We do need a healthier real estate market and HIGHER SALARIES. It's hard to get people to move here despite it being, in my opinion, the best place in the world to live.
Vancouver being the best place to live in the world is the root cause of the low salaries - more skilled workers here than the local economy can support, which drives down wages.
Taxes are based on market value so it sounds to me like people are paying some insane taxes even on small houses ?
I know a couple of outdoor type people who live very frugally in Vancover in small neat homes they bought way back in the day in point grey and Dunbar that if sold would be instant teardowns but they live in them playing hard and working not much but the taxes they tell me about are insane
it sounds like they deffer them
Taxes are based on market value so it sounds to me like people are paying some insane taxes even on small houses ?
I know a couple of outdoor type people who live very frugally in Vancover in small neat homes they bought way back in the day in point grey and Dunbar that if sold would be instant teardowns but they live in them playing hard and working not much but the taxes they tell me about are insane
it sounds like they deffer them
I don't agree with people complaining about their property taxes… Like their property goes up in value by $400k in one year and they complain that they have to pay another few thousand dollars in property taxes. Step back and think about that for a second - someone's net worth just went up $400k in 12 months and they gotta pay (say an extra $4k of property taxes) - they are still up $396k!! I just made those numbers up, but you get what I'm saying.
I do understand that its more of a cashflow issue than anything though - so people should have the option to defer but they should still be charged interest on the amount deferred.
For reference, the absolute amount of my property tax here in West Van is about 2/3rds what it was in Toronto, and my house is ~2x in value.
I disagree that there are an abundance of professionals here in Van. Many companies I know cant find senior people to hire here. My company brought me out from Toronto because there was no one in Van for the role. I think that part of this is because many of the professionals left when they were starting their career because who can afford to stay at the start of a career with this cost of living? Elsewhere is so much easier. Higher salary and lower cost of living. The math is awkward in Van. There's no banking and little to no industry. This is not a working city -this is a lifestyle city.
Its tough to get professionals to move here from most places - the wives shoot it down because of what the new house looks like (for most), unless they want to say f'it and plunk down way more than they would otherwise. If you're not coming with cash its virtually impossible to come here.
You guys that bought in to the market when prices were reasonable, then enjoyed a decade of dirt cheap rates really hit the jackpot, didn't ya? Lucky fucks.
Yes they were. I wish I was but I'm thankful that I bought March 2015 vs March 2016!
They been living where they are living since well before the turn of the century and while they haven't changed its RE that has changed, I think there are lots of older Vancoverites in this boat
I think the one guy has a bungalow on a 3 million dollar lot in point grey, the other guy does some home renos and climbs alot
They mentioned taxes are crazy but they weren't really complaining probably cuz it just kept sneaking up, they defer taxes yeah you still pay interest on defered taxes but its really low
I pay 1800$ in tax I think those guys are paying more like 15K?
Pulling aside real estate, why is EVERYTHING else so much?
Car insurance the same price as it was in Toronto, which was 2x what I paid for same car, same person in Ottawa. Driving around here is much more like Ottawa than Toronto.
Food!
Gas - youve got to be kidding me! Im thinking of going into hugger mode and getting an electric car - too much $$ is going into gas!
Vancouver has a huge transit tax.
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
- Josiah Stamp
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
- H.G. Wells
Vancouver has a huge transit tax.
Getting more huge for property owners ha ha you had your chance you greedy suckers now you get to subsidize the renters.
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
Pulling aside real estate, why is EVERYTHING else so much?
Car insurance the same price as it was in Toronto, which was 2x what I paid for same car, same person in Ottawa. Driving around here is much more like Ottawa than Toronto.
Food!
Gas - youve got to be kidding me! Im thinking of going into hugger mode and getting an electric car - too much $$ is going into gas!
This too!
Vancouver being the best place to live in the world is the root cause of the low salaries - more skilled workers here than the local economy can support, which drives down wages.
That definitely used to be the case. Until Microsoft and Amazon came to town.
I don't agree with people complaining about their property taxes… Like their property goes up in value by $400k in one year and they complain that they have to pay another few thousand dollars in property taxes. Step back and think about that for a second - someone's net worth just went up $400k in 12 months and they gotta pay (say an extra $4k of property taxes) - they are still up $396k!! I just made those numbers up, but you get what I'm saying.
I do understand that its more of a cashflow issue than anything though - so people should have the option to defer but they should still be charged interest on the amount deferred.
You guys need to look up how property taxes are calculated.
Just because a house goes up 400k doesn't mean you pay taxes directly proportional to that increase.
If the whole neighborhood goes up roughly the same percentage than you're taxes will stay the same (unless the municipality changes the rate then every ones taxes will go up).
http://jaybanks.ca/real-estate/greater-vancouver-property-tax-calculator/
First calculator that I quickly found on google.
You guys need to look up how property taxes are calculated.
Just because a house goes up 400k doesn't mean you pay taxes directly proportional to that increase.
If the whole neighborhood goes up roughly the same percentage than you're taxes will stay the same (unless the municipality changes the rate then every ones taxes will go up).
http://jaybanks.ca/real-estate/greater-vancouver-property-tax-calculator/
First calculator that I quickly found on google.
Are property taxes not calculated as a % of assessed value? I know my example isn't technically worded right, but there is a correlation between assessed value and property tax paid, right? Or are you saying they have a total amount of taxes to raise per neighborhood and they divide it up proportionally based on assessed value? Couldn't figure it out exactly how is it calculated based on the link.
If you put a 10,000 square foot addition onto your 700 square foot home, your taxes are going to go up significantly.
If you don't do anything to your house, it doesn't matter what the street value is assuming everything else in your neighborhood did the same.
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