He added that in Vancouver, real-estate appreciation can sometimes be as high as 9.5 percent annually. Verdolaga noted that it’s a global issue, and real estate goes up six percent or more a year, “especially in highly desirable coastal cities where people most want to live and work”. “Keep in mind that unaffordability isn’t exclusively a Vancouver problem,” he said. These days, Verdolaga said that one has to contend with more expensive properties to begin with, multiple-bid situations, a higher downpayment that banks require, and a “really tough mortgage stress test that never used to exist”. “You could actually find some good deals then, and competitive bidding wasn’t too much of an issue like it is now,” he said.

To illustrate, Verdolaga noted that if a detached house in East Vancouver cost $400,000 in 2003, a five percent down payment of $20,000 puts someone in the “game”. “House flipping used to be something that a lot of ordinary folk could aspire to,” he recalled. Verdolaga said that the hot housing market has killed house flipping as an option for many. More important, the economics has changed. “You’re reviled because people think, ‘Oh, you’re worsening prices’,” Verdolaga said. “This process usually unfolds between 10 to 20 years, and has been the hallowed route of any potential property owner wanting to get their foot into the property market,” Verdolaga said.Īlso back then, house flipping didn’t have a bad name. Then the owner upgrades to successively bigger properties, culminating in a detached home. Typically the climb starts with a one-bedroom condo.

“The idea for the part-time flipper was, ‘I buy a house, use it, do changes, put it back on the market, then I buy a new house after three to five years’,” Verdolaga explained. House flipping used to attract what he described as the “hobbyist”, ordinary folks who simply wanted to climb the property ladder. “Fifteen to 20 years ago, it was an aspirational thing for the middle class,” Verdolaga told the Straight in a phone interview. When asked about house flipping, he says that it's now largely dead, except for people with really deep pockets or those who are professional builders. Hence, the principal of the FlowForm Design Group speaks with a level of expertise about many issues. With his long experience as a Vancouver interior designer, Verdolaga has observed closely how the real-estate market has evolved. For over two decades, George Verdolaga has been helping property owners give their homes a visual oomph.

House flipper buyers