July 20, 2005
Housing Market
With all this free time, it has given me time to think about my future and what my plans are. You know... 10 to 40 years down the road... my career with who and where, finances and grad school. Going away every year is taking its toll financially, especially after this trip. I'm not necessarily talking about the money I'm spending overseas, but the money I'm not making when I'm away. Just crap like that...
Then everyday when I go out, I get reminded how dismal my future might look. You see these two homes... just a block away from my house... they were built sometime earlier this year, brand spanking new! (Most homes in Vancouver are usually old, anywhere from 10-40 years old...)
Guess how much they are asking for it..... Stop right here and carefully think about it before you scroll down further.
I mean... how much would you be willing to pay for it.
Does this house look similar to yours? If so, should be the same price as yours eh?
Came up with a price yet?
...... ready to see value on these homes?
.... I doubt you are!
..... alright, here goes....
They are asking for $760,000 Canadian. That's about $623,000 U.S. with the weak US dollar. That's right... its disgusting. Like other homes here, it comes with a big basement - 2 bedrooms, washroom and etc... probably get about $1,200/month if renting it out (very common here here).
Aesthically speaking, its not even that appealing compared with other homes in the neighbourhood. Anyways, that's your housing market in Vancouver... it has soared over the last couple of years. Homes that use to be $400,000-$500,000 now cost over $700,000. The soar in prices is simply "North Vancouver is simply the place to be"... I use to think it was partly due to the 2010 Olympics. Well, you haven't seen the West Vancouver homes yet... > MILLION DOLLAR homes. That's what Jon and I can do next time, stroll down the strees of West Vancouver and visit the Canadian NHLer's and Hollywood celebrities' homes.
As for my future... maybe I should move to Calgary where the homes are about the same as Texas.
Posted by Jay at July 20, 2005 11:39 AMwow, that's crazy. man, shesh. Get to working I guess, maybe if you save for 30 years, you can put a down payment on one of those!
How's the job search going?
Posted by: Jonathan at July 20, 2005 11:01 PMJay:
That's so expensive.Amazing me.
When unle move to new house,will you come back Taiwan?
What celebrities live up there?
Posted by: John at July 21, 2005 09:08 AMI'm only going to tell you this once:
Owning a house is not an asset, it is an expense. The traditional way of thinking will tell you the exact opposite. They are the ones locked down with 25 years of payments and the high possiblity of devalued property. Invest in things which will return revenues for you like stocks, bonds, or renting out a small house. If you do this, you can own your dream house within 10 years. Reward yourself after the hardwork, not before.
Posted by: Master Chi at July 22, 2005 07:42 AMJay,
Dude just move out her to Lubbock. You can get a nice three bedroom two bath house for around 80,000 dollars and the real estate is appreciating at 3-5% every year. See how it all works out. Of course international work could prove difficult and the cuisine well.... but cheap houses that we got and if you were to move to Snyder Tx you could get a whole house for like 30,000 dollars. It's all about location.
Jen