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Leaky Condos, rule or exception?

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Heres another article about leaky condos with big repair bills the owners can’t cover. Anyone bored of these yet?

It feels like it’s been more than a decade that we’ve been inundated with leaky condo stories in the news, yet the owners always seem shocked that they have to deal with the enormous repair bills.

This story is from Calgary, where perhaps it’s more of a surprise to people that here in Vancouver where we just expect it.

Hehr said other owners he has talked to are contemplating bankruptcy. “This is a serious, life changing event for people. It’s very tragic.”

Al Sajan, whose company 7 Sevens built the condo complex, said he is surprised to hear the complaints.

He told CBC News he followed building codes and passed all inspections.

“If you buy a car and 10 years later your engine goes bonkers, you can’t go back to the car manufacturer and say your car isn’t built right,” he said.

..maybe the developer should have gone for the name 8 Eights instead..

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Chipper

@604x:

Hmmm … are YOU involved in development or construction trades?

The trades at the end of the cycle are so dumb they don’t see any of this coming. I remember chatting with carpenters and interior decorators who were oblivious to the last slow down.

Those who have their sh*t together and are good at what they do were oblivious to "the last slow down" because they kept their heads down and continued working!

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patriotz

@Fast:

Are they unaware of the situation in the country with ten times our population a few miles to the south.

Not to mention Japan.

The idea that there is a shortage of dwelling space in the world is ridiculous. I think that someone once calculated that if you built out the whole of Texas to the same density as Dallas (and that's not very high of course), it could house the entire global population.

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Fast

"But if you exclude the priciest 20 per cent of homes…"

And if you exclude the priciest 50% it's even lower still. Funny how that works.

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Fast

The last couple of paragraphs are particularly funny. Even by Vancouver Sun standards. Are they unaware of the situation in the country with ten times our population a few miles to the south.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Bubble+talk+…

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Overprice

Friend sent to me. Self explanatory. Average price of $591,000 for a closet in Vancouver still doesn't seem cheap to me. Published: June 22, 2011 1:00 PM Updated: June 22, 2011 1:56 PM Foreign investors make up a tiny share of the Lower Mainland real estate market but tend to buy much more expensive homes. Those are the latest conclusions of researchers at Urban Futures who found just 0.4 per cent of all homes sold in the region in 2010 were bought by owners with a foreign mailing address. "We're dealing with pretty small numbers here," Urban Futures economist Ryan Berlin said, adding the proportion rises to 0.7 per cent when just condos and apartments are considered. Realtors have anecdotally reported an influx of foreign buyers from mainland China and there's been growing debate on whether the phenomenon is driving… Read more »

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604 Receding Gains

wow, you lads are quite ornery tonight! Lots of flaming. 1. Leaky condos. When construction starts to slow down (as I think Calgary has) these stories tend to emerge. I'm convinced the builders who are desperate for work start exaggerating the leaky condo angle to scare condo associations into doing unnecessary work. All condos leak eventually, so much of it is maintenance instead of construction problems. No need for alarmism. 2. Land prices are notoriously sticky in Vancouver at the moment. Even when prices of condos dropped in 2008/09 land didn't drop much at all. We have lots of land owners who made a killing over the last 10 years and are flush with cash. They can wait-out a slow-down. So if land does not drop in price, and condo prices fall it adds to one big problem: developers can't… Read more »

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Bally

@paradox:

I think the key to this comment is "…in Surrey". If you had've attended a graduation in Kits the students would be aspiring actors. Or on the Westside you would've heard the 80 students saying they wanted to be corrupt party officials.

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CanuckDownUnder

Another stellar month for Australian property prices in May, capital cities saw prices down 0.3% for the month, 1.2% for the quarter, and 2.3% for the year. Here are the year over year changes to the end of May 2011: Sydney 1.0% Adelaide -2.6% Melbourne -2.9% Brisbane – 5.9% Perth – 7.5% The silver lining is the fact that declining prices mean rental yields are on the way up and are now a stellar 5%! Of course if you think 8% is the kind of yield you'd like on a unit then prices still need to fall 37.5%. The oddest part of this report is the claim that the dwelling price to disposable income ratio is now 4.2, the lowest it's been since June 2003. With the median dwelling price at $420,000, this implies that the (median? average?) disposable income… Read more »

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Devore

@Best place on meth:

The area that's only dropped 20% so far.

Pssh, 20%! I declare a flat market.

(sorry couldn't help myself)

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Devore

@Dave:

Just look at the US market and the level of construction. It’s at the lowest level in the post WWII period, which is stunning when you consider all the population growth.

Yet they still build, and they still make a profit. New construction is low because demand is low, not because prices are down 35%.

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paulb

New Listings 257

Price Changes 113

Sold Listings 173

TI: 16086

Vist my website for more stats: http://www.laurenandpaul.ca

And join my Facebook page for weekly and monthly stat updates, and more: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Metro-Vancouver-Rea…

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painted turtle

A condo for sell on Kijiji Vancouver 😉 in the rental section.

"staged" with thrift store furniture.

Priced at $888,800.

Amateur speculators are becoming creative!

http://vancouver.kijiji.ca/c-real-estate-apartmen…

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Anonymous

@Patiently Waiting:

What do you think the odds are she says there's no bubble in Vancouver because we have prudent lending standards and then refers people to her "buy a home with no money down" website?

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Best place on meth

@Patiently Waiting:

Sleazy as well as creepy.

This is not what I want to see in the "about me" section of realtors website.

"Unfortunately, a few years ago, my husband passed away, and I have now moved to Delta. I am pleased to say that I have been acquainted with a new man for a few years, and in October of 2007 we were married. So my personal life has taken a happy turn."

Fuck off lady.

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Anonymous

@Patiently Waiting:

Flagged as spam.

Prices AND rates rise? Basic economics aren't a part of the realtor license I guess, unless you count, "real estate always goes up"

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Prca

@Supraboy:

Supra, you are like laxative. Whenever you say something I have to take a dump. Thanks.

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Patiently Waiting

Sleazy realwhore is sleazy

http://www.sellingbc.ca/FREE_DOWNPAYMENT_PROGRAM/…

Craigslist ad for this:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/apa/2458233…

Thanks Carney for creating more fear.

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Anonymous

@paradox: ….There were about 80 students graduating. They had to say where they saw themselves in 15 years…..

I don't think they'll have to worry about affording homes in 15 years. This fart will long since have popped and things will be back to normal for a very long time.

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Troll

@paradox:

Yesterday I attended the grad 7 ceremony in surrey. There were about 80 students graduating.

Congratulations on graduating! Good luck next year in high school.

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looking for a house,

@Supraboy:

Are you retarded or something? Take a risk how? Running guns or cooking meth? How about a nice well made pornographic website wih a girlfriend doing live chat – I'm sure programmers can do this sort of stuff.

What else can kids do these days to actually afford a place of their own.

Troll.

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ex-game tester

@Supraboy: I know you're just a troll, and a shitty one at that, but as an ex-videogame tester, I can tell you that dreams of home ownership for game testers are just that…dreams. How can anyone expect to buy a condo, let alone a house, on only $13 an hour?!?!

Most of these graduating kids will likely run from that profession after a year, max! I've lived the lifestyle, it's not as glamorous as people think. Long hours, and low pay.

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Supraboy

@paradox: How can people vote up this post by paradox. You people are so shallow. So a gamer is not allowed to live in mansions. Obviously, Paradox is living in his silly basement and never took the risk to buy a property ever in his puny life.

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bubba

Re Cambie Lots:

Not surprised…the COV updated OCP created Cambie Corridor.

Start of the diaspora.

Vancouver Sun reporter (Trevor Boddie?) noted this a few years ago.

COV was running out of land for Hi-Density…thus the Canada Line was in sync with this vision to rezone surrounding lands.

What was interesting was the demogrpahics….they realized a high proportion of the owners were Asian, hence less political resistance than that of the Arbutus Corridor.

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Supraboy

@paradox:

How is it that a gamer can't live in a big mansion? I know people from EA who own homes in the West side living in 2 million dollar homes. Anyone can own a big mansion if they have balls to gamble with their money. Only those who are scared of taking risks fail to make it big.

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Best place on meth

@rp1:

He's the one who will actually do quite well.

The wannabe high-paid gamers and fashionistas are the ones who will end up in basements.

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