Sales in Surrey, Delta, Ladner and Tsawwassen post 30 per cent of the sales

Derrick Penner
Sun

Surrey and surrounding municipalities topped Vancouver as the Lower Mainland’s top centre for condominium development in 2007, according to a new report.

Developers in Surrey, Delta, Ladner and Tsawwassen sold 5,150 condo units last year, the development-industry research firm MPC Intelligence reported this week. That’s almost 30 per cent of all 17,900 condos sold by project promoters in 2007.

Downtown Vancouver, by contrast, saw 2,055 sales, about 11.5 per cent of all units put on the market. Including Vancouver‘s east and west-side neighbourhoods, there were 3,500 sales.

MPC Intelligence noted that the highest number of those sales in Surrey and its environs were for concrete highrise developments.

That result is not surprising, Jennifer Podmore Russell, report author and MPC Intelligence managing partner, said in an interview, considering comparative costs between downtown Vancouver and the suburbs.

“I’d speculate that comes from attractive price points [that developers] can offer in Surrey,” Podmore Russell said, “as well as the continued escalation of prices downtown becoming prohibitive for many buyers.”

Podmore Russell added that prices for concrete highrise construction in Surrey are running about $475 per square foot, versus $800 per square foot for the newest developments being released for sale in downtown Vancouver.

MPC Intelligence tracks all new housing in the marketing phase, which for the Lower Mainland is virtually all condo pre-sales.

The burgeoning condo community around Surrey‘s Central City, where more than a dozen apartment towers are currently under construction, is becoming an attraction on its own, Podmore Russell added. Buyers, she said, see that Central City is an area that is maturing into more of an urban core with services and access to transportation.

Seeking condo homes with easy access to transit has become a stronger theme among buyers, Podmore Russell added, as people seek to be less dependent on cars as much for practical financial purposes as environmental concerns.

If a household gets rid of a car, she said, “you have an extra $500 every month to theoretically put towards a mortgage, which is what a lot of people are doing.”

Podmore Russell said there are signs that more buyers intend to live in the units they purchase, versus speculators who count on their apartments to appreciate in value prior to completion.

While she doesn’t have hard evidence, Podmore Russell said the salespeople on development sites deal with more clients who are immediately looking to secure mortgages, which is a sign they intend to live in what they’re buying, and fewer buyers are trying to snap up multiple units, which is a sign of speculation.

Podmore Russell said there has been an increase in the number of pre-sale units being put back on the market by their initial purchasers, but not an alarming amount. “Real buyers will eventually be required to absorb these homes and these units will potentially create competition for future development,” she wrote in her report.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

Jeff Lee
Sun

WHISTLER — Accommodation for workers in this mountain resort is in such short supply that local politicians want to bring in shipping containers or construction trailers to house them.

The plan, developed by the Whistler Housing Authority, local chamber of commerce and several municipal councillors, is to create as many as 250 beds by establishing a park made up of construction trailers of the kind used for oil-field workers or by setting up stackable shipping containers.

The containers would be modified and brought up to a livable standard, including electricity, windows and insulation, according to one of the project’s backers, Coun. Ralph Forsyth.

The idea is the brainchild of a committee called “Housing Our Many Employees” (HOME) that has tried to find short- and long-term solutions to the perennial employee housing shortage.

Forsyth and fellow Coun. Tim Wade, who will bring the proposal to council in the second week of February, say it may be the only way to ease the tremendous pressure local businesses are facing in retaining staff during the busy winter season.

While accommodation for workers is always a problem in high-priced Whistler, this year is worse because the resort’s popularity is on an upswing, Forsyth said.

There are more visitors wanting more services and not enough accommodation for the staff needed to serve them.

“We’re aware of the critical shortage of housing for our employees, and it contributes to the deteriorating service standards,” Forsyth said.

In the high season, now, Whistler has a workforce approaching 14,000. But it has only enough accommodation for 10,500, according to Forsyth.

That will be worse in 2010, the year of the Olympic Winter Games, when the Vancouver Organizing Committee will be looking for accommodation for its own staff, volunteers and unaccredited media, he said.

But this year is already worse than ever, according to Stuart Cook, a manager of the Pinnacle International Hotel, who said: “I’ve never seen it this bad.”

The committee isn’t worried about the image of stacked shipping containers being used to house employees.

“These would be building blocks. All the container is, is the frame. You cut holes, you put in windows, you put in vents, you put in insulation, you put in ventilation,” Wade said.

“They would be actual containers,” Forsyth said. “We’ve seen videos of these places, and they are very nice, livable places. It looks like Lego blocks on the outside, they’re temporary, but they are very livable on the inside.”

Forsyth said businesses would have to underwrite the entire proposal — including the costs of setting it up and running it. “The reality is the government, this municipality, doesn’t have the money for this.”

He said businesses would be asked to guarantee to pay for whatever beds they need for their workers, at a probable cost of about $500 a month per bed. Whether they recoup that from employees would be up to them.

“Because a rising tide floats all boats, and in this case there is up-front money involved, we will go to the major employers who have enough money to say they will take some beds,” Forsyth said.

Forsyth and Wade say they’ve looked at one company that supplies modified containers, and the HOME committee is dealing with one property owner that may be willing to make land available on a temporary basis.

The committee hopes to gather enough letters of intent from businesses to underwrite the cost of the project by the second week of February.

The proposal might also help take pressure off some workers who are being gouged by landlords who cram as many employees as they can find into a single facility, Wade said.

The container trailer park idea is an immediate hit for Pete Van Beek, a server at Milestone’s Restaurant. He lives in a three-bedroom house with six others, including several who can’t find beds anywhere. While he doesn’t need a place to stay, he knows of many who do.

“I can tell you right now people would snatch them up,” said Van Beek, who has worked for Milestone’s for five years. “I’ve got three couch-surfers in my place right now. They’re friends and co-workers so we feel we have to help them out.”

But others worry that the idea isn’t a good long-term solution.

Eric Earle, one of the managers at Milestone’s, doesn’t believe Milestone’s would want to participate in the shipping container park because it sends the wrong message.

“Do you want the word out there that this world-wide famous resort is resorting to kids who come to work here staying in shipping containers?” he said. “I’m pretty sure Milestone’s would not want its staff having to stay in such a place.”

Instead, Milestone’s tries to hire staff who already have housing, and offers an incentive program aimed at retaining workers. Of the 80 people employed there, nearly 50 form a regular year-round core, Earle said.

Earle, who has lived in Whistler since 1989, blames past and current councils for the enduring problem.

“Where was the vision when we needed this accommodation 10 years ago?” he asked. “I feel bad about this, but the idea of a container trailer park is something that triggers in me the question, is that really a road we want to go down?”

The proposal follows an unsuccessful attempt by the HOME committee to persuade owners of vacation properties to rent 100 beds directly to businesses that would guarantee the employees would take care of them and pay their rent on time. Not a single homeowner took up the offer, Forsyth said.

“The idea was not to do a deal with some kid from Toronto you would never see again,” he said. “You would deal with a business in Whistler. But we didn’t get any takers. People are very fearful of their places being damaged.”

The irony, according to Forsyth and Wade, is that after the Olympics, more housing will be available for workers. That’s because after the Games, nearly 1,000 units of housing being built to house Olympic athletes will be turned over to the housing authority.

On Saturday, councillors told a town hall meeting that the municipality frowns on landlords who gouge long-term tenants or want to throw them out for the Olympics to cash in on better-paying tourists.

“It is non-negotiable for us to be in the situation in 2010 where people are booting out long-term residents and employees in order to rent to tourists,” Coun. Eckhard Zeidler said. “We find that pretty unacceptable.”

Whistler is already backing away from a proposal to temporarily permit homeowners in resident-only zones to rent rooms on a nightly basis to Olympic visitors, Mayor Ken Melamed told the meeting.

© The Vancouver Sun 2008

 

(( CLIIP AND SAVE))

Province

Make a list of projects you plan to complete during the year. Include big projects so you can budget ahead. Check toilets for leaks. Post important emergency info: Location of main gas valve, for instance, or contact numbers for heating and cooling service.

FEBRUARY

Organize garage or shed; clean, sharpen and lubricate yard tools.

Dispose of old paint, and properly. Add waste paint hardener, available at hardware stores and home centres.

Clean lint from dryer exhaust ducts and vents.

MARCH

Repair window screens. Save old screening for future patches. Build or repair fences and arbors. Repair deck boards as needed; remove protruding nails and replace with coated or galvanized screws. Be sure to check and tighten bolts in deck supports.

Clean and seal wood deck as necessary. Deck stains with at least some pigment last longer than clear sealers.

Check the operation of your garage-door opener. Consult owner’s manual.

Add a garage-door keypad outside for convenience — but be sure to keep it out of reach of young children.

Move firewood at least 30 feet away from house; pull wood mulch away from foundation.

APRIL

Reverse ceiling fans—they should have been blowing upward during the winter—and clean tops of fan blades.

Check to be sure winter wind hasn’t lifted vinyl and aluminum siding, and repair as needed.

Wash siding and gutters. You’ll have fewer streaks if you start at the bottom. Always be careful with ladders around power lines!

Scrape and touch up exterior paint, paying special attention to window sills, gable vents, garage doors.

MAY

Clean gas grill and replace any rusted or damaged parts.

Check crawl space for moisture and remove debris. If you spot signs of termites, call a pro.

Clean concrete drives, walkways and patios, and repair as needed.

JUNE

Vacuum coils behind refrigerators and freezers to ensure proper operation. (Don’t forget about those appliances in the basement or garage.)

Check supply hoses to washing machines. If hoses are soft or cracked, replace them. (They seem to break when you’re away on vacation.)

Remove toe panel from front of dishwasher and check for leaks under the appliance.

JULY

Trim shrubs away from heatpump compressor, and trim those blocking crawl-space ventilation.

Cut back tree limbs that are touching roof. Be careful around power lines!

Flush water heater as needed. Be sure to turn off power to water heater before draining, and refill before restoring power.

Open and close cutoff valves to sinks and toilets. You don’t want to discover during a plumbing emergency that valves are stuck.

AUGUST

Call heating service to schedule fall heating system checkup; call propane company to fill tanks.

If you smell a musty odour during peak air-conditioning season, check ducts for leaks. Repair leaks with mastic — not duct tape.

Replace light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Information: www.gelighting.com, www.sylvania.com.

Check operation of door and window locks, and replace as needed before you go on vacation.

SEPTEMBER

Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and replace batteries.

Caulk around windows and doors. If you’re going to paint, choose a caulk that’s paintable. Pay special attention to places where dissimilar materials such as brick and wood meet.

Be sure weep holes in storm windows are open to allow water to escape.

Vacuum gas logs, and be sure they’re properly seated before operating.

OCTOBER

Add new sweeps to the bottoms of exterior doors as needed to block cold air.

Reverse those ceiling fans again. They should blow upward in winter, to push warm air across ceiling and down walls.

Clean gutters. Use hose to be sure downspouts are flowing freely.

NOVEMBER

Check roof from ground with binoculars. Replace or repair any curled or missing shingles.

Drain and winterize irrigation system; the backflow preventer is most vulnerable.

Seal holes in foundation, especially spots around pipes and wires where rodents might enter.

DECEMBER

Create a fire escape plan for family and practice it. Be sure fire extinguishers are properly filled. Information: www.usfa.fema.gov.

Get rid of old medicines, and make sure household chemicals are out of reach of children. Post poison hotline number near phone.

Make sure everyone knows location of main water shutoff, and that you keep access clear. Show neighbour where to find shutoff, too.

Tony Gioventu
Province

Dear Condo Smarts: I’ve just taken over as treasurer in our strata of 101 units. We have 10 rentals and for the past five years, one of our investors has been the treasurer. We had to threaten court action through our lawyer to get the past treasurer to release our financial records, and the cancelled cheques were still missing. I personally paid the bank charges to have the past five years’ cancelled cheques reproduced. Two other councillors and I sat down over Christmas and reviewed all of the documents. We are now in a state of shock and horror. We have discovered three companies to whom our strata has been paying money that do not exist. There are cheques for building inspections, accounting services and general maintenance that were never approved by council and no invoices. We contacted the bank on one of the cancelled cheques and were told that only the owner of the company (turns out it is our previous treasurer) could access the information in the accounts. We’ve tallied up the five years and our strata appear to have paid more than $40,000 of fraudulent expenses. What do we do? Can we recover the losses?

— K.C. , Surrey

Dear KC: These are hard lessons to learn for anyone in business, in a non-profit association or a strata corporation. Your council needs to immediately have an audit conducted and seek legal advice on the collection of the fraudulent invoices. If the past council member does not restitute the funds, including interest, court action may also be necessary. File a police complaint. The fraud never stops when someone is allowed to get away with it and they will only make a victim of their next strata corporation or association.

There are a few rules of thumb that everyone can follow to prevent fraud or at least address it quickly when it occurs.

n Misuse of bank accounts: Copies of all bank statements of all strata bank accounts must be provided to council members every month and on request of an owner within 14 days. Council, as part of their routine approval of financial statements, must review the bank statements.

n Unauthorized payments: No payments are made without an invoice, and at least two council members not involved in transactions must review invoices each month. Invoices that charge GST without a valid GST number should never be paid until the correct information is provided.

n Interest fraud: This is surprisingly frequent. All strata funds must be held in trust in the name of the strata corporation and all interest must be deposited to the strata account.

n Monthly receivables: Strata council needs to record those owners not paying their strata fees and follow up each month. Not paying your monthly fees is the same as taking $200 a month from the strata accounts. Watch for the signs and don’t delay. Act quickly. Waiting three months before you take action only provides greater opportunities.

Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association (CHOA). Contact CHOA at 604-584-2462 or toll-free at 1-877-353-2462, fax 604-515-9643 or e-mail [email protected].

© The Vancouver Province 2008