Canayjun at VREAA 15 Feb 2011 8:27am – “We owned a house from 1987 to 2009. We sold for a good price in 2009. When we bought in 1987 we put 25% down. But today they made it so anyone could buy a house, which on the surface sounds good, but in reality, some people should not buy a house. Specifically those people who can’t afford it, should not buy a house. By enabling people who can’t really afford to buy a house to do just that, they made it so people with actual wealth are shut out.
We sold because our adult children moved out. And we didn’t want or need to live across the street from a school anymore. We lived in that particular area because it was best for our kids. When they moved out it made sense to sell and move to an area that we liked. We are in a position to buy a house without a mortgage, but I have no interest in touching this particular RE market, because it is grossly overpriced. I really don’t care what anyone thinks of renters, good or bad. And the longer we rent the more I like it, outside of some of the weird stuff newbie landlords do, it’s mostly good.”
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- Advice Regarding Renting In Vancouver, Please – “Unfortunately, the Vancouver rental stock is absolutely atrocious. It just seems like every landlord is looking for someone to pay 100% of their mortgage on a crappy place through rental income.”
- “I just visited Manhattan for a week, and happened to snap some real estate ads on both the Upper West and Upper East sides of the island. Compare to Vancouver. It simply doesn’t compute.”
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- “The mortgage company told me they were calling in my 40-year, 0-down mortgage. I have paid nearly sixty thousand dollars towards it, but, nearly five years in, I have yet to touch the principal.”
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- “My folks find themselves at 65 still owing half the value of their home and recreation property to the bank. After almost 30 years of ownership in the BPOE and a number of boom markets, they have very little to show for it.”
- “Rent for $2,200 a month or buy and have a mortgage of $4,310 per month. Why would anyone buy?”
- “They were talking about two couples they knew who had recently bought a lot and planned to each build a house on it and live as neighbours.”
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- “He’s sold all his properties except his current one, which is now for sale. He explained that the market’s currently in crash mode, worst that he’s ever seen.”
- “One of my old high school buddies finally got her mother to sell the family home in Kitsilano – sold for over $1M, monies realized after debt paid off $185K.”
- “I know someone who just declared bankruptcy because her condo was assessed at $150k and she bought it presale north of $250k in 2005 or 2006.”
- Sturdy, With Views – “Calling Froogle Scott!… Is Dr. Scott ‘In The House’?” [Not In This One, Certainly]
- “She said the market was dead in Victoria and that it would remain so for a very long time. I asked how she knew. Her answer was fascinating and should scare the pants off the real estate crowd.”
- Kits Notes – “I’m pretty sure that this is the first 3+ bedroom property of any type that I’ve seen in the 5 years I’ve lived here that is priced below $700K.”
- “A beautiful Belfast home, in the equivalent of 1st Shaughnessy, bought at their RE peak in 2007 for £3.5 million, has now sold for £800K, almost 80%-off. The market didn’t suffer any significant economic shocks. Rates & unemployment didn’t skyrocket. They didn’t build more land. Sentiment just changed and the prices fell and fell.”
- “Two family members of hers are trapped, underwater, in condos on the East Side.”
- “Interprovincial migration is not saying good things about BC’s economy.”
- Vancouver RE: Not As Expensive Provided You Don’t Think – “It’s clear that our perception of affordability has been coloured by living on a continent where housing is unusually inexpensive.”
- More Undisclosed RE Industry Insiders Publicized As Clients – “In 1995, Allan and Karin Hoegg were mortgage-free. But no more. Today their Vancouver home is a valuable source of income as they plan for full retirement.”
- Rumor that some OV units will be reduced by 20%.
- Downside Weights On The Vancouver RE Market – “One of the older guys (over 60) mention to the guy beside him that he and his wife were thinking about selling their family home, and renting, in order to get some of the money that was locked up in the house.”
- “My buddy was looking to upgrade to a house in the Coquitlam area. With 200k extra for a home, that’s half of lifetime saving between him and his wife.”
- “I was walking in the Fraser neighborhood yesterday, I noticed that the population, on average, seem to be composed of workers. I belong to the top 5 percent in terms of income. Nevertheless, I cannot afford any of the houses for sale in that neighbourhood.”
- “Vancouver is an urban resort whose value mostly resides in its real estate and not much else.”
- “Rogers Communications is expanding into RE; aiming to relaunch website; providing critical data that can help potential buyers assess the value of a property from the comfort of their home computer.”
- I’m only 50 and I can just about retire if I want to, all because of a single simple decision – “When prices rebounded to their former highs, then rocketed another 30% higher to what I considered to be totally unsustainable levels, I decided that only a fool would pass up a second opportunity to harvest such a massive non-taxable capital gain, and in 2011 I sold my place.”
- The Vacant Lot of Versailles, Richmond.
- “I don’t think that most people think things are going to crash, just that there is going to be a slight correction, but it was amazing to me how sentiment has changed, and the fact Vancouver RE is too high was just understood.”
- “The ‘investor’ who purchased our house put it up for sale two months later, in January 1981, but the bubble had burst.”
- For A City To Have That Kind Of Vacancy, It’s Like Cancer – “Downtown, the vacant unit rate is so high that it’s as though there were 35 towers at 20 storeys apiece – all empty.”
- “What’s the worst that can happen? You can’t pay your mortgage, so sell your house! No fear.”
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That and the fact the opportunities for return by placing that much money in other investments is huge. Real Estate is a very poor investment right now.
This particular market really is a fool’s market. If you don’t have a dime to put down on a house, then now is the time for you to buy. But you will be buying in at the peak. And a foolish newbie will do just that because they have everyone from realtors, banks, mortgage brokers, the CREA, the Home Builders Association, etc., telling them NOW is the time to buy. Now IS the time to buy, because it is what’s BEST for those people who are telling you to buy now. These people NEED you to buy now, because they are hurting big time for those sales.
We can afford to buy three properties, all mortgage free right now. We are not touching this market. Renting is working out great. And if we end up renting for the rest of our lives, so be it. I will leave it to my two adult children to buy a house somewhere far down the road, if it makes sense at that time.
This is all going to happen again twenty years from now, by then the newbie buyers of today will know how this sucker really works.
I live in Vancouver and echo much that has been commented hear. I heard that Vancouver is the second most expensive market to buy in the world! I would think renters would be on the up as how many young adults starting families can actually get into the market and survive the stress even if they can at the prices that are offered! 950K and up for a small late 1950′s Bungalow is CRAZY! and these are homes that are not necessarily in desirable areas of town. Most of these homes are finished sloping to the side broken old pipes and ancient heat systems that are simply tear-downs and the price SHOULD reflect a tear down but they don’t and thats part of the problem. A well they are snapped up because the alternative for a young buyer is to purchase the next level up at 1.3mill etc. Not going to happen so compete with many other groups house hungry to buy the ugly bottom feeder house at 900k and deal with it. Its like you are being backed up into a corner. Yikes thats crazy but true right now around here. I really think it will fall soon how can realtors banks etc expect these young people to afford the mark up, really! If you can sell now you win imo take your money invest it wisely buy a small apartment use it or rent it out. I think thats going to be where its at in the near future because we all need a place to hang the hat at the end of the day.