Housing crisis

[common_sense_guy]

So many obvious renters making comments that just make them sound entitled. Make something better of your life then just finishing high school and doing the dead-end job and maybe you could afford a home too.
I am not a homeowner but a renter but I'm not sitting here whining that things should be provided to me for extra cheap because I haven't done anything with my life. If you want cheap rent and your dead-end job go to a town with cheaper rent cuz they'll be plenty of dead-end jobs still there.
It's your life choices you make along the way because you have a right to make whatever choice you want. If you make bad choices and don't better yourself you're not going to go far or have very much and nobody owes you a thing.

[spooker]

So many obvious renters making comments that just make them sound entitled. Make something better of your life then just finishing high school and doing the dead-end job and maybe you could afford a home too.
I am not a homeowner but a renter but I'm not sitting here whining that things should be provided to me for extra cheap because I haven't done anything with my life. If you want cheap rent and your dead-end job go to a town with cheaper rent cuz they'll be plenty of dead-end jobs still there.
It's your life choices you make along the way because you have a right to make whatever choice you want. If you make bad choices and don't better yourself you're not going to go far or have very much and nobody owes you a thing.

It'd be nice if it was that simple ... but the numbers are such that wages have not kept up with rental rates (or even worse housing costs) ... sometimes finding something where you can afford the rent means that other choices are denied to a person ...

[BC Landlord]

It'd be nice if it was that simple ... but the numbers are such that wages have not kept up with rental rates (or even worse housing costs) ... sometimes finding something where you can afford the rent means that other choices are denied to a person ...

Yet, ... some 70% of Canadians are home owners.

[alanjh595]

It'd be nice if it was that simple ... but the numbers are such that wages have not kept up with rental rates (or even worse housing costs) ... sometimes finding something where you can afford the rent means that other choices are denied to a person ...

Yet, ... some 70% of Canadians are home owners.

You can have ONE or the other, but you can't have both. Which one is the most important?

[one wheel]

Buying a house was never easy but with Kelowna's average price now being over a million there's no way I'd recommend a young couple should get into the market at this time ?
Some think Okanagan prices will just keep climbing but I think a large downturn is looming ?

[alanjh595]

Buying a house was never easy but with Kelowna's average price now being over a million there's no way I'd recommend a young couple should get into the market at this time ?
Some think Okanagan prices will just keep climbing but I think a large downturn is looming ?

I, on the other hand, believe that price increases will slow or stop over the next 2 years. BUT, they will never go down.

IF there is a downturn, it will be small and that means that they will climb higher after that.

The first report of the results of the census came out today, there is plenty of evidence to support that prediction as it relates to age and current demographic changes.

[alanjh595]

New housing is going to become even more expensive....

Even in recession, lumber demand expected to be high.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... igh#367394

[69cutlass]

New housing is going to become even more expensive....

Even in recession, lumber demand expected to be high.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Business/ ... igh#367394

Hense we need a revamp of the RTA that is fair to both tenants and landlords and STR need to be taxed just as hotels are. To bring more units back into the rental pool.

[Glacier]

Semantics. Whatever helps you sleep at night. I rent my house out for $900 under market value. What are you doing to help people afford housing?

What you state makes absolutely no sense, unless that is, you interview prospective renters and ask them what is affordable to them.
Your rental may be $900 under market value but is it still "affordable" to your renter?

You could charge $900 over market and still find a renter for whom it is affordable.

But hey, if you want to cheat yourself out of thousands of dollars in rent a year, go for it.

I also rent my place out for $900 under market value. Part of it is that I'm not allowed to increase the rent to market value (market value is rising WAY faster than inflation), and the woman will never leave because it's way cheaper than buying.

But the other reason is that this is a single mom who doesn't have much money. She cannot afford a market value rent, so we give her a deal. She helps us around the yard and feeds the pets when we are gone.

If JLives can afford to give someone a deal who needs it, good for her... life is not all about maximizing your money at the expense of others.

[BC Landlord]

I also rent my place out for $900 under market value. Part of it is that I'm not allowed to increase the rent to market value (market value is rising WAY faster than inflation), and the woman will never leave because it's way cheaper than buying.

And that’s exactly what rent controls do. Putting landlords in a very difficult situation, so every new listing is at least 20-30% higher than it should be, just to compensate for the government’s ignorance.

[GordonH]

I also rent my place out for $900 under market value. Part of it is that I'm not allowed to increase the rent to market value (market value is rising WAY faster than inflation), and the woman will never leave because it's way cheaper than buying.

And that’s exactly what rent controls do. Putting landlords in a very difficult situation, so every new listing is at least 20-30% higher than it should be, just to compensate for the government’s ignorance.

My friend lives in apartment building she’s lived there since early 2000, she isn’t moving because she couldn’t afford current rental rates.
Anyone who believes rental rates would decrease with the removal rent controls is dreaming, landlords are enjoying high rates charged. What they don’t like is long term tenants, they prefer high turnover then they can charge higher market rates.

[Even Steven]

What they don’t like is long term tenants, they prefer high turnover then they can charge higher market rates.

I wouldn't say they prefer high turnover, but it helps to keep up with market rates.

My tenants are moving out soon, and I found new tenants. Rent will go up by 30%. It definitely helps so I can maximize the mortgage repayment on the rental (not super important since it's tax-deductible) and on my own place (important because it's not tax deductible).

[Grandan]

Let's see...it's 40% of MPs that own revenue property right? How many MPs are renters? I'm gunna guess zero. There is no fix to the housing crisis when ' leadership' is in on the game. House prices have risen 125% since Trudy came in in 2015. Rigged from within with essentially zero percent interest rates at the beginning of covid and a total conflict of interest.

Interesting to note that the USA creates more subsidized housing than Canada does.

https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazine ... -strategy/

Housing is a wobbly pillar of social policy (as a housing wonk once said), and nowhere more so than in Canada. Most Canadians buy, sell and rent their housing in the market, and don’t see it as being part of infrastructure or social policy. Other more mainstream needs compete for the public dollar. On a per capita basis, the United States creates more subsidized rentals per year than we do, and offers far more subsidies to low-income private rental tenants. Canada’s peak period for social housing was a generation ago.

[Grandan]

My wife and I live in a large house on an acreage. Most of the houses around me are under 1/4 acre. It has never been farmed, was subdivided into a 2.5 acre lot more than 100 years ago and has a creek bisecting it along the 1000 ft length making it nearly impossible to farm the isolated pockets on the other side.
This property could easily support 20 or more homes and because development would be on the urban side of the creek there would be no conflict with the ALR. Such development would bring much needed sanitary sewerage into the area and help service neighbouring properties with sewer so they could abandon their failing septic systems once and for all. That would allow for infill such as secondary suites, carriage houses and new builds such as 4 plexes into a neighborhood that has no less than 40 residences in what I would say is the first phase of sewer extensions. The #1 priority area appears to be Hall Road area which does not have the access that our area has to services.

It doesn’t sense to me but city hall recently retracted the boundary of the inner core area that pays the lowest DCCs from our south boundary and moved it several hundred metres away. They also retracted the permanent growth boundary to a tighter area of North Glenmore. We still do have all the traffic that really must get home to their mountain top homes and still have all the building materials going past our door to build them
It is walking distance to NG elementary, Dr Knox Middle School, the new recreation complex on Longhill at Valley as well as it is a short walk to the bus to get to UBCO, Orchard Park and Downtown.
So I have to ask, is the city hindering or helping free up land not suitable for farming where appropriate?
It does not go unnoticed that the city got a choice piece of land out of the ALR for the new bus station, quite a bit more than they needed but doesn’t seem to support removing unproductive land for housing preferring instead to support knocking down perfectly fine housing to put up luxury townhouses in their place.

[69cutlass]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton ... evelopment

This is a step in the right direction. Almost an even mix of two and 3 bedroom units. This is housing that the Okanagan needs. Why can't developers in Kelowna do this. Everytime a development is proposed in Kelowna it is 50% 1 bedroom units with the rest being 2 and maybe 3.