Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Hondaracer]

So many people do the absolute minimum for their rental whether it’s a laneway or a basement suite and in the long run, it’s a terrible decision.

Making a comfortable space people want to stay in and pay top dollar for is always worth the initial investment. Buddy guys would never even consider spending more on things like bifold sliders or a “unique” layout

[Great68]

Lol, for most of the buddy guy builds the rental suite is not supposed to be much more than a mortgage payment. Other than that, the sentiment is that the homeowners would rather not know they exist.

[SSM_DC5]

What's your $ per sq ft to build?

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by hud 91gt

Woah! 3 bed? That’s gotta be tight?

Both the kids rooms are roughly 10x10, and to utilize the small space, both of their rooms will get Murphy beds

The master room is about 10x12, unfortunately a Murphy bed won't work as the lowest point of the ceiling height is about 6 feet and highest is 7.5 feet

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

So many people do the absolute minimum for their rental whether it’s a laneway or a basement suite and in the long run, it’s a terrible decision.

Making a comfortable space people want to stay in and pay top dollar for is always worth the initial investment. Buddy guys would never even consider spending more on things like bifold sliders or a “unique” layout

The most bare minimum rental laneway home I've seen was this gem, located at the corner of Rupert and 44th Ave.



It started out like this



And the end result, it still looks like a garage but with more windows and a door.

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

So many people do the absolute minimum for their rental whether it’s a laneway or a basement suite and in the long run, it’s a terrible decision.

The slumlord in me says otherwise

[Gumby]

TypeRNammer, are you building the laneway house to rent out, or to stay in yourself? If it’s the former, like Hondaracer said, kudos for building something well designed and thought out for your future tenants.

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by Gumby

TypeRNammer, are you building the laneway house to rent out, or to stay in yourself? If it’s the former, like Hondaracer said, kudos for building something well designed and thought out for your future tenants.

It's for myself to live in.

Currently we are occupying one of the units on the main floor. Once laneway house is complete, we'll move into it and the unit will be up for rent

650sq 2 bed, with the wife and two kids, it's a pretty tight squeeze.

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

[What's your $ per sq ft to build?

$400 per sq ft.

It's on the high side in terms of costs, but it was just bad timing, and stubborn parents not listening and allowing me to kick start the process early. The building permit alone took about 8 months.

My dream build was to be either from LaneFab or SmallWorks. I spoke to both the builders, to build a some what reasonable boutique lane home, asking price was starting from $525k to $550k before taxes and way out of my reach.

[Gerbs]

damn, living in 650sqft with wife and 2 kids lol.

[Hondaracer]

It’s how ya ball baby. Make some sacrifices now and maybe he’ll be renting out the entire property in the future

[68style]

Damn, I been complaining about 2 people and 2 dogs in 683 sq ft... gonna take a seat now lol

[Tapioca]

650 square feet in a ground-oriented home (townhouse or laneway house) is easier to live with, I would think, as you have quick access to outdoor space and the street. The majority of immigrant families with a Vancouver special grew up in 900-1000 square feet on the top floor, with the basement rented.

650 square feet in a condo where you have a small balcony and elevator access only would definitely feel more "enclosed".

How many people on RS nowadays have more than 2000 square feet to themselves?

[Hondaracer]

Yea was gonna say, in the summer or any nicer weather when you can have the doors open and be on the patio it will feel substantially larger

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by TypeRNammer

And the end result, it still looks like a garage but with more windows and a door.

I suspect that was never permitted to be a laneway house.

[68style]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

650 square feet in a ground-oriented home (townhouse or laneway house) is easier to live with, I would think, as you have quick access to outdoor space and the street. The majority of immigrant families with a Vancouver special grew up in 900-1000 square feet on the top floor, with the basement rented.

650 square feet in a condo where you have a small balcony and elevator access only would definitely feel more "enclosed".

How many people on RS nowadays have more than 2000 square feet to themselves?

I'm actually on the ground floor and my patio door opens onto a pretty big patio and that opens into the courtyard... so I do have some of those amenities... but still

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by 68style

I'm actually on the ground floor and my patio door opens onto a pretty big patio and that opens into the courtyard... so I do have some of those amenities... but still

Yeah, but you probably have to go through the lobby of your building to access your unit, right? And you have neighbours likely above and beside you?

On another note, you often hear chatter about how developers aren't building "family-friendly" apartments/condos. Look at this:

https://www.zealty.ca/mls-R2757358/5...Port-Moody-BC/

Sure, it's 4 bedrooms and a good amount of square footage. But, anyone who can afford $1.4M can likely stretch for a detached house or at worst, a duplex, with no strata fees and only 1 shared wall.

[Gerbs]

650 Sqft is okay when I was in elementary or high school growing up. But I can't imagine living in 650sqft with kids of my own or with my mom. Would be chaos lol.

[68style]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Yeah, but you probably have to go through the lobby of your building to access your unit, right? And you have neighbours likely above and beside you?

On another note, you often hear chatter about how developers aren't building "family-friendly" apartments/condos. Look at this:

https://www.zealty.ca/mls-R2757358/5...Port-Moody-BC/

Sure, it's 4 bedrooms and a good amount of square footage. But, anyone who can afford $1.4M can likely stretch for a detached house or at worst, a duplex, with no strata fees and only 1 shared wall.

Yah I don't get huge condos at all... it makes zero financial sense to me to spend what you'd spend on detached and then also have a $500+ bill each month for the rest of time on top of it all.

That said, my gf's parents live in a 2+den and they're happy to pay for it because they sold a rancher to move into it, neither of them could do the gardening or outside stuff anymore.

I probably honestly would have still stayed in the house and just hired people to do that stuff, but that's just me. They have some friends in the same building and look at it that way... to each their own I guess!

[PeanutButter]

I don't think there are many people who have over 1,300 sq/ft in Vancouver.
Even if someone had an entire house in Vancouver, surely their basement is rented out to help with the mortgage and they're living in the upstairs.

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

I suspect that was never permitted to be a laneway house.

It was actually permitted

I watched the garage being torn down, then the laneway being built up.



EDIT: Quick turn around for that particular lane way house, start to finish in 8 months

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

Yeah, but you probably have to go through the lobby of your building to access your unit, right? And you have neighbours likely above and beside you?

On another note, you often hear chatter about how developers aren't building "family-friendly" apartments/condos. Look at this:

https://www.zealty.ca/mls-R2757358/5...Port-Moody-BC/

Sure, it's 4 bedrooms and a good amount of square footage. But, anyone who can afford $1.4M can likely stretch for a detached house or at worst, a duplex, with no strata fees and only 1 shared wall.

Originally Posted by 68style

Yah I don't get huge condos at all... it makes zero financial sense to me to spend what you'd spend on detached and then also have a $500+ bill each month for the rest of time on top of it all.

That said, my gf's parents live in a 2+den and they're happy to pay for it because they sold a rancher to move into it, neither of them could do the gardening or outside stuff anymore.

I probably honestly would have still stayed in the house and just hired people to do that stuff, but that's just me. They have some friends in the same building and look at it that way... to each their own I guess!

Lots of people I know prefer strata living because they don't want to deal with it. If you are in a decent strata the money is worth it for hassle free living. Again I think RS is in the minority cause it seems like a large proportion of us has detached or duplex homes.

I used to say don't date car guys, but we do have a hobby that drives us further.

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

I don't think there are many people who have over 1,300 sq/ft in Vancouver.
Even if someone had an entire house in Vancouver, surely their basement is rented out to help with the mortgage and they're living in the upstairs.

I have 2400sqft ........... And that's with my parents taking over the basement.

The one thing I really like about this house is 4 parking spots, thought my parents took two of them.

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by 68style

Damn, I been complaining about 2 people and 2 dogs in 683 sq ft... gonna take a seat now lol

Actually we have two dogs also

[Liquid_o2]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

damn, living in 650sqft with wife and 2 kids lol.

We are in a 780 SF 1 bedroom with two kids

It is ok for now, but once they start crawling around and walking...

[Euro7r]

Wife & I went to a few open homes this weekend that we were interested. Decent level of traffic from what we were able to see. Two of them had dumb seller agents that kept hyping up the market being hot, and that their clients home already expected to have multi offers yadadada. So we threw in some lowball offers to get a feel of the market really is. Ends up none of them had the so called multi offers or offers that were above asking that the agent/seller was expecting LOL. One of them even got the balls to call me to ask me if I was interested LMAO. If these were Vancouver addresses, would be sold in a heart beat, but it's not.

[underscore]

I used to have lots of space but my kids stole most of it lol.

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Lots of people I know prefer strata living because they don't want to deal with it. If you are in a decent strata the money is worth it for hassle free living.

When I ran the math once the strata fees weren't far off the cost of maintenance on a house if your fees are reasonable.

[Hondaracer]

The thing with a house is, you’re not forced to pay a dime if you don’t want