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Rime
Nov 2, 2011

by Games Forum

quote:

Vancouver remains the clear weak spot.

The most overpriced/inflated real estate market on the planet is the achilles heel for the country? Color me shocked.

I can't wait for Vancouver to emulate the titanic and plow into the bottom of the market. The metro is absolutely absurd, but it's been effecting the province at large for years now. There's no sane reason for a crackshack in Bella Coola or Fort Nelson to sell for $400,000. If you browse MLS you can't find anything for sale other than a mobile home for less than $120K.

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namaste friends
Sep 18, 2004

by Smythe

Rime posted:

The most overpriced/inflated real estate market on the planet is the achilles heel for the country? Color me shocked.

I can't wait for Vancouver to emulate the titanic and plow into the bottom of the market. The metro is absolutely absurd, but it's been effecting the province at large for years now. There's no sane reason for a crackshack in Bella Coola or Fort Nelson to sell for $400,000. If you browse MLS you can't find anything for sale other than a mobile home for less than $120K.

You piqued my interest and I just had to look this up. You did not disappoint. What. The. gently caress. Is. This. poo poo.

http://agents.royallepage.ca/fortnelson/502362?teamId=null&listingPageType=useOfficeListings&listingId=739843

Dr. Witherbone
Nov 1, 2010

CHEESE LOOKS ON IN
DESPAIR BUT ALSO WITH
AN ERECTION

Rime posted:

The most overpriced/inflated real estate market on the planet is the achilles heel for the country? Color me shocked.

Uh excuse me, we have things much more under control than Hong Kong :haw:

etalian
Mar 20, 2006

Cultural Imperial posted:

You piqued my interest and I just had to look this up. You did not disappoint. What. The. gently caress. Is. This. poo poo.

http://agents.royallepage.ca/fortnelson/502362?teamId=null&listingPageType=useOfficeListings&listingId=739843

nothing like living in a steel garage for $370,000

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

I'd kill for that deal. Over 2000 sqft for only 370k, that's amazing. Here that would be 600+

Rime
Nov 2, 2011

by Games Forum

Baronjutter posted:

I'd kill for that deal. Over 2000 sqft for only 370k, that's amazing. Here that would be 600+

Fort Nelson is a community of 4000 people, in the middle of wilderness, at the extreme north of BC just below Alaska. It has no economy and relies entirely on seasonal employment in resource extraction. Average temperature in the winter is -50*C.

Perspective?

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

Well clearly there's high demand and a short supply otherwise the price wouldn't be that high. Markets people, markets. Perhaps Nelson is the 2nd best place on earth?

Excelsiortothemax
Sep 9, 2006

Baronjutter posted:

Well clearly there's high demand and a short supply otherwise the price wouldn't be that high. Markets people, markets. Perhaps Nelson is the 2nd best place on earth?

Maybe to get your frozen rear end eaten by a starving grizzly.

Nelson: The Best Place Outdoors!

ocrumsprug
Sep 23, 2010

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Rime posted:

Fort Nelson is a community of 4000 people, in the middle of wilderness, at the extreme north of BC just below Alaska. It has no economy and relies entirely on seasonal employment in resource extraction. Average temperature in the winter is -50*C.

Perspective?

Anyone that has lived in Vancouver has had their perspective slowly stripped away over the last decade. As I was looking at that listing, I had a small voice muttering about how they think their kitchen will get them that much.

Given enough time even the absurd starts to look normal.

Before this ends, there will be thousands that see a 500K shack and jump on that "deal" before it is gone. :smith:

Rime
Nov 2, 2011

by Games Forum

ocrumsprug posted:

Anyone that has lived in Vancouver has had their perspective slowly stripped away over the last decade. As I was looking at that listing, I had a small voice muttering about how they think their kitchen will get them that much.

Given enough time even the absurd starts to look normal.

Before this ends, there will be thousands that see a 500K shack and jump on that "deal" before it is gone. :smith:

Yup, that's what I mean. The market being so insane in the GVRD has spun out to the rest of the province over the past decade, so you end up with poo poo like this. The fallout when Vancouver finally implodes is going to be stunning.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

I just wonder when it's coming. Other than this thread, every other source keeps talking about STRONG MARKETS and ITS DIFFERENT HERE. My wife desperately wants to move NOW and I keep saying "let's wait a year, keep saving and prices will go down" but she isn't a goon and is absolutely surrounded by the media, friends, everyone saying prices are in fact going to go up soon and now is the time to buy. It's getting harder to keep her convinced and I'm starting to feel like some lone conspiracy theorist.

ocrumsprug
Sep 23, 2010

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN
If things continue to track what happened in the States, it is likely we are 3-4 months away from it becoming unmistakably noticeable. Hopefully, this will be vindication for looking like a lone nut.

quote:


Larger here.

This graph in the OP has since been updated.

colonel_korn
May 16, 2003

Baronjutter posted:

Well clearly there's high demand and a short supply otherwise the price wouldn't be that high. Markets people, markets. Perhaps Nelson is the 2nd best place on earth?

Excelsiortothemax posted:

Maybe to get your frozen rear end eaten by a starving grizzly.

Nelson: The Best Place Outdoors!

Slight derail, but Nelson, BC and Fort Nelson, BC are two completely different places. Nelson is in the Kootenays and is quite nice, although I assume house prices there are bananas as well.

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA

Baronjutter posted:

I just wonder when it's coming. Other than this thread, every other source keeps talking about STRONG MARKETS and ITS DIFFERENT HERE. My wife desperately wants to move NOW and I keep saying "let's wait a year, keep saving and prices will go down" but she isn't a goon and is absolutely surrounded by the media, friends, everyone saying prices are in fact going to go up soon and now is the time to buy. It's getting harder to keep her convinced and I'm starting to feel like some lone conspiracy theorist.

You can't afford it "NOW", you just can't.

Look at renting vs owning specifically - it's an insane proposition. Make a spreadsheet of the monthly savings you'd have from renting vs the mortgage payment for an equivalent place. Assume you invest this difference in a high-ish variability fund that has the same term as your mortgage - the returns will be pretty good, ~5% or so at least. See what that adds up to by the end of the mortgage term. Your property will have needed to appreciate in value by that amount to have been worth it. Don't forget to take into account property tax, cost of insurance and repairs (you don't have to repair poo poo when you rent) and changes in your interest rate. It's going to be a big number. You'd have to be extremely optimistic about the market over a very long term (your mortgage term) to believe you'll come out ahead.

You have to remember that a home is a single investment you are holding, worth a good third or more of all the money you will ever make. Would you put a third of all your income (not savings, income) in a a single stock? I think most investment houses will outright prevent you from doing this unless you sign a series of liability wavers and "we told you this is the worst idea, but you are doing it anyway, it's on your head now (moron)"-statements. A big accident not quite covered by insurance? You're hosed. Developer hosed up your whole tower/strata? You're hosed. The interest rate is slightly higher then you planned for? You're hosed. The market doesn't go up quite as fast as you thought? You're hosed. We close down another mental hospital and all the homeless end up in your neighborhood? You're hosed. Your home represents a very big number of dollars, and even the smallest fluctuations in various rates and yields next to that number are going to be extremely noticeable.


Rent has no such risks associated with it. The worst thing that can happen is, you have to move. Rent increases are capped. Tenant protections in BC are pretty good, you can't easily be kicked out as long as you didn't break your lease terms. You can move with your job (should you need to) to keep your commute reasonable. Whatever you decide to invest is a much smaller portion of your income then a mortgage payment, and you can choose far, far safer investments then a single home in Vancouver.

The only real downside with renting is that you can't really renovate your place (well, you might be able to work out something with your landlord but it's tricky and rare). That's about it. In every other respect, it is far safer and cheaper to rent and invest your money elsewhere.

Make that spreadsheet - have her look at the numbers and how they respond to any changes. It's frightening. It's even more frightening how many people have either forgone this process, or think it's an entirely reasonable proposition... Maybe prices will go up soon, who knows, but that won't change the fact that current prices are far too high to be worth pursuing.

ocrumsprug
Sep 23, 2010

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Mr. Wynand posted:

Make a spreadsheet of the monthly savings you'd have from renting vs the mortgage payment for an equivalent place.

Ask and ye shall receive.

unlimited shrimp
Aug 30, 2008
Do houses really only appreciate at 2%/yr on average?

SpannerX
Apr 26, 2010

I had a beer with Stephen Harper once and now I like him.

Fun Shoe

SpaceMost posted:

Do houses really only appreciate at 2%/yr on average?

No, sometimes they can depreciate too.

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA
2% is just to account for inflation I think. So this effectively assumes 0 appreciation...

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA
In the past ~8 years we've seen nominal appreciation as high as 5%. Of course you should buy if the rollercoaster can go nowhere but up for ever. But how much are you willing to bet it will?

edit: nominal, not real

Mrs. Wynand fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Mar 18, 2013

unlimited shrimp
Aug 30, 2008
Average house prices have outpaced inflation for thirty years running in ON and BC, though. Things have gone kinda haywire since 2001, especially in BC, but I don't see much evidence of housing prices in either province averaging at or below inflation.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

I'd love to rent but this isn't europe and renting is for lazy failed poors and students, who have to live in sub-standard old buildings with lovely shared-laundry and stinky elevators. I know buying is expensive but I don't look at it as an investment, it's a luxury, it's a thing to make one happy. I hate renting, I hate the uncertainty, the lack of any sense of ownership or control. You go into a condo building and no one vandalizes poo poo because it's their own building, people have a sense of ownership and it shows. Something breaks, you can fix it and fix it right. I looked at some not-shitbox apartments and town-houses for rent but the rents are insane, higher than mortage+strata+utilities. So it's either shared-laundry apartments where you have to do guard-duty or your clothes will all be stolen, or really high-end units marketed more towards rich professionals here for a season or two.

If I could find a 2 bedroom apartment with in-suite laundry, up to date fire safety equipment, decent sound-proofing, and a management company that doesn't take months to fix broken light switches and faucets (replacing them of course with the cheapest shittiest things they can) I'd probably jump on it. But there's like no middle-ground here. It's either 50 year old poo poo-boxes full of students and drug addicts, or super high-end luxury stuff.

That said, even adding the joy of owning your own home into the math, the prices for condos are still way too high. But people always post these purely beep-boop excel sheets that never factor quality of life into the mix. It's good to have perspective though, and you're an idiot if you think buying is a wise investment. But people shouldn't forget about the huge quality of life issues when weighing buying vs renting.

I'd be quite content to just hobbit-down and live in this very cheap basement suite for years more, savings up a massive 50% downpayment or something, it's the wife...

Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Mar 18, 2013

JawKnee
Mar 24, 2007





You'll take the ride to leave this town along that yellow line

Baronjutter posted:

I'd love to rent but this isn't europe and renting is for lazy failed poors and students, who have to live in sub-standard old buildings with lovely shared-laundry and stinky elevators. I know buying is expensive but I don't look at it as an investment, it's a luxury, it's a thing to make one happy. I hate renting, I hate the uncertainty, the lack of any sense of ownership or control. You go into a condo building and no one vandalizes poo poo because it's their own building, people have a sense of ownership and it shows. Something breaks, you can fix it and fix it right. I looked at some not-shitbox apartments and town-houses for rent but the rents are insane, higher than mortage+strata+utilities. So it's either shared-laundry apartments where you have to do guard-duty or your clothes will all be stolen, or really high-end units marketed more towards rich professionals here for a season or two.

If I could find a 2 bedroom apartment with in-suite laundry, up to date fire safety equipment, decent sound-proofing, and a management company that doesn't take months to fix broken light switches and faucets (replacing them of course with the cheapest shittiest things they can) I'd probably jump on it. But there's like no middle-ground here. It's either 50 year old poo poo-boxes full of students and drug addicts, or super high-end luxury stuff.

This is loving ridiculous, goddamn.

A hell of a lot of people rent in Vancouver, many of whom are not poors, thieves, or drug addicts. It sounds like you've had lovely neighbors and that sucks, and yes there are of course bad landlords and neighbors in every city. When you're renting, don't rent in a building that looks like poo poo - chances are it won't start magically degrading after you move in. Also renting from a strata building is a great way to make sure repairs are timely.

And who the gently caress steals laundry?

Rime
Nov 2, 2011

by Games Forum
In my experience even the 50 year old shitboxes are renting north of $850/month these days, which is insane, so renting is becoming as bad as buying. My mother is on disability and it's looking like I might have to move her in with me in a few years, simply because it's becoming impossible to find a place that will rent to her which she can afford.


VVVV: In suite laundry? The places I'm talking about have hot plates instead of stoves!

Rime fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Mar 18, 2013

Excelsiortothemax
Sep 9, 2006
30 year old 2 bedroom apartments with in suite laundry is going for $1000 here. It's brutal

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

It's something everyone I know (because I don't know rich people, so we all rent) just have to deal with, laundry is something you drop off and read a book in the laundry room because if you don't poo poo will happen to your stuff. Maybe not every time, but enough that you feel uncomfortable. Maybe they don't steal it, maybe they just dump it on the floor because they wanted the use the machine. Or maybe they'll just smash the expensive new machines the building finally got after years of complaints about the lovely old ones and the owner rightfully kinda "well gently caress you uncivilized animals I'm not getting any new stuff, have a lovely used laundry set from the 90 I found for $200". It often takes months to find out if a building is lovely, or sometimes a building can suddenly become lovely. So you get into this never-ending cycle of moving every few years. I hate moving, I want to find a place I can stay in for decades at least.

And rentals, even the nicer ones, are never truly nice. Nice is subjective, and rentals don't let you make the changes you'd need to make a place nice. I want to buy a cheap place with good bones with a lovely kitchen/bathroom and gut the place and build-up my dream home. New kitchen, new bathroom, maybe even move some doors or even walls around. Get something with a good balcony and enclose it super nice and turn it into an office. Make a place nice and add a bit of value to it.

And yeah, 1 br or bachelors in 40-50 year old buildings (that haven't had an update to their kitchens or bathrooms since) go for about 800 here. 2br with same quality go for 1000-1200. Anything that is remotely up to date is $1500+. My friend is all super excited because she found a small 900 sqft 2br place with laundry and fixtures and paint updated in the early 2000's for only $1600. With rents like that, gently caress it, I'd rather buy.

Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Mar 18, 2013

Lain Iwakura
Aug 5, 2004

The body exists only to verify one's own existence.

Taco Defender
Baronjutter sounds like the type that wants to live in a gated community.

Anyway, it's possible to rent decently but you need to look hard enough and be lucky. The place I presently live in is a 12-year old building in New Westminster not far from downtown that charges me $900/mo for a 1-bedroom that faces south towards the river on top of a hill, located on the top-floor of the 4-story building. It's around 600 sq. feet and has washer, dryer, and dishwasher. In addition, gas heat is included with the place.

So far there is no mould issues, no insect or rodent issues (minus a wasp nest that formed on my patio), and the worst problem I have is that my rear end in a top hat neighbour a floor below me who seems to forget that sound waves can travel. This building is 100% rental stock.

The real problem that Baronjutter seems to ignore is that there is a lack of new rental housing developments. It's beginning to change but even still it's going to be a long-time before we start to see "modern" rental units more common in the Metro Vancouver at least.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

Yeah that's a big problem, all the rental subsidies vanished in like the 70's. So you've got pretty much the whole city's rental stock being these 4 story wood-frame poo poo-boxes built in the 60-70's. They were fine in their day but many are nearing replacement age (because in north america building for 50 years instead of 10 is considered long term).

Until recently with horrible rents, no new rentals were ever built. In my city the first purpose-built rentals only started going up a few years ago, but of course they are high end. There's a huge gap in the housing cycle basically. Housing cycle is really important, you need a slow steady stream of construction. Unless the government is heavily involved there's no such thing as building for affordability, new things will always be expensive. But as the building gets older, it can (but not always) become cheaper or adapt to changing conditions, which is why it's important to build things to last and be adaptable.

In the Victoria-Vancouver area there was like a 40 year gap in this housing cycle. That's why we're stuck with a choice between decaying poo poo-boxes or $2000 a month condo rentals. Where this cycle wasn't broken though is with condos, they kept being built more or less constantly over the decades. So there's much more choice for many more "classes" of people.

And no I wouldn't want to live in a gated community, think they should be more or less illegal. Many condos turn into vertical gated communities with crazy out of control HOA-like councils, this is something I want to avoid as well (and be active on my own building's council if possible). Just because I don't want to live in a building with active meth labs or 40 year old broken toilets doesn't make me three-olives. I'm actually a communist and would prefer to see the entire private-ownership paradigm smashed and cities adopt a Vienna-style model where most housing is owned by the city who then rents to citizens while giving them very high degrees of freedom rights over their unit, which are all well built and managed in a way that instills a sense of ownership and permanency.

But I don't live in Vienna, I live in Victoria, so my choices are over-priced poo poo box rental or horrifically over-priced condo that's slightly less lovely, and it makes me sad and bitter :(

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA

Baronjutter posted:

I'd love to rent but this isn't europe and renting is for lazy failed poors and students, who have to live in sub-standard old buildings with lovely shared-laundry and stinky elevators. I know buying is expensive but I don't look at it as an investment, it's a luxury, it's a thing to make one happy. I hate renting, I hate the uncertainty, the lack of any sense of ownership or control.
What are you talking about, like I said, you can't really get kicked out. Most landlords will also basically forward any complaints to the strata in their name. This is about the amount of control you get in an apartment building (and you sure as poo poo aren't getting a single family house, not in Vancouver, not unless you inherit one).

quote:

You go into a condo building and no one vandalizes poo poo because it's their own building, people have a sense of ownership and it shows. Something breaks, you can fix it and fix it right.
The only places I've seen that do this are bottom of the barrel low-rises built in the 70s. Don't rent in a rental building. You rent in a strata, from some jerk's "investment apartment". The strata is responsible for 90% of repairs and the owner is usually quite snappy at fixing the remainder 10%, it's their stupid nest egg after all.


quote:

I looked at some not-shitbox apartments and town-houses for rent but the rents are insane, higher than mortage+strata+utilities. So it's either shared-laundry apartments where you have to do guard-duty or your clothes will all be stolen, or really high-end units marketed more towards rich professionals here for a season or two.

Bullshit. I don't know where you are looking or how you are estimating mortgage+strata+utilities (and don't forget +taxes and +insurance), but you are doing it wrong. The apartment I am currently in was listed for 480K on MLS up to the day I rented it. That's $2396.50/mo for a 25 year mortgage, not including a single additional fee. I'm paying $1575 and I could have probably dragged it down further if I wasn't in a hurry.

Previous to this I was renting a smaller 2 bedroom in the very middle of Downtown in the greenest, glassiest new investment development around. $550K or so at least (that's 2,745.99/mo @ 25yr). $1800/mo rent. And keep in mind rent in Downtown has gone up much faster then any other area. You can get excelent rent/price ratios outside of the Downtown core (anywhere along the skytrain and you might as well be Downtown IMO). Even better once you hit Burnaby or New West.


quote:

If I could find a 2 bedroom apartment with in-suite laundry, up to date fire safety equipment, decent sound-proofing, and a management company that doesn't take months to fix broken light switches and faucets (replacing them of course with the cheapest shittiest things they can) I'd probably jump on it. But there's like no middle-ground here. It's either 50 year old poo poo-boxes full of students and drug addicts, or super high-end luxury stuff.

That said, even adding the joy of owning your own home into the math, the prices for condos are still way too high. But people always post these purely beep-boop excel sheets that never factor quality of life into the mix. It's good to have perspective though, and you're an idiot if you think buying is a wise investment. But people shouldn't forget about the huge quality of life issues when weighing buying vs renting.

I'd be quite content to just hobbit-down and live in this very cheap basement suite for years more, savings up a massive 50% downpayment or something, it's the wife...

Again, I have no idea what it is you are doing, but you are definitely doing it wrong. This is absolutely not the case. Vancouver is lousy with rentals by owners, in nice strata buildings, in lovely neighborhoods. A friend of mine was renting a 3 floor (!) 2 bedroom townhouse with a patio and something that could pass for a garden, great for raising kids and a white loving picket fence for $2700 right off Robson, where the land value is astronomical. I.e. for the same price as the mortgage alone on a 850 square feet highrise in the same area.

And yes, every singe place I've mentioned has had in-suite laundry and new appliances. And also those god-awful tacky fake fireplaces for some reason, I don't know what's with that.

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA

Baronjutter posted:

And rentals, even the nicer ones, are never truly nice. Nice is subjective, and rentals don't let you make the changes you'd need to make a place nice. I want to buy a cheap place with good bones with a lovely kitchen/bathroom and gut the place and build-up my dream home. New kitchen, new bathroom, maybe even move some doors or even walls around. Get something with a good balcony and enclose it super nice and turn it into an office. Make a place nice and add a bit of value to it.

I do actually agree with you here - I absolutely would love to do something similar (nobody ever gets the Kitchen or Bathroom right... though the place I rent now came darn close). That really is the only difference though man, and the premium you pay for it is sadly just unreasonable.

quote:

Anything that is remotely up to date is $1500+.
Yeah hi, I think I found your problem - what sort of magical mortgage exactly are you thinking of that would actually be below this price? Because it's somewhere way south of those $800/mo 50 year old shanties.

Bip Roberts
Mar 29, 2005
If you want cheep rent on the West Coast I think Tijuana is the closest place to go.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

I guess my problem is that I'm a poor and expect moderately quality housing. I've looked at a lot of pretty good units in the $250k range though and all our math seems to point to us being able to afford that. I'm also not in metro-vancouver.

So far the best candidates are all 80's or 90's leaky condo's that have been fixed up. I don't want to touch something older than that (unless it had really good bones). But I used to actually design condos and apartments so at least I sort of know what to look for and what to avoid, although I'd still get a super thorough inspection.

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA

OSI bean dip posted:

Anyway, it's possible to rent decently but you need to look hard enough and be lucky. The place I presently live in is a 12-year old building in New Westminster not far from downtown that charges me $900/mo for a 1-bedroom that faces south towards the river on top of a hill, located on the top-floor of the 4-story building. It's around 600 sq. feet and has washer, dryer, and dishwasher. In addition, gas heat is included with the place.
New Westminster is the best Westminster :) I really think it's the best balance between price (renting of course), neighborhood character, commute options and walkable shopping. I also definitely enjoy being surrounded by a wider breadth of people then, say, Yaletown's mix of yuppies, cokeheads, trust-fund party assholes and trophy-wives/prostitutes who take their tiny, yappy, sickly looking fogs to one of the THREE (THREE!) dog stylists in downtown.

Mrs. Wynand
Nov 23, 2002

DLT 4EVA

Baronjutter posted:

I guess my problem is that I'm a poor and expect moderately quality housing. I've looked at a lot of pretty good units in the $250k range though and all our math seems to point to us being able to afford that. I'm also not in metro-vancouver.

I think this is your problem too - people that didn't get stupid-lucky with their jobs are simply being priced out of the city, and that's that. The only ones left are the type of people I described above. It is literally turning this city to poo poo and I would have left long long time ago were it not for family ties and friends.

Whatever charm Vancouver may have had is quickly evaporating. The massive economic hit from a "wheels are off the wagon" type crash might actually improve this city. Barring that my only hope would be a concentrated effort by local government which would involve increasing the density of whatever's left (which is only possible with more rapid transit) as well as a ton of subsidized housing and cultural programs. Not a single one of those things is likely to happen with the current governments.

JawKnee
Mar 24, 2007





You'll take the ride to leave this town along that yellow line
Man I'm renting in Kits (admittedly with my partner which reduces rent by 1/2) and I'm super happy with my place. Like OSI said, you just have to look around and have a bit of luck.

I've definitely forgotten about my laundry numerous times, no one dumps laundry on the floor in any building I've lived in - that's anecdotal sure, but any neighbor who is willing to do that poo poo is a lovely neighbor. Every repair problem I've ever had (plumbing, leaky roof, oven stuff) has been taken care of within a couple days by my current strata - Atira property management if you care.

And rental building's aren't all bad - I'm in one. You could also try and find a coop (good luck).

ocrumsprug
Sep 23, 2010

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Baronjutter posted:

And yeah, 1 br or bachelors in 40-50 year old buildings (that haven't had an update to their kitchens or bathrooms since) go for about 800 here. 2br with same quality go for 1000-1200. Anything that is remotely up to date is $1500+. My friend is all super excited because she found a small 900 sqft 2br place with laundry and fixtures and paint updated in the early 2000's for only $1600. With rents like that, gently caress it, I'd rather buy.

This is unfortunately the emotional (and bad math) reason that people are still buying in this market.

I am not familiar with the Victoria market, but I doubt there are condo's going for what they would need to be in order have a $1600 a month payment. Even assuming that there were, you are then looking at a whole slew of additional costs that you don't have as a renter. If you have ever owned a condo you would also know that a strata council can be every bit as annoying as a landlord, and probably is worse, with the power to fine you.

It is almost guaranteed that the value of your place is going to decline (condos in Vancouver have already returned to 2007 prices) over then next 5 years, which means that you will get to sell it at a loss. Or do what a whole lot of people in Vancouver are going to end up doing, and hold onto it because they cannot afford to sell it. Either living in their prison telling themselves that they didn't really want to relocate to take that job offer, or renting it out for less than their mortgage payments are. My wife has a friend doing the latter, and we are both curious when she will notice that she is losing a not insignificant amount of money every month. I have some college acquaintances that want to get a divorce, but cannot afford to sell their Kelowna house so are suffering through it.

Having a lovely laundry situation (or pets or basement suites), while annoying, is not as bad as it can get.

Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

Although very similar, maybe Victoria and metro Vancouver vary a bit too. Here you can actually get a really nice nearly brand new 2br unit in the low 300's. And I'm not talking about in some far flung suburb, I mean walking distance or actually in the downtown core. I couldn't live in Vancouver, way too big and sprawling, I like to be able to walk to work or jump on a 10min bus trip. But I've actually gone and looked at quite a few pretty nice condos in the 250k range that meet our criteria. Probably our biggest (ok my biggest) tricky criteria is that I need a space to make a model train. So I'm looking for a place with a small 2nd bedroom I can claim as my hobby room, and an enclosed or enclosable balcony to turn into the wife's office/retreat. Or a place with a big enough master bedroom with the right layout that we could put a wall down the middle and she'd get her office and I'd get my hobby room. In fact I got all excited about having the door to my hobby room being the book case in her office, dreamed of a secret-passage since I was a kid.

It's so weird because people working the same job or similar jobs that we do that are a generation older all have nice little houses with basements they can convert into hobby space or a rec room or what ever, while my generation suddenly can barely afford a small condo. If we complain about this at all we're the "entitlement generation" and get stories about how they had to work hard and save for their house and had to pay a 10% mortgage.

My parents were always single income, my dad was just a city bus driver. Their neighbour's house, which is pretty much the same as theirs but a bit smaller and without a finished basement sold last year for 920k. Me and my wife make more than my dad ever did. How did housing prices get like this?? Like... this just isn't sustainable. And I shed no tears for the rich retired couple who paid 920k for a huge 5 bedroom house if that house is suddenly worth a reasonable 500k in a few years.

Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Mar 18, 2013

Rime
Nov 2, 2011

by Games Forum
I love that this passes as news.

unlimited shrimp
Aug 30, 2008
I think as a general rule, if the author ends a factoid with an exclamation mark, or uses a phrase like "make it big", then you should know that you're being sold something.

I'm genuinely depressed at the notion of someone who can simultaneously be persuaded by that article, is a first time home buyer, and can afford a house in Vancouver. I assume they either inherited or won their downpayment in the lottery.

etalian
Mar 20, 2006


AKA articles written to make greedy agents and banks richer.

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Baronjutter
Dec 31, 2007

"Tiny Trains"

Like.. the loving opening paragraph is just a list of every home-ownership falsehood out there. The entire tone of the article reads like a cheesy sales pitch. How is that an article and not one of those ads-that-looks-like-an-article things papers sometimes have? I guess since that distinction is long gone?

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