Real estate in Calgary - another bubble?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Ya I’m all about leaving the place like I found it. Washing my dishes, making sure the place doesn’t look like a disaster, making sure all waste is in the garbage. But that ends at cleaning the bathroom, doing any laundry, doing anything beyond throwing the trash in the bin etc.

I’ve seen some truly obnoxious requests by hosts to the guests.

Yeah, if it's obnoxious requests, I skip booking those. It's no different than choosing whether to stay at a holiday inn or Hilton, knowing you'll avoid a super 8 motel. Most have been reasonable. I'm just saying for the extra labour (usually I choose those that don't auto charge for cleaning) I usually exploit the hell out of the facilities, so the next extra effort is less than the gain I get.

I worked housekeeping when I was younger, so blasting through a room in 15-20 mins for a quick passable clean or 20-35 mins for proper is in my skill set. I still check hotel rooms and cross reference them to air bnb and total cost less reward points or whatever. It's not like I disagree with others that air bnb value vs hotels hasn't been narrowing. I just don't think it's as weird and extra as others have been making it sound.

Edit: I knew some people who did short term air bnb and went with long term tenants with property manager. The net income is lower, but with less website/communications, cleaning, supply runs, repairs etc. The net income divided by hours spent is far lower on an air bnb.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

It was last year for sure. We had a condo in Chestermere that we were trying to sell in 2020 before buying a house in Calgary, initially listed at $249k but ended up dropping it to $219k over several months with little to no traction. Eventually took it off the market and rented it out after we bought a house. Tried selling it again in Jan of last year, listed at $249k again and within 3 days had a signed offer for the asking price. I haven't looked at condo prices lately, but I can't imagine they've come down with the low house inventory and crazy rent prices in the city

Sold mine first weekend 13k over asking 7 offers. Basic 2 bed 2 bath condo original builder grade materials no amenities.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by keenan87

I am hearing the condo market is starting to pick up too. Anyone else have any insight?

Yep...seeing that in my complex.


Units regularly going for $350k and one as high as $400k. A year ago I didn't see one go for more than $300k. Finally a good time to list a condo.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Yep...seeing that in my complex.

Units regularly going for $350k and one as high as $400k. A year ago I didn't see one go for more than $300k. Finally a good time to list a condo.

Which area of the city? When I sold my townhouse in the inner city last year after a few years of renting, the amounts floating around looked like they were hitting 2014-2015 pricing levels. I was glad to get out at around a 5% loss vs almost 20% less than what I paid (let alone put in) at one point.

However, IIRC townhouses and condos in the suburbs barely moved last year. I could see townhouses and condos in the outer areas start moving as people are realizing they're better off doing that than pay inflated rents elsewhere.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Which area of the city?

Braeside.

[greyshep]

So we took another run at a place in Calgary. Really nicely updated bungalow in Canyon Meadows. This time it fell apart as we discovered it was a former grow op. We were doing some looking into some of the previous listings of this address and our realtor saw the note in the old file.

Was surprised to discover that sellers are not obligated to reveal this info which seems really underhanded. Especially since when we spoke to our mortgage broker he confirmed that most lenders will not finance a home that is known to be a former grow op. It can be difficult to get insurance on a property like this as well.

I am thankful the seller did not accept our initial offer otherwise we might have been in for a pile of headaches. I would imagine the seller has some regret as well since they were already aware of the issue. I suppose they figure they can maybe fool someone else?

[AC]

Do you know if it was remediated? The realtor is required to mention it if not.

I'm guessing if it was nicely updated it would have been. I agree that it should be mentioned regardless.

Edit: Found it. 2008 remediated grow-op. I've seen plenty of realtor's mention former grow ops even if they aren't required to. I think it's a shady thing to do otherwise because it usually gets discovered and like you experienced, can cause issues with buyers or with their lenders.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by AC

Do you know if it was remediated? The realtor is required to mention it if not.

I'm guessing if it was nicely updated it would have been. I agree that it should be mentioned regardless.

Edit: Found it. 2008 remediated grow-op. I've seen plenty of realtor's mention former grow ops even if they aren't required to. I think it's a shady thing to do otherwise because it usually gets discovered and like you experienced, can cause issues with buyers or with their lenders.

Yes remediated but no official certificate or anything that would change the mind of lenders or insurers. Crappy situation but the seller knew when they bought it so really should have been up front about it in my view. They bought it only 18months ago after it had been completely renovated. Looked like they were trying to make a quick profit as they bought for 690k in 2021 and listed it a couple weeks ago for 830k.

Interestingly it is actually pretty easy to find a list of former grow ops with a quick google search. Took me here: http://talkcalgary.com/Calgary_grow_ops.htm

I will definitely be adding this to my list of checks after this experience.

[AC]

Good luck to them. A former grow op tends to hold that stigma on the market long-term.

I'd be curious to see the timeline for when a remediated grow-op isn't negatively impacted anymore, as the ones I deal with are usually recent and their values are significantly affected.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by greyshep

Crappy situation but the seller knew when they bought it so really should have been up front about it in my view.

It seems really short sighted in my opinion. The odds of a future sale becoming absolute hell for the realtor and seller when someone finds out are too high to risk this stuff.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

It seems really short sighted in my opinion. The odds of a future sale becoming absolute hell for the realtor and seller when someone finds out are too high to risk this stuff.

The law varies from province to province, but as long as the any damages, that you should reasonably be aware of, from the grow-up have been fixed you generally don't have to disclose.

Stigma alone is not something you need to disclose.

[Bill Bumface]

Fine, I guess I'll stick to my day job then.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Fine, I guess I'll stick to my day job then.

I actually don't know what the specific law in Alberta is. In BC there's actually a specific question about illegal marijuana growing on the disclosure form. But I know in many provinces you don't have to disclose. Although clearly it would seem logical that you should have to disclose anything that is going to significantly affect value.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by blankall

I actually don't know what the specific law in Alberta is. In BC there's actually a specific question about illegal marijuana growing on the disclosure form. But I know in many provinces you don't have to disclose. Although clearly it would seem logical that you should have to disclose anything that is going to significantly affect value.

This? It's being called a "stigmatized property".

https://www.albertarealtor.ca/post/b...ld-i-handle-it

I saw an article about latent defect (ie: Mold and mildew due to water damage), but apparently it's more the after effects. If not disclosed, you'd have to prove the mold and mildew was there before you bought it and it was not disclosed.

[Flames0910]

Oof, I got an “assessment adjustment” from the city today. Apparently they looked at the glossy MLS photos from when I bought my place and decided my kitchen renovation (30 years ago…?), finished basement (100 years old, roughly finished, no windows and low ceilings so it’s just storage), and hardwood floors (walnut but hasn’t been refinished in like 50 years so showing it’s age) were all under-valued so they decided to bump my place up $75k in value. Yay.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by blankall

I actually don't know what the specific law in Alberta is. In BC there's actually a specific question about illegal marijuana growing on the disclosure form. But I know in many provinces you don't have to disclose. Although clearly it would seem logical that you should have to disclose anything that is going to significantly affect value.

If it wasn't clear, I was being totally facetious, and you definitely know more about all of this stuff, I was just throwing out random uninformed internet stranger speculation with my initial post.

[greyshep]

Originally Posted by blankall

The law varies from province to province, but as long as the any damages, that you should reasonably be aware of, from the grow-up have been fixed you generally don't have to disclose.

Stigma alone is not something you need to disclose.

Stigma is not the biggest issue here. It’s putting a buyer into a bad spot where they may not be able to get financing or insurance or renewing their mortgage later on and getting denied because the person doing research on the lending side does more due diligence examination and finds out about the issue.

This should be disclosed plain and simple, trying to sneak it by is just slimy.

[Lubicon]

Listings at a 20 year low in Calgary right now. Anecdotally the market seems to be pretty strong here. House down the street from us didn't even make it to market before selling and a coworker of my wife just sold hers 3 days after listing for $55k over ask with no conditions. She had just bought a condo that came on the marker the same day she made her offer.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/sellers-a...oard-1.6296484

[shermanator]

I live in Altadore. My elderly neighbour put her house up for sale in the lot next to ours. It is one of only two lots on our block that aren't newer infills and the only one that is a full size 50 * 120 lot. It's listed for $900,000 and is being marketed as a tear down.

The last few days, the number of ######bags in Tesla's that have rolled up to check out the lot is higher than usual.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by shermanator

I live in Altadore. My elderly neighbour put her house up for sale in the lot next to ours. It is one of only two lots on our block that aren't newer infills and the only one that is a full size 50 * 120 lot. It's listed for $900,000 and is being marketed as a tear down.

The last few days, the number of ######bags in Tesla's that have rolled up to check out the lot is higher than usual.

Time to raise it to an even million.