1731 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

...Use that cash to incentivize stratas to use less restrictive rentals...

My building currently has no rental restrictions. I am not sure what sort of a monetary bribe the city could offer me as an owner that would make me want to have even more rentals. A 50% reduction in my property taxes? Perhaps if the strata members were allowed to screen all renters before they moved in...

[manuel]

Sorry to disagree: David hit some points and it is nice to see his honesty on having 3 short term rentals. Indeed I'd like to cross check his points with airbnb talking points meant to curry favor for airbnb. Let's see: honest, pays taxes, good clients, diversity, never a problem, longstanding, well spoken, immediately written after a negative post on airbnb, points issue to another...

Neither the economic marginal impacts on the rental pool, nor the utter futility of trying to rent a decent place with a family these days weren't addressed.

Absolutely, absentee rental landlords are a big problem.

[mbjj]

We try go to Europe every couple of years. We always rent some sort of apartment or cottage. We likely would not go if we had to pay hotel room rates for two to three weeks. Sometimes we rent a car, so we contribute to that economy, plus groceries, attractions, some restaurants, trains, etc. We've never rented through Airbnb as there are loads of other agencies. We rented an amazing house in France that was advertised individually by the owner. I think they pay some sort of tourism tax and are registered with the local council.

[DavidL]

Sorry to disagree: David hit some points and it is nice to see his honesty on having 3 short term rentals. Indeed I'd like to cross check his points with airbnb talking points meant to curry favor for airbnb. Let's see: honest, pays taxes, good clients, diversity, never a problem, longstanding, well spoken, immediately written after a negative post on airbnb, points issue to another...

Neither the economic marginal impacts on the rental pool, nor the utter futility of trying to rent a decent place with a family these days weren't addressed.

Absolutely, absentee rental landlords are a big problem.

 

Sorry to disappoint Manuel, but I don't use air bnb and never have.  We've been trucking along with vacation rentals for almost a decade and Victoria has a very long tradition of vacation rentals-successfully and happily until air bnb came along and decided to stick its finger in the eye of every city it operates in, so I am hardly a fan.  

 

The fact is that if you think the 150 units downtown or so would have an affect on the rental pool in a city with more than 27 000 rentals then I'dd suggest your grip on math is a little tenuous.  I sympathize with families trying to rent a decent place these days, I absolutely do, but conflating the issues of affordable housing and short term rentals channels frustration in the wrong direction.  

 

It is a lack of municipal will to allow development and increased urban density over the past 20 or more years and a lack of leadership at the provincial and federal levels to provide a housing strategy that have led to the housing issues we face today.  It is not "chinese" money, it is not vacation rentals, it is not even stratas that don't allow rentals.  

 

Focus your attention on municipal halls that take years to approve straight forward projects, express your frustration at residents associations who practice such a high level of nimbyism you'll think it's your fault they don't like the way a proposed tree in a proposed development will cast a shadow in June on the spot where a dog was buried in 1923.  Get angry at the fact that in the past 40 years the CRD housing corporation has produced just slight north of 1200 units of housing.  Or drink the kool-aid, don't look behind the curtain and just blame the people who invest their own money in real estate for a legal and legitimate use that comprises well less than 1% of the rental stock in the city, because that is surely where the blame belongs.

[Jill]

"Existing city bylaws do not allow landlords to arbitrarily transform permanent apartments into short-term rentals, or create pop-up hotels, but exactly how Airbnbs can operate in Toronto is under debate at city hall. Leithead moved into 38 Kensington Pl. in the spring of 2015 and about a year later his building was one of five Kensington properties sold to Claude Bitton. Tenants allege that Bitton and his employees came knocking door-to-door, asking for illegal rent hikes and used threats of eviction and intimidation tactics to get them out."

 

https://www.thestar....-on-airbnb.html

[spanky123]

^^ There are over 2,000 units listed on various short term rental sites downtown and not 150. Whether all of those could effectively be converted to longer term rentals is debatable but laws of supply and demand don't evenly scale prices (ie a 5% shortfall could easily increase prices 20% of more).

[lanforod]

residents associations who practice such a high level of nimbyism you'll think it's your fault they don't like the way a proposed tree in a proposed development will cast a shadow in June on the spot where a dog was buried in 1923

[VicHockeyFan]

Is it possible that many of the short-term rental units currently listed, convert to student-term housing in September?  ie. rent to a student from September to the end of April.  She leaves, and the landlord uses the lucrative 4 summer months as vacations stays.  Then the same student comes back for another 8 months next year.  The student loves it, since she likes a furnished place, rather than packing up a moving van and making the trip back and forth to Cranbrook each year.  At the end of her school stay, say 2 or 3 or 4 years, the landlord advertises again for a similar arrangement.  

 

Under that scenario, what are the unintended circumstances of the proposed changes?  If you are only using it for short-term housing 1/4 of the year, how do you figure those property taxes?

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 20 June 2017 - 07:11 AM.

[Mike K.]

^^ There are over 2,000 units listed on various short term rental sites downtown and not 150. Whether all of those could effectively be converted to longer term rentals is debatable but laws of supply and demand don't evenly scale prices (ie a 5% shortfall could easily increase prices 20% of more).

 

There are barely 2,000 residential units in downtown Victoria. The AirBnB phenomenon is overblown.

 

And many listings that people do see are not full time rentals, they are rooms in existing homes or are put on AirBnB when the owner is not using the residence. Neither of these listings will enter the rental pool under any circumstance.

[TallGuy]

The vacancy rate is based on the count in purpose built rentals, or 0.5% * 27000 = 135. To say adding 2000 units, or increasing the rental pool by 7.4%, wouldn't make any difference is a poor statement mathematically.

[DavidL]

^^ There are over 2,000 units listed on various short term rental sites downtown and not 150. Whether all of those could effectively be converted to longer term rentals is debatable but laws of supply and demand don't evenly scale prices (ie a 5% shortfall could easily increase prices 20% of more).

 

Not a chance that's an accurate reflection of the number of units available in the COV for short term rentals.  I'm referring to Victoria condos, whole units only, that carry transient zoning being used for that purpose, nothing else.  Maybe my number is a little low but I'm relying on the city consultants report from the fall written by a very qualified and credible professional rather than more anecdotal sources.  I have said several times that zoning uses should be respected.  If a unit or property is used in such a way that contravenes its respective zone then there is a well defined mechanism in place to end that use.  Just enforce existing zoning bylaws.

Edited by DavidL, 20 June 2017 - 10:55 AM.

[VicHockeyFan]

Not a chance that's an accurate reflection of the number of units available in the COV for short term rentals.  I'm referring to Victoria condos, whole units only, that carry transient zoning being used for that purpose, nothing else.  Maybe my number is a little low but I'm relying on the city consultants report from the fall written by a very qualified and credible professional rather than more anecdotal sources.  I have said several times that zoning uses should be respected.  If a unit or property is used in such a way that contravenes its respective zone then there is a well defined mechanism in place to end that use.  Just enforce existing zoning bylaws.

 

The city says there are 1,700 units zoned transient.  I'm not sure how many of those are used exclusively that way.  But in any event, that's much smaller than 2,000.

[SpaceHost]

With the debate about STVR going to council this week, I've made a request to speak and this is basically what I plan to say:

 

My name is Nancy Paine and after starting my own Airbnb three and a half years ago, I created a business called SpaceHost that manages suites for other owners.  The majority of the properties that I manage are located in Victoria. 

 

My first clients were living overseas and their home was sitting idle in a Transient-zoned building, fully furnished.  We launched the suite on Airbnb and have hosted hundreds of happy guests from all over the world there in the past year and a half.  Other clients include a retired couple that rent when they go south for the winter and young family with a tiny basement suite in James Bay.  None of these clients are wanna-be hoteliers, they’ve simply leveraged their under-utilized properties that otherwise sat vacant.  In the case of the young couple, the extra income made from renting their tiny suite helps them pay their mortgage. 

 

Many of the listings on Airbnb are just that: single owners monetizing their properties by hosting nightly renters. They are able to charge a premium that is higher than a pro-rated monthly rental amount as the spaces are furnished and cleaned to welcome incoming guests.  Oftentimes, these suites do not make ideal long term rentals as they have space constraints, limited cooking facilities, etc. 

 

The majority of my other clients have invested in properties with Transient Zoning and paid a premium for these suites and for that zoning in particular, recognizing the opportunity that renting on short term platforms would offer.  They liked the quality control aspect of this type of rental, wherein their spaces are checked and deeply cleaned frequently, making the upkeep and maintenance of the spaces more easy than having a long term tenant. They’ve purchased these properties with this in mind and it is their right as property owners in this type of zoning that they can choose who they host and for what duration they may do so.

 

I’ve built a business facilitating the rental of these properties on behalf of such owners and it has been a great opportunity for me. We’ve hosted hundreds of happy guests, families, business travellers, and local Victorians in need of temporary lodging. 

 

I believe there are many reasons why platforms such as Airbnb have done well in Victoria and point to the loss of hotel rooms in the last decade as a huge factor. Further, the lower Canadian dollar has meant that we are seeing more snowbirds from the rest of Canada and the strong USD is likewise drawing American tourists.  I argue that many of the visitors that are coming and renting these properties wouldn’t have chosen Victoria as a destination if it weren’t for the diverse rental options made available by platforms such as Airbnb. The resulting benefit for shops, restaurants and services that are utilized by these visitors is significant.  Where locals might be opting for big box stores and services outside of the downtown core, tourists here are patronizing downtown businesses like never before. 

 

Personally, my business has grown enough that we staff cleaners and maintenance people at rates 50 - 200% greater than minimum wage.  If the broad regulation recommended to council were to come into effect, the small businesses such as mine and that of my cleaners would be devastated.  It would be a great shame for me to cancel the hundreds of bookings currently on my calendar for guests who’ve booked homes that would no longer be permitted as short term rentals. 

 

Over-reaching policies that render the opportunity for short term rentals cost prohibitive isn’t going to solve the long term rental shortage and will have sweeping effects on the livelihoods of people benefiting from this marketplace.  Outlawing the suites offered in primary homes would be especially detrimental as these sharing platforms have allowed homeowners to leverage the costly burden of homeownership in Victoria. I urge council to consider that the vast majority of these operators are not mini-hotels but simply homeowners finding an opportunity to afford housing in this market and protect their expensive assets, as well as services such as mine that aid in this endeavour while also attracting people to come spend their money in our downtown core.

Thank you.

 

[rjag]

2 points, just bought a penthouse at Stadacona Centre, 1 bed/bath 800ft with 2 decks over 700ft. Paid more than $300 and less than $350k for it. The strata minutes for the most recent AGM showed a proposal to shut down rentals, it went to secret ballot and was defeated 50-10, there was also a proposal to shut down short term transient rentals even though the building isnt zoned for it there are a few identified in the building that do summertime stuff as the student tenants are away for the summer....it was also defeated 50-10 or so. There was a clear message that folks in this location dont have a problem for renting or even short term ones. I like this building!!!

 

My daughter who will be moving there is giving up her rental at Bay/Quadra, 2 bed/2bath. Her rent was $1600/month, she tried to get a friend to assume her lease and the landlord (realty company) said no as they were now going to list it for $1795...this is for Bay and Quadra in a condo building where they sell for $280-$350 https://www.realtor....Columbia-V8T4E1 As long as the supply cant meet demand then the prices will keep reflecting it.

 

Look at gas prices when a refinery shuts down...

[Nparker]

The most amazing thing about the vote at Stadacona: 60 owners responding.

[rjag]

The most amazing thing about the vote at Stadacona: 60 owners responding.

 

120 unit building plus commercial at street level and looks like quite an active community

[Nparker]

120 unit building plus commercial at street level and looks like quite an active community

That sat on its leaky condo repairs for years due to issues between the residential and commercial tenants/owners.

Edited by Nparker, 20 June 2017 - 02:12 PM.

[grantpalin]

2 points, just bought a penthouse at Stadacona Centre, 1 bed/bath 800ft with 2 decks over 700ft. Paid more than $300 and less than $350k for it. The strata minutes for the most recent AGM showed a proposal to shut down rentals, it went to secret ballot and was defeated 50-10, there was also a proposal to shut down short term transient rentals even though the building isnt zoned for it there are a few identified in the building that do summertime stuff as the student tenants are away for the summer....it was also defeated 50-10 or so. There was a clear message that folks in this location dont have a problem for renting or even short term ones. I like this building!!!

 

My daughter who will be moving there is giving up her rental at Bay/Quadra, 2 bed/2bath. Her rent was $1600/month, she tried to get a friend to assume her lease and the landlord (realty company) said no as they were now going to list it for $1795...this is for Bay and Quadra in a condo building where they sell for $280-$350 https://www.realtor....Columbia-V8T4E1 As long as the supply cant meet demand then the prices will keep reflecting it.

 

Look at gas prices when a refinery shuts down...

How is the Stadacona? I've passed by on the bus before but have only been into the Shine Cafe. It's been suggested to me that it could be a good first condo, especially with it's location and bus connections.

[Nparker]

How is the Stadacona? 

It was constructed back in the 1970s and the one unit I visited many years ago had an interesting layout. The buildings were fully remediated only a couple of years ago so it should be good investment at this time I would think. 

[VicHockeyFan]

How is the Stadacona? I've passed by on the bus before but have only been into the Shine Cafe. It's been suggested to me that it could be a good first condo, especially with it's location and bus connections.

 

I've been in a few suites, I think it's neat.