 |
Back to E-mail Index |
|
|
Subject: Best Place in Vancouver to buy a rental property
Name: LXXXX XXXXXX
the_email: XXXXXXX@google.com My question is: Canadian-specific QUESTION: I would like to buy a 1 bdr. apt. in Van. as a rental property. Can you please tell me where the best location would be. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- david ingram replies:
What an impossible question to answer!
But here goes.
There is no best place for everyone. It depends upon how
much cash you have available and what you want for an end result.
If you are loaded, have lots of time and are looking for long
term capital appreciation, the area around the Bayshore is very attractive.
Tenants are close to the park and within a quick walk, bus or taxi ride to
downtown shopping or jobs.
If you don't have quite as much, "my" second choice would be
the Concord Pacific Buildings around False Creek's North Shore. It
is easier to take the shuttle ferry over to Granville Island than it is to live
on the Granville Island side and depend on the ferry to get you downtown and
the walk over Granville or Burrard Bridges on a blustery day is worse than the
walk down Robson or even up Georgia.
Either area would be a nice place for you to retire to if you
are buying the rental as an escape valve to live in later on. Plus, there
will not likely be any surprises in the future in regard to the quality of the
areas.
For much less money there are interesting buildings in
Chinatown at the corner of Abbott and Pender for instance, CityGate over at
Terminal and Main Street (I had a wonderful meal at ADEGA RESTAURANT at 1020
Main Street with members of the ODD SQUAD last night for example) and in
Gastown just east of Gassy Jack's statue.
My personal preference would be the Abbott or Gastown
buildings for my lifestyle but there will always be a question mark about the
denizens of the area. I ended up in the middle of a 20 Police Car
takedown of a purse snatcher last night. After dinner, there were three
separate sets of flashing lights in a four block stretch of East Hastings from
Carol to Prior. It might be hard to find a good tenant to rent your property
although the homeowners I know there seem to love the area.
Further out, the 6th and Woodlands area is very cheap and
changing character. Prices are good but you need more management.
If you will look outside of Vancouver, Go over to the North
Shore and look at the Lonsdale Quay area or New Westminster Quay or White Rock
on George Street.
Lots of stuff. What you need to do is sit down and figure out
your budget, your adventure level, your risk tolerance, your future needs with
someone like myself (preferably in May).
Than you need to make offers.
To make offers properly in my opinion, you need a BUYER'S
BROKER / AGENT. A BUYER'S AGENT / BROKER represents "YOU", not the
seller. (I have used the words BROKER and AGENT here because Ontario uses the
word broker rather than agent)
If you have an agent who is the "Seller's" Broker, that agent
is obligated to get the seller the highest price. If you have a BUYER'S
Agent on the other hand, that person is obligated to get you the lowest price
and also point out what is wrong with the property.
At the risk of offending a whole bunch of realtors, watch out
for "dual agency" where you sign a paper which acknowledges that the agent is
working for both of you. A lawyer can NOT represent both sides in a
divorce or a real estate deal. Why should a real estate agent do so?
There is far more risk in picking the property and making the offer than there
is in making the legal transfer through the land registry. To be clear, a
lawyer may "seem" to be representing both parties in a friendly divorce, but
one party has to go out and get a second legal approval/opinion. And, some
lawyers will represent both sides in a real estate transaction where it is all
cash and there are no mortgages to discharge. However, both situations
are rare and NOT normal. In real estate transactions, most seem to be
dual agency transactions which does not protect either the buyer or the seller.
And before a bunch of realtors come down my back, my wife and
I are both T/Nominee members of the Vancouver Real Estate Board and Graduated
from the URBAN LAND ECONOMICS course in PROPERTY MANAGEMENT art UBC. CEN-TA
REALTY is a properly licenced real estate firm in West Vancouver although we
are very inactive at the moment.
Personally, in the past I have participated in some $800
million worth of investment rental realty properties where the properties have
been in my own name or my company's name during some part of the process.
Hope this helps.
David Ingram -
www.centa.com
the CEN-TA Group
REAL ESTATE TAX SPECIALISTS
US / Canada / Mexico Income Tax and Working Visa Matters 108-100 Park Royal South West Vancouver, BC, CANADA V7T 1A2
(604) 913-9133 Fax (604) 913-9123
Cell (604) 657-8451 10 AM to 10 PM 7 days a week |
|
|
