jinglebells

I saw an ad from Vancity offering to offer personal loans to anyone who couldn't make 5% down - does anyone think this is shoddy? I thought credit unions were supposed to be socially responsible - they are also the authors of the $2m "prediction" - seems like a whole pot of vested interest right there from that credit union.

Shard

Not shoddy.

scrubbedexpat091

I have no idea if it's shoddy, but had no idea you could get loans for the down payment. Suppose these days when needing 50-60k or more down, its hard for people to save it and still be young enough to make buying worthwhile.


My uncle just bought a house with 30 mortgage a couple years ago at 54, I suppose it may be worthwhile, but not sure he will live to see it paid off.

Guess my dad is in the same boat, he will be in his mid 70's when his is paid off, assuming he lives that long.

JonboyE

I will be interested to see a link to this.

scrubbedexpat091

This is all I could find. Called the down payment helper mortgage, Vancity will provide up to half the down payment up to a max of 12,500.

https://www.vancity.com/lang/fr/Shar...sheet_2014.pdf

jinglebells

It increases the debt levels in Canada - it encourages people who cannot afford even a minimal deposit to take out a mortgage. In Vancouver, that is siginificant imo.

Seems quite irresponsible but hey who am I to stop this gravy train?

Shard

So what. If they can afford to service their mix of debt and house prices continue to rise, they will be able to own their own home.

jinglebells

Yeah right, welcome Subprime

scrubbedexpat091

Not to mention in the link I found, the credit union will only provide up to 50% of the down payment and a maximum of 12,500 which doesn't seem like much additional debt overall if you can buy, and the buyer is still providing a sizeable amount down, since in Vancouver, and other places 25,000 down isn't going to cut it anymore, so you will still need more.




The human toll of high housing costs is sad, now these are just 2 stories but I am sure you can find a lot of people in the same boat.

A girl who works at the store next to my work, was renting a basement suite for 750/month, owner of house sold and so she lost her housing since new owners didn't want renters.

Because rents in town have doubled, and a 1 bedroom is going to cost you at minimum 1,100 per month, she is now living in her car since she can't afford the few rental places around.

A lady who lives next to us, in a 2 bedroom has 3 kids and 2 adults in 600 sq foot apartment, considering how small these apartments are, 5 people is not a healthy living environment, but its all she can afford and they have 2 incomes.



High housing is not a good thing for society as a whole, pushes people out onto the streets.


One reason we need dedicated rental housing is so the reliance isn't on home owners trying to pay back a mortgage, and not having dedicated rental housing also tends to lower the amount of rentals on the market, which inflates rents higher then they should be.


Even us with 2 incomes and disability, if we lost our apartment, we would be homeless, we can't afford market rent.

Shard

This is called a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

ExKiwilass

the problem is it doesn't make financial sense for investors to provide more dedicated rental housing. the incentives aren't there c/o to building condos and selling them. the government could step in, but where does the money come from?

Shard

Could you rephrase, please?

scrubbedexpat091

It seems to be a weird thing Canada and lack of rental housing, developers and investors build them all over the US, must be something keeping them from building here.

Ontario and Alberta were better, BC has been by far of those 3 places the most difficult to find rental housing in.

Something has to be done, as renting is becoming near impossible in some regions unless your making 20+ per hour and 20/hr in some area's now is even hard to find housing you can afford.

Sad really.

Eddmac

I think you need to re-adjust your expectations. If you cant afford to rent in a given area, you are looking in the wrong area. Its not the markets fault they are too expensive for you. Thats like complaining because you cant get a Ferrari for 10k. You just cant afford it - buy a Honda Civic. Im sorry if you dont like this as I dont mean to offend, you just need to be realistic.

scrubbedexpat091

I had no idea low income folks in shared use buildings are segregated from the market rent and have to use a different entrance in some buildings.

Suppose the poor are too dirty to mingle with the wealthy who can buy.


Social housing to have separate entrance to Vancouver high-rise - British Columbia - CBC News