Tag Archives: renting

BC, economy, Open Topic, renting, supply

Couple denied home for having a daughter

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159 Comments

What?

There’s likely more to this story than simple discrimination, but a Vancouver couple is claiming they were denied a housing coop home because their second child was a girl.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) guideline suggests children of opposite sexes can’t share a bedroom if they are over the age of five, but it’s OK for children of the same sex to do so.

Gottfried and Hurtig believe it should be up to parents to decide when and if children share a room.

“I would describe it as being completely outrageous and appalling and just unbelievable,” Gottfried tells Go Public.

“No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t really wrap my brain around it,” Hurtig says.

The one-income family says money is tight. Getting the unit would have meant their rent would drop from $1,840 to $895 a month.

“It’s discrimination. We get the room if our children are the same sex and we don’t get the room if our children are not the same sex. It’s very, very clear-cut discrimination,” Gottfried said.

Read the full article over at the CBC.

data, economy, prices, renting

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

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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.

advice, BC, debt, hype, opinion, renting

Evangelists for buying

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29 Comments

Many Franks pointed out this article in the Globe and Mail and then pulled out a whole bunch of gems.

“Here’s a hilarious litany of Vancouver real estate orthodoxy straight from the punch bowl:”

…the city renowned in popular mythology as a place with such astronomical house prices that its young will be forced to live in basement suites forever…“

That’s right, buy or basement suites forever, your choice.

…There’s definitely sacrifices. I budgeted. I didn’t eat out. Some could say I missed some life experiences. But if you have that [home ownership] as your goal, anything is possible…”

It’s amazing whats possible if you just skip life experiences.

…the proliferation of condos and townhouses here gives them a lower-priced product to choose from compared with other cities that are dominated by houses…

Not only a magical city, but also one of the only ones around that has condos and townhouses!

…siblings or friends will buy an apartment together until they’ve built up enough equity to sell and take their proceeds…

Because what could go wrong with that?

…they’ve decided they’re going to buy in, no matter what…

NO MATTER WHAT!!

…buying became an emotional decision about moving to a new life phase. “This was the first step of being an adult,” said Mr. Richard…

Emotional decisions are an important first step of being an adult.

…some young homeowners have become slightly evangelical about the need for others to realize it’s possible if they stop being so clueless about money…

All it takes is a little knowledge.

“They don’t know anyone who owns, they don’t understand money, they just don’t think it’s possible. I keep telling them: “It’s a conspiracy to keep you as renters. Then you can pay someone else’s mortgage.’”

As Many Franks says “Amazing how much paydirt you can pack into a single article.”

 

BC, economy, opinion, predictions, renting, retirement

Gen Y not buying a lot of Vancouver houses

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153 Comments

From the obvious files: expensive homes are expensive.

The Globe and Mail has an article about changing attitudes towards real estate by Generation Y in Vancouver.

Essentially: they are more inclined to live urban and remain mobile.

They also say that Boomers are downsizing into condos.

Ben Smith, VP of sales and marketing at Rennie & Associates, says he’s already seen a major shift in the last six months. This year he’s seen a sudden surge in demand for three-bedroom condos, purchased by downsizing boomers. Those boomers are trading their homes for spacious condos. Those same boomers are helping their kids with a down payment on their own condo, which is the only way a lot of Millennials will ever afford to live in Vancouver.

“It’s exciting, because for years we’ve been talking about this, and we’re finally seeing it happen,” he says. “There is $88-billion worth of clear-title real estate tied up with boomers. In B.C. and Vancouver especially, we are all equity and no income. If you don’t have that down payment, you don’t have a home.”

Read the full article here.

data, debt, equity, opinion, prices, renting

How much lost on a 2009 condo purchase?

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41 Comments

Previously we highlighted b5baxters comment on the 19 months that have elapsed since Vancouver home prices have peaked (according to the REBGV home price index)

Of course there are a lot of variables in the housing market, so lets look just at condos, which Crabman has ever so helpfully run the numbers on:

I calculated the bottom line if someone bought a benchmark condo 4 years ago with a 10% DP and a 4% 30-yr mortgage. I took into account all carrying costs, rent savings and principal pay down. I also assumed rent, prop tax and condo fees increased 4%/year.

Oct 2009:
Benchmark price: $380,975
Mortgage balance: $342,878
Equity: $38,098 (10%)
Est. Rent: $1,100
Mortgage: $1,637
Condo Fees: $200
Prop tax: $89
Monthly loss: $826 (extra costs of owning vs. renting)

Oct 2013:
Benchmark price: $365,600
Mortgage balance: $317,253
Equity: $48,347 (13.2%)
Est. Rent: $1,287
Mortgage: $1,637
Condo Fees: $234
Prop tax: $104
Monthly loss: $688

Over those 4 years, equity only increased $10,249. But the extra monthly costs of ownership over that same period were $45,498, so the owner would have saved $35,249 by renting.

So it looks like the current ‘ownership premium’ for someone who bought a Vancouver condo in 2009 is just over $35k.  Anybody see any problems with those numbers?