Bubble Lad at vancouvercondo.info 1 Sept 2010 12:15 pm – “You’d be amazed at how many empty/abandoned houses there are in Vancouver. You can’t walk more than a few blocks without seeing one or two. And it’s not like they’re in crappy ‘hoods. I live in Kits, and just around the corner from me are at least two that no one has lived in for years.”
fixie guy vancouvercondo.info 1 Sept 2010 12:18 pm – “I see quite a few houses in the Oakridge area that are furnished but appear permanently empty. Never any cars or people, packages sit on the porch for weeks, never any garbage out, lawns are dead and the yard work typically very rough.”
Patiently Waiting at vancouvercondo.info 1 Sep 2010 10:11 am – “My parents live in Queens Park, New Westminster. Four years ago, a neighbour (a friend of my parents) died and her decent-quality house was sold by her estate. My parents wondered who their new neighbour would be. Months and then years went by, and nobody moved in. Speculation in my family was that it was owned by a wealthy Hong Kong family as one of those escape-pod houses in case of trouble in the homeland. It seemed like a fair explanation, even to me. Zoom ahead to the present. This house has been totally empty for four years. It hasn’t even been rented, and could fetched (as a very conservative estimate) at least $2000 rent. It’s within a short walk of a respected elementary school. The other day, we noticed renovators working on the house. My parents asked a well-connected friend about the house and were told it is a owned by a local [realtor] and has been for a few years. No rich Asians involved. My Dad was curious so he talked to the renovation workers. This house is not being fixed up to be sold. It was originally supposed to be ripped-down for a new house. It is now being renovated to be RENTED OUT.”
jesse at vancouvercondo.info 1 Sept 2010 11:52 am – “There are a few vacant houses around, though it’s much more common for condos to be vacant. I’ve seen the same thing in Asia, where condos and even large houses are bought and just held vacant for long periods of time. I’m convinced property is treated much like a bank account with relatively high annual fees.”
I live between Main and Cambie on West 20th. I really wish i had sold my house a few months ago while houses were still selling but had not finished the renos. Just like many people in Vancouver i like to follow real estate. In my evening strolls through the hood i’ve noticed 3 or 4 bran new houses fully finished just sitting empty for months, plus a couple of empty delisted houses. Not only that but there is at least 8 or more houses currently under construction in the area. Just wait till all these speculators realize the market is cooked and try to flog there properties at the same time. Negative equity will send people into frenzy.
Walking with the dogs after dinner between Camosun and Dunbar, there are also a lot of empty houses… Not a lot of people enjoying their yards, houses with TVs on or people clearing the kitchen table. The empty houses were a mix of old old houses and brand new ones.. some without window dressing at all.
Very eerie.
Same in Point Grey.
I’ve been cycling up around Newton Wind and Acadia Road out at UBC and I’ve seen houses with huge property with no one there for years with lawns uncut and window drapes rotting and other brand new houses with only the housekeeper living there for over 4 years. Ridiculous!!
We live in Quilchena, near Prince of Wales School. There are quite a few vacant houses in our area – one for 7-8 years. Another house, just fully renovated with $100,00o put into the kitchen alone, has been vacant since the previous owners left in June. It appears that developers/speculators have purchased most of the houses that have sold in this area over the past two years – either to flip or to redevelop. Because most of the lots in this area are greater than 6000 sq. ft., the developers are building huge houses priced at $3-$4 Million (up from $2 Million 2 years ago!)
It’s sad to see this area, which used to have affordable modest family homes, out of price range for most of the people who live and work in Vancouver.
Greedy folks will bulldoze this elephants before they will ever be sold. Who wants to pay zillions for Quilchena, I mean it is nice, but come on.