Thanks for checking out the video and sharing your experience @westerlywinds5684. I'm not sure what half snow removal is...but sounds like a bad deal. "Maintenance" fees will cover whatever your strata needs to keep itself running and has agreed to be covered (by the collective group of owners) in your budget. Common items would be things like heat and light in common areas (electricity), gardening, strata insurance, strata management, and a percentage put away in a rainy day fund. Regular maintenance items are often covered, but smaller stratas (which townhouses often are) have a hard time saving enough money to cover the bigger maintenance items (like painting the whole development, replacing windows, replacing the roof, etc)...that's most often going to come from a special assessment when the need arises. They have to balance good maintenance with not charging too high a monthly fee.
Great video as always, Sebastian. A video I've been thinking about lately is the annual or monthly events/festivals/entertainment options in Vancouver. Specially if you do that by month. Everyone says Vancouver is too boring, but last time I was there I saw so much life in the evening in downtown.
Thank you @samuelaraujo9959! There are definitely a bunch of festivals and events through the year. Some of the bigger ones are the Folk Music Festival, the Mural Festival, the Celebration of Lights, the Cherry Blossom Festival, Jazz Fest, the PNE, the Film Festival, PUSH and Pride...then there are all sorts of car free days through the summer, block parties, farmers markets and more. Have you seen my video Is Vancouver Boring video? While I don't specifically go over all the festivals there, I do address the question of whether or not that reputation is justified or not.
@@LivingInVancouver-BC Yeahhh I've seen that video! That's why I thought that maybe dedicating a video to talking about the entertainment options may be something nee as I've never seem any videos on that.
I’ll see what i can do about that. The only drawback is that i don’t have B-roll of all those festivals to illustrate it…but perhaps i can work on that.
Video idea: why one would want to live in Richmond and why not Thx Sebastian! I'm studying to be a realtor and taking my exam soon. I just wanted to let you know I find a ton of value in your videos man!
Hi Clint! Thanks for the comment and checking out the channel. Congrats on getting into the business…and yes, pros and cons of living in Richmond sounds like a great video idea!
For sure! If it’s within budget a 1/2 duplex can be a great middle option as well. And it sounds as though you are happy with yours. While there are not usually any maintenance fees it does mean that you need to handle the gardening, snow clearing and other maintenance yourself. There is land with any freehold property (condo, townhouse, duplex and house) but you are right that the amount of land that you get with a 1/2 duplex is (usually) more than you’d have ownership of with a townhouse.
@@LivingInVancouver-BC There is not much snow in Vancouver and only small portion off grass. I think it is easy to maintenance. For the condo fee, it is mostly only include snow removal and cut grass, not much include but it has fixed amount and goes up each year, not so good.
I hear you...and I think many people that choose not to live in a condo strata feel the same way. But, there's actually quite a bit to maintain on a building. There isn't a guarantee that it'll all get covered by maintenance fees...usually more will get covered when it's a larger strata. It's common for a large condo building to include things like: gym, pool/hot-tub/sauna, visitor suite, concierge, hot water, gas, cleaning of common areas (think the grounds, hallways, elevator, parkade, gym, etc), heat and electricity in common areas, strata insurance, snow removal, grass mowing, gardening, covering of maintenance contracts (for things like the elevator, hvac system, roof, etc) and professional management. Big buildings can be quite complicated and expensive to run...and you often are getting quite a bit for your money. It's just not that obvious where the money goes. There may not be as much complexity to a smaller strata, but the expenses end up being spread over fewer units. Professional property management can be considerably more expensive on a per unit basis for a strata of 20 vs a strata of 200, for example. But as you said, if you don't see a value in this...then it's best to own single family (if it's in your budget). You still have a lot of those expenses...but you don't pay them as regularly. Or, you can choose to hire them out or not (eg clear your own snow, mow your own lawn and do your own weeding). A 1/2 duplex can still have shared expenses such as gardening, snow removal, and most obviously strata insurance. Again, it's just up to you and one other owner so many of these just decide to split expenses as they arise.
Please do a video about climate risks faced by the various cites in lower main land. Couple of years ago we had a flood in chili wack . which caused lot of damage. Coquitlum has high wild fire risk.
The benchmark price of a townhouse in Burnaby is roughly $950K (vs $1.35M in Vancouver). But obviously, it depends a lot on the type of place you are considering...and size. The average 3bd TH in Burnaby sold for $750/sf last month. Let me know if you need any more info!
Oh...and I just shot a video this past week that delves into what you can buy around Metro Vancouver for $1M. Keep your eyes peeled for that video (in a couple of weeks) as it'll get into some of the other areas aside from Burnaby where you could find a townhouse around $1M (or less).
Well, that's all kind of relative. Cities tend to push people together. Even our houses could be perceived as being "too close together"...but for one, it brings people closer together into a more tight-knit community. And, it's what helps resolve the issue of affordability because we are making more efficient use of land than just single family residential. ...and appreciate your feedback on the b-roll. I totally agree! I want to be using a lot more imagery to illustrate what I'm talking about and not just have you staring at my face. :)
Appreciate the feedback @wowicantgetausername. I’m with you 100%! Definitely some bad audio in recent vids and I’ve bought a high quality new mic. There should be a big improvement coming soon!
@debbierolland4931 appreciate you watching and reaching out. The type of property you are referring to doesn’t really exist in metro Vancouver…so no, i didn’t mention it. There are none in the city of Vancouver and maybe a handful in the entirety of metro Vancouver. Townhouses here are like condos where you own everything within your four walls and then a share of the common property and land with the rest of the strata.
![Condos For Sale in Vancouver BC [ARE CONDOS A BAD IDEA?]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Mx0VH9_c9Ac/mqdefault.jpg)
![Condos For Sale in Vancouver BC [ARE CONDOS A BAD IDEA?]](/img/tr.png)
The strata fee we pay does nothing for maintenance. Half snow removal, no window cleaning, no painting, but the fee seems to keep rising every year.
Thanks for checking out the video and sharing your experience @westerlywinds5684. I'm not sure what half snow removal is...but sounds like a bad deal. "Maintenance" fees will cover whatever your strata needs to keep itself running and has agreed to be covered (by the collective group of owners) in your budget. Common items would be things like heat and light in common areas (electricity), gardening, strata insurance, strata management, and a percentage put away in a rainy day fund. Regular maintenance items are often covered, but smaller stratas (which townhouses often are) have a hard time saving enough money to cover the bigger maintenance items (like painting the whole development, replacing windows, replacing the roof, etc)...that's most often going to come from a special assessment when the need arises. They have to balance good maintenance with not charging too high a monthly fee.
Great video as always, Sebastian. A video I've been thinking about lately is the annual or monthly events/festivals/entertainment options in Vancouver. Specially if you do that by month. Everyone says Vancouver is too boring, but last time I was there I saw so much life in the evening in downtown.
Thank you @samuelaraujo9959! There are definitely a bunch of festivals and events through the year. Some of the bigger ones are the Folk Music Festival, the Mural Festival, the Celebration of Lights, the Cherry Blossom Festival, Jazz Fest, the PNE, the Film Festival, PUSH and Pride...then there are all sorts of car free days through the summer, block parties, farmers markets and more. Have you seen my video Is Vancouver Boring video? While I don't specifically go over all the festivals there, I do address the question of whether or not that reputation is justified or not.
@@LivingInVancouver-BC Yeahhh I've seen that video! That's why I thought that maybe dedicating a video to talking about the entertainment options may be something nee as I've never seem any videos on that.
I’ll see what i can do about that. The only drawback is that i don’t have B-roll of all those festivals to illustrate it…but perhaps i can work on that.
Video idea: why one would want to live in Richmond and why not
Thx Sebastian!
I'm studying to be a realtor and taking my exam soon. I just wanted to let you know I find a ton of value in your videos man!
Hi Clint! Thanks for the comment and checking out the channel. Congrats on getting into the business…and yes, pros and cons of living in Richmond sounds like a great video idea!
Great video as usual. Thank you 😊
Thanks so much @armandon2208! I really appreciate that. :)
@@LivingInVancouver-BCYou deserve it. Keep up the good work 😊
Im really enjoying it so far! It’s been a fun journey…just trying to make good content for you…and trying to make it better every time.
Duplex and townhouse are good, there is some yards with some privacy. But I like duplex more because we own the land without condo fees.
For sure! If it’s within budget a 1/2 duplex can be a great middle option as well. And it sounds as though you are happy with yours. While there are not usually any maintenance fees it does mean that you need to handle the gardening, snow clearing and other maintenance yourself.
There is land with any freehold property (condo, townhouse, duplex and house) but you are right that the amount of land that you get with a 1/2 duplex is (usually) more than you’d have ownership of with a townhouse.
@@LivingInVancouver-BC
There is not much snow in Vancouver and only small portion off grass. I think it is easy to maintenance. For the condo fee, it is mostly only include snow removal and cut grass, not much include but it has fixed amount and goes up each year, not so good.
I hear you...and I think many people that choose not to live in a condo strata feel the same way.
But, there's actually quite a bit to maintain on a building. There isn't a guarantee that it'll all get covered by maintenance fees...usually more will get covered when it's a larger strata.
It's common for a large condo building to include things like: gym, pool/hot-tub/sauna, visitor suite, concierge, hot water, gas, cleaning of common areas (think the grounds, hallways, elevator, parkade, gym, etc), heat and electricity in common areas, strata insurance, snow removal, grass mowing, gardening, covering of maintenance contracts (for things like the elevator, hvac system, roof, etc) and professional management.
Big buildings can be quite complicated and expensive to run...and you often are getting quite a bit for your money. It's just not that obvious where the money goes.
There may not be as much complexity to a smaller strata, but the expenses end up being spread over fewer units. Professional property management can be considerably more expensive on a per unit basis for a strata of 20 vs a strata of 200, for example.
But as you said, if you don't see a value in this...then it's best to own single family (if it's in your budget). You still have a lot of those expenses...but you don't pay them as regularly. Or, you can choose to hire them out or not (eg clear your own snow, mow your own lawn and do your own weeding).
A 1/2 duplex can still have shared expenses such as gardening, snow removal, and most obviously strata insurance. Again, it's just up to you and one other owner so many of these just decide to split expenses as they arise.
Please do a video about climate risks faced by the various cites in lower main land. Couple of years ago we had a flood in chili wack . which caused lot of damage. Coquitlum has high wild fire risk.
How much are the townhouses in Burnaby?
The benchmark price of a townhouse in Burnaby is roughly $950K (vs $1.35M in Vancouver). But obviously, it depends a lot on the type of place you are considering...and size. The average 3bd TH in Burnaby sold for $750/sf last month. Let me know if you need any more info!
Oh...and I just shot a video this past week that delves into what you can buy around Metro Vancouver for $1M. Keep your eyes peeled for that video (in a couple of weeks) as it'll get into some of the other areas aside from Burnaby where you could find a townhouse around $1M (or less).
Terrible small steps and so close together. Ouch! Show more pictures!
Well, that's all kind of relative. Cities tend to push people together. Even our houses could be perceived as being "too close together"...but for one, it brings people closer together into a more tight-knit community. And, it's what helps resolve the issue of affordability because we are making more efficient use of land than just single family residential.
...and appreciate your feedback on the b-roll. I totally agree! I want to be using a lot more imagery to illustrate what I'm talking about and not just have you staring at my face. :)
Can you improve sound/mic and remove background music?
Appreciate the feedback @wowicantgetausername. I’m with you 100%! Definitely some bad audio in recent vids and I’ve bought a high quality new mic. There should be a big improvement coming soon!
Didn’t mention anything about freehold townhomes.
@debbierolland4931 appreciate you watching and reaching out. The type of property you are referring to doesn’t really exist in metro Vancouver…so no, i didn’t mention it. There are none in the city of Vancouver and maybe a handful in the entirety of metro Vancouver. Townhouses here are like condos where you own everything within your four walls and then a share of the common property and land with the rest of the strata.
@@LivingInVancouver-BC That’s very interesting, did not know that.
Where are you watching from? Are they common in your area? I’m curious are those types of townhouses more or less expensive? More or less popular?
Honestly!!!! do you people EVER stop talking..no wonder Canada is in a mess. blah blah blah....
@stephenfermoyle4578 LOL. Which people are you referring to?