Totally redone - 32 years ago!

Solid house in quiet area. 2 bdrm & den up. 2 bdrm suite down. Extra large 8'6"x 19' workshop in garage, nice fenced backyard for BBQ. House was totally redone i n 1974. 8-year old roof. Move-in condition. Close to everything.

V607874 $525,000

I love the talk-up in this blurb. The house was totally redone in 1974 (and it cost them $5k to do that, I'd bet), so it's totally modernized, fuel efficient, and man - those avocado appliances are in now! Retro y'know. The pepper-mill patterned wallpaper is catchy too, and the flocked wallpaper in the living room is stunning. Just bring yer plastic-sheathed settee, and yer all set.

And the extra-large workshop - (most are only 7'9"x18.5') - runs the length of the garage, and you can park the Edsel in the other side of this spacious hybrid structure. Vendor will throw in a retro game of Twister, a Bee Gees record, and a Spirograph for the kiddies as an incentive.

The roof is only 8 years old too (previous owners did it).

All this makes it worth it. Especially when the Olympics come. Don't worry about property taxes heading through that 8 year old roof though, you can just flip it for $600k in the spring - when things continue to appreciate 20% plus per year.

Hey Rob C. Do you think I could make a living ghost writing these blurbs?

old is new 2.2

This sweetheart (v6141511) has been around for over a year. I originally did a drive-by in autumn 2005 when it was priced at $385k. One year on it's listed for $509k. That is a 32% increase. That takes balls when the market in general has increased by only ~20%

Maybe they will get $700K by the time the Olympics roll around. It does have six bedrooms, so it's got potential for a quaint little Olympics B'n'B.

old is new 2.1

This place is almost the most famous POS in East Vancouver. It has been alluded to on RET, and VHB.

I don't have the price history for this particular hovel (v5836651 $462k described as "neat and clean"), but the place just across the road was $325k last summer, and I'm sure that it was much more presentable (else I would not have even driven by). Maybe the price was so low because this place is what you would see out your front window?

old is new 2.0

Here's another honey in East Van. It was listed for $369k summer 2005, and is (still?) on the block today for a cool $445k (v6151021). It looks like the same photo' used in the listing last year (my near photographic memory at work), so I wonder if the vendor just keeps putting the price up as the market goes.

A lot of what I will be posting in this vein was never seriously considered at the the time. We just drove by a lot of them. We already felt that the market was nuts, and that a crash was imminent.

unreal.

Update - anonymous has posted that this one sold on Oct. 22nd for $435k after 19 days on the market. I don't know if it ever sold between last summer and then. Are the speculators just flipping these things back and forth? Anyone care to do the math of PTT, commissions, etc. based on a couple of flips?

old is new

I've been meaning to do this for a while. I have a couple of sheets of paper with listings, MLS #'s, addresses and prices from the spring and summer of 2005 when we were looking to buy a home. I thought that it would be interesting to see if the places we looked at were still on the market - whether they are being flipped, or if they have just plain been languishing for 16 months. I have dozens of old listings in e-mails too. The broker stopped e-mailing us when what we were looking for was over $425k - last winter. I have located a few of the listings already, and will be adding them here as the days go by.

This dream home (v6139521) was one that we looked at last summer (2005). It over looks the SkyTrain in between Joyce and 29th Ave. stations, and was nothing short of a tear-down slum when we viewed it. We were actually embarrassed to be looking at it, and felt dirty when we left.

When we looked at it, it was $349K, and listing v519***. We figured at the time that it was "worth" $249k. Now, it has been renovated, and is listed for $449k (Better hurry!). It does not look to be any different outside, but it might be the same photo as the original listing. Maybe I'll waste a half hour and go and look at it to see the "improvements", and report back.

A smashing deal

This house has been for sale in Vancouver for $499G's for five months. It originally sold in April for $450K. Finally, it was torn down to make way for bigger and better.

The 33'x110' lot can still be had for $499G's. Er, maybe not...it must have cost a fair bit to have the back-hoe there for 3 days, and to dispose of the detritus. I'd guess $10k-$30K(?), so maybe the lot could be had for $519K-$529K. Either way, it's a smokin' deal. Hurry before you're priced out forever. The Olympics are coming, y'know.

I did a little morph at the end from the standing (but gutted) house to the final pile of rubble.

vancouver unreal estate 2.1

I lifted this from Vancouver Housing Market Blog.

It illustrates what can be bought for $499G's in Ottawa, and $499G's in Vancouver.

The weather here isn't that fantastic, and I don't ski. So what's the big deal with Vancouver anyhow?

vancouver unreal estate 2.0

This is the house next door to me. It was bought sight-unseen for $450,000 in April 2006 (the house was intact then). It went on the market again right away at $550,000. A few people looked at it and walked away.

In July it was reduced to $539,000, then to $499,000. Finally, the guy that bought it decided to tear it down, and build a new place. It has a great view (over the laneway, and the house behind it) of the city, and the North Shore mountains.

Now here is what you can get in the South-East of France for the same money.link

Vancouver or France?

Vancouver or France?

A sickening comparison between two houses priced roughly the same (the French Chateau being $109 less!...).

This was posted by 'exvancouverite' over at the Vancouver Housing Market Blog, and again at Vancouver Condo Info, and it gives a shocking comparison between house "values" in Vancouver and (in this case) France.

Here's the (West Side) of Vancouver house: $1,280,000 link




and here's the French "house": 899,000 Euros ($1,279,891 CAD)link



The Vancouver house is sitting on a 40'x~120' lot, while the French lot is over 1 acre...

If I had the $1.3 million to drop on a place, I would opt for the French place without more than .25/second of thought.

Which would you go for?

It should be noted that the Winter Olympics will not be hosted in the beautiful Loire valley in France, while the 2010 Winter Olympics will be hosted ~ 3 hours (by road) away from the Vancouver pad.

Ahh, now I see it - the Olympics have added huge value to the Vancouver pad because they might be able to rent the spare room out to Olympic visitors for $200/night.

I will be posting other such comparisons in the coming days, and will also be posting a rant about the 2010 Winter Olympics (if I can ever compose myself from my frothing lividity), so check back soon.