@ulsterman: You could have signed another lease when the first one expired. If you desire a stable housing situation, you have to make it happen. If the landlord doesn't want to give you another lease, then you have lots of time to prepare for the change. Moving is stressful and disruptive, but so are financial difficulties resulting from high cost of housing, such as are known to break up marriages and make people do other unexplainable things. And by all indications, renting for middle class households is affordable in the city.

@Renting: Renting: Sorry to blow a hole in your theory, but in fact i DID sign a one year lease. Thereafter it reverted to a one-to-month and there wasn't a ton i could do cos it was the landlord's right – sure i could have threatened to move and maybe i should have. I lived there another 18 months before the recent notice. So, i guess i wasn't trying to have it both ways as you so thoughtfully put it. WRT a new roof. You need to be pretty unobservant to be a homeowner and not have an understanding that your old roof will need replaced in XXXX years. You can plan. Rarely does your roof phone up on a Saturday morning and say that it will need to be completely replaced within 8 weeks. The point is that being… Read more »

@Best place on meth:

highlarious…Mclister brokers McMortgages with his McWife. How sweet. They better have a Mcbackup plan for income.

@AG Sage: "The number I usually see tossed around by professional landlords to compute cash flow is to assume 70% occupancy"

Where, in Detroit? I've talked to a few local pros (well, they've been around the business a few decades, anyways) and they state Vancouver vacancy rates are about 5-7% or so. I don't know why anyone would assume 30% vacancy rate. Budget for 30% to ensure adequate reserve fund maybe, but assume…?

Inventory gains in January 2006: +448 2007: +537 2008: +2008 2009: +1406 2010: +2456 2011: > +1800 Figuring out the near-term direction of the market is as easy as comparing current sales to current inventory. If there are >6 months of inventory, prices will fall a bit. If there are <6 MoI, prices will rise a bit. January and Feburary typically have big upward price pressure. That's because there are buyers out there, but not all the inventory taken off the market at the end of the previous year has found its way back. (I've seen them–these are guys in such a rush to get in, they leap at whatever crap inventory is posted in January. The right time to buy is summer or late fall when you can find someone with a languishing listing who is desperate. But I… Read more »

@Anonymouse:

Well, first of all that's a lie as the drop was 55%, not 70%.

Secondly, and much more importantly, it took 6 months to drop that amount while it only took a little over 3 weeks to increase by 30% and that's probably why I didn't ask – because it was moving so slowly then.

As a cheerleader I expect you distort the truth as much as possible and even flat out lie from time to time, and that probably explains why you were called a prick by another poster here.

@Renting: The number I usually see tossed around by professional landlords to compute cash flow is to assume 70% occupancy. Since you will be providing 100% occupancy, there should be some room there for bargaining.

And over in mortgage broker land, this douche appears to be praying for interest rates to stay artificially low forever if possible.

http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/canadian_mo…

I don't mean to be repetitive here, but downtown condo inventory has increased by 30% since the start of this month.

What's the hell is going on?

@patriotz: "Did they keep insuring in Alberta in 2007-9 (20% decline) or BC in 2008-9 (15% decline) ?"

If we're talking about a 20-30% national decline the thought of insuring mortgages with huge systematic downside will start raising alarms, especially at CCPA and taxpayers' federations. That is, the number of assets under insurance will shoot up just as CMHC's reserve starts eroding. All this during a time when the government is trying to elicit a balanced budget.

How will the government handle the CMHC bottomless pit if prices start declining significantly? Is there an endgame they can't escape?

@patriotz: re the Seattle link.

Thanks for this.

Note: sold 2001 for $623K

Listed Jul 2010 for $925K, now down in steps to $799K.

It's quite something to browse the Seattle listings.

Vancouver appears to be valuing it's comparable properties at twice the price of Seattle (or more!).

@Renting: I think people forget that as renters do have many options, lots of freedom, as well as consumer power (they have the cash landlords crave). When looking for a house, you hire a knowledgeable agent, an inspector, you look at dozens of places, you arrange financing, and put in conditions into a thought out offer. You should similarly be doing the same amount of work when looking for a rental. Interview your potential landlord. Make sure the place will suit your long term goals. Don't just sign up for the first place that's vacant. Real landlords, the professionals, not the ones that had no choice, love long term renters. They provide stability and predictable income. They also tend to be better quality, take better care of the place, don't agitate the neighbours, etc. In other words, they're "professional" renters.… Read more »