Back in time for a quarter

I recently wrote an article on alternate housing options for the Vancouver Observer. The idea of taking a home, putting in a suite and a laneway and dividing it between 3 parties who are listed as tenants in common on title. The division would be covered by contract. I used an example of a house that could be bought for $1.6m.
 It would cost each buyer $700 to get in to that 1/3 section( after renos, costs etc..). I thought I would look back and see how long ago you would have had to buy in to the Real Estate market to get that whole house for $700k.
 One example stood out. This put the whole idea that the " price of housing has gone up" into context

A quaint little Dunbar house on W 22 nd  sold this month for $1.605m
It had sold in 2005 for $830,000
It had sold in 2002 for $448,000
It had sold in 2000 for $398,000
11 years ago I could have bought 4 of these house for what 1 will cost me today.
 My husband works for our National Airline, He makes LESS today then he did 11 years ago. I am sure a huge percentage of our workers are in this same boat. Who says we have little inflation?

This November I have been asked to speak at an alternative housing forum put on by the Real Estate Board's North Shore Division. I really hope that by then, 11 months from now. We have created viable options for people. Going back 11 years isnt going to happen.

ATTN all REALTORS ( R)

 You have all heard the saying at your local burger joint " would you like fries with that?" Well get ready to use that idea in your real estate career. Now you can get a new home for $150,000! on any existing RS1 or RS5 property in City of Vancouver, and soon in North Van City. These beautiful state of the art mini homes are back yard cottages that can be built in a few months on your back lane.( http://www.kimlittle.ca/ for info) So the next time you show a buyer a nice place for sale ask if they want a laneway house with that.
 RBC and Vancity currently have programs in place to pay for the cost of building your laneway -so a little extra mortgage upfront and you can get a great rental, or home for aging parent or footloose teenager. Smallworks has 3 plans from contemporary, midcentury modern to traditional exterior. The interior can be a studio, 1 bedroom or a flex between the two.Heated floors, fire sprinkler, full kitchen and bathroom are all included and for $150k that covers HST too.
Big houses are so yesterday.

vancouver laneway tour

what a huge success! Thankyou to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation for a well organized huge success. The 6 Laneway houses on tour offerred a fantastic first hand look for people who like the idea or are actually thinking of building a laneway house. I was at the lovely yellow mini house on 23rd , a traditional cottage style exterior with highend interior built by Smallworks.ca. It was number four on the tour for people working East to West and seemed to be the tour favorite until they hit the other Smallworks offerring- the fantastic contempory number on E.37th. The press and younger folk seemed to love that one. I have been so impressed by the standards and philosophy of Smallworks that I have recently joined the company in some fashion or another. I intend to blog about ( or is it "blag" about it.... my new word for bragging while you blog...)this little company as I see it becoming a force to be reckoned with in urban developement. As well I must have answered 50,000 questions on tour this past weekend so perhaps i can answer questions of those of you who are interested in a laneway house but didnt catch the tour. As a licensed real estate agent as well, many people asked how this will affect property values so this is something i want to explore as well.
till next time