Quote:
Originally Posted by GLOW
what's everyone's thoughts on a vancouver special, say built around 1980-ish vs current day cookie cutter houses? seems pricing is similar (depending on location) or the new(er) homes might be anywhere between $100-200k more.
given min. maintenance, the feeling i've always had is that quality of construction in those older homes were/are better than present day.
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it's a house by house situation - a vancouver special could have been built to the highest quality, but if they had a small leak 15 years ago that was never fixed and as such part of the frame is rotting... well, you get the picture.
don't buy now. if you do, get a good inspection done - it can't tell you everything (i.e. whats behind the wall or under the carpet), but it can give you an indication of how good the house is. if you EVER buy without an inspection due to wanting to get a certain house, you deserve everything you will get, and you will get headaches...
i'd personally want a vancouver special, as it should, in theory, be on a bigger plot - i'd check the zoning to, in consideration for future refurbishment or development of that land. but we're talking when prices are 60% of what they are today. That day will come, we are stupid expensive right now, and rates are going up, these are two facts, based on sound criteria. We're not manhatten, hong kong, london, paris - we're vancouver, very little economy, and not much going on... we don't deserve these heightened prices.