Are you flipping kidding me? Langley home for sale again
19877-46A Ave. FOR SALE
This tidy, green and brick rancher in Langley City has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, over 1,395 square feet, with a spacious backyard that offers a distant glimpse of the North Shore mountains. It’s on a quiet street near a soccer field, parks and walking trails. The house has been on the market for 10 days. Its listing ad describes it as a ”great investment opportunity” and ”perfect for a young family or couple.”
4 NUMBER OF TIMES THE HOUSE HAS BEEN ON THE MARKET OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS
Since 2010, the one-storey house was owned by a couple, one of whom worked as a paramedic and the other a nurse, according to land-title records. Starting in February, the house changed hands three times in quick succession. It was first bought by a sidings company in Langley, which then sold it in April to a construction firm in Surrey. In June, the company sold the house to a single buyer, who, according to listing agent Michael Shi of New Coast Realty, had planned to live in the house with his family. The plans, however, fell through and his client now needs to sell.
33 per cent INCREASE IN THE PROPERTY’S VALUE
The house was purchased in February for $517,000, in April for $632,500 and in June for $686,000. The dramatic increase mirrored the upward spiral of property prices in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in recent years. In February, the benchmark price for a detached home in Langley was $722,800; five months later, the benchmark price was $873,300 — a 21-per-cent spike.
0 OCCUPANTS
Neighbours say the house has sat empty for about a half-year. There has been little activity on site: No visible renovations, a few reported sightings of people going in and out of the house, then another dreaded “for-sale” sign heralded yet another round of open houses. The house flipping has fuelled chatter among neighbours. Others say they just want the house occupied. Said one man on Facebook: “Can someone buy my neighbour’s house that actually wants to live in it and cut the grass?”
$698,000 CURRENT LISTING PRICE
The B.C. government’s new 15-percent foreign homebuyers tax has sent a chill through the previously red-hot real estate market. On the ground, Shi says the new tax has meant “the market is slow, slow, slow.” The house is currently listed for $12,000 more than its last purchase price in June — a relatively modest 1.7-per-cent hike if it sells at the asking price. “(The client is) not making money on this one,” said Shi.