“I recently left Vancouver with my family, we sold our house (Feb 2012) and moved to the island. We were in Vancouver for 11 years and both our kids were born there. We traded our large mortgage on our old house (we did a ton of work on it but it still needed about a 200k reno on it) for a brand new house with a mortgage that will be paid off in one year (it also has a rental suite). You would not believe the amount of stress that has been removed from our life. There is no more stress as what would happen if one of us lost our job or don’t make bonus one year. My wife and I will be 42 and mortgage free, time to travel with our kids, save for retirement and RESP’s. If we had stayed in Vancouver we would have had a mortgage for 20 more years, pouring all our extra money and time into our house just so that we can live in Vancouver? Its just not worth having that debt hanging over our head for the next 20 years just to live in Vancouver, Vancouver isn’t that great. I don’t get why someone who has 1 million to 2 million in equity (paper equity???) would not sell and leave Vancouver. I understand for some people its not possible, but take a look around the rest of the world, real estate does not always go up, and no its not different in Vancouver. People work their whole lives and don’t make that kind of money especially after tax. You could put that amount of money in a diversified portfolio of dividend stocks and make $50,000 a year in income or more. Take the money and run… run away and live a life with less stress, more travel, discretionary income and a more secure future. Just my two cents worth, but its coming from someone who has done it and has never been happier. If one day I begin to miss what Vancouver has to offer I will go over for a weekend and stay at the Pan Pacific…guess what I can afford it now!!!”
- ‘debt free = stress free’ at VREAA 5 Jun 2012 9:59am
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- paydayloansyeehaw on Erroneous Theories For Falling Prices #5 – Tightening Of Mortgage Rules Caused The Crash
- payday loans on Peppy Ads – “Buying a Home Is Like A Sport. Meet Your Coach. Win The Real Estate Game.”
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Type of Anecdote
- 01. He Said, She Said (247)
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- 05. Where do Buyers get the money? (958)
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- 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)
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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
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- 12 vancouver (un)real estate
- 13 Agent Will's Stats [retired]
- 14 Landlord Rescue
- 15 The Economic Analyst
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- 17 Hoodsurf [retired Jun 2011]
- 18 World Housing Bubble
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- 20 North American Economics
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Latest Anecdotes:
- 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.”
- “What’s the worst that can happen? You can’t pay your mortgage, so sell your house! No fear.”
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“People work their whole lives and don’t make that kind of money…”
But they’re *paying* that kind of money, somehow.
Great anecdote. I think if RE doesn’t crash we will be out of here in ten years (that’s my timeline due to family reasons which I won’t get into here). We’ll go to the interior where I grew up, and will likely also be mortgage free by 50.
I hope you factored rent into your retirement costs.
They will be mortgage free in one year. Why would they need to rent in retirement?
We sold this last December. Have not moved out of Vancouver, yet. Will stick around for a couple years and see what happens. We lucked out and walked away with just shy of 2m free and clear in the seven years we owned on the west side. I thought we were being punked.
We sold last year in Kits, making a huge profit. Happily renting in a bigger, better house now. Watching the market and waiting for things to calm down so if the time comes, we can make a move on another house on the west side. But I won’t do it until I see a serious correction in housing prices. I still can’t believe we sold our house for what we did! (nearly triple what I bought it for in 2006) I was born in this city, and agree it’s an amazing place. But one trip to New York, London, Paris, etc and you’ll see what a real world class city is.
Vancouver IS a fantastic city, but it’s smallish and the weather stinks. We all get excited when the sun comes out and it warms up – when it does – Vancovuer is the most beautiful city in the world. But those amazing days are in the minority (and I know – I’ve lived here all my life)
If you are the sort that spends a LOT of time on the water, skiing local hills and enjoying the natural surroundings, and can afford it – it’s the perfect place. But most people I know only do those things occaisionally, and stress out about their daily existence of bills, mortgage, taxes and general costs of living. You can’t spend every weekend at whistler when you’re worried about paying all you bills.
I cannot agree more with the amount of stress relief you get by having no debt, a pile of money in the bank and the freedom to make life changes if needed/desired.
Good for you Debt Free – I’m totally agree.
But you left the next 5 years’ 200% increase on the table or so I keep hearing from the Vancouver RE bulls!
Apparently, buying RE is the one of only a few ways to make a decent living in that city. Now that even HAM can’t afford the city, I can’t imagine how bad the economy will get there.
What’s wrong with you people?!? STAY INVESTED LOL
A bit off topic but there is a terrific write up on the Canadian RE bubble on Dr Housing Bubble blog that is definitely worth reading:
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/canadian-housing-prices-canada-housing-real-estate-bubblereach-apex-set-for-deep-fall-foreign-money-speculation-housing-debt/#comment-205138
The article pulls no punches and paints a pretty grim picture for Canada in the not so distant future. What I found particularly interesting, and something that has received little or no attention on Canadian blog sites (as far as I know), is the buying and selling of “rights” to Canadian properties by (mostly?) foreigners. This process, if true, takes RE speculation to a whole new level, as it appears to bypasses the whole RE transaction process involving agent fees and property transfer taxes, etc. I’m not sure who gets left holding the bag when the market tanks but it would not surprise me if it were the taxpayer, thanks to lax and/or poorly regulated gov’t policy.
That is mostly from the Dianne Francis piece in the national post. Presales are trading rights, who knows what the regulation is.