Crackhouse or Mansion? can you guess correctly?

[Svnla]

I read a story in Wall Street Journal paper today http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...61248928.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_realestate about home pricing in Vancouver, Canada and it is beyond reasonable.

This website www.crackhouseormansion.com shows a few of the houses.

Can you guess which one is crackhouse and which one is worth million?

 

[ShawnD1]

OOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDD

This was posted years ago.

 

[Macamus Prime]

$1MM to $1.5MM for houses that don't look to be more than $200K.

 

[Texashiker]

How do regular working class people afford to live in that city?

There is no way my wife and I could afford to live there. We would have to relocate to be able to afford to buy.

 

[ShawnD1]

How do regular working class people afford to live in that city?

Simply put, life sucks in cities like Vancouver or New York. You work your ass off, pull in 90k per year at some engineering firm, then go home to your studio apartment in the crackhead part of town that still costs $20,000 per year to rent.

 

[Texashiker]

Simply put, life sucks in cities like Vancouver or New York. You work your ass off, pull in 90k per year at some engineering firm, then go home to your studio apartment in the crackhead part of town that still costs $20,000 per year to rent.

Screw that, it would be time for my family to relocate.

Between 1999 and 2004 my family an I relocated 4 times in the search for affordable housing. We were finally able to find something that did not cost a future. The drawback, we live in a rural area. But then again, we do not have to deal with city traffic.

Between the high cost of housing, and the traffic, I see no reason to live in a big city.

 

[actuarial]

Simply put, life sucks in cities like Vancouver or New York. You work your ass off, pull in 90k per year at some engineering firm, then go home to your studio apartment in the crackhead part of town that still costs $20,000 per year to rent.

It's not nearly that bad in TO. I thought they were comparable, but obviously not. I work downtown, and I rented a condo for $1,500 / month for 650 sq/ft, but that is RIGHT downtown in the club district, across the road from Skydome. I could rent elsewhere a lot cheaper.

The new boutique condos that are going up downtown are priced about $600 per sq/ft.

I wanted to buy something to grow a family in, so I moved into the suburbs and commute an hour now. $140 per sq/ft is a lot more reasonable.

 

[Codewiz]

Got 13 out of 16 correct

 

[Blackjack200]

Simply put, life sucks in cities like Vancouver or New York. You work your ass off, pull in 90k per year at some engineering firm, then go home to your studio apartment in the crackhead part of town that still costs $20,000 per year to rent.

Not everyone is an engineer. Someone that works in finance can haul in low six figures without killer hours. You can get a decent (but small) apartment for $4k/month in a nice neighborhood. If you're splitting the rent with your SO who is also making a decent living, it's doable.

Screw that, it would be time for my family to relocate.

Between 1999 and 2004 my family an I relocated 4 times in the search for affordable housing. We were finally able to find something that did not cost a future. The drawback, we live in a rural area. But then again, we do not have to deal with city traffic.

Between the high cost of housing, and the traffic, I see no reason to live in a big city.

That's you. Some people enjoy living in a big city and having access to all kinds of dining, entertainment, and cultural stuff. And most people that live in NY don't have a car at all. They take the subway or ride a bike

 

[Blackjack200]

I wanted to buy something to grow a family in, so I moved into the suburbs and commute an hour now. $140 per sq/ft is a lot more reasonable.

I would never be able to do that. I hate commuting long distance.

 

[SKORPI0]

OOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDD

This was posted years ago.

Crack House or Mansion April 2010
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=29702178

 

[Texashiker]

That's you. Some people enjoy living in a big city and having access to all kinds of dining, entertainment, and cultural stuff. And most people that live in NY don't have a car at all. They take the subway or ride a bike

I do miss having access to the malls, but its just something you have to adapt to. Instead of going shopping at the local stores, my wife and I order a lot of stuff through sites like Amazon.

Living in a rural area is nice, its quiet, the crime rate is low, no traffic and get from one side of town to the other in 10 minutes.

But overall, my wife and I like the affordable housing here. Instead of buying a 1/4 acre lot, we can afford to buy a couple of acres.

 

[actuarial]

I would never be able to do that. I hate commuting long distance.

I take the train and sleep, work a 5 minute walk from Union Station.

 

[Blackjack200]

I take the train and sleep, work a 5 minute walk from Union Station.

That I could handle, if the trains were clean and not too packed.

 

[ShawnD1]

That's you. Some people enjoy living in a big city and having access to all kinds of dining, entertainment, and cultural stuff. And most people that live in NY don't have a car at all. They take the subway or ride a bike

And can you guess how long it takes to get anywhere using the subway? You can't really bike in the winter.

In my small 700k population city, I can drive from one edge of the city to the other in less than 30 minutes. Transit is still good enough that I take the bus to work. A reasonable single bedroom apartment can be had for $700/mo. Average household income is just under 99k. stat.
Big cities have the same basic income stats except rent is 10x higher so you can't own a house, traffic is 10x worse so a car is virtually useless. Needing to use public transit all the time sucks. Needing to take a cab to get to and from the grocery store sucks too (unless you feel like carrying 60 pounds of food on the bus)

 

[Svnla]

I do miss having access to the malls, but its just something you have to adapt to. Instead of going shopping at the local stores, my wife and I order a lot of stuff through sites like Amazon.

Living in a rural area is nice, its quiet, the crime rate is low, no traffic and get from one side of town to the other in 10 minutes.

But overall, my wife and I like the affordable housing here. Instead of buying a 1/4 acre lot, we can afford to buy a couple of acres.

What about broadband internet? Would rural area have it?

Since I have my DSL, I can't go back to dial up, I can't..I won't...

 

[Texashiker]

What about broadband internet? Would rural area have it?

Since I have my DSL, I can't go back to dial up, I can't..I won't...

My wife and I live close enough to town that we can get cable modem.

DSL stops about 1/2 from my house.

There have been some crews working on the lines over the past few months. I am hoping we can get DSL sometime soon.

 

[ShawnD1]

What about broadband internet? Would rural area have it?

Since I have my DSL, I can't go back to dial up, I can't..I won't...

Some rural areas do. One of my friends lives up in a hillbilly town called Athabasca (population ~2500) and he has 3mb wireless.

 

[DrPizza]

That's insane. So what if you have access to all the cultural areas of the big city. How the hell does anyone have any money leftover at the end of the month to actually afford such things? Malls? So what? I can't see how you would have expendable income with those types of real estate prices.

$1MM to $1.5MM for houses that don't look to be more than $200K.

I didn't see a house among them that would sell for more than $40 within half an hour of here.

 

[mmntech]

I can appreciate Vancouver's natural beauty but it still mystifies me why anyone would want to live there. I think it's too expensive here in suburban Toronto. Housing prices there are just obscene.

 

[Blackjack200]

That's insane. So what if you have access to all the cultural areas of the big city. How the hell does anyone have any money leftover at the end of the month to actually afford such things? Malls? So what? I can't see how you would have expendable income with those types of real estate prices.

I didn't see a house among them that would sell for more than $40 within half an hour of here.

Because they make more money than the rent is.

 

[ProfJohn]

Big city + lack of usable land = huge house prices.

Honolulu is the same way. There are tons and tons of high rise apartment buildings because land is too expensive for people to build houses.

 

[FallenHero]

From the article:

Some economists are starting to wave warning flags. Royal Bank of Canada says monthly carrying costs—mortgage payments, property taxes and utilities—for a detached bungalow represent 72% of the average Vancouver household income. That is more than double the 32% threshold that Canadian banks use to gauge whether a borrower can handle a loan.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

[Texashiker]

From the article:

for a detached bungalow represent 72% of the average Vancouver household income

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Yep, Canada is on the way to a bank and housing crash in the near future.

There is no way the market can support housing cost of 72% of the average household income.

 

[silverpig]

I do miss having access to the malls, but its just something you have to adapt to. Instead of going shopping at the local stores, my wife and I order a lot of stuff through sites like Amazon.

Living in a rural area is nice, its quiet, the crime rate is low, no traffic and get from one side of town to the other in 10 minutes.

But overall, my wife and I like the affordable housing here. Instead of buying a 1/4 acre lot, we can afford to buy a couple of acres.

But what do you do with the extra land? Do you grow food? Keep animals for food or sale? Or do you just maintain it?

I love the city life. I don't want a car and would be more than happy using a zipcar every 2 weeks to make a run to costco. Beyond that, a train, a bus, or walking is how I want to get to work.

I also don't mind paying for a place in a nice city. Trails, mountains, beaches, it's all within reach. I can, from my place, walk 1 minute to 4 different bus routes, 6 sushi restaurants (amongst maybe 20 others), a deli, fishmonger, butcher, 3 produce stores, a drug store, and more.

I can also go on a 2 hour run and pass through a forest where you can't see any sign of civilization, run along a beach, a seawall, 2 bridges, and end up at the top of a mountain. A single 2-hour run.

How much is that worth to me? 5 acres in the country and more. It's a matter of personal preference of course, and while it can seem crazy to pay $500k for a 2br condo, there are good reasons for doing it.