If you are living in a condo that has a rental restriction or thinking of buying one with restrictions you should know that according to CMHC having a rental restriction shaves 6% off the VALUE of your unit. Having a pet restriction takes another 5% off the VALUE. In Vancouver and Richmond having these 2 restrictions can take off as much as 15% or more. People have their own reasons for passing a restriction on rentals and pets. There are pros and cons for having both. I have had people tell me they don't want renters because they don't take care of the building or they don't want people constantly moving in and out, etc. Personally I don't think those 2 reasons justify the amount of equity you are leaving on the table by having restrictions. When I'm selling your property I want to be able to market it to the biggest demographic possible. No rentals not only excludes investors which have been a huge part of the Vancouver market for decades, but it also excluding buyers who simply feel more comfortable in having a choice to be able to rent. For example, say they were forced to move because of a job transfer but the market was experiencing a slump like we had in late 2008. Instead of being forced to sell at a depressed price they could rent for a few years and wait until the market recovered. This flexibility is what many people want and when I'm working with a buyer I steer them into the direction of condos that allow rentals without any restrictions. If your living in a strata that has rental restrictions especially if it's a large complex of 200 units or more you should take a hard look at what that rental restriction is costing you in lost equity. Not to mention the extra time (holding costs) it takes to sell a unit with restrictions.
This entry was posted on May 24th, 2012 by Owen Bigland | Posted in Video Blog