There’s an article in the province about a great new idea! Renting out part of your condo to pay the bills.
“You know what I should call it? It’s a mortgage-helper in the sky. It’s a mortgage-helper, and it’s a way of delivering affordable housing. It’s just like the basement suite.”
on Days of ultra-cheap money coming to an endhttp://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GCAN10YR:IND Suggested noted, OECD. 
on Big banks facing home credit risk@mac: @condo watcher: Wait! I don't think that was explanation enough for you. By PAST, I mean a few years on Big banks facing home credit risk@condo watcher: Relax! I'm not saying it's happening now. In THE PAST when the MARKET WAS HOT, there were many
on Big banks facing home credit risk@mAC HOW DO YOU GET A SALES TO LIST FIGURE OF 115%--are they selling stuff that's not even on the
on Big banks facing home credit riskHopefully this time it works. Copied from PaulB’s number http://www.laurenandpaul.ca Using good-format’s format. Date Listing Price(+-) Sold Inv Inv(+-) S/L(%)
October 25th, 2006 at 10:45 am
Wow, I feel like a celebrity with all this attention. So all you have to do around here is express a bit of optimism and everyone comes down on you. Here's a question: how do you know when the market has hit bottom? I see the new story here is that the us market has dropped a bit in the last six months, but david learah says that this is most likely the end of the housing market slump there.Just setting aside the fact that we are in Canada NOT the US, IF the same thing were to happen here as many of you seem to believe, how would you know when the price dropping was over. You obviously don't seem to trust professionals in the realestate market, so how would you know when the 'right time' to buy is?
October 24th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
C'mon guys, let's not be too hard on d-oush.We need to keep her around for comic relief.
October 24th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
d_oush,It has crossed my mind that you might be a bull, posing as a bear by hoping to get 10 sensible replies for each of your irrational suggestions. But supposing you're sincere in your unfortunate beliefs, can you honestly deny that the downside of this market is greater than the upside?Surely you've seen the graph on http://www.van-housing.blogspot.comand the sales/listings stats on http://rireb.blogspot and the "price reduced" adds competing for attention.Which part of this supply & demand formula don't you understand? declining sales/increased listings = lower (future) prices.Sure, prices will very likely resume their uptrend and you would eventually recover your losses, but who in their right mind, with access to convenient alternatives would chose to recover their losses over the chance to reap profits after buying at a discount?
October 24th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
… “are you saying it cant happen here?â€If you’re sure that’s happening here http://tinyurl.com/yyqccc, then inevitably … landless …couver will deal with the conflicting space demands of the living and the dead in similar fashion.Graveyards and evictionhttp://tinyurl.com/ykeznk“Even Singapore’ s oldest and largest graveyard, the venerable Bidari Cemetery, was recently bulldozed to make more room for urban development.â€http://tinyurl.com/yanky9
October 24th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
A really, really bad time to buy is NOW .Even if you own the property for 5 or 10 years and make improvements to it? BC is Booming right now, how bad could it get?At least you would be on the property ladder. I don't think its fair to tell people that they shouldn't buy now because 'something bad might happen'.
October 24th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
d_oush,Never a bad time to buy???Take a look at the 2n'd comment on this thread. Was 1981, 1990, or 1995 a good time to buy? If you can do the math, try tellin first time buyers how much they could have saved by deferring their purchase a year or so.
October 24th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
d_oush said:"Its never a bad time to buy if you're going to hold for the long-term"I beg to differ.A really, really bad time to buy is NOW .
October 24th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
I have no interest or reason to give up my anonymity, and obviously you don't either – the difference is that I'm not afraid to stand by what I say. By using the 'anonymous' name the same can't be said for you.Its never a bad time to buy if you're going to hold for the long-term, if this arrangement lets some people do that and they're happy with it then good for them!Better than just being negative and bitter.
October 24th, 2006 at 3:12 pm
I don't think too many of those greed filled investors are supid enough to buy into this market. Nor do I feel sorry for people like d-oush who are grasping at straws to defend their assets. I do however feel sorry for young first timers that might get sucked into this market at the worst possible time.
October 24th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
D_oush, thanks for providing your first initial. You sure gave up your anonymity! Good work!If people want mortgage helpers in condos that's great. I don't care. It's not a new idea. What picks me are the current RE prices and the idiots supporting them. This includes the ignorant buyer, crooked RE agents and greed filled investors. Those people make me ill. D_oush, I just feel sorry for people like you. Have a nice day.
October 24th, 2006 at 2:13 pm
Sorry d_oush, the bunking offer is off.Just checked the archives for some your other comments, and as suspected, I'm afraid you're beyond help and I don't have the patience for sympathy. I have a hunch that you might be jonnycrackers type.
October 24th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
d-oush, I can't see it coming to that here in my lifetime.I do alot of mountain climbing and when i am at the top of golden ears mountain i see lots of vacant land.No offence but i see you like an oilers fan, and i will always will say canucks will win the cup.Its a never say no thing, a trick i am learning from realtors.I believe that consumers greed will break this trend.
October 24th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
d_oush,25 years ago I came to Canada from an obscure communist country where poor university students who couldn't afford a decent place to stay were renting rooms from poor apartment owners and their families who were forced to share their humble quarters with strangers just to help them make ends meet. They were all inhabiting rows of overcrowded concrete apartment buildings with no trees or greenery or any brighter future in sight…That was our own housing crisis…And what have we got here???A f****ng dejavu???
October 24th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
I can't speak for others on this blog, but I'm not defensive about the idea of condos with rental suites, I just think its a stupid idea, and as D_oush says 'not for me'. If thats what it comes to here there is nothing that would make life in the lower mainland worth the premium.I'd rather live somewhere that my work-hours translate into quality time and space for my off-work hours. Right now thats anywhere else in Canada.
October 24th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
johhnycrasher: are you saying it cant happen here?
October 24th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
Why so defensive? What makes you all so quick to leap on anything you disagree with?No I'm not giving out my personal name but the 'D' is an initial. I'm not interested in having a roommate right now, but that doesnt mean I have any problem with others doing so.Its funny that one of the arguments against current prices are driven by 'groupthink' when thats clearly whats going on here in the opposite.
October 24th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
d_oush, is correct, they are running out of land.They are currently working on a new deal for these pricey condos.http://tinyurl.com/yenttw
October 24th, 2006 at 12:16 pm
d_oush,Before you commit yourself to solving the affordability crisis, I would'nt give up the day job just yet.
October 24th, 2006 at 11:59 am
D_oush, yes, your name reveals everything about you. Way more than someone posting under anonymous. A bright one, you are…you got me…
October 24th, 2006 at 11:52 am
d_oush, Why not step all the way out of that anonomous closet?If you give us your name, sex and address, I'd be glad to check out your abode to consider bunking with you.
October 24th, 2006 at 11:37 am
"d_oush… are you for real???"Y'know, I'm not quite sure. For a while I thought d_oush was just being ironic (shurely the name says it all?), taking the tone of the blog to an extreme. Usually my irony detectors are pretty finely honed, but I'm not getting a good read anymore. Too subtle perhaps? Just stimulating discussion? Hard to think it's for real, yet on occasion it seems so earnest…
October 24th, 2006 at 10:30 am
What a reaction! you all act like I marched into your home and said you had to move into a 100 square foot apartment. Get real, I'm not saying that this is the right think for me, or any of you, but that it could help affordability if thats the only way you can make owning work.At least I don't hide behind the name 'anonymous'.
October 24th, 2006 at 10:24 am
Mortgage helper in a tiny condo? What complete BS! I don't think employed adult would go for that. However, there are many people that would put up with the small spaces and mortgage helper.D_oush, your name says it all!
October 24th, 2006 at 9:24 am
D_oush: just becuase you CAN survive in a 100 square foot unit doesn't mean that you'd WANT to. One of the arguments for high cost of living in vancouver is the 'lifestlye' argument. How much is this 'lifestyle' worth? The cost of living here has just about killed the 'lifestyle' argument for me.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:21 am
d_oush,I don't know what kind of standards you are used to, but I sure hope the rest of us don't have to stoop to that level any time soon.To suggest that we're running out of land is utter nonsense. The affordability crisis will soon be fixed by a good old fashoned CRASH.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:19 am
I really hate to think what may be CCRA's decision on this when people sell these units. I believe most people will think that the capital gain (if any) will be covered by the principle residence deduction. However, since these units are actually designed with an income generating purpose I imagine CCRA will have a different idea.Could be a ticking time-bomb for some.
October 24th, 2006 at 9:12 am
Now that we are adopting the same lifestyle, it’s time to change the city name legally.Could be romantic as in HK in the 60’s.
"Set in Hong Kong, 1962, Chow Mo-Wan is a newspaper editor who moves into A RENTED ROOM WITH FAMILY X in a new building with his wife. At approximately the same time, Su Li-zhen, a beautiful secretary and her executive husband also move in to A RENTED ROOM WITH FAMILY Y NEXT DOOR in the same crowded building. With their spouses often away, Chow and Li-zhen spend most of their time together as friends. They have everything in common from noodle shops to martial arts. Soon, they are shocked to discover that their spouses are having an affair. Hurt and angry, they find comfort in their growing friendship even as they resolve not to be like their unfaithful mates."Source: http://tinyurl.com/u9rhd
October 24th, 2006 at 8:38 am
no one is sleeping on anyones couch, the article is talking about condo's with self-contained rental suites. Basically one of the rooms has its own bathroom and kitchenette, so yeah you share living rooms and entranceway, but its more like a basement suite with a shared entrance in a house.Face it – we're running out of land and that means housing has to get more dense, its not like a person can't live in a 100 square feet if its sensibly laid out. Building self contained rental suites into a condo unit makes it easier to afford and provides an extra rental unit. What could be wrong with that?
October 23rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
d_oush… are you for real???How can this be good?Sharing a bathroom and a kitchen with a stranger, just so you can afford your overpriced condo?What's the point of owning it then?May as well live in the rooming house.How about a 1 bedroom ones? Is the owner going to sleep on the couch or is the tenant?This so pathetic it isn't even funny.
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:16 pm
Isn't this a GOOD thing for all those people complaining about affordability? This would let you afford a condo by renting part of it out, which would make your dollar go a lot further. This along with options for longer term mortgages and lower downpayments help to keep living costs down, so whats the problem?
October 23rd, 2006 at 8:08 am
It was originally touted by developers as housing for staff/faculty, but speculators couldn't find enough staff and faculty to rent toBurnaby Mountain has its own micro-climate, a few degrees colder and with considerably more rain & snow than the rest of the GVRD. I lived on campus the first couple of years at SFU, would never live there again.
October 22nd, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Lucky buggers! In my undergrad days, I’d to live in moldy, damp basement suite. But then I didn’t torch down the place.http://tinyurl.com/qa4mhFire hit a 25-storey apartment building in Vancouver's West End .(CBC)
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:28 pm
Most Univercity condos go to speculators, both domestic and overseas, and many of them rent to students. It was originally touted by developers as housing for staff/faculty, but speculators couldn't find enough staff and faculty to rent to, so they rent to students, at prices no where near break even levels. Truth is, students tend to be less desirable than faculty/staff, but there just aren't enough faculty and staff willing to live in a shoe box.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:30 pm
I have a better idea for delivery of affordable housing….wait a year for prices to come down.I'm an investor who has profited from from previous boom/busts since the late sixties, and I've NEVER seen a market as ripe for a crash as this one. Here are some examples of previous busts:1981-82 dropped 44% over 17 month1990-91 dropped 25% over 12 month1995-97 dropped 22% over 21 monthThe irrational upspike of the current market makes previous booms look tiny. We are nearing the end of an extended economic/demographic era, and flirting with a recession very similar to 1982. With US markets already crumbling and with local sales/listings ratio in steady decine, this market has nowhere to go but down.I've unloaded extensive RE holdings over the last 18 months and am waiting to snap up bargains after the storm.
October 22nd, 2006 at 2:19 pm
The article reads, "About 40 of the three-bedroom units have already been sold at the UniverCity project at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver." and then later it says "SFU students, who had been living around the campus in basement suites, snapped up the units."So does this mean that these condos are such a bargain that a student living in a basement suite can afford to buy one? What am I missing?