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Advice: Vancouver condo vs House in the Tri Cities


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My concern with going with the condo in Vancouver/Burnaby route is what if in say 5 years when we're ready to have kids and upsize to house we can't sell the condo for a decent profit? The condo market on Vancouver and Burnaby is growing out of control (there's literally new developments going up everywhere). I assume this saturation will have an impact sooner or later. The second reason is if we don't purchase a house in the suburbs now, we may be priced out in 5 years. Detached houses in pretty much all of the Lower Mainland are jumping up in price on a monthly basis.

It already is and will continue to do so. You likely won't sell the condo for profit (or very little). It's not just saturation, it's that their's no land in purchasing a condo. Building's aren't worth much comparatively. Land is.

If you're going to go the condo route you may be better off renting and investing the difference to use as a down payment on a home later (if the often forewarned impending burst ever happens). That's likely your best plan as you'll have saved a decent chunk of money and house prices will be much more reasonable. All while continuing to enjoy your current lifestyle. Though it does rely on there being a fairly serious 'market correction'.

If that never happens, you may end up like a lot of this generation who may not be able to actually own their own home in greater Vancouver. You may just perpetually rent and have to invest the difference somewhere other than your home/property.

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Congrats on the decision, op.

All the advice I can offer is that you gotta make sure you and her can afford a mortgage of 600-700k.

Banks will always give you enough rope to hang yourself with so make sure you do your own math.

There's a great app I used when I bought my place last year:

Canadian Mortgage App

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Congrats on the decision, op.

All the advice I can offer is that you gotta make sure you and her can afford a mortgage of 600-700k.

Banks will always give you enough rope to hang yourself with so make sure you do your own math.

There's a great app I used when I bought my place last year:

Canadian Mortgage App

Unless you're single then you'd find it easier and less stressful just hanging yourself than getting that sort of loan.
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You're right, a house is undeniably our preference. But that's hard to keep in mind when you put a beautifully renovated, 5 year old condo up against a house that's 30 years old and will likely cost us an additional $10k-$20k to renovate and furnish. And I haven't done the math yet but I would think the cost of commuting from Coquitlam/PoCo to Vancouver adds up in terms of gas/car maintenance. I suppose we do have the option of purchasing a condo in Vancouver or Burnaby, holding it for say 5 years then selling and using profits to upgrade to a house in the Tri Cities? Is the growth potential even feasible?

Speaking of furnishing, does anyone know how much it truly costs to furnish a house from scratch? We're both moving from family homes so we literally have zero pieces to bring with us. We are not against using "budget" places like Ikea or second hand places as long as quality is not entirely sacrificed. This will also factor into our decision, I guess, as we don't have additional savings on top of our down payment set aside for this.

The growth potential of a house, as well as the stability properties of it outweighs the costs. Furthermore, condominiums have maintenance + strata fees that WILL go up in time, as it ages.

The privacy features of a house greatly outweigh the life in an apartment. Most apartments can have noise from neighbours (i.e. hammering of furniture, people walking around on laminate flooring, kids running around, etc).

Furthermore, just because you are pre-approved for 700,000 - NEVER spend up to that amount because in case one of you two lose a job, you will be SCREWED. Always prepare for the worst. Even if you are sure about job security, there is no need to live so exorbitantly that you're not able to spend money on living expenses (i.e. getting a new car).

Condominiums have the luxury of location - but usually you'll be surrounded by other buildings - making your property not that valuable in comparison to others. In other words, you won't get the best price for your place.

People are so worried about spending money to INVEST in your property (which you can keep for as long as you need) that they don't even think about the money they'll pay at the end.

Maintenance fees are a KILLER. Don't think that 300-400 dollars isn't a lot - IT IS. Considering a condominium will never grow more than the total amount of maintenance fees in a year - living in an apartment should only be considered if you're really broke and can't afford anything else (not even a house).

Go for the house.

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No guarantee that a condo will increase in value in five years. I'd buy long term to minimize risk.

I'd also look into new west. Might be a compromise. Also the commute to Coquitlam isn't that bad on the highway.

I think people are delusional if they think condos will "increase value". They won't. As condos age, they become less attractive to incoming buyers and the kicker is that there's usually an increase of maintenance fees to fix up older structures of a building. Elevators are VERY expensive to replace if broken.

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Just curious if the house you are looking at in Coquitlam has a legal suite? Best way to go is to rent out the basement, live upstairs and that can help pay off either your mortgage or renovations. The price of property, especially in the Tri-Cities area will only go up in value as more and more people get flushed out of the city due to living costs and space demands. Many great points made here, but the fact is if you want a solid investment land is always the way to go. Condo's also have maintenance and strata fees, you have limited freedom in this matter.

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Family = house

Single / crazy cat person = condo

If you can't afford a house in the city (understandable) then move out of the city to get one.

I presume townhomes aren't an option? In Canada they aren't bad. Townhomes in the US tend to suck, especially out west. Townhomes aren't bad particularly for small families and in a decent community. Just make sure to research the area.

I would consider them. I mentioned in a different thread that my uncle bought one for about 500. Brand new, very nice. Street level patio, garden, two car garage, varnished? wood floor ground level, etc. Apparently in the OP's price range.

Of course some town house communities can be less than ideal. Which is the case with just about everything.

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I would consider them. I mentioned in a different thread that my uncle bought one for about 500. Brand new, very nice. Street level patio, garden, two car garage, varnished? wood floor ground level, etc. Apparently in the OP's price range.

Of course some town house communities can be less than ideal. Which is the case with just about everything.

Still no property though.

They're not quite the profit black holes condos are but they're still a far cry from actual property.

If it was my money, I'd probably rent, stay where you prefer to live and invest the difference elsewhere (even in rental property elsewhere in the province/country)

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I'm probably the last person worth giving advice on how to choose between a condo in the city vs. a house in the 'burbs, given that I'm decades away from being able to afford either (and by then, I'll be fast reaching my first centennial).

However, for what it's worth, my preference has always been towards owning as detached a unit as possible for the price that I could afford. The convenience of city condo living is easily overshadowed by the privacy issues of shared common areas, strata fees, and restrictions on what you can do with your unit. I'd gladly trade that in favour of living in the boonies and commuting an hour each way on the freeway (with another hour stuck in craptastic city traffic each day on the final leg to work, or trying to reach the freeway).

One's social life is how one chooses to make it, and every relationship is a matter of give and take. If the others don't want to drive out to the boonies, that's just them being lazy. Of course, exceptions to that rule can be made for those who really can't make it out (because of disability, or lack of vehicle), but it's not always about, "why can't OP come out to the city to meet with us".

Anyways, that's my 2 cents. Which apparently rounds down to nothing, thanks to our government. :rolleyes:

If OP lives in the suburbs and ends up meeting up with friends I would bet he will be going to meet them 9 times out of 10 anyway. I'm in the same situation where I live in the suburbs and my friends usually live closer to downtown. Whenever we go out to do something it sure as hell won't be in the tricities (you can only go to the mall so many times) so it's more convenient for both of us for me to go to them since they live downtown or on the way there and neither of wants to hang around the suburbs.

Like if my friend in Vancouver texts me to go our for dinner or to the bar, I'm not gonna say "Hey, take 2 skytrains and a bus out to Poco so we can go to Applebee's" both of us will want to go somewhere a little cooler so inevitably that usually means a longer trip for me. Not that good restaurants and activities don't exist in the suburbs, but they are far more sparse.

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