1451 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Good to know. So these are completed units? What's the time period covered? And how do those numbers compare to the City of Victoria?
 

If Langford is a new urban center, that boosts the case for improved use of the E&N right-of-way, methinks.

 

Yes, these would be completed and occupied purpose-built rental units built since 2015.

 

In total over the same period 3,700-units were constructed across the CRD, with about 200 elsewhere on the Westshore leaving 1,500-units between Victoria/Saanich/Esq/Oak/NSaan/CSaan/Sidney once you removed Langford's 2,000 and the Westshore's additional 200 (2,200 total). Victoria's share would be the brunt of that 1,500 but I am unable to query the database right at this moment.

[aastra]

in the CoV itself, "Remainder of City" has added more rental units since October 2015 (+703) than Langford/View Royal/Colwood/Sooke together have added (+546). I assume downtown would fall under "Remainder of City". In those CMHC reports it might be time to separate downtown out as a named zone along with "Cook St. Area", "Fort St. Area", and "James Bay Area".

 

 

Edited by aastra, 04 December 2019 - 01:22 PM.

[Mike K.]

I have no idea why the CMHC'c data is so out of whack.

[Rob Randall]

The runaway subtenant: A Gordon Head nightmare

Because we were friends, I didn’t worry about collecting a damage deposit. That was my first big mistake. And because I was desperate for a subtenant and leaving the continent soon, I offered to pay April’s rent.

 

I wrote my last final, said goodbye to everybody, and left for Australia. When I got back from Australia to my parents’ place in Vancouver, I had a text from my landlord.

 

He said, “Hey have you heard from Amy? She hasn’t paid rent … I think she moved out.” 

 

I had not heard from Amy. At this point, it was nearly June — and I was freaking out. I had to book three days off from my job in Vancouver to go back to Victoria and sort out the situation.

 

 

[Mike K.]

"But all in all, I lost $600 that summer."

 

 

 

"Because we had mutual friends, I trusted her."

 

- snip -

 

"Because we were friends, I didn’t worry about collecting a damage deposit. That was my first big mistake. And because I was desperate for a subtenant and leaving the continent soon, I offered to pay April’s rent."

 

The naïveté of youth, eh? Kid goes travelling to Australia, lines up a stranger to take over her place, then wonders why the stranger left. I hate to break it to you, but a mutual friend is not a friend.

 

In the end the landlord could have been on the hook for far, far more than Amy's $600 after his tenant introduced a stranger into the home and took off.

[Rob Randall]

The naïveté of youth, eh? Kid goes travelling to Australia, lines up a stranger to take over her place, then wonders why the stranger left. I hate to break it to you, but a mutual friend is not a friend.

 

But that's what students are forced to do. They often have no other possible choice. Going on faith instead of trust. Better a friend of a friend than some random Craigslist dude. 

 

I have seen firsthand the desperation of UVic students. Those that can afford it are willing to snag an apartment in the spring and leave it empty just so they aren't caught wanting when school starts in September. Those that can't afford it take a chance on the roommate roulette wheel.

[Nparker]

...Those that can afford it are willing to snag an apartment in the spring and leave it empty just so they aren't caught wanting when school starts in September...

Clearly, the Province needs to cast the speculation tax net further to catch these scofflaws.

[Mike K.]

But that's what students are forced to do. They often have no other possible choice. Going on faith instead of trust. Better a friend of a friend than some random Craigslist dude. 

 

I have seen firsthand the desperation of UVic students. Those that can afford it are willing to snag an apartment in the spring and leave it empty just so they aren't caught wanting when school starts in September. Those that can't afford it take a chance on the roommate roulette wheel.

 

No choice but to go to Australia for several months, eh? Poor student.

 

But this student ultimately did find someone to take over the unit, a random Craigslist couple from Sweden.

 

Meanwhile the person who would have actually been left out to dry had this student's sub-letting exercise gone really wrong would have been the landlord. "Sorry, John, I thought she was my friend. Is the damage really $5,000, and she didn't pay the rent? So, so sorry."

[Rob Randall]

^Easy for you to criticize. Your UVic housing was your old bedroom in your mom's house.

[Mike K.]

Look, I'm not disparaging students. I was once a student. I get it.

 

But on what grounds are we supposed to feel sympathetic to this individual's plight because her vacation in Australia didn't go as planned thanks to a mutual friend she thought was a friend? This is naïveté. In the real world the bank doesn't halt your mortgage payment because you want to vacation for a few months, or go spend time with your family somewhere else.

[Nparker]

...Your UVic housing was your old bedroom in your mom's house.

And it was never empty for 4 straight years.

[Rob Randall]

Once in a while it even had double occupancy.

[Mike K.]

And check this:

 

I wrote my last final, said goodbye to everybody, and left for Australia. When I got back from Australia to my parents’ place in Vancouver, I had a text from my landlord.

He said, “Hey have you heard from Amy? She hasn’t paid rent … I think she moved out.” 

I had not heard from Amy. At this point, it was nearly June — and I was freaking out. I had to book three days off from my job in Vancouver to go back to Victoria and sort out the situation.

After a two-month vacay she returns to find the text. 

 

Can you not see the pattern of mistakes here? You don't shut off communication for two months because you're travelling in Australia. That's so irresponsible. You also don't head to Vancouver for work when you've got obligations, like an apartment, in Victoria that you may not be able to afford to maintain without a sublease.

 

Nothing here was a nightmare, it was all par for the course.

[Rob Randall]

I'm seeing a lot of landlord harassment locally on Facebook Marketplace. Owners placing ads for apartments and get torrents of hate messages ("You should be ashamed", "you're a horrible person" etc). The offense is listing ads for $1,200 one bedrooms and $1,800 two bedrooms. No gouging, unfortunately just standard market value today.

 

The benefit of using Marketplace is that it is very easy to screen potential applicants because they are using their Facebook page to contact you. The downside is it opens every ad up to the possibility of becoming a disastrous argument about the evils of capitalism and blood-sucking landlords.

[Mike K.]

Have you tried Varage? At least there there’s moderation and that sort of behaviour would get people banned from the platform. It probably gets less views than the actual marketplace, though.

Is it just one group of people that are doing this, I wonder? Or are we talking legions of people?

[Nparker]

...Is it just one group of people that are doing this, I wonder? 

How many votes did TV candidates get in the last civic election?

[Veblen]

I'm seeing a lot of landlord harassment locally on Facebook Marketplace. Owners placing ads for apartments and get torrents of hate messages ("You should be ashamed", "you're a horrible person" etc). The offense is listing ads for $1,200 one bedrooms and $1,800 two bedrooms. No gouging, unfortunately just standard market value today.
 
The benefit of using Marketplace is that it is very easy to screen potential applicants because they are using their Facebook page to contact you. The downside is it opens every ad up to the possibility of becoming a disastrous argument about the evils of capitalism and blood-sucking landlords.

Last year, we picked up an investment property and went through the experience of renting it out. I’ve long maintained that the types of people who use the various selling sites (for want of a better word) are anything but randomly distributed. It was absolutely borne out with our responses. I will say I was shocked at how many responses came from Kijiji despite it being a non-entity our west. Don’t overlook it for renting stuff out!

Anyway, at least half of the people complained about the price as if this is a negotiation. The fact we had multiple good candidates to choose from suggests we listed at fair market price. Do people go to McDonald’s and try to get a Big Mac for 30% less? The price is in the ad. It doesn’t say obo. People seem to love to waste their time doing two useless things: 1) getting offended over things that are not relevant to them, and 2) replying to ads with absurd low balls. I wonder if the tight market at the time we listed contributed to the situation by not having many comparison properties. Although I suspect I’m just being generous here...

[grantpalin]

... I will say I was shocked at how many responses came from Kijiji despite it being a non-entity our west. Don’t overlook it for renting stuff out!

Funny you should say that. The place I'm renting now, I found only because I checked Kijiji after trying all the other obvious suspects. From the tenant's perspective, it's a lesson learned - you won't see it if you don't look!

[Rob Randall]

Is it just one group of people that are doing this, I wonder? Or are we talking legions of people?

 

Facebook Marketplace gets better response from potential renters than Used Victoria, Craigslist and Kijiji combined. It's dominating the rental market like it's dominated other markets, like collectibles.

 

The supposed upside of Marketplace is the lack of anonymity. Craigslist posters are anonymous but with Facebook  you can see their true profile. You would think this would prevent abuse but the wide spread of Facebook means so many more people view your ad and the temptation to comment is too great for some. 

 

The person that said "You are a horrible person, you should be ashamed" was an old geezer from Summerland, BC. What does he know about the market value of Downtown condos? So the solution is to turn off comments--if a person is genuinely interested and has a question they can leave a message. Users still have the option of leaving emojis so a typical apartment ad will have a combination of likes, laughing faces and angry faces. 

[Mike K.]

Ok, I get ya.

I’ve stopped using Used Victoria altogether. It’s lost its shine and you get a tiny trickle of listings that you see on Marketplace.