We're starting to get a much better picture of the fallout from the Provincial and City of Vancouver’s increased taxes on Real Estate and it doesn’t seem to be having any effect on what the NDP Government said they were going to do. That was make homes more affordable especially in the entry level condo market so that more buyers can get out of expensive rentals and into their first condo. It was also touted as making homes more affordable for renters. So far it has done none of that. What is has done is slow sales volume witch equates to 100’s of millions in lost PTT revenue. This PTT revenue is one of the largest income sources for the Province. When spending has been increased and tax revenue is decreased you set the stage for lar ...

The latest stats from the Vancouver Real Estate Board are in and for the 3rd month in a row sales are up...46% in Sept 2019 over Sept 2018. However this should not be surprising since Sept 2018 was one of the slowest months on record for sales. Overall the market continues to stay balanced territory with the condo market still slightly favouring sellers and at the other end of the spectrum the luxury detached market favouring buyers.

Just got back from at trip to New York City. Was fortunate enough to spend some time with a few of my very successful mentors. In this blog i’m going to share with you some of the traits, habits and ways of thinking that led to their massive successes in life.

Why am I bullish long term on Vancouver Real Estate? One of the main reasons is it’s desirability. Simply put people want to live here. Vancouver has always ranked high among the world’s best places to live and i don’t see that changing. Vancouver is not considered an aspirational city.. people aspire to one day move to Vancouver and live the high West Coast lifestyle we all enjoy.

n this video I will outline the order and steps I think are necessary to achieve financial freedom. As always the sooner you start the quicker and easier it will be to provide enough passive income to live on and buy you time to do the things you want to do. Step 1 should always be to buy your principal residence as opposed to becoming a long term renter in an expensive city like Vancouver. Take advantage of the principal residence exemption on capital gains and use some leverage by way of the mortgage to supercharge your return. Step 2 should be to max out both your RRSP and TFSA via low cost ETF’s that track the index. Step 3 should be to buy an investment property. Again use leverage by putting down 20% find a tenant and keep the ...

Not much has changed in the past 7 weeks since my last market update. Vancouver Real Estate continues to be a tale of 2 markets. The higher end luxury detached market priced over 3 million continues to favour buyers while the vast bulk of the market 90% (condos, townhomes) continues to remain balanced and in many segments still favouring the sellers with a sales to listings ratio of over 20 and prices within 5-8% of all time highs.

This will be a 2 part video on what I call my Golden Rules for buying and holding real estate. Taking advantage of the principal residence exemption. Not trying to time markets and simply following a buy and hold strategy that will always produce fantastic results weather that’s Vancouver Real Estate or high quality dividend paying equities.

I continue to see sellers make what I feel to be the biggest blunder they can and that’s to sell a property that has a tenancy agreement in place. By doing this they are leaving 10’s of thousand on the table with their final selling price. There are rare situations where selling a unit with a tenant can make sense but in 90% of the situations you're far better off getting the tenant out and selling the unit vacant. I also discuss the importance of buying quality and overpriced downtown Vancouver condos.

I touch on a number of topics in this blog including the possible rollback on the 2% stress test. The recent interest rate reductions in Canada and the further ones coming in the US. As well I touch on Downtown Vancouver condo demand and overall demand to live in Vancouver and how it will keep getting stronger in the coming decades.

Had a viewer dole out some good advice to a friend who was frustrated with his tenancy turnover as well as the amount of rental income he was generating on the property. As it turns out the unit he was renting out was in very poor condition and needed to be renovated. In this situation the owner would be well advised to spend some money renovating the unit. Not only will he be able to charge a much higher monthly rent but it will attract a far better quality tenant. Saving him additional money in lost rent and time.