It’s a crazy idea, but it just might work.
That’s the thinking behind a new idea by a Vancouver man who wants to cool the city’s super-heated housing market: how about making a difference by making a bit less on the sale of your home?
“I’m hearing the same thing over and over again. So, why not introduce a more la-la land idea?” said David Kandestin, a 31-year-old lawyer and founder of vancouverhomeproject.com.
The concept is simple. “If you own a home in Vancouver, and are willing to sell below market to a buyer that wants to live in this city, we want to hear from you,” the website says.
Call it anti-greed.
“I think ultimately people do want to sell to people they think are going to live in their neighbourhood,” said Kandestin.
His website aims to connect would-be buyers with altruistic sellers. It’s only been online since Monday. Dozens of buyers have joined – but so has one seller, a homeowner from West Vancouver who wants her place to go to a good family.
“She’s just sick of what she’s seeing, so she’d be really happy to sell it to somebody who wants to live in the neighbourhood and she’d be really interested in there being some sort of a safeguard that the person who does buy it ultimately can’t flip it.”
In Vancouver, where tiny teardowns net millions of dollars, people seem willing to listen to the idea.
“Would I get a decent return and allow somebody else to stay here? That seems reasonable to me,” said one man.
But others don’t buy it.
“If you make a sweetheart deal here, you may not get the same sweetheart deal when you go to buy somewhere else,” said another Vancouver homeowner.
Kandestin said his goal was to spark a conversation and perhaps generate a small level of interest.
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