Category Archives: renting

BC, economy, renting

Rise of the amateur landlords

191
191 Comments

The Globe and Mail has an article on the rise of ‘mom and pop’ landlords – people that rent out portions of their homes to be able to afford their mortgage.

Online classified sites are filling with posts from pilots, lawyers, construction workers and people doing all kinds of other jobs who have tacked on being a landlord as an extra way to help cover their mortgage costs.

With cities such as Vancouver and Toronto struggling to cope with a housing-affordability crisis, many people are choosing to rent out secondary suites in, or attached to, their homes as they try to keep a handle on outrageous property prices.

The rapidly increasing cost of real estate, particularly in the Vancouver region, has rippled into the rental market, pushing vacancies near zero while causing rates to increase. At the same time, the number of units outside of purpose-built rental buildings has been steadily escalating.

The article goes on the examine some of the issues with bad tenants, bad landlords and the perceived lack of rights for both groups. Read the full article here.

 

BC, renting, supply

You can buy, but you can’t rent

341
341 Comments

The BC Court of Appeal has upheld the right of a strata corporation to limit rentals in a condo building.

The ruling on Friday states that the strata council of Hycroft Towers in Vancouver’s South Granville neighbourhood can restrict its owners from renting out their suites – without explaining why – because anyone who feels they have been treated unfairly can take their case to the B.C. Supreme Court.

The dismissal of the appeal reinforces the right of strata councils to stop rentals in their buildings, a tactic that experts say might be creating more pressure on the region’s extremely tight rental market.

The case centred around a family that began renting out one of the three units they owned at Hycroft Towers last September – despite an earlier rejection of their application to expand the rental pool in the building by the strata council.

The family argued that, under the province’s strata laws, the council must also provide the criteria by which it grants permission for owners to rent their units.

However, Justice Gregory James Fitch ruled that it is “difficult to imagine that an acceptable screening criteria for administering the rent restriction cap [such as the ‘needs-based’ system proposed by the appellants] could be devised that would comply with [provincial law].”

Ah, condo ownership, where you get all the bills without the hassle of all the control.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail.

On a side note, we’ve disabled the inline image rendering in comments. We made it a surprisingly long time before it degenerated into out of control garbage and it was nice to be able to see the occasional graph rendered in a comment, but clearly you people can’t be trusted.

data, economy, prices, renting

18-34 year olds more likely to live with mom and dad

95
95 Comments

It used to be that most parents would provide their kids with food and shelter until they left high school. Some would stick around home while attending higher education, but most would move out on their own and start taking responsibility for themselves.

Then a funny thing happened in the economy.  Stuff changed. Incomes declined while the cost of living went up.

For the first time in modern history 18-34 year olds in the US are more likely living with their parents than on their own, with roommates or with a romantic partner.

A big reason is a decline in economic opportunities. As the cost of living has escalated and wages have stagnated, young people face mounting student debt and daunting barriers to renting or owning a home, creating obstacles to cohabitation and marriage.

The trend is led by young men, whose fortunes have been declining since the 1960s. While they have always lived with their parents in greater numbers than young women, this setup became the dominant living arrangement for them in 2009. In 2014 35 percent of young men lived with parents, while only 28 percent lived with a spouse or partner (for young women, the percentages are flipped: 29 and 35, respectively).

read the full article here.

BC, economy, hype, renting, supply

It’s a tough job to bust AirBnB listings in Vancouver

125
125 Comments

Short term AirBnB style property rentals are not permitted in Vancouver and the city can levy fines up to $10,000, but apparently there are still some of these short term rentals available.

“The difficult and complex thing comes when we move forward with prosecution,” Toma said, explaining that the city needs to connect the property owner to an online short-term rental listing without the help of a specific address.

Toma said a few cases against short-term renters are pending. Fines in those and other cases are up to the prosecutor, but staff recommend they recoup investigation expenses at minimum.

City staff are contemplating new tools to deal with the nuisance aspect of short-term rentals at the same time as assessing the industry’s impact, Toma said.

“We do have such a tight rental market,” Toma said, adding that she hoped staff could craft a smart and enforceable regulation that would also “find that sort of a sweet spot” for those sharing their home to meet their mortgage payments.

Of course there is one kind of short term rental that is currently allowed in Vancouver, but it comes with a few catches:

Bed and breakfasts are allowed in Vancouver, but under certain conditions. Homeowners need to live in the residence and they can host a maximum of four guests in two bedrooms, among other regulations. They also have to pay a one-time development and building permit fee, get a business licence and pass a safety inspection.

Read the full article over at the province.

BC, hype, opinion, prices, renting

More propaganda from the pro-renting cabal

71
71 Comments

The highly secretive pro-renting cabal that runs the local media have another article out comparing renting to owning with an obvious preference given to renting:

Not only did renting give her more options for places, put an extra $700 a month in her pocket and get her off the hook for repairs, maintenance, property taxes and the day-to-day responsibilities of ownership, it also gave her more options to live her life.

“If I had purchased in Vancouver, my future for the next many years is set (in stone),” said Yee, who is now happily living in a 685-square-foot, two-bedroom laneway house with her partner in her dream neighbourhood of Mount Pleasant for $1,650 a month.

“With renting, I can do whatever I want. It’s so freeing and valuable to me.”

They also paint ownership in a negative light:

Putting all your eggs in one very expensive and non-liquid item over the expense of other assets doesn’t make financial sense, say some experts.

Hannah says unprepared homeowners can end up more stressed and in debt than renters. Studies have also shown homeowners aren’t happier than renters. They have less leisure time and derive more pain than joy from their homes.

Will the media stop at nothing in their portrayal of renting as a superior life choice?

Read the full article here. Thanks to southseacompany for the link. Krystal Yee runs a personal finance blog that can be found at givemebackmyfivebucks.com.