[Jmac]

Originally Posted by Mr.C

Just to clarify my point, I'm not a 'rent always, buying sucks' kind of person. However, the rent ratio in the Lower Mainland is SHIT.

Here's an easy way to visualize it:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ator.html?_r=0

A house like the one I live in is worth roughly 1.5 mil. Even with an extremely optimistic outlook that homes will continue to rise in price 7% a year, it's still cheaper to rent if the rent is under 3k or so. If it's in a 3 mil house, my rent can be under 6k. I can rent a 3 mil house for 4k in Vancouver. Or a 6 mil house for 6k. Right now, I'd be putting an extra 10k vs buying in my pocket. Hypothetically, if I could afford to live in a 3 mil house, it would be an extra 24k. In a 6 mil house? 72k.

"Honey, if we rent we can have an extra 10k/yr in the bank"... Doesn't sound like a hard sell to the wife.

Edit:

Here's a quick oranges to mandarins comparison:

Massive house off of Angus Dr, 5800/month

5 BR House for Rent, Magee & Point Grey Secondary Kerrisdale

Similar house, a block away, 7 mil

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/S...olumbia-V6M3P4

e-valueBC

Assessed at $3.4M, sold for $3.1M 16 months ago.

$7M house is assessed at $4.9M with an unfinished building (finished after July 1, obviously).