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.”
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?
C'mon guys, let's not be too hard on d-oush.We need to keep her around for comic relief.
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?
… “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
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'.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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???
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.
johhnycrasher: are you saying it cant happen here?
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.
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
d_oush,Before you commit yourself to solving the affordability crisis, I would'nt give up the day job just yet.
D_oush, yes, your name reveals everything about you. Way more than someone posting under anonymous. A bright one, you are…you got me…
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.
"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…
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'.
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!
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.
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.