lmartin999

It will vary from building to building depending on what the strata has decided. I used to live here:

http://www.6717000.com/2655cranberry/

(I am not even going to say how much I paid when we bought off plan in 2001 - before the real estate boom - or how much it would be worth now!)

This building allowed (and I think still does) pets and has a really nice greenway behind it that is a popular onleash dog walking area.

dboy

Agreed. I didn't mind it too much really. There used to be a great Thai place on the main drag and the Cheshire Cheese was ok in a pinch for a pint.

dboy

Arbutus walk know the area well. Some nice places around there. But i would expect around 600 dollars per sq foot to own and over 2 dollars per square foot to rent.

lmartin999

I think you are right on the money, possibly be even more in our old building as it was a decent new concrete one! . We had 800 sq feet with a good ground floor patio. We paid about $225,000 IIRC when we bought in 2001. The market was so slow then that we had the choice of units and took a couple of weeks to decide which we wanted. I think you would be looking at over 500K now. Nice, but not that nice would be my view

Iain Mc

The Thai is still there and the Cheese is great for a Guinness; we live a block from the community center. Best thing about living here (and there does seem to be an awful lot of young folk with kids around, contrary to popular perception) is that we're less than four blocks from pretty much anything you might need. There's some great stuff in this area, especially if you like sushi.

However: just sold up, moving into a rental in Dunbar to await the housing downturn that never really arrived in Vancouver and you and I both feel is coming. Finding a home rental proved difficult; the housing market is flooding with ex-rentals as Landlords offload their inventory to take advantage of this dead cat bounce. But that's another thread.

Digression aside, we've loved living in Kerrisdale

Londonuck

Went back to London last weekend and actually found a good cheap sushi place in Lavender Hill, Clapham Junction. It was like being on Lonsdale N Vancouver again, apart from the constant police sirens.

God i miss sushi. I'd swap it for curry any day... and to think we used to sit and dream of a good madras.

Joe's was great for breakfast. Apart from my chinese mate who insisted on popping his egg on the edge of his muffin... biting off the front of the yolk and sucking out the rest. The chinese love a slurp!

dboy

I've been thinking of moving to lower lonsdale (or more accurately the missus wants to). We found a little pub there called the rusy gull, it is actually the first place that felt like a real brit pub in 17 years! Great live music in there.

Lots of development there of late (you wouldn't recognize it), and only 12 mins by sea bus to downtown. I work in Burnaby so actually closer for me.

What did you think of living in the area?

Agree with you on the sushi front. I spent 6 weeks in the uk one time and went in to withdrawl. There was a place at selfridges in manchester but god was it expensive!

dboy

My ex and I bought in 1996 for 180,000 (loft in fairview north of city hall on 6 th ave) - one is for sale two doors down - exact same layout and north shore views for 580,000. Too bad my ex got it in the divorce

http://www.loftsvancouver.com/Proper...02/#viewdetail

TheCanary

I came across statistics for the percentage of people who rent in Kitsilano and the figure was over 60%!! wow.

From what everyone is saying townhouses and apartments are between 300,000 and 600,000 CAD, and rent is between 800 to 1600 per month, so wouldnt it just be better to pay that amount towards your own mortgage?

or am I missing something. I guess a mortgage is difficult to get, so can someone shed some light in this area for me.

JonboyE

My friend has an 800 sf condo in kits. Market value is about $560,000. It depends on how much you have to put down as a deposit, but a mortgage of $500,000 will cost you about $2,725 at the bank's posted rate (and you need a family income of $120,000 to qualify). On top of the mortgage you have property tax and condo fees - so about $3,500 a month.

Rental yields suck.

dboy

And you could likely rent the same place for around 1600 - 1900 per month. Depending where it is, views, etc.

You could buy an older one bed for around 300,000 (one sold in my building for 315,000 - around 550 sq feet. So with a typical 5 year fixed term, you are easily at 1500 per month and 130 in taxes and 150 in fees so around 1800 per month. Same place to rent: 1000 - 1200 tops.

JonboyE

This is a 2 bed in West 4th and Fir area. Great views over downtown/Stanley Park. We go there to watch the fireworks.

Londonuck

Loved it on the North Shore mate. I was further up on 19th. I forgot about the Rusty Gull. On the opposite side of Lonsdale, around W 3rd, there's the Sailor Hagar. They have quite a lot of Brits and makes their own beer. V good aswell.

Also, the there is excellent sushi on Lonsdale. Hachi Hana, opposite Jack Lonsdale Pub is superb. Everyone raves about Gen Sushi further up, but i dont think its as good.