"That’s interesting. I have done the math over and over again in south granville (not the MLS south granville), and I just can’t justify paying about a 100% premium to buy *new* versus renting old." I bought old. The place is equivalent to an old rental which would probably be what I'd be living in if I still rented. I don't like to pay high rents and don't need granite countertops, although as an owner, I can always renovate if they suddenly become a "necessity". The value is mostly in the land the building sits on. Brand new buildings are like new cars. They depreciate a lot in the first few years. One place I looked at was only four years old and was listed at around 30% of what it cost new. But you have to be careful when… Read more »

…i mean there is only sooo much i am willing to pay for a granite counter top and a rainscreen ticking time bomb.

I don’t know where everyone is getting the rental prices. I wouldn’t mind cashing out the equity in my condo, but have been looking for a rental for a couple of years and have yet to find anything in a neighbourhood I like that’s less than my mortgage + strata fees + taxes. My insurance would go up as a renter. And I have a dog.

That's interesting. I have done the math over and over again in south granville (not the MLS south granville), and I just can't justify paying about a 100% premium to buy *new* versus renting old.

If I were to sell today and the market went down by 50%, I’d be mortgage-free, but I’d never make up what I’d have to pay in rent while waiting for the market to crash even if I invested all the equity when I cashed out.

That's absurd. Suppose your condo has a market price of 300K. If you sell you've got 150K cash since you say you have 50% equity.

You can easily rent a nice condo for 1250/month or 15K a year.

You can get 4% on the 150K no problem, that's 6K a year.

Net cost of shelter 9K a year or 750/month waiting out the crash.But that's less than what you're paying right now on mortgage, condo fees, taxes, etc.

When opportunity cost knocks, answer the door.

"What do you mean it doesn’t hurt you if you are in for the long haul. Of course it does. Even if you have bought recently, it still makes sense to sell now and rent. Then buy when the market is 50% of its current value. You will have $150K less mortgage." I don't know where everyone is getting the rental prices. I wouldn't mind cashing out the equity in my condo, but have been looking for a rental for a couple of years and have yet to find anything in a neighbourhood I like that's less than my mortgage + strata fees + taxes. My insurance would go up as a renter. And I have a dog. If I were to sell today and the market went down by 50%, I'd be mortgage-free, but I'd never make up what… Read more »

Those of you waiting for a 50% drop, how do you plan to get a mortgage if that happens? If the market drops that much, there will be mayhem in the banking industry, which means they will stop lending. No there won't and no they won't. First, you're forgetting that only BC has such an extreme level of overvaluation. The rest of the country is not going to see anywhere near 50%, not even Alberta. So the effect on Canada's banks overall is going to be diluted. At the bottom of the early 80's bust, qualified buyers had no problem at all getting financing, and that was after a 45% nominal decline, both here and in Alberta. And to top it off the Bank of BC and two Alberta banks had failed. The upcoming bust is not going to be… Read more »

picking up some burritos at the taco del mar on west broadway.

burritos flammbe maybe?

We’ll all just have to wait and see.

Yeah, inventory is at 15,500 give or take, you won't have to wait very long. 15,500 might not be alot for NYC but it's eye popping for Vancouver.

NYC,

There are lots of egs for tony and bdk,lots of flowers for misanthropic curmudgeon and sonika and lots of krispy creamy donuts for all the bears and bulls,gst is at 5% based on any amount.

franko, You're right about "I thought everyone wanted to live in Kelowna", don't let anyone trick you. It's like a formula, you sell in Vancouver, buy a nicer house in Kelowna and pocket oodles of cash. Ooops, I don't think it works that way any more.

FYI, I was walking past Davie and Howe today and saw a long line of people waiting outside of 1212 Howe to be one of the first to buy a condo in that building. I was initially interested in condos in that building, but, then discovered I'd have to pay over $20K in GST on top of the sale price, and decided it wasn't worth it. I was also very concerned about the 2 big holes in the ground across the street, where Alto and some other condo building is going up. It's also across from the Odyssey, so, it will be a very noisy block for a few years. But, I was amazed to see people still lining up to buy a condo in the current environment. I thought they might have a hard time selling them now, but,… Read more »

woodenhorse (so it seems…) said "One more thing: Why do so many posts that are replies to your own posts have your name as the poster as well? (see posts @ 2008-05-08 11:46:35 , 2008-05-08 11:42:28 , 2008-05-07 13:01:55)"

This is because somewhere in the cyberspace between my keyboard and your eyeballs, the blogging software incorrectly defaults the Name field when you're adding comment. For example, I had to delete "vanguy" from the Name field and enter my handle BBY. It's an annoying bug; so be sure to verify the name that you're submitting comments under. It's not just "nyc"; it randomly happens to quite a few posts I believe.

Again, CHECK THE NAME FIELD WHEN SUBMITTING COMMENTS!!!

[A public service announcement from BBY.]