouver for the last 3 years have seen very little return on their investment. only if you've bought back in 2009 then you'll see more respectable gain. but then had you invested in the stock market back in 09 you return would even 2x or 3x the mansion you got in Vancouver west.

it is mandatory, but you can vote on a majority to defer the report until the next year. And when next year comes, you can vote to defer it again I believe.

I really don't know why council members encourage voting to defer. I have a friend who does property inspections and he tells me if you are deferring, you are usually hiding something.

if you are in a well run building, you would have the report and show it off indicating that you are in great shape.

After factoring in transactional costs, I think you'd be lucky to break even between 09 and today. Especially if you have to break a mortgage

We've chosen to defer for the last couple of years now. our building just went through a comprehensive envelope remediation, new rainscreen, new windows. Roofing updated, hot water tanks replaced, etc etc. Lots of big stuff done. And all documented in Strata minutes of course, so nothing to hide of course. So the report at this point would be a bit redundant and they don't come cheap either...

Just for our building due to the recent costs incurred it didn't make sense to have another inspection done for the sake of having it done and not really telling us anything new. If they were provided free of charge, then by all means!

Damn, if anecdotal evidence counts for anything, March is going to be a big month for home sales. Just today I got word that two of my friends have put in offers, and one other person on my fb is asking for a mortgage broker; this is after heard nothing at all previously.

So surprising to see two of my friends, whom as far as I know are professional and completely logical people, give into the lust and buy a place. One with an offer that is probably at least $20k over assessed value (a lot considering asking is $350k at $556/sqft), and the other a pre-sale with an April 2016 completion.

With word of 2.87% 5-yr fixed rates, I would be lying if I said I do not have hints of adult-onset peer pressure...

Good for them, I hope they're happy... Shouldn't effect u at all (except that now ur friends will want to hang out at their places as they can't afford to go out as much).

Adult onset peer pressure - great line, and oh so relevant

The assessed value is often below the market value, particularly for residential properties. 20K on 350K is less than a 10% difference which is about right.

It all depends on one's situation. If your friends are more or less tied to Vancouver for the long-term and have done the numbers, then buying can make sense as long as they're in real estate for the long haul. 350K may sound like a lot, but what does your friend do for a living and how much of a down payment does he have? Sure, people will poo-poo him for being for foolish, but not everything in life is a completely rational decision.
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Yah, well don't get me wrong I did not mean to put down their decisions at all, but just personal observation into how those in the market are thinking and that as of now, anecdotally, does not seem like there is any slow down.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business...573/story.html

The ?bank of mom and dad?: Advice on helping children with that first home purchase

Although I see nothing wrong with mom and dad giving kids some financial assistance in helping them get started, but is it entirely different sacrificing parent's own retirement and way of life by sending their kids into the most expensive real estate market in North America.

These kind of stories are just signs of time. You never see these stories at the bottom of a cycle where houses are much more affordable. Parents should help their children better assess the market they are buying into and where rates are headed. Questions such as whether renting in the short term (1-3 years) make more sense than taking on an outsized mortgage that could handcuff the parents' retirement.

Yes, but ppl are idiots

They buy when the market is excited (expensive), but leave the market when sentiment is negative (prices cheap)

How else do u explain that the biggest day of stock selling was at the trough of the financial crisis - ppl r idiots, that's how!

I'm just a young pup at 24, but i don't think i could ever see myself buying a place. Not that i don't want to if course... Growing up in Richmond my whole life has shown me how ridiculous our market is. Although my family and work is here, i think if i buy ill have to move out a ways. My gf is a country girl at heart so i bet we'll land somewhere farther out with acreage.

Sigh. Middle class life. :(
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Here's a but of life that's coming ur way:

Ur gf will leave u, or vice versa

Ur 24, u don't know shit about what u will do

U live in Richmond, go travel the world and realize what's important before saying things about buying a place in and around Vancouver.

Everyone I know that has left Vancouver, me included, hasn't returned and for good reason. Vancouver is a toxic place - I won't explain why I say this.

Vancouver can be quite heartless, polite and gorgeous at times, but soulless if you can't generate spirit from within yourself.

One could say living in Vancouver is like fucking a beautiful supermodel, her long legs are wrapped around you and you're motor boating her tits. However there's a nagging feeling the situation is very wrong because she's not breathing and you've got coke dick.