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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
There are way better investment options out there for getting a return on your $$..
As for Equity, I dont really see it. When you buy a condo/apartment what do you get? nothing really there is no ground you can plant flowers on, or Bury you dead Hamster. and your stuck paying Strata fee's even after you have paid it off.
As for the location Surrey is doing great. every area of the Lower mainland has its good and bad Area's.
I don't really agree with this. $400\month for a basement suit is almost unheard of.
I think that rent on these units would $650+ depending on location of the suit.
Like I said in a previous post, I have some bachelor apartments in my building and the are priced $650 (1st floor)-$720 (3rd floor). I can't keep them on the market and my phone rings all the time with people wanting bachelors. There are BY FAR the easiest things to rent....they are the same size but a lot older, no dishwasher, and no laundry. They are clean, etc....but certainly not updated, etc.
Isn't the problem that almost every house in surrey has 1 or 2 basement suites so the market is flooded.
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A lot of people I talk to DO NOT want to live in a basement suit. They give a variety of reasons ranging from noise...condition of most units...too far away from transit...people don't want to live on the ground floor or semi-subsurface...and some like living in professionally maintained properties.
People don't plan on getting rich and staying in surrey.
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Yeah, let me go tell that to all my friends parents who live in gorgeous houses on acreage all over Surrey. Likely worth tons more than a typical "Vancouver" house on a tiny lot in East Van.
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There is NO chance I'd consider living in one of those. However, affordable housing is a necessity, and if affordable housing can be available, without any massive government subsidies, thats always a good thing. Theres no clause in the real world need for housing that says under a certain size is "unfair" or "unliveable." Theres a kitchen, a shower, 4 walls and a roof, and if it needs to be that small for someone to afford it, its good that it exists.
I would move out to South Surrey/Langley/Aldergrove and buy land with a nice house on it. Have a nice garage, RV, boat, pool, a bunch of cars all for 10x less what the same would cost in Vancouver.
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There is NO chance I'd consider living in one of those. However, affordable housing is a necessity, and if affordable housing can be available, without any massive government subsidies, thats always a good thing. Theres no clause in the real world need for housing that says under a certain size is "unfair" or "unliveable." Theres a kitchen, a shower, 4 walls and a roof, and if it needs to be that small for someone to afford it, its good that it exists.
But why do u need to own a low income home? I would hope low income homes would be rented, so that people will work hard and hopefully get out of needing low income homes
You mentioned earlier that would would never invest in a condo. Why? Is it because the market is saturated? What type of property would you (or do you) invest in?
Its in an up and coming area with tons of new development (shopping, restaurants, condos, and townhomes)...steps to the skytrain...a block from SFU Surrey....20 mins to Vancouver.
Dude, are you the same guy on the radio?
I hear the same line on the radio everyday, one of the condo advertisement
It could be a good start if parents want their kids to move out the house after highschool. They want to have a house party? then start making more money.
I can't imagine how difficult it is to collect rent from the low-income, people probably trash your place or steal your TV before they leave.
I can't imagine how difficult it is to collect rent from the low-income, people probably trash your place or steal your TV before they leave.
I will say two things about them. One: They inevitably believe their value in your world is higher than the one you would place on them. And two: not a single one of them consider Mr.Clean a good investment in their lives.
You mentioned earlier that would would never invest in a condo. Why? Is it because the market is saturated? What type of property would you (or do you) invest in?
Cole's Notes version?
I can only try to be brief
I buy single family detached homes (<10 yrs old, but never new, ever the nicest house in the 'hood, and always some kind of premium factor about the plot/property - house just needs to be nice, clean, and good enough for me to live in), I plan on eventually getting into commercial and whole condo buildings, but never a single condo (unless the deal is amazing) for the following reasons:
Yes, market is pretty darn saturated. As you don't really own the land (I can't knock down and rebuild, or rezone, etc. the value of a condo is merely its cash flow potential. Given rents relative to price are at all time lows, they fail on this metric
Other ppl! Other people can do things like flood their condo... Which floods urs, less risk of that in a single family (non townhouse).
Building issues - condos in Vancouver are built to shit quality conditions.. They will all require a lot of work and thus owners will have special assessments. If u buy a house with a good inspection and are relatively handy/knowledgeable, u mitigate this risk for a single family. Also, given the size and ability to easily work on a wood, single family home, costs will be lower on repairs vs a major condo repair (it's hard to do an apples to apples comparison)
Strata/maintenance fees - I fear this money is not efficiently used. The building I rent in (for way way way way way way way less than what u'd pay to own this place) is terribly run, but ppl say the current management is a huge step up from before - it must have been atrocious before!!
Living so close to people - having a shite neighbour can make ur condo unrentable - I don't want a douchebag neighbour (and their are plenty of them in Vancouver) effecting my investment
Ability to knock down and rebuild, rezone, etc.
Clientele - personally, I don't want ur typical condo dweller, a young professional as a tenant, for a reason - whether professional or not, I find young ppl are heavy handed with things. Young professionals are often single, but end up meeting someone and moving out - I want tenants for a long time, makes my life easier if I just see money in every month with no headaches. So, I want young families, newly married ppl with a baby are great, they're looking to establish roots, stay in a curtain school area, etc. and chances are a move to a new place may be a stress they don't want (with a, or many kids)
Just my thoughts on real estate investments - things can changed based on the deal... But as things stand, that's what I buy/own. Remember, my properties aren't on Canada... When prices come down 40% I will start buying here - and that is a when, not an if
Having the chance to interact with a few of them, I realize the majority have some kind of developmental issue usually ADD spectrum, mental issues (usually manic).. and their world view is so small that they think they are the king of the world. What bugs me is once they "recover" from substance abuse, they invariably manage to get disability from the Gov., so free rent and free post secondary education for the rest of their lives. I won't be surprised there is some type of Revscene equivalent for them to exchange ideas to "optimise" their return from the system.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gridlock
I will say two things about them. One: They inevitably believe their value in your world is higher than the one you would place on them. And two: not a single one of them consider Mr.Clean a good investment in their lives.
I buy single family detached homes (<10 yrs old, but never new, ever the nicest house in the 'hood, and always some kind of premium factor about the plot/property - house just needs to be nice, clean, and good enough for me to live in), I plan on eventually getting into commercial and whole condo buildings, but never a single condo (unless the deal is amazing) for the following reasons:
Yes, market is pretty darn saturated. As you don't really own the land (I can't knock down and rebuild, or rezone, etc. the value of a condo is merely its cash flow potential. Given rents relative to price are at all time lows, they fail on this metric
Other ppl! Other people can do things like flood their condo... Which floods urs, less risk of that in a single family (non townhouse).
Building issues - condos in Vancouver are built to shit quality conditions.. They will all require a lot of work and thus owners will have special assessments. If u buy a house with a good inspection and are relatively handy/knowledgeable, u mitigate this risk for a single family. Also, given the size and ability to easily work on a wood, single family home, costs will be lower on repairs vs a major condo repair (it's hard to do an apples to apples comparison)
Strata/maintenance fees - I fear this money is not efficiently used. The building I rent in (for way way way way way way way less than what u'd pay to own this place) is terribly run, but ppl say the current management is a huge step up from before - it must have been atrocious before!!
Living so close to people - having a shite neighbour can make ur condo unrentable - I don't want a douchebag neighbour (and their are plenty of them in Vancouver) effecting my investment
Ability to knock down and rebuild, rezone, etc.
Clientele - personally, I don't want ur typical condo dweller, a young professional as a tenant, for a reason - whether professional or not, I find young ppl are heavy handed with things. Young professionals are often single, but end up meeting someone and moving out - I want tenants for a long time, makes my life easier if I just see money in every month with no headaches. So, I want young families, newly married ppl with a baby are great, they're looking to establish roots, stay in a curtain school area, etc. and chances are a move to a new place may be a stress they don't want (with a, or many kids)
Just my thoughts on real estate investments - things can changed based on the deal... But as things stand, that's what I buy/own. Remember, my properties aren't on Canada... When prices come down 40% I will start buying here - and that is a when, not an if
Yeah, to anyone that is thinking about real estate investing, or just trying to learn about it-this sums it up nicely.
I have worked in a fair amount of pricey condos in your precious downtown...and they are all shit. My favorite was the one down by BC Place that had concrete you could surf. I had quoted on floors and painting, and they went with the other guy for floors as he was willing to grind into the floors to level them for far less than I was. The floors were still shit, but it wasn't his fault. Had to take out over an inch. He went with a jackhammer.
Then, you get the condo people on your ass, because its louder than shit...and they start complaining about everything else.
I totally agree with you on young people in renting. We've been working over the years to take our main building to a "mid-market" level, where its condo quality, and condo style at obviously less money than a condo. We get a lot of the young pros and semi-pros and they are annoying.
They are better though, than the whatever the hell word you'd use to describe the group we had here when we started. Oh...desperate. That's the word I'd use. But when you look at someone and say "1 year lease" and they get this look of panic in their eyes...its crazy. I'm sorry...you actually WANT to move more than once a year?
And, I'll warn anyone...dealing with tenants sucks. We hold onto the idea that what we do is way better than getting in the car every morning and driving to an office...but it comes with drawbacks. Some act like customers-which they kind of are, but not really. Everything needs to be done now. No waits. Oh...and for some, renting seems to be like christmas, and they come to you with their wish lists.
I have run a ton of scenarios on renting out condos. Even with my materials only reno budget, and ignoring my time completely...I can't make it work. You are the last to get paid. The mortgage guys...they get their money. The strata people take theirs. You get what you can squeeze out at the end. And you can face a tenant that moves out in december or january and the apartment sits for a month. I had a couple people move in those months at my one building and I had to drop the apartments pants to bottom dollar to get it to move. Even with a shitty, older condo here in the 'burbs, you are 10 months in at 100 a month to recoup one lost month of rent at cost only $1000...almost a year!
High risk should be high reward. And it used to be. I'd take that deal in a heartbeat if my property was accruing equity at 10% a year(say...2000 to 2007). You can make up cash flow on sale.
And how sad is it that I can't even use free labor to make the math work?
I had quoted on floors and painting, and they went with the other guy for floors as he was willing to grind into the floors to level them for far less than I was. The floors were still shit, but it wasn't his fault. Had to take out over an inch. He went with a jackhammer.
so what's the chance they did any scanning beforehand to ensure there are no live electrical conduits in slab before they started chipping?
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