Posted on
March 31, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Please visit our Open House at 205 789 DRAKE ST in Vancouver.
Open House on Saturday, April 2, 2016 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
The apartment you have been waiting for! Open concept layout, SS appliances, quartz counters, new flooring and balcony balcony balcony! HUGE covered deck to entertain and take in the sites, like no other apartment on the market. Great Century Tower located at the crossroads Drake Street and Howe Street. Problem free living as this building has been rainscreened, new decks, windows, lobby and elevators, plumbing (2003). Just a few blocks to all the restaurants, clubs and shopping. Choices Market, Emery Barnes Park & Seawall. Close to all levels of transit. Rentals are allowed, making this perfect for living or investing. Parking is available from the Strata for $50.00 per month. No pets allowed.
Posted on
March 30, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
We have listed a new property at 205 789 DRAKE ST in Vancouver. The apartment you have been waiting for! Open concept layout, SS appliances, quartz counters, new flooring and balcony balcony balcony! HUGE covered deck to entertain and take in the sites, like no other apartment on the market. Great Century Tower located at the crossroads Drake Street and Howe Street. Problem free living as this building has been rainscreened, new decks, windows, lobby and elevators, plumbing (2003). Just a few blocks to all the restaurants, clubs and shopping. Choices Market, Emery Barnes Park & Seawall. Close to all levels of transit. Rentals are allowed, making this perfect for living or investing. Parking is available from the Strata for $50.00 per month. No pets allowed.
Posted on
March 24, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Vancouver’s brewery boom is set continue this year with at least four more craft breweries preparing to open their doors in coming months, joining 10 others that have opened in the city since 2014.
Experts and those in the business say the craft beer rush will likely continue as Vancouverites’ demand for craft beer appears to be stronger than ever.
Between now and the end of the year, several new craft breweries are preparing to open, including Andina Brewing Company at 1507 Powell St., Faculty Brewing Co. at 1830 Ontario, Strathcona Beer Company at 895 Hastings, and Luppolo Brewing Company at 1123 Venables.
In the city of Vancouver, there are 23 craft breweries and brew pubs either open or set to open, said Ken Beattie, the executive director of the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild. Beattie said six opened last year in Vancouver and four opened in 2014. With the four coming this year, it means a total of 14 new craft breweries in three years.
As the number of new breweries keeps rising, there has yet to be any notable failures, Beattie said. “In Vancouver, none. No one has closed their doors,” he said. “That tells me that the public wants quality beer and innovation. They like that there is this pride of place in a neighbourhood.”
It doesn’t appear that the market for craft beer has yet been saturated, he said. “You look at a city like Portland — that has way more breweries, and they really become neighbourhood functions.”
At 1507 Powell St., in the emerging heart of East Vancouver’s brewing district, brothers Andres and Nicolas Amaya are readying a 13,700-square-foot space for what they hope is a fall 2016 opening of Andina Brewing.
Andina Brewing will include a tasting room, as well as growler fills and keg service for selected local pubs. They don’t plan to bottle or can their beer for at least a year.
The Amaya brothers are new to the craft beer business, after becoming fans of locally produced brews in the last five years, Andres Amaya said in an interview. He said he used to work in the hotel industry, while his brother Nicolas worked as a cameraman for CBC news.
“We started looking into the boom of craft beer,” he said. “We saw the tendencies in Portland and Washington state and how it’s moving up here. We thought it was the right time and the right move for us to build one.”
Originally from Colombia, the brothers plan to incorporate South American culture into their beer-making, tasting room theme and food menu, which will feature a rotating ceviche menu.
The most difficult part so far was finding a space for the business. “It was a long process,” Amaya said. “I think it was 11 months of looking for the right spot.”
He said they knew they wanted to be in East Van, near the likes of craft beer pioneer Storm Brewing, and Powell Street Craft Brewing and Parallel 49. “We wanted to be in this area. Not only because we wanted to be with the other breweries and be part of the community, but also this was the right location for us.”
The Amayas eventually leased industrial space in the heart of so-called “Yeast Vancouver”.
The surge in competition doesn’t worry the Amayas. “We are fully confident that — not only us — but any of the ones opening, Luppolo and Strathcona… everyone is going to be successful because the appetite for craft beer, at this point, is unstoppable,” he said. “So for us, the more the merrier.”
And more there will be, said Kevin Kassautzki, the Avison Young senior associate who worked on the leasing deals for Luppolo Brewing and Bomber Brewing.
Like Beattie from the Brewer’s Guild, Kassautzki couldn’t name one Vancouver brewery that has closed down in the three years since 2013 when the B.C. government updated its legislation to allow tasting lounges. The City of Vancouver then started handing out tasting lounge licences to local breweries and distillers, giving the brewers a new, lucrative component to their business, sparking the current craft beer boom.
Kassautzki said that lately more potential brewers are forgoing the bustling brew hub of Mount Pleasant for the emerging craft beer hub centred around a northern tract of East Van in and around Powell and Venables streets. He said a lack of available space and rising rents in Mount Pleasant are to blame.
“There isn’t a lot of vacancy in the Mount Pleasant area for new breweries to enter that market,” he said.
He said light industrial lease rates in Mount Pleasant are now reaching $20 to $25 a square foot, with taxes and operating costs adding $3-$5 per sq. ft. “In East Van, lease rates are still lower than that, where you can still take on space for low double digits on the lease rates, and your taxes [and operating costs] would be three to five dollars.”
Kassautzki said most prospective micro craft brewers are seeking spaces around 5,000 sq. ft., but he’s aware of two groups each seeking a space of between 15,000 and 30,000 sq. ft. in East Van for new breweries. “When a space comes available, it’s usually sought after by multiple groups, and one or two are likely a brewery.”
Kassautzki agreed that the market and number of craft breweries in Vancouver would continue to expand. “I can see it going this way for the foreseeable future.”
Posted on
March 23, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Posted on
March 23, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
We have sold a property at 2006 4400 BUCHANAN ST in Burnaby. Well designed 2 Brdm/2 Bthrm with open plan great for entertaining with spectacular views WEST facing to Downtown YVR and SOUTH views of Burnaby. Floor to ceiling windows let you take in the breathtaking views every day. A larger balcony for outdoor entertaining complements the suite. Kitchen has stainless appliances & quartz countertops. Wood flooring throughout with custom finishes complete the suite. It's less than 60 seconds to shops & restaurants, just across the street from Whole Foods, Save-on Foods and blocks away from Brentwood Town Center, Skytrain & Transit.
Posted on
March 20, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Hundreds of people attended a town hall on Wednesday evening to address concerns about Metro Vancouver's real estate market.
The standing-room-only event, organized by NDP MLA David Eby, was packed with people worried about the skyrocketing cost of housing in the region.
Here are a few of their stories.
Anne Delgiglio, 48, and her husband recently sold their house in North Vancouver.
She says they were trying to be responsible by downsizing. They didn't want to still have a mortgage when her husband, who works as a longshoreman, retires in a few years.
"We were trying to downsize, but there was nothing really to downsize to," she said. "We didn't know the market was going to go crazy."
She says prices have increased by 30 to 40 per cent since they sold their home.
One house they looked at — a "shack" that needed major repairs but listed at $1.4 million — sold at $200,000 over asking.
"I don't know how local people are paying for it," she said. "I just don't understand."
At the moment they're renting — a solution that comes with its own problems, Delgiglio says, noting rents keep increasing and there are few options available.
Barb Sutherland, 68, knows she's one of the lucky ones.
The retired teacher has lived in Vancouver her entire life and owns a house in Dunbar, which she bought with her husband at a reasonable price decades ago.
However, it's her children she's worried about.
"My two children cannot afford to live in Vancouver, and I think it's really important we be able to live in our own communities and work in the same communities," she said.
Her daughter and son-in-law, who are expecting their first child, are renting an apartment in the West End. But Sutherland says they've had bad experiences with landlords in the past.
"As a retired person, I've watched this huge growth in what my house is worth, and I would be very willing to have the house prices go down somewhat if it meant that young families could move in," she said.
Sutherland says she's also concerned about the empty houses on her street.
"People aren't living in there and connecting to the community, and that's what we need — we need vibrant communities," she said.
She says she was "astounded" by a recent report from the City of Vancouver that said vacancy rates in the city are relatively stable.
Herb Varley, 32, understands the perils of unaffordable housing.
The aspiring Simon Fraser University student and housing activist now lives in a subsidized unit with Vancouver Native Housing, but he has also lived in a single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
"It was a first step from homelessness," he said. "That being said, it was one step away from homelessness, too."
His concern is the real estate developers he says are buying up SROs and renting them at higher prices after minimal renovations.
Varley says the city should have more affordable housing for people like him who survive on income assistance. He says politicians such as Eby have forgotten about people living on the Downtown Eastside.
Long-time Vancouver resident Michel Leblanc, 50, says he's wondering where he'll end up.
"It's hard to know if there's even any incentive to stay in Vancouver," Leblanc said while waiting outside for the meeting to begin. "I'm very concerned with the cost of housing."
Leblanc, who has been renting his entire life, says he was "renovicted" from his last place by owners he knew only by their numbered company.
He says he considered buying a home a couple of years ago, but was quickly disheartened.
"The prices have just been going up and up and up, so I pretty much abandoned any prospect in the past year or so," he said.
Leblanc says he makes a "decent income," but can't afford to buy a home in Vancouver, so he's considering moving away or possibly living on a boat.
Posted on
March 18, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Premier Christy Clark has announced British Columbia is taking further action on realtor conduct, conflict of interest and housing affordability.
- In the coming weeks, government will put new rules in place to prevent the potentially predatory practice of real estate contract assignment ─ so-called “shadow flipping.”
- Government looks forward to the Real Estate Council’s independent advisory group recommendations on licensee conduct and potential conflict of interest, such as dual agency representation where one licensee acts for both the seller and buyer in a transaction.
- Finance Minister Michael de Jong and Deputy Premier Rich Coleman will meet with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson to discuss collaborative steps governments can take to further improve affordability in Vancouver.
Real estate contract assignment ─ dubbed “shadow flipping” in media reports ─ refers to the practice where some real estate licensees and some purchasers have taken advantage of rapidly rising prices by using assignment clauses to acquire a client’s home then assign the contract to a third party for a profit. New provincial rules will prevent the abuse of assignment clauses by requiring the express consent of the seller and mandating that any profits from assignments are returned to the home-owner.
The Real Estate Council of British Columbia is responsible for enforcing the licensing and licensee conduct requirements of the Real Estate Services Act and the real estate services regulation. The Province expects the council’s Independent Advisory Group will examine whether the current regulatory regime is adequate to protect consumers and the wider public interest.
The Province looks forward to recommendations that will improve the rules and requirements on licensee conduct to better protect consumers, as well as recommendations to improve administration and enforcement.
To take further action on affordability, de Jong and Coleman will meet with Robertson to discuss collaborative steps governments can take to help increase market and rental housing supply, reduce red tape and investment costs. That conversation will then be broadened to other local governments and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities for a broader, more provincial discussion.
With increasing demand for housing from a strong economy and steady population growth, and restricted supply of single-family homes, prices for single family in most areas of Greater Vancouver have increased between 45% and 70% over the last five years. Prices for multi-family homes, in contrast, have increased between 14% and 40%. The most-recent data show there are about as many single family dwellings in the Vancouver census metropolitan area as in 1991, while the number of condominium units doubled in that time.
In Budget 2016, the Province changed the Property Transfer Tax to help the market respond to mounting demand for housing. The Newly Built Home Exemption offers an incentive for buyers to purchase new construction priced up to $750,000, by providing property transfer tax relief up to $13,000.
Budget 2016 includes measures to provide more affordable housing options for lower-income earners. Capital spending of $355 million over five years will support the construction or renovation of more than 2,000 affordable housing units in communities throughout the province.
Quotes:
Premier Christy Clark ─
“In a fast-rising market, some individuals seek to profit at the expense of homeowners and buyers. Today’s steps address immediate concerns while the Real Estate Council’s independent advisory group conducts its review and brings forward further recommendations on practices in the market. We will work with the City of Vancouver, and then other local governments and the UBCM, on housing affordability issues such as supply and taxation.”
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson ─
“The provincial government’s move to prevent ‘shadow flipping’ is a good first step to reduce the unhealthy speculation that is taking place in our housing market. As Vancouver’s economy grows, we need to make sure that our housing is first and foremost for homes, not to be treated as a commodity. Vancouver City Hall will continue to seek out every option to both protect and increase affordable housing, and I look forward to meeting with the ministers to discuss new tools for both the Province and cities to do so.”
Scott Russell, president BC Real Estate Association ─
“BCREA supports strategies that prevent questionable or unethical activities by real estate agents. While the vast majority of agents in British Columbia work diligently for the best interests of their clients, we applaud the provincial government for taking action to ensure all buyers and sellers are protected.”
Quick Facts:
- On average, private-sector forecasters expect B.C.’s economic growth to rank first among provinces in 2016 and tie for first in 2017 (with Ontario).
- The Lower Mainland is growing at a rapid pace. BC Stats estimates that the population of Metro Vancouver will grow by about 185,000 people over the next five years.
- As a result, pressure on the housing and rental markets will continue to increase if steps are not taken to increase densification and ensure an adequate supply of new housing.
Posted on
March 17, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Here’s an interesting tidbit to share with friends while rehashing Vancouver’s out-of-control real estate market: Nearly 600 homes were flipped in the city last year.
It is a far higher number than in 2014, when 356 homes were re-sold within a year of a previous sale, according to a Vancouver Sun analysis of every quick turnaround of houses and condos in the city of Vancouver between January 2011 and January 2016.
The practice is not illegal, and the numbers don’t explain why some buyers choose to re-sell so quickly, but it’s clear that flipping is increasingly lucrative in this hot market.
The Sun’s data, provided by Landcor Data Corp., shows increased activity on the city’s east side but little growth in flipping on the trendy and expensive west side. This may seem counterintuitive to most, but not to real estate experts who work in east Vancouver.
“East Van is very hot these days because East Van is still an area that people can afford. The west side is becoming unaffordable,” Realtor Amal Chebaya explained.
Chebaya has clients who bought a modest house on East 3rd Avenue in October for $1.2 million, and sold it in February for nearly $1.5 million — pocketing almost $300,000 in just four months. Her clients, she said, had planned to live in the house but circumstances changed, so they put it back on the market and made a quick profit.
“We did just fine on the resale because the market went more crazy since January, and properties were selling more,” Chebaya said.
Still, she argues the new owners would not be able to quickly flip the property again because they’ve now paid “prime dollar” for it.
Landcor used B.C. Assessment rolls to determine how many of the 60,000 houses and condos sold in the city between January 2011 and January 2016 were resold in less than 12 months, so The Sun could say definitively how frequently flipping was happening and whether it was increasing.
The answer brought some surprises. There were 1,874 houses and condos flipped during those five years, roughly three per cent of all sales. The data shows the number of flips jumped dramatically in 2015 but, because the number of property sales was also up, the overall percentage of flips only rose to four per cent.
When broken down by year and property type, though, the percentage of flips climbed much higher for detached houses in 2016 and 2015, and condos in 2016. And each of those sub-categories had the highest or near-the-highest average percentage change between the sale prices, all of them between 22 and 26 per cent.
“The incentive to flip would be greater when there is a rapid increase of prices because you can get a very quick return on your investment,” said David Ley, a University of B.C. geography professor and an expert in real estate.
Landcor, a local analytics firm with a massive database of real estate facts and figures, also broke down the sales into 30 Vancouver neighbourhoods. Numbers were small in some communities, so Ley suggested analyzing only those with a minimum number of flips.
The Sun isolated the 10 neighbourhoods with the highest count of homes flipped in a year, which also had a correspondingly high percentage of flipped homes — all of them between seven and 10 per cent.
In all but one of these top 10, the average price change between sales was greater than 20 per cent, and in some areas as high as 30 or 40 per cent.
Posted on
March 10, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
There was hope answers would come with the publication of a major report on empty homes the city released this morning (March 8).
They did not. The report is now out and there are just as many questions about real-estate prices as there were yesterday.
In January 2016, the benchmark price of a single-family detached home on Vancouver’s east side was $1.23 million, according to the Real Estate Board of Metro Vancouver. Homes on the city’s west side rose to a benchmark price of $2.93 million. A popular theory on why property values have increased so dramatically suggests foreign nationals are parking cash in Vancouver homes and then leaving them empty, thus distorting the real-estate market by separating it from local wealth and wages.
The study the city released today does not prove foreign money is having no effect on Vancouver property prices. However, by failing to find evidence of that where some assumed it would, the data does suggest the possible role of foreign money in Vancouver real-estate could likely be smaller than many have come to assume.
In 2014, the vacancy rate for the City of Vancouver was 4.8, almost exactly what it was 12 years earlier, when the rate was 4.9 percent in 2002. That’s below the national average of seven percent.
 CITY OF VANCOUVER
The vast majority of Vancouver’s empty dwellings are apartments, the study found.
Single-family and duplex homes have a vacancy rate of just one percent, a number that has remained stable for the 12-year period covered by the study.
While the data fails to offer answers related to the affordability of single-family detached homes, it suggests there might be more government can do with condos and apartments to provide some relief to the housing market.
The vacancy rate for Vancouver apartments is 7.2 percent, the study found. That number, while still in line with the national average, represents an estimated 9,750 empty units.
 CITY OF VANCOUVER
The study utilized 12 years’ of anonymized BC Hydro data to determine volatilities in power consumption that can serve as evidence of empty homes. It focused on long-term vacancies, using a definition that aimed to exclude dwellings that might be left empty for a few months but that still had a valid reason to be considered occupied. For example, it would count a house owned by snowbirds who escape to Arizona for December and January as inhabited.
Results of the study were presented to council by Matthew Bourke of the city’s housing policy and projects department and Bruce Townson, a consultant and CEO of Ecotagious Inc.
Townson called attention to the issue of empty condos.
“The non-occupancy rate in apartments dropped from 7.7 percent in 2002 to 7.2 percent in 2014,” he said. “It’s these apartments that actually drive the city’s aggregate, non-occupancy rate.”
He noted the study’s definition of apartments consists of two subsets: purpose-built rental apartments and privately-owned condos.
“In 2014, the CMHC [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation] vacancy rate for purpose-built rental units was just over zero percent; it was about half a percent,” Townson said. “This would mean that the non-occupancy rate for condos, which make up the rest of the segment, would actually be closer to 12.5 percent.”
 CITY OF VANCOUVER
That said, he continued, empty homes in neighbourhoods the study calls Northwest Vancouver and Southwest Vancouver do exist. Those areas together comprise the city’s west side, where property values have climbed the fastest in recent years. They have vacancy rates of 7.4 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, according to the study.
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s downtown core has a vacancy rate of six percent.
Bourke attempted to explain what the city should take from the report.
“What do these findings mean for Vancouver in terms of the big picture?” he asked. “We know that the rate of empty homes in the region and the city is in line with other larger cities in Canada. But affordability is a bigger challenge in Vancouver. And although the rate is flat, as you just saw, the numbers are growing. Many of these units could potentially be rented out, helping to reduce pressure on the existing rental market and housing affordability overall.”
 CITY OF VANCOUVER
While Vancouver condo prices have not increased anywhere near as fast as the value of single-family detached homes, they have still outpaced inflation and growth in wages.
According to data collected by the Real Estate Board of Metro Vancouver, from 2006 to 2015, the price of a one-bedroom condo in Vancouver grew by 41 percent.
Following the presentation of the report, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson brought forward a motion that asks for the provincial government to provide “legal tools to track property ownership and ensure timely occupancy of vacant units”.
Robertson first made an official request for provincial help collecting data on empty homes and property ownership back in May 2015.
A letter he wrote to B.C. Premier Christy Clark suggests the province increase property-transfer taxes on the region’s most expensive homes, introduce taxation measures that would discourage home flipping and reduce speculation, and that the province amend the Vancouver Charter to “strengthen the ability of municipalities to track property ownership and ensure timely occupancy of vacant units”.
Robertson’s letter emphasizes the problem is not just one of higher housing costs, but a matter of prices rising “much faster than inflation or incomes”.
“Call me anytime to discuss!” reads a handwritten note penned alongside the mayor’s signature.
A June 4 response from Clark downplays any role foreign money might play in the region’s real-estate market.
“Industry experts estimate that most of the real estate speculation taking place in the region is being done by local investors,” it reads.
Clark’s letter also argues against the implementation of any new tax.
“Using any method of new taxation with the goal of driving down the price of housing could have the unintended effect of hurting current homeowners across the region,” he warns.
On February 16, B.C. Finance Minister Mike De Jong announced the province finally will begin collecting data related to the foreign ownership of B.C. real estate. He said the government would also raise taxes on sales of properties valued at more than $2 million.
Posted on
March 10, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
The former B.C. NDP headquarters at 5367 Kingsway in Burnaby sold last year.
VICTORIA — The B.C. NDP, which has spent months attacking the government over the issue of foreign ownership in Metro Vancouver’s real estate market, sold its party headquarters last year to what appears to be foreign investors.
Land title records show the NDP’s former two-storey headquarters building at 5367 Kingsway in Burnaby sold for $2.15 million on April 15, 2015, to a company called Utmost Enterprises Ltd.
Utmost Enterprises, which was incorporated just two months before the purchase, lists a registered office at 120-3751 Shell Road in Richmond, which happens to be the same address as an accounting firm whose website says it specializes in “non-resident taxation” practice.
The accounting firm, Lam Tam Lau & Co., would not take questions from The Vancouver Sun on Tuesday.
The directors of Utmost Enterprises are listed as Wei-Teng Hung of Edmonton and Shan He of Delta, with a mortgage on the new property through Mega International Commercial Bank, a Taiwan-based bank with offices in Canada. They could not be reached for comment, and the company’s lawyer, John S.C. Mao, also declined to speak with The Sun.
Provincial NDP president Craig Keating said he pushed for the sale of the building because it was “old and decrepit,” but did not know anything about who purchased it.
“You’ll have to pursue that with the new owners, whoever they were,” he said Tuesday. “We don’t discriminate based upon whether or not people are Canadian citizens.”
“It was an excellent deal,” he added. “We got quite a bit above the assessed (value).”
The NDP purchased the building in 2007 for $1.4 million. It now rents office space in Burnaby.
Keating said it is not hypocritical for the party to sell its headquarters to overseas owners while also attacking the Liberal government for failing to address the issue of foreign buyers that many believe are driving up the prices of real estate across Metro Vancouver.
NDP housing critic David Eby has criticized the Liberals repeatedly for not pursuing a tax on foreign owners who leave properties vacant in the residential housing market.
He has also chastised government for its inaction on commercial real estate, saying it has failed to close a tax loophole that allows foreign investors to avoid the property transfer tax through what are called bare trusts — having a company buy the property and then internally transferring shares in the company to hand off the asset without ownership on the title actually changing and triggering the tax. There is nothing in the land title documents to suggest that was the case in the purchase of the NDP's property.
He said B.C. has potentially lost out on millions in tax revenue, after a Chinese company purchased four of the Bentall Centre office towers in downtown Vancouver last month, and a German billionaire bought Vancouver’s Royal Centre in January.
“Anyone that’s got a good lawyer wouldn’t pay (the transfer tax),” he said. “It’s not just a loophole, it’s generally accepted in British Columbia that this is an accepted way.”
Eby said the party would have faced a human rights tribunal if it refused to sell to someone just because they had a foreign-sounding name.
“The issue is, whether it’s the NDP or any property owner in the Lower Mainland, the provincial government doesn’t have sufficient controls to know whether all appropriate taxes are being paid,” he said.
The B.C. NDP have set aside the $2.15 million it made on the sale of the building. Its affiliated Broadway Commonwealth Society, which holds real estate on behalf of the party, will decide how to spend the money at a future date, said Keating.
The NDP said at its convention last November it still had not paid off debts from the 2013 provincial election, whereas the B.C. Liberals were fundraising in excess of $100,000 a week toward their 2017 election war chest.
Posted on
March 10, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
VANCOUVER — A man has lost his bid to use Vancouver’s rising real estate values to his advantage in a divorce case.
When Darren Stafford Lamont, 55, and Arlene Mae Johnson, 52, were divorced in 2008 after more than 20 years of marriage, she got their modest east Vancouver house.
The 1,877-square-foot matrimonial home had an appraised value of $700,000 at the time of the divorce, but by last September that had risen to $1.18 million.
Lamont, who has since the divorce moved to Sweden and remarried, argued in court that the increased value was a material change in circumstance, which should allow him to have spousal support to his ex-wife either reduced or terminated.
But in dismissing his application, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Frits Verhoeven noted that Lamont made similar arguments in court in 2011, to no avail.
“More importantly, the increase in value of the house does not materially change the conditions, means, needs or other circumstances of either spouse,” said the judge in his ruling.
“The increase in value of the house does not change the present-day financial circumstances of the wife in the slightest. No argument is made that she could or should sell it. It is her residence and that of the two children of the parties.”
The judge added that the home was the same home the couple bought together in 2004 and the value was in the land, not the house.
“In submissions, the husband argues that the wife could borrow against the equity in the house. How that would improve her financial circumstances is unexplained. She would then have to make even larger mortgage payments.”
Johnson’s retirement position was no better than Lamont’s position, and whether the home continues to increase in value and whether she could be in a position to sell it at the time of her retirement was “entirely speculative,” said the judge.
“The husband’s financial position 10 years from now is also not known at this time. The value of his interest in the home in Sweden 10 or more years from now is unknown. None of this affects the circumstances including the needs of the husband or the wife today.”
While Lamont lost out on his spousal support arguments, the judge ruled in his favour when he dismissed Johnson’s application in connection with a child-support issue.
Posted on
March 9, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
A controversial sales tactic that involves wholesalers making unsolicited cash offers to homeowners is making some people a lot of money and making others very angry.
Ads have popped up promising homeowners that they can sell their home in 24 hours with no fees. Some are offering illegal services with wholesalers acting like Realtors — unlicensed and unregulated.
“These flyers from these real estate wholesalers are filling the inbox of my constituents, of people across the Lower Mainland. My question is, who is policing this? Who is looking into these practices? These are totally unregulated,” NDP housing critic David Eby said.
READ MORE: City report shows no change in the percentage of empty homes since 2002
Here’s how it works: an unlicensed wholesaler approaches a homeowner and offers a private cash sale with no fees. The wholesaler then assigns the contract to an investor and the unlicensed agent collects a lucrative fee of about 10 per cent.
B.C.’s superintendent of real estate, Carolyn Rogers, says her office is doing something about the problem and has shut down some individuals, but said it’s difficult for them to know if they have started doing business again under a different name.
Eby said the onus should not be on the homeowner to complain.
“It’s all reactionary,” Eby said. “It doesn’t seem to me that there’s anybody out there auditing records, looking into these things, making sure these rules are followed. The problem is a lot of these seniors who get ripped off — who get taken advantage of — don’t know that that happened.”
Rogers said she doesn’t have a police force at her disposal. Her investigations are complaint-driven.
With no signs of the market slowing down, it’s a case of seller beware.
“You should be cautious if you’re getting approached by people who specifically tell you, ‘I’m not licensed and that’s a good thing for you because you’re going to save money.’ You should be wary of that type of approach,” Rogers said.
Posted on
March 9, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Buying their first home was supposed to be an exciting experience for Surrey residents Jared and Nicole Green. Instead, the couple says it left them dismayed.
That because the Greens, who are also expecting their first child, found out too late that the front yard at their pre-construction townhome would be covered in a concrete slab.
The concrete slab provides access to water supply lines that connect the complex to the City of Surrey water main. Jared Green told CTV News he wasn’t told about the water chamber before they signed the contract, and they wouldn’t have decided to buy the home if they’d known.
He said he didn’t notice anything unusual during the initial phase of construction because concrete slab was covered by a huge shipping container.
"I came by the place several times to look at it but was there. I just didn't see it," Green told CTV News. But he sees it now and wants something done.
The location was approved by the City of Surrey but its design and installation was done by the developer, according to a city engineer.
Green said he dealt directly with the builder when he signed the contract and now wishes he had his own real estate agent or lawyer looking over the contract and disclosures before he signed the deal.
The developer is Brookside Walk Holdings and one of its officers, Brian Kirkwood, who is also a licensed realtor, signed the deal. A clause in the contract encouraged the buyer to get their own independent legal advice.
The Greens didn’t when they signed but now have retained legal advice to resolve the issue.
"There is nothing in the disclosure forms we've been able to find to date which would justify the giant concrete bunker in the front lawn," lawyer Paul Roxburgh told CTV News.
CTV News reached out eight times to Brookside Walk Holdings developer, Brian Kirkwood, through calls and email but has received no response. At one point we were able to get Kirkwood on his cell phone but after we explained why we were calling, the line went dead. Calls back to the same number went to voicemail and we left messages which have not been returned.
The Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board says buyers need to have an advocate working on their behalf when buying a “property by description” or prebuilt construction.
"It's really easy for a consumer to walk into a show suite and say I like what I see here," says Board president Darcy McLeod. “Certainly having somebody that’s on your side that knows what to look for and knows the potential pitfalls of purchasing new construction is really important.”
The Greens’ lawyer doesn’t believe anyone slipped anything into the paperwork. He believes that the developer likely didn’t give it much thought when he put the water chamber in the yard. However, in the end, he believes his client will win.
“Whether this is negotiated or litigated my client will either receive money or it will be moved, " Roxburgh told us.
The experience has soured the first time homebuyers on ever buying something sight unseen again. Green hopes other people learn from his situation.
“I don't know if we'll buy brand new again next time,” said Green, “cause you never know what could be in your yard,”
Posted on
March 9, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp., the crown corporation that backstops mortgages and tracks new housing data, has been in contact with at least eight government agencies to find data on offshore buyers in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal as prices continue to soar, according to 486 pages of e-mails, briefing notes, and other documents Bloomberg News obtained through a freedom of information request.
“At this time, no existing tool can provide a definitive measure of the level of foreign investment in Canada’s housing markets,” Karine LeBlanc, an agency spokeswoman, said in an e-mail Friday. “That said, CMHC regularly engages in discussions internally, as well as with industry experts, as part of its continued efforts to develop a program of work that would better capture data on foreign buyers.”
Prices Surge
The push for data comes amid concerns that foreign money is boosting prices, making housing unaffordable for locals and putting it at risk of a crash if the funds pull out quickly. Politicians have been under pressure from many quarters, including Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and HSBC Holdings Plc to get a better handle on the numbers and consider measures to cool the inflow.
CMHC President Evan Siddall said in November that data collection on foreign investment was one of his priorities. “Accurate and reliable” figures, not just anecdotes, would help the agency gauge risk and instability, he said at the time.
Since then, prices have continued to accelerate, with the benchmark price of a detached home in Vancouver rising 27 per cent to $1.3 million in February from the same month a year ago. Toronto average prices have hit $1.21 million, and Montreal continues to draw oversees buyers.
Drivers Licences
A core team of analysts at CMHC held several meetings to discuss how best to tackle the data gap. Researchers had initial meetings with agencies including the Canada Revenue Agency and Fintrac, CMHC confirmed. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada monitors money laundering and out-of-country transactions of at least $10,000. The documents show CMHC also planned or had meetings with the Bank of Canada, British Columbia’s housing and property assessment agencies, and the department of finance to start a data working group.
Throughout their internal meetings, the Ottawa-based agency laboured on the definition of a foreign investor. At one point, CMHC researchers considered delving into drivers-licence data to determine whether a home buyer was a foreigner, as visitors and temporary citizens can apply for a license in Ontario. CMHC is no longer considering this option, LeBlanc said. In the end, the agency opted for a definition similar to one used by global real estate consulting firm Knight Frank LLP, according to LeBlanc.
International Students
“CMHC will measure the level of foreign investment by determining if the property is owned by a person whose permanent residence is outside of Canada,” she said.
That review includes international students, some of whom live in million-dollar homes near the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver.
“Anecdotal evidence indicates that many properties in the Vancouver area are bought by foreign students (and their families) to live in while they go to school,” LeBlanc said in the e-mail Friday. “Foreign students are only temporary residents of Canada, and therefore would be counted as non-permanent residents of Canada.” Canadians whose primary residence is outside the country but make money off real estate in Canada may also be classified as foreign buyers, meeting minutes show.
The documents show CMHC worked with Statistics Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada to find that fewer than 18 per cent of international students in 2014 stayed to participate in a program that would make them eligible for citizenship.
CMHC is taking concrete steps this year. It’s expanding the housing starts and completions survey to ask developers in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal to estimate the number of purchases by non-Canadians. CMHC is holding meetings with builders this year to discuss this and will compile the data at the end of the year, LeBlanc said.
Land Registries
The agency is also working with real estate boards in those cities to discuss the best way of collecting data at the time of sale, and will gauge whether to proceed with this route in the third quarter, she said. CMHC was also considering a survey of Vancouver realtors this year.
The agency has also started discussions with provincial land registries and assessment companies, including JLR Land Title Solutions Inc., Municipal Property Assessment Corp., and Landcor Data Corp., to see if CMHC could pull and compare property and mailing addresses. If someone’s mailing address is different than their registered home address, it might indicate an investment property. If their mailing address is outside the country or a lawyer’s office, it could point to a foreign buyer. CMHC has asked the provinces for the same data.
Electronic Records
After meetings with realtors, lawyers and condo developers in Vancouver, CMHC market analysts pointed to the lack of transparency in the market. Realtors often don’t see residency status or identification such as a passport, and that information isn’t stored electronically at the brokerage. Lawyers and bankers who run the transaction aren’t obligated to pass on residency information and buyers don’t regularly check a citizenship box when paying land-transfer tax.
“Conveyance is done through the lawyers and bankers,” minutes from a meeting show. “Money transfers should get passed onto Fintrac. Whether this is taking place or not is an issue.”
Previously, CMHC has tried to glean the scope of foreign investment with a survey of property managers that found less than 6 per cent of condos were bought by people who reside outside the country.
Posted on
March 9, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
When Eileen Holt stepped into Vancouver’s dizzying housing market, she never imagined she would come out with a half duplex.
A business-development manager for an engineering consultant firm and a recent empty nester, Ms. Holt had spent two decades in a large suburban home and was looking for a detached house with a suite that she could rent out in Vancouver’s red-hot Commercial Drive area.
But as prices skyrocketed, she was left contemplating fixer-uppers that required major repairs – and found herself at the losing end of several bidding wars. “Anything that was in the $800,000 range was going for $1.2-million or more,” she says, adding that there were often 10 or more buyers vying for the properties, most of which sold in a single weekend. “One of them went for $1.6-million.”
The only bidding war she won came with an inspection report so damning that she walked away.
So when her agent sent her a listing for a 1,200-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bath property that was in nearly new condition, in a perfect location and within her price range, she jumped at the chance. The difference? It was a half duplex.
“I’m thrilled. The space is actually bigger than the house that had the accepted offer, it’s newer, I have no strata fees and I have a lovely kitchen,” Ms. Holt says. A small garden and a mountain view were also big selling points. “Everything is new, fresh and clean, and I don’t have to be in repair mode from the very beginning.”
Ms. Holt is not alone. In fact, as legions of Vancouver buyers get priced out of the detached-home market, more and more are turning to half duplexes and larger townhouses, which boast many of the same features, but at a significantly lower cost.
“Because of the rapid appreciation of detached-home prices, there’s pressure on the next best thing, which is a duplex,” says Real Estate Board of Vancouver president Darcy McLeod, who says the trend is happening across Vancouver but especially in East Vancouver, where zoning allows for more duplexes to be built. “They get a little bit of a land, a reasonable sized home, and in a neighbourhood they want to be.”
That increasing demand, ironically, is pushing prices up at a pace usually reserved for single-family homes – and triggering bidding wars. According to Mr. McLeod, in the last quarter of 2014, the average sold price for an East Vancouver half duplex was $786,816; one year later at the end of 2015 it was an astonishing $961,460. Now most three-bedrooms are selling for $1-million or more.
On the West Side, prices range from roughly $1.2-million to $2-million, a sizable leap from prices even one year previous.
The demand for larger townhomes is also rapidly ramping up. Revard Dufresne and his wife purchased a 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom townhouse on Victoria Drive near East 19th for $735,000 in 2013; less than three years later, they put it up for sale at $988,000. The demand was so great that potential buyers were making cash offers even before the first open house; after a bidding war a few days later, it sold for $1.1-million.
“I couldn’t believe the demand. I follow real estate but I still couldn’t wrap my mind around how many calls our agent got,” says Mr. Dufresne, who bought a large detached house outside Vancouver where he and his wife plan to raise their kids. “And when it went for $112,000 over asking, it totally floored us. We were jumping around like we had won the lottery.”
Agents Ruth Chuang and Corey Martin of popular East Vancouver real estate company Ruth & David say that a growing number of buyers are choosing half duplexes – not only because of the more manageable prices, but because they tend to be newer and more efficiently laid out; and, unlike older fixer uppers, have more bathrooms and come with storage and a garage. What’s more, expenses such as property taxes and maintenance costs are shared between co-owners – without having to fork over hefty strata fees.
Ms. Chuang adds that most families buying single-family homes in Vancouver rely on the income from secondary suites, which can come with their own headaches; and in the end, the floor space the owners occupy is often smaller than most duplex properties, which generally range from 1,200 to 1,500 square feet, but can be as large as 2,000 square feet or more.
Mostly, though, it allows them to stay in the neighbourhoods they love, and still raise a family.
“There is more acceptance of the half duplex as our major primary residence, something that people can actually stay in for a long time – whereas before, it was more of a stepping stone,” Ms. Chuang says. “You can stay in the neighbourhood and still go to school, go to work, go shopping, so it’s no different than the detached. People will sacrifice the big house, because it’s more about community.”
But young families entering the market aren’t the only ones boosting their popularity: many empty nesters are downsizing into half duplexes because they can cash in on their pricey houses, pass on some of their gains to their kids, and still have the feel of a detached home.
Of course, half duplexes aren’t without their downsides. The property is shared, and if you end up with a bad co-owner, you’re stuck. What’s more, if one owner wants to perform a particular repair – replace an old roof, say – and the other doesn’t, there is nobody to break the tie.
As it stands, most neighbourhoods aren’t zoned for half duplexes, and in those that are, it’s only in very limited pockets, which is another factor that’s propelling demand; but Mr. Martin is hopeful that will change. Residents in single-family neighbourhoods don’t tend to want condo towers because they’re concerned it will ruin the area’s character; but duplexes look like single-family dwellings, so they’re considered a more palatable option in the city’s drive for density and affordability.
“A half duplex ties in with the surrounding neighbourhood. Most people wouldn’t even know that’s what it was unless they were specifically looking at it. And it’s a way to make homes for families. The reality is, with more condos going in, there is such an incredible lack of three-bedroom properties for anybody who has a family that it’s actually shocking,” says Mr. Martin, who adds that three-bedroom duplexes and townhouses get snapped up almost instantly. He would also like to see the city allow secondary suites in half duplexes, because they could help alleviate the lack of affordable rentals and give growing families room to expand. “To me it’s such an easy fix.”
Ms. Holt couldn’t agree more. Six months after her purchase, she’s still thrilled with her half duplex, loves her neighbours and is looking forward to her first spring in her small garden. As with most half-duplex buyers, she was comfortable with sacrificing a large yard and sole ownership for a more manageable mortgage and a prime urban location. She’s also building equity fast: since August, the value of her property has risen roughly $70,000, if not more.
“I feel like this is where I always should have been,” Ms. Holt says assuredly. “And from the city’s point of view I can see the attractiveness. From the outside it looks like a 2,500-square-foot house, but there are two families living here. And 1,200 square feet is lots of space for a family.
“I think people need to retweak their thinking about how much space they really need.”
Posted on
March 8, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
In real estate markets with large numbers of Chinese clients, it is vital that agents understand the principals of Feng Shui.
More than eight out of 10 Chinese-Americans believe Feng Shui plays an important role in house selection and a third will not buy though an agent does not understand Feng Shui principles, according to data from the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.
Leading Vancouver broker and real estate radio presenter, Tina Mak, tells OPP.Today that it is not just homes to which Feng Shui principles can be applied, but cities as well.
“If you believe in Feng Shui, I’ve been told by Feng Shui master who says Vancouver has the benefit of having good Feng Shui, with mountains at its back and water at its feet, together with its beautiful scenery, pristine air and receptiveness to foreigners. This great energy in our city draws many foreigners here from all over the world not just Asians.”
Feng means wind and Shui means water. In Chinese culture wind and water are associated with good health, so good Feng Shui can mean good fortune, while bad Feng Shui can lead to misfortune.
Feng Shui fortifies a home with positive energy known as chi… luck, money, positive energy, also affects owner’s health.
Feng Shui examines how the placement of things and objects within it affect the energy flow in the living environment, and how these objects interact with and influence a person’s personal energy flow. Everything has energy, even inanimate objects. Feng shui helps guide that energy and let it flow freely through the home.
Tina Mak, Founding President of Asian Real Estate Association of America and Vancouver Chapter International Committee Chair of AREAA National 2014-2015, says Feng Shui can be vital to Chinese buyers, particularly those in their 40s and 50s.
“It reflects and shapes most of the traditional Chinese cultural values, Chinese philosophy, Chinese culture. It is non-verbal and is believed to be responsible for determining health, prosperity, create harmony and good luck.
“It is extremely important to the X generation. Less to gen Y especially those who are second-plus generation. However, if parents pay for the purchase then Gen Y needs to listen and obey!”
For those who follow its principals it plays an important part in the choice of property. “No deal can be made if basic principal is not met,” she says.
Ms Mak’s says that for agents it is worth taking notice of Feng Shui it even if you don’t really believe in it and to be aware that Asians have different views of Feng Shui.
“This might affect the future sale if you believe the future buyer could be Asian. People from different parts of Asia have different belief system. Even the Northern and Southern part of China Chinese have a different view of Feng Shui. Filipino Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai Chinese etc. all have their own belief systems.”
The Vancouver property market, which has seen median prices reach xxx, is still in strong demand from investors, including those from Asia, says Ms Mak.
Residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 2,519 in January 2016, up 31.7% year-on-year and 46% above the 10-year sales average for the month – the second highest January on record, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
“Asian sales are still going strong, but the local market and American sales are very strong as well. Therefore, the market in general is very hot. We can blame it on low interest rate but Vancouver has been getting most of the action.”
Posted on
March 1, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
Erica Shalinsky dutifully places her shoes among a pile at the front door before walking into a three-bedroom duplex unit for sale on the edge of Vancouver’s trendy Mount Pleasant neighbourhood that has attracted dozens of young families in the span of two hours.
If Ms. Shalinsky and her fiancé decide to put in an offer – which they’ve already done, unsuccessfully, for two other properties – they’ll have to do something that would seem unthinkable in almost any other market: make a bid with absolutely zero strings attached.
“My fiancé spent the entire day preparing everything, doing our due diligence on the fly, so we could make a quick decision [to submit an offer with no subjects],” says Ms. Shalinsky, who works in advertising. “Then what happens is there’s always someone that comes out of nowhere [to outbid you].”
Such unconditional offers have become routine in Vancouver’s out-of-control housing market, where a single listing can attract dozens of bids and any condition on a contract, such as the need to secure financing or even have the home inspected, can cause a seller to skip to the next prospective buyer. That forces aspiring homeowners to do their due diligence on the property’s history in a matter of hours – not days – if they want to win an increasingly intense bidding process that experts say could be leaving buyers vulnerable.
It’s also a practice the province’s real estate regulator has warned about as recently as last summer.
There is no way to know how common such offers are, since no agency tracks the phenomenon, but a handful of Vancouver-area real estate agents have told The Globe and Mail such agreements have become routine in the region in the past two years.
While sales in Metro Vancouver have surged in the past year, listings have fallen. There were 6,635 residential properties of all types listed last month, which was down 38.6 per cent from the same time last year, according to the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
In a bulletin last August, the Real Estate Council of B.C., the self-governing body that oversees agents and brokerage firms, issued a warning to licensees asked to write unconditional offers.
“Advise your clients that writing an offer with no subject clauses could expose them to many potential risks,” the bulletin states. “Ensure they understand that in moving forward without subject conditions they are accepting those risks.”
Tom Davidoff, a real estate economist at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business, said buyers should complete an inspection and secure financing from a bank before tendering a bid in what is “very much a seller’s market.”
“The question is: do you spend $500 on a home inspection? It’s not clear you should before you bid because the probability of being the winning bidder is pretty low” Prof. Davidoff said.
Still, he said a preoffer home inspection is the necessary tradeoff to make a winning bid that contains no clauses as “you could be out 20, 50 grand for something you didn’t know [about] that an engineer found.”
Those buying strata properties must also spend hours in the tense lead-up to an offer poring over strata council documents to ensure against any other problems with the unit, he said.
When they made their last bid, Ms. Shalinksy said she and her fiancé went to an open house on the weekend and submitted their offer – without any subjects – by Monday evening. In between, they had to organize chaotic visits by family members and tour the home with friends capable of inspecting it properly for flaws, as well as getting a preapproved mortgage from the bank.
In the end, none of that mattered, as they were outbid by another party.
Ron Basra, Ms. Shalinsky’s agent who specializes in the neighbourhood, said the clear lack of inventory in Vancouver is a “major issue” for growing young families locked out of the city’s exorbitant west side, where last month’s median sold price for detached houses reached $3.5-million.
“The problem is we can’t go south because of the U.S., we can’t go west because of water, we can’t go north because of the mountains,” Mr. Basra said of the region. “We can only go east and we can go high density.”
He said he has had clients take up to two years to buy a property in the Kensington/Cedar Cottage neighbourhood.
Ms. Shalinsky says she remains hopeful she can start a family in Vancouver in a home she owns, citing their plan to pool resources and buy a place with her future brother-in-law as an edge over other buyers.
“My biggest concern is I work very hard to be here and I know how hard it is. I’m worried all my friends are going to leave.”
Posted on
March 1, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
We have sold a property at 6740 197 ST in Langley. Immaculate Rancher on a 4000 square foot lot, in the Willoughby area. Nearly 1400 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Updates include crown moulding, fresh paint, 3 year old stainless steel appliances, 2 year old hot water tank, laminate floors, updated bathrooms and 10 year old roof. Walk to Willowbrook Mall and Langley Meadows Elementary School. First showings at open house Sat Feb 20th 11-1pm and Sun Feb 21 11-1pm.
Posted on
March 1, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
We have sold a property at 6740 197 ST in Langley. Immaculate Rancher on a 4000 square foot lot, in the Willoughby area. Nearly 1400 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Updates include crown moulding, fresh paint, 3 year old stainless steel appliances, 2 year old hot water tank, laminate floors, updated bathrooms and 10 year old roof. Walk to Willowbrook Mall and Langley Meadows Elementary School. First showings at open house Sat Feb 20th 11-1pm and Sun Feb 21 11-1pm.
Posted on
February 29, 2016
by
Paul Liberatore
An empty house in the 4100-block West 8th Avenue in Vancouver as it appeared on Feb. 3.
Photograph by: Steve Bosch , PROVINCE
VANCOUVER -- A $6.2-million Point Grey home that has been left to rot by a Chinese real estate tycoon now is on the market for $7.2 million.
In early February Postmedia News reported that the home — in the 4100-block West 8th Avenue, bought for $4.6 million in July 2011 by Huaican Ren and his wife Xuepei Sun — was subject to a City of Vancouver “untidy premises” order.
Huaican Ren is founder of a number of China-based companies with interests in real estate development, as well as gemstones, retailing, tourism, and restaurants. His wife is a shareholder in companies.
According to the Global Real Estate Institute, Huaican Ren is chairman of Kunming North Star Enterprise Company Limited and is among “the world’s leading real estate players.”
B.C. property documents say Huaican Ren and his wife bought the Point Grey home through a property transfer in a Beijing law office.
The previous owner, a Chinese investor, flipped the home shortly after buying it for $3.35 million in 2010.
In early February, a City of Vancouver “untidy premises” order made in June 2015 was left pinned to the Point Grey home’s door.
A neighbour said the wealthy couple had never been seen in the vacant home, which features broken windows and rotting structure.
Huaican Ren and his wife also own a $3.57-million Arbutus Ridge home that also appeared to be vacant.
The Province attended the Arbutus Ridge home last week seeking to speak to Huaican Ren for this story, and attempted to reach Huaican Ren through the listing brokerage for the Point Grey home.
No one answered the door at the Arbutus Ridge home. Windows were shuttered, but a phone book that could be seen left on the home’s porch in early February had been removed. Huaican Ren could not be located for comment.
The Point Grey home was put up for sale shortly after the first report by Postmedia News in early February.
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