Quote:
Originally Posted by Z3guy
I never doubted your happiness, just your advice about buying or not. You bring up many valid logical points, but everything about real estate in Vancouver is illogical! Makes no sense, but it continues to rise. I just came back from hk\china and have a different perspective now from their perspective. 5m in hk buys you a nice 1500 sq ft apartment in a nice area like central or repulse bay. When they see what you can get in van for 5m they are laughing! Actual houses in hk are 40m and up.
To answer your question, no I would not buy in ths market, but i feel fortunate I did jump in in 2007.
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that was actually a mature, pleasant response for once - thank you
to be honest, i was looking to buy in 2008, i'm so glad i didn't as it turns out I wanted the mobility (didn't realize at that time), and looking at the price appreciation for 2 bed apartments, i don't think i'd have made any money after buying, renovating, selling costs, and the own vs. rent differential especially when you look at what a diversified stock portfolio has done since 2008.
i always come back to one thing that scares the living shit out of me when buying real estate when the ownership premium is more than small, and that is when you buy, you lock in at that price, but pay for it over 25 years. if you rent and invest the monthly savings (which most ppl won't do), you buy at every month's price.
the above may not be a concern for everyone, but i would find it very hard to lock in at one price knowing i could only sell it at one price in the future vs. buying over years and selling over years.