Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpine
Congrats on the sale and I don't mean to pop your bubble but I think you already know the answer to this.....
The last time something 20-30 years old on a standardish lot in Vancouver proper was 1.7m was 2019-early 2020 and that was when rates were ~2%. Even something older (ie. 40-50-year-old unrenovated Vancouver special) never really went below 1.3m in 2019.
Having gone through the exact same process during covid and having to settle for plan C or D, I can tell you that you are looking for exactly what everyone else is looking for (an "entry" detached home) and inventory will only continue to decrease as builders buy up lots to consolidate or build duplexes. Once you include school catchment/curb appeal/etc it gets even more difficult.
Best of luck in your search, but I advise you not to get too discouraged and continue to go to open houses and put in offers (even low balls) to gauge the direction and temperature of the market. If you do come across something that meets enough of your criteria, go all in right away, especially if the market is warm/hot. ~$50k-75k is "meaningless" in the grand scheme of things when it comes to buying a house in Vancouver. I regret not going all-in right away when I found something that checked off enough boxes. I should've spent the extra $50k.
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Yeah we've been checking out open houses every weekend to see what types of homes are really out there. With the limited supply, do you guys just offer a reasonable lower offer to start and see if you land lucky, or pay asking knowing the competitiveness? E.g. Say your budget is $1.6M and a house is $1.68M, what do offer? What is even considered acceptable in todays market with offers?
I've also seen stupid owners that apparently get offended when I talked to selling agent at open houses. "Oh, the owner got an offer $100K less than asking and felt offended and didn't want to even counter back". A week later, I see owner drop the asking by $50K LOL.