McBackup Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Colwood crawl... Anyway, infrastructure isn't terrible but there is no way that things like transit are on par with Metro Vancouver. I've spent times in both cities and it can be more of a chore to get around Victoria unless you're going directly from UVIC to Downtown. Prices are ridiculous in Vancouver. I'm moving back and renting a 2br place downtown with 700 some-odd square feet in February. "$1500" was considered a great deal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Of course, if you have a 380k loan on a 400k house (5% down, the vast majority of new mortgages the last few years) and the value drops even 5% and then you figure in transfer fees, tax, yadda yadda it makes it makes it pretty hard to immediately pay the bank off. If it drops more well better hope you don't have to move. Like ever....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I remember reading somewhere that for the price of a modest house in Vancouver you could buy an entire street in Winnipeg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dittohead Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 While that is true, most of the horrific traffic is in the western communities. Obviously there isn't as many transit options as Vancouver because its a smaller city. But the buses (when not on strike ) can get you where you need to go and I'm usually fine whenever I drive anywhere. There will be congestion in places if its like 5:00 pm and everyone is heading home from work, but thats to be expected in any moderately sized city. But back on point, the housing prices are ridiculous, in Vancouver and Victoria. Its really hard to move out when you're making starting wage and housing prices are still ridiculous. I'd like to move to Vancouver when I'm done with school, but like you said, the prices are ridiculous. I remember reading somewhere that for the price of a modest house in Vancouver you could buy an entire street in Winnipeg. That's the problem with living in such a great area though. Of course its going to be expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vavoom Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 After reading some of the responses here, I'm just curious of the expectation held by some that they should be able to graduate school, get a job and immediately buy a home. I don't think that this would have been the case for most of history, recent or otherwise. I lived at home for a few years and some of my friends rented at first. In the end it took an average of 5 years of real world work before buying a place, amongst my cohorts. Here is the math: I have a house which I rent out the basement (newly reno'd, 3 bdr 1200 sq ft) for $1400 including all utilities in burnaby. 20 min ride to DT by skytrain. I rent it to some younger people who split rent. So the rent per person is $460 a month which I don't see as burdonsome by any standards. I pay out of pocket about $2000 per month for mortgage payments. I know for a fact that a similar suite that I live in rents for $1600 in Winnepeg. When you do the math, it isn't really that bad, provided the interest rates don't jump. Given the new economic realities of the last decade, I don't think you will ever see the interest rates that were posted back in the 90's (10% plus). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBackup Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Well, not to call you a liar, but until this mystery article comes to light, I'm calling shenanigans on that.Winnipeg is far cheaper than Vancouver, but it's not 100 Mile House. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Nice restaurants aren't a very compelling reason for houses to cost double to triple what they cost most other places in the world. Especially if you don't have much money left over after paying for your overpriced house to frequent them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Well its obviously an exaggeration meant to point out that the price of a house in Vancouver is ridiculously higher than in other cities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Didn't say it was. Other poster is arguing our restaurants suck. I disagree. The suburbs are another story, nothing but mediocre chain restaurants with generic food. Vancouver however is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect From Now On Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Let's see what happens if.... Interest rates rise on mortgages. FYI you don't need the bank of Canada to raise interest rates for that to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I've been hearing about this bubble bursting for a long time..I'm not holding my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Ridiculous is the right word. Look, I'm the first person to say that Winnipeg is not the most glamerous city in the world. Has it improved over the craphole it was in the mid-90s? There is no doubt about that. But it is still Winnipeg.My wife and I left Vancouver as soon as she graduated from university because of cost of living. We obviously would prefer to live in Vancouver. It's a beautiful city, my mom and my in-laws live out there, so we have ties; but our quality of life would go way down.It took 7 years for us to get to where we are now. Both make very good income and put enough away for retirement, take a yearly trip out to Vancity (go skiing, etc). But even now, if we were to go back to Vancouver, our quality of life would decrease significantly. There goes our 1/2 acre property and new house. In comes a cramped POS house with no space between us and our neighbours. Not the life for us.We love IDEA of living in Vancouver. We hate the REALITY of life in Vancouver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I think a lot of people don't consider the importance of interest rates. Interest rates have the potential to greatly affect the housing market. They are currently at an all time low, and a rise to just historic averages would cause a huge increase in one's mortgage payments. For anyone living close to the line financially this could lead to foreclosure and a sudden flood of real estate onto the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect From Now On Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 It wouldn't take much to spook a market that is already experiencing way less sales. Right now it's a slow slide downhill. Give it a little push and look out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBackup Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I think a lot of people don't consider the importance of interest rates. Interest rates have the potential to greatly affect the housing market. They are currently at an all time low, and a rise to just historic averages would cause a huge increase in one's mortgage payments. For anyone living close to the line financially this could lead to foreclosure and a sudden flood of real estate onto the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Didn't say it was. Other poster is arguing our restaurants suck. I disagree. The suburbs are another story, nothing but mediocre chain restaurants with generic food. Vancouver however is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect From Now On Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 The smart thing to do is lock in your interest rate when its low. I think you can do this with most banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Money Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 There's only a few restaurants I miss. Zefferelli's, Bin 942, and Salmon House on the Hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inane Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Check out the recent drop in sales. Unless the spring market comes out gangbusters you won't have time to turn blue even if you do hold your breath. Average time on market keeps getting longer, and longer, and longer...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthecivil Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Hardly a bubble bursting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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