“Rent prices are actually depressed in Toronto in real terms – There is a lack of qualified renters. I say this because I’ve been doing this for 15 years and there has been a gradual insidious change as more people buy houses. If 70% of people now own, and 30% do not for a large part the reason is that that 30% is not qualified for a mortgage.
When I look at the criteria used for credit score with my credit checking system, the credit score used for an approved renter is 700, yet CMHC will approve a mortgage for someone with a score of 620 which makes me chuckle a little. My rental screener tells me to decline those with that score. Of course I can’t, you have to pick from the tenants that apply not those you dream about getting!
Rents have gone down in actual terms in apartment buildings. Condo rentals are skewing the market.”
- Rachelle at VREAA 26 Nov 2011 5:49am
Most Recent Comments:
- Nemesis on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- 4SlicesofCheese on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- LadyInWaiting on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- LadyInWaiting on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- bailinginbc on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- Real Estate Tsunami on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- Real Estate Tsunami on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- LadyInWaiting on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- Nemesis on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- terminalcitygirl on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- Xyz on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- rod_jonsson on “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
Type of Anecdote
- 01. He Said, She Said (247)
- 02. Profiting from the Boom (441)
- 03. Changed my Life (103)
- 04. Changed my Career (38)
- 05. Where do Buyers get the money? (958)
- 06. Held my Nose and Leapt (96)
- 07. Avoiding Vancouver (375)
- 08. Overextended Buyers (1183)
- 09. Delaying Buying (315)
- 10. Demoralized Renters? (362)
- 11. Regrets about Investing in RE (417)
- 12. Effects of Development (274)
- 13. 2010 Olympics Related (74)
- 14. Social Effects of the Boom (1256)
- 15. Misallocation of Resources (958)
- 16. Missed The Boat? (236)
- 17. The Froogle Scott Chronicles (27)
- 18. Spot The Speculator (171)
- 19. BlastRadiusPostCards (17)
- 20. The Limitless Demand Argument For Ongoing Market Strength (70)
- 21. Vancouver RE-Verse [Found Poems] (8)
- 22. RE References In Popular Culture (41)
- 23. Jumping The Shark (1)
- 24. Policies On Housing (10)
- 25. Epigrams For The Bubble (1)
- 26. Premature Calls Of "Bottom" (3)
- 27. Seller Panic (3)
- 28. Erroneous Causation Theories For Falling Prices (7)
- 29. Bubblespeak (1)
- Uncategorized (176)
Blogroll
- 01 Vancouver Condo Info
- 02 AmericaCanada [retired, no archive]
- 03 Housing Analysis
- 04 RealEstateTalks BC
- 05 Vancouver RE and then some
- 06 Whispers from the Village on the Edge of the Rainforest
- 07 Greater Fool
- 08 Canada Bubble
- 09 Rob Chipman's blog
- 10 YatterMatters
- 11 condohype [retired; archives available]
- 12 vancouver (un)real estate
- 13 Agent Will's Stats [retired]
- 14 Landlord Rescue
- 15 The Economic Analyst
- 16 Canadian Housing Price Charts
- 17 Hoodsurf [retired Jun 2011]
- 18 World Housing Bubble
- 19 Vancouver Price Drop
- 20 North American Economics
-
Latest Anecdotes:
- “My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried that with the housing market going south they may be losing a lot of equity and they better sell now before it gets worse.”
- Chat Thread
- Taking A Break
- “My best guess: this property is now an ‘investment hold’ and will be built ‘when prices recover’. Good luck on that!”
- Man Loses $745,000 Vancouver Condo Deposit
- Graphic – Degrees of Housing Overvaluation in Canada
- The Rare Individual With A Negative Ownership Premium
- 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.”
- Ben Rabidoux In Vancouver Next Week
- “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.”
- ‘Vancouver City Hall: Housing Report Card 2012′; Plus Revised Version
- “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.”
- Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association Annual First-Time Buyer Seminar Attendance Plummets
- Mom and Pop Get It Wrong In All Markets, Time And Again
- The average British Columbian homeowner is not going to pay off their mortgage by the time they retire.
- “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.”
Follow vreaa on twitter
- "My neighbours, in their late 60s, just put their house on the market. They had said they would die in that house, but now they are worried… 1 day ago
VREAArchives
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- October 2008
- September 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
Tags
Anecdotes Banks Bears blogs British Columbia Bubble Bulls buyers Canada Capitulation China CMHC Construction Debt Economy Employment Fear Foreign buyers Fundamentals Government Housing Interest Rates Landlords Life Media Mortgage brokers Okanagan Olympics Ownership Prediction Real Estate Realtors Relationships Rent Retirement RE_ATM sellers Sentiment Speculators Toronto US Vancouver Victoria Visual Anecdote Whistler
I’ve stated before that one of the ways a market deflates if through net earnings, accepting poorer quality tenants or by offering juicy discounts to good quality applicants.
Remember, the applicants you reject end up somewhere!
You know what’s funny Jesse, juicy discounts do not attract good tenants. Generally they attract people with no money, no job kind of tenants. I’ve run plenty of promotions in my day, but no longer offer them. My current focus is spending the money I saved on promotions on the quality of the rental unit. In all the distressed buildings I turn around my very first action is to get out of the lower end of the market. Quality units=quality tenants
My preferred renter is someone who could buy but doesn’t want to for some reason.
Agreed, Rachelle.
In the past I have offered a discount after their initial application and interview. And yes crappy buildings will almost always net zero “quality” tenants.
“My preferred renter is someone who could buy but doesn’t want to for some reason.”…. Hmmm… put’s a whole new spin on my UnintendedLandLord’s enthusiasm/effusiveness during our initial (and subsequent) negotiations.
In other news tenancy and property management related, the following Quote ‘O TheDay and accompanying BloomBerg piece will surely amuse…
“It used to be no one did property management,” said Alan Townsend, a San Diego real estate agent who has managed homes for the past 16 years. “It was the ugly part of the business. Real estate agents think we’re crazy — except when they have no income,” he said. “Those agents are now flooding into the market.”…
[BloomBerg] – Once ‘Ugly’ Property Management Grows
http://tinyurl.com/c7y5ayc
We are quality tenants! We came to a red-hot Victoria rental market, fighting to rent a house. In 4 years, our rent hasn’t increased as the pool of good renters has become a bit shallow. We have free run to do what we want to the garden and decorate as we wish. When we do minor repairs around the house (why not practice for the far-off future when we get a place of our own?), our landlord pays us cash for our time. Since our rent is (at most) half of what we would pay in a mortgage, we save the difference. It is quite handy to have totally predictable housing costs, and we know our landlord would do almost anything to keep us. This is a good time to be a decent person, renting a house!
When I spot a person who I know will be a great tenant I’ve always negotiated on the rent to make sure I get them. Now that I am a renter I expect the landlord to negotiate with me and reduce the rent, since I’m QUALITY! Yeah Baby!
Condo rentals definitely distort the rental market in Vancouver. The amounts people are asking for Yaletown box-in-the-sky rentals is nuts. And a lot of the listings just stay up online month after month. And the landlords you get over there are all amateurs just trying to wring out money to pay for the mortgage. My one Yaletown experiment was $1450/month at Yaletown Park 3 for a 450sq ft box that was unliveable between 4-6pm in the summer due to facing a single direction and having tiny windows. The original owner was a space case who sold it after a few months, I think she had a portfolio of other condos too, and the new owner was a school teacher who lived with her parents in Abbotsford (?), whose parents helped her buy it as an investment (for $~350k).
Craigslist (which only ever seems to have high end and low end listings, the key to finding a decent place is still looking around on foot) is now filled with all these “fully furnished” “all inclusive” type of rentals for “visiting exec types” I guess (how many of those could there really be in this town?). I guess that’s a higher margin approach for the condo minions to try and get some extra bucks?
Sorry to spam, actually found a hilarious Craigslist post on renting at the Capitol Residences downtown: “The capitol is about as classy as a Whalley Highrise” http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/2723858496.html
Not spam, by any means.
Wow. Owners must be distraught, surely.
Capitol punishment.
Good points. We also rent a house but could easily buy the place. Been here 2.5 years, just renewed lease another year. I compared area rents before renew, seems we’re overpaying but I couldn’t convince husband to offer lower. He feels it would risk encouraging owner (a mortgage broker!) to sell it. Yes, I conceded. And us with credit scores over 800… which should be good for something (since we’re not squandering it on RE)! How to get a discount in future? Since we’re also model tenants in every other respect?
Actually funny story, my brother in law is in Grand Prairies right now working for Husky making 10gs after tax a month.
He is renting part of a house with his coworker, not sure if its a suite or shared space but landlord lives in the same house.
He was telling me the landlord, who stays at home while the wife works, steals food and beer from them.
One day he comes home and notices his mouthwash is half empty, god knows whats going on there
His coworkers room-mate bought a PS3, but didnt have time to open or get hooked up yet, one day they come home from work and the landlord is playing the PS3.