Real Estate Talks

If its so obvious that condos are such terrible investments, why are they still selling like hot cakes?

...they aren't terrible investments. Compared to anything else other than a single family house, condos that don't have any issues are great investments in the longrun. You just have to watch the fact that they keep building so many but over time, maybe a long time, it will balance out. But condos will never be as good as a house because of the very small "land" component found in condos. But compared to financial instuments, other than some mortgages, condos are way superior.

Condos are selling like hotcakes cuz condos are an investment that even "small" investors can get into.
I would take a condo over the Fawk Market any day of the week.

Condos can be very cozy....

Yep, you'll never find a SFH with a small room.

If its so obvious that condos are such terrible investments, why are they still selling like hot cakes?

...they aren't terrible investments. Compared to anything else other than a single family house, condos that don't have any issues are great investments in the longrun. You just have to watch the fact that they keep building so many but over time, maybe a long time, it will balance out. But condos will never be as good as a house because of the very small "land" component found in condos. But compared to financial instuments, other than some mortgages, condos are way superior.

Condos are selling like hotcakes cuz condos are an investment that even "small" investors can get into.
I would take a condo over the Fawk Market any day of the week.

Don't forget that the term "condo" covers a very large range of properties, just like SFHs. An SFH can be a grandiose palace like the Lululemon mansion on Point Grey Road or it can be some run-down, slanty old fixer-upper on the outer edges of the Eastside. Similarly, the term "condo" can be a grubby, stucco three story rat-hole in a bad neighbourhood, or it could be one of Vancouver's many multimillion dollar homes in a prime location and with fabulous views.

From an investment standpoint, I have seen condos underperform and overperform SFHs at different times in the market cycle but I do agree that the (usually) larger land component favours SFHs in the long term if all other factors are the same.

On a positive note, I do not expect a SFH lot in Chilliwack to perform anywhere near as well as even a very small share of a much larger lot in Coal Harbour or some other sought after Downtown location.

Geyser:

On a positive note, I do not expect a SFH lot in Chilliwack to perform anywhere near as well as even a very small share of a much larger lot in Coal Harbour or some other sought after Downtown location.

...hey, it's all positive.

So here's a good one.... how do you as an owner handle it when the Strata Council votes to put in a cell tower on top of your strata building? Cell towers are believed to be agents of cancer. To have a tower attracting all those microwaves cannot be a good thing.

So what do you do?

So here's a good one.... how do you as an owner handle it when the Strata Council votes to put in a cell tower on top of your strata building? Cell towers are believed to be agents of cancer. To have a tower attracting all those microwaves cannot be a good thing.

So what do you do?

Whip, I'll vote yes.
There are three reasons: 1st, cell towers bring in cash; 2nd, I am a landlord; 3rd, I don't like people who live in penthouse, (cuz, they all look like queens or kings in elevator)

All right, treat my post as a joke.

Any way, there is no evidence that cell towers will, or have caused cancers, but people in general just don't like them, including power line etc.

So here's a good one.... how do you as an owner handle it when the Strata Council votes to put in a cell tower on top of your strata building? Cell towers are believed to be agents of cancer. To have a tower attracting all those microwaves cannot be a good thing.

So what do you do?

I would remind the strata council that under The Strata Property Act they cannot do that, they need a minimum of 75% of the owners to agree.

BTW, cell towers don't "attract microwaves". They detect the microwaves that are already in the air around them and they respond by transmitting their own microwaves, just like your cellphone or your smart meter. And Thompson is right, the connection to cancer is at best tenuous. If it really was a big issue we would see dead teenagers everywhere. Also, the corpses would be piling up in developing countries where hordes of folks seem to spend most of their waking hours on their cell phones and have been doing so since the late 1980s.

"Concrete proof" that cell towers cause cancer.... there may not be any conclusive evidence, but I am not going to wait for a "scientist" to tell me they are safe or unsafe. Remember, there are "scientists" that will still back the "man made global warming lie".

Thompson, they get money??? I have another friend in a real snazzy place in Coal Harbour and that strata voted in a tower. Do you know what they got???? A measeley $50,000 up front and they get a couple grand a year. That sounds like the American Natives who sold Manhatten for $7.

Even as an investor you have to ask yourselves, what will a cell tower on the top of your investment condo do for the value?
Also you have to ask yourself, will a cell tower hinder my ability to lease out the suite at full rental value?

Whip, I am a cheap landlord, and never buy any units higher than 20th for rental, so I can always tell my tenants that "there are so many metalheads above you to suck the microwaves, you have no chance to get a big "C".

But one thing I agree with you that people don't need any "scientific" evidence to buy or not to buy a property, they just follow their dicks. Tower caused cancer? I'll let people who have penthouse to worry about.

Exactly the same concerns are expressed by people whose SFHs are located close to cellular towers or high voltage hydro towers. It's not just a condo issue but I'm still looking for all the corpses. Where are they?

Geyser:

Exactly the same concerns are expressed by people whose SFHs are located close to cellular towers or high voltage hydro towers. It's not just a condo issue but I'm still looking for all the corpses. Where are they?

geyser, the point is if you own a condo some of your fellow owners may decide its a great idea to put in one of these things, and you have no choice if the vote is sufficient to carry the motion. This is just one of many an examples of infringement to quiet enjoyment of the property that a condo owner should consider prior to the purchase. It's a huge negative.

"WhipMaster"

...they aren't terrible investments.

agree....somewhat. They aren't ALWAYS terrible investments.
If you buy one and consider it an investment in yourself. It's a place to live that provides for some comfort and independence.
I just don't think they're a good financial investment - unless you buy one to rent out and let someone shoulder the payments for you.

They aren't ALWAYS terrible investments.

....no they aren't. If you look at the whole spectrum of investments, Condos are a way better investment than most, including financial investments or the Fawk Market.
I am talking about relative disadvantages of condos as compared to single family homes.

This is one important aspect that people forget about so I am just pointing it out.

agree....somewhat. They aren't ALWAYS terrible investments.
If you buy one and consider it an investment in yourself. It's a place to live that provides for some comfort and independence.
I just don't think they're a good financial investment - unless you buy one to rent out and let someone shoulder the payments for you.

So if you buy it to live in, its a good investment. And if you buy it to rent it out, its a good investment. But other than that, they're not good investments? What are the other scenario's for condo ownership that you are referring to?