|
What’s the guillotine futures index looking like these days?
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 05:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 20:48 |
|
|
I have never been happier to not be a homeowner until after listening to a fraction of my girlfriend's strata's meeting on a special levy today. $4500ea or something to fix the envelopes of the building, they have a quote from the construction firm to get it done by the end of summer. Only every mouth breathing idiot has an issue with every little thing they don't quite understand, whether it's the timeline, the materials cost, why it's brought up now, why it can't be done next year. One guy even said hey materials will probably go down in price 6 months from now why don't we wait until then. Then finally after 3 hours of going over all the documentation, a bunch more people chime in to say they still have no idea what the work is for. They are still going at it as I write this post. Christ all mighty. edit: vote went through to do the work by a whopping 37-11 majority. 11 wannabe bureaucrats were the sole reason for 4 hours of dreary discussion on whether it's worth it to keep the building they live in up to code. qhat fucked around with this message at 11:27 on Feb 24, 2023 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 06:04
|
|
|
qhat posted:I have never been happier to not be a homeowner until after listening to a fraction of my girlfriend's strata's meeting on a special levy today. $4500ea or something to fix the envelopes of the building, they have a quote from the construction firm to get it done by the end of summer. I mean, I don't consider being part of a condo strata to be real homeownership. You don't have any real ownership of your property because you're at the mercy of potentially 100+ idiots who are allergic to spending money even if it means the building will collapse. You can decorate and renovate your interior as you wish, hurray, but that's it. I would absolutely choose renting for the rest of my life over buying a tower condo. It's the same not-great financial investment as buying a house with almost zero of the benefits of owning.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 14:35
|
|
|
Fidelitious posted:I mean, I don't consider being part of a condo strata to be real homeownership. You don't have any real ownership of your property because you're at the mercy of potentially 100+ idiots who are allergic to spending money even if it means the building will collapse. You can decorate and renovate your interior as you wish, hurray, but that's it. I would absolutely choose renting for the rest of my life over buying a tower condo. It's the same not-great financial investment as buying a house with almost zero of the benefits of owning. It's not really as dismal as all that. It's pretty great, for example, that I don't have to go out and shovel snow when it's -30, or that I never have to worry about my packages getting stolen because there's a guard there to receive them 24/7, and while there can be large expenses when something big needs fixed, that can happen in houses too, and then you get to deal with the entire cost. And, yes, while you occasionally have malcontents who are allergic to spending money, the given example shows that they were, at most, able to be a pain in the rear end, not to actually prevent the money-spending from happening. Now, as I say all that, I'm about to go move my car out of the parkade at 6:45am because the parkade needs cleaning and it can't possibly have been scheduled in any better way!
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 14:44
|
|
|
Fidelitious posted:I mean, I don't consider being part of a condo strata to be real homeownership. You don't have any real ownership of your property because you're at the mercy of potentially 100+ idiots who are allergic to spending money even if it means the building will collapse. You can decorate and renovate your interior as you wish, hurray, but that's it. I would absolutely choose renting for the rest of my life over buying a tower condo. It's the same not-great financial investment as buying a house with almost zero of the benefits of owning. Everything I've seen and heard indicates that condo living in Toronto is just all of the downsides of renting combined with all of the downsides of owning. (It can easily be worse on both fronts.) There's no reason not to go for something freehold if it's doable. quote:Imagine having a new toilet installed in your condo, against your wishes, in the middle of a pandemic, and then having that toilet (and every other toilet on your floor) overflow regularly. https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/07/toronto-condos-share-plunger-efficient-toilets/
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 15:13
|
|
|
tagesschau posted:Everything I've seen and heard indicates that condo living in Toronto is just all of the downsides of renting combined with all of the downsides of owning. (It can easily be worse on both fronts.) There's no reason not to go for something freehold if it's doable. Same, it seems like the main upside to owning a condo versus renting it is that you're not at the mercy of an owner who may want to kick you out. And not having to deal with condo boards and special assessments seems like a better deal.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 17:04
|
|
|
PT6A posted:It's not really as dismal as all that. It's pretty great, for example, that I don't have to go out and shovel snow when it's -30, or that I never have to worry about my packages getting stolen because there's a guard there to receive them 24/7, and while there can be large expenses when something big needs fixed, that can happen in houses too, and then you get to deal with the entire cost. Honestly when it comes to condos, I'm of the opinion that it's not any less expensive than owning a house per sqft, except when something goes wrong you can make the decision to fix it in a femtosecond and there's nothing anybody can do to stop you or even slow you down. Just not having the risk of dealing with absolute morons like these bloody idiots is worth the cost of owning an individual freehold (with HoA), or just like renting and letting the landlord deal with it. Saying that, I finally can think of a useful service that landlords provide; dealing with the strata.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 19:55
|
|
|
I enjoyed condo life. It helped that the previous owners dealt with the leaky condo issue and made the strata very careful. I think I'd much more prefer that over getting in a place to rent, and as market rents rise your landlords grows to resent you more and more.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 21:19
|
|
|
qhat posted:Just not having the risk of dealing with absolute morons like these bloody idiots is worth the cost of owning an individual freehold (with HoA), or just like renting and letting the landlord deal with it. Saying that, I finally can think of a useful service that landlords provide; dealing with the strata. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/judge-orders-vancouver-strata-to-impose-16-million-levy-to-repair-leaky-condo-problems I still see these units on MLS selling for $250-450K which is well below anything in a "good state of repair". Very similar story.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 21:27
|
|
|
Lain Iwakura posted:https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/judge-orders-vancouver-strata-to-impose-16-million-levy-to-repair-leaky-condo-problems Lol I often think about that building and wonder what the end-game is. Is it just going to fill up with investor-owners clinging onto crumbling condos until the whole building falls down and they can sell their share in the land value?
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 22:00
|
|
|
Lead out in cuffs posted:Lol I often think about that building and wonder what the end-game is. Is it just going to fill up with investor-owners clinging onto crumbling condos until the whole building falls down and they can sell their share in the land value? I think the strata is under new management at this point. I think best case scenario, they levy the absolute gently caress out of everyone in the building and promptly put a lien on the apartments for those who refuse to pay, and then use the sales proceeds to fix the building. Given that the building seems to have serious foundational damage though, and given how much debt there is, probably most likely the whole thing gets torn down.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 22:03
|
|
|
qhat posted:Only every mouth breathing idiot has an issue with every little thing they don't quite understand, whether it's the timeline, the materials cost, why it's brought up now, why it can't be done next year. One guy even said hey materials will probably go down in price 6 months from now why don't we wait until then. lmao basically my exact experience when I went through this with my old apt. You could really pick up on the handful of people for whom were 100% max extended and didn't realize that no, your mortgage + condo fee does not completely comprise your entire possible housing expenses. Those handful of people were throwing everything at the wall to stop the thing. The somewhat more disturbing group were the handful that seemed to have zero financial knowledge and no real idea what to do or how to get the money and reacted with puzzlement  when "go to your bank and get a loan??" was suggested. Like how did you buy this apartment in the first place?I think there's a huge gaping hole here in peoples' knowledge of how this whole drat thing works in that people seem to assume that the contingency reserve fund 100% covers absolutely everything and they're never on the hook, when in reality, for major renovation/repair things, the typical industry standard approach is a blend of CRF contribution and special levy (I forget what is most typical, like 40/60 maybe? or maybe reverse 60/40?). People behaved as if a special levy meant some sort of colossal gently caress up occurred, when in reality, no literally every major renovation/repair expense will likely involve some sort of special levy contribution. Edit: Also all the people who were like "this is so sudden!" when there was literally a vote to spend money to contract an engineering firm to do a preposal last AGM. You've known this was coming for over a year! Tell me you don't read the minutes without telling me.... Femtosecond fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Feb 25, 2023 |
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 00:21
|
|
|
There is a building here that was supposed to have a 24/7 concierge and a whole bunch of other poo poo included, after it was finished they found out the builder skipped a bunch of stuff to finalize the sales, and the building got hit with a $1m+ special assessment. Everybody got hit for another $30k and nobody could sell their unit until it was dealt with. https://www.justanswer.com/canada-law/bbsza-tina-condo-red-deer-alberta-venu.html  This is remediation work that was still being done 4 years after people moved in.   The concierge twitter is still there, gone quiet since the sales were finalized and the building's domain name has expired. https://twitter.com/venuliving
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 00:43
|
|
|
I think that's the thing. Condos and dealing with a strata can go perfectly well for years and years...until it doesn't. I think for some people it can make sense but for me, I only trust myself. I know everything there is to know about my house (without tearing walls down), I can do the preventive maintenance that's needed, if something goes wrong it was probably my fault. I just don't like the feeling of counting on 100 other people to make sure their pipes don't explode and that the strata is maintaining mechanicals properly. Also, I don't like elevators. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 15:10
|
|
|
I live in a nice freehold 2BR townhouse and it’s been amazing. You save energy by sharing walls with the neighbours and everyone pays for their section of their roofs when the shingles get changed out. For fences in the back you go halfsies on it or if someone doesn’t want to pay they’ll let you do yours no big deal. There’s no better way to live. Condos constantly have landlords and condo board employees gaining entry into your unit for “inspections” and it’s annoying.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 15:54
|
|
|
Femtosecond posted:Following up on a previous story: lol, lmao It seems the usual bullshit is still preventing housing from actually getting built. Regulatory capture, political donations and new five figure permitting fees are being used to prevent anything from being built.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 17:20
|
|
|
Lain Iwakura posted:https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/judge-orders-vancouver-strata-to-impose-16-million-levy-to-repair-leaky-condo-problems Lead out in cuffs posted:Lol I often think about that building and wonder what the end-game is. Is it just going to fill up with investor-owners clinging onto crumbling condos until the whole building falls down and they can sell their share in the land value? Since it's Saturday and everyone is chatting about the terrors associated with condominium / strata property ownership (Gardenia Villa makes a special appearance!) ...                  lol lmao
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 18:17
|
|
|
It all makes the behaviour of that slippery and sleezy realtor I knew at my old building (who was such a great source for stories like this!) make tons of sense. He'd buy in pre-sale, live in a place for a decade, then as all the various builder warranties ended he'd sell and move on before any real maintenance was required. I'm sure that guy had read enough condo minutes to know just how bad things can go.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 19:19
|
|
|
From Vancouver's Missing Middle consultation slide deck https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/multiplexes 
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 21:28
|
|
|
Amazing detail here, looping back to the discussion about CACs earlier. quote:At one point, the owners explored a wind-up, but Gioventu says the City was unclear about what could be built on the $130-million site—plus, they required any interested developer to pay an additional $55-million community amenity charge, which has a significant impact on the property value and, as he puts it, “basically prevented any possibility of a sale on this property.” (He adds that, more generally, the City’s hefty community amenity charges are “an overwhelming deterrent to wind-ups” and prevent vulnerable people from getting out of bad situations.) So we have: A property that is literally full of mold and should be torn down. It is a housing crisis where rental vacancy is sub 1% and people badly need somewhere to live. City demands $55M on a new building because of ~land lift~ Unreasonable fees make any project become completely unviable. Status quo and misery continues. Holy poo poo what a broken loving system. People are so loving concerned that someone at some point might *gasp* make some money that they're unwilling to let anything happen, even when something would clearly hugely benefit a poo poo ton of people.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2023 23:53
|
|
|
Femtosecond posted:Amazing detail here, looping back to the discussion about CACs earlier. 55 million?? Yeah, this poo poo is broken.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2023 14:37
|
|
|
These people need a Condo Constitution.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2023 16:34
|
|
|
IIRC in Ontario they actually passed a bill to lower quorum to 15% of owners from 25%. This is how little people care until it's too late.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2023 18:09
|
|
|
Typically the first thing a council is advised to do by their property managers is to pass a resolution to lower quorum because otherwise it's impossible to get anything done because no one ever shows up.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 05:48
|
|
|
cat botherer posted:These people need a Condo Constitution. Or stronger rules and enforcement of the "you can't vote yourselves into allowing the building to collapse around you" parts of the bylaws? Seriously though, this has got to have been putting upward pressure on condo prices, and by extension on land sold to make condos. (If "the market" is full of people who are already overextended even when they're paying half the strata fees they actually need to.)
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 09:09
|
|
|
I can't wait for the thread to turn Georgist.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 21:13
|
|
|
COPE 27 posted:I can't wait for the thread to turn Georgist.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 21:21
|
|
|
Mr. Apollo posted:A guy a know has become one because he wants to replace income tax with a land value tax. He says it's "regressive to tax productivity". Look buddy we're already taxing homeless people as much as we can
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 21:24
|
|
|
Mr. Apollo posted:A guy a know has become one because he wants to replace income tax with a land value tax. He says it's "regressive to tax productivity". How much would you guess this person earns a year? Just as an estimate let’s say.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 22:32
|
|
|
qhat posted:How much would you guess this person earns a year? Just as an estimate let’s say. I've asked them why not just tax dividends as income, as that would bring in a lot of extra revenue for the government. However, I was told I was clouding the issue.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 23:18
|
|
|
Lmao our leaders literally hate us https://mobile.twitter.com/DeanTester/status/1630274373566226432
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2023 23:23
|
|
|
Why are there parking minimums for anything? Let the free market provide. And gently caress you if you think you're parking on the street, too. I pay for those streets, I'm going to drive or cycle or walk on all the bits of them, I don't want them storing your rubbish vehicles, just sitting there like useless lumps.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 00:18
|
|
|
COPE 27 posted:Lmao our leaders literally hate us all parking minimums must be destroyed edit: oh the Twitter thread explains that the focus on parking was a NIMBY smokescreen Hubbert fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Feb 28, 2023 |
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 02:43
|
|
|
Can't have the POORS polluting, ah, Orleans apparently??
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 05:08
|
|
|
Hubbert posted:all parking minimums must be destroyed Which is just another reason to destroy them
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 05:16
|
|
|
Mr. Apollo posted:They own their own business so they pay themselves a dividend of about $150K a year but the business nets a couple of million a year. Tbh dividends come out of post corporation tax, and a part of government’s job is to make it difficult to get a benefit out of earning from dividends or salary (which is pre tax) from your own company. But yeah it’s unsurprising this person dislikes the idea of income tax.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 06:22
|
|
|
qhat posted:Tbh dividends come out of post corporation tax, and a part of government’s job is to make it difficult to get a benefit out of earning from dividends or salary (which is pre tax) from your own company. But yeah it’s unsurprising this person dislikes the idea of income tax.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 08:39
|
|
|
COPE 27 posted:Can't have the POORS polluting, ah, Orleans apparently?? It's almost funny in a way. Housing is (relatively speaking) cheap as hell in Vanier because everyone is apparently scared of the poors. I've decided that Ottawa has this thing where born-and-raised Ottawans have no experience with how most large cities have a broad diversity of class and there are real actual unsafe areas. So they think that because they see a few homeless people in Lowertown and peasant-class renters in Vanier that the area is the equivalent of an ongoing gang war. There have been 8 murders in Vanier in the last decade. The whole city is ridiculously safe for its size. Works for me, they flee to the hellhole suburbs and I get my pick of places to live in the 'scary' core.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 14:30
|
|
|
yeah i still stand by "montreal sketch" being nowhere near "nyc sketch", and then "ottawa sketch" being nowhere near again "montreal sketch". your biggest risk 99 times out of a hundred is stepping in goose poo poo and the pearl clutching is hilarious. but it gets me relatively-affordable housing too so i guess im here for it
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 19:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 20:48 |
|
|
Kids from Toronto being scared of Kitchener sketch and I want to scream
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 19:53
|
|
