Duplex 201 / 20
The Duplex That Is Hard to Sell in Ten Years
By Sonia Felix, REALTOR® | byfelix.
Oakwyn Realty Downtown
Who buys it from you
Every buyer thinks about whether they will be happy in a place. Almost nobody thinks about who buys it from them.
The duplex market is one of the most active in the city. Upsizers moving out of condos and downsizers coming out of detached homes meet in the same place. That is a deep buyer pool with specific expectations, and a duplex that does not meet them still sits, even in an active market.
What makes a duplex hard to sell
No cost sharing agreement, and a difficult neighbour. The biggest one. A buyer doing their homework will ask, and an informal arrangement with someone unreasonable next door is a real deterrent. How to set it up.
Deferred shared maintenance. A roof visibly near the end of its life with no fund and no agreement. Buyers price that in, heavily.
Highly personal finishes. Personal taste discounts your price, because buyers subtract the cost of undoing it. Professional staging corrects for that. In my listings, staged homes have sold 15 to 20 percent above unstaged comparables.
A layout that suits one household type. Three bedrooms upstairs with no main floor flexibility rules out many downsizers, and downsizers are a large share of who is buying.
Poor sound separation. It shows up at every showing, and it cannot be fixed cheaply. How to test it.
Parking that does not work. Especially on streets with parking pressure.
A street that changed. The permit question, in reverse.
Buyers and sellers are judged differently
Buyers evaluate a property against their own life. Sellers get evaluated against the whole market. The features that feel like small compromises when you buy are the same ones that show up as price reductions when you sell.
The question to ask before you buy
Who is the next buyer for this place? In this market, it is usually an upsizer or a downsizer. If you can picture one easily, that is a good sign. If you cannot picture either, that is information too.
Selling in the next few years?
Talk to me about resale before you buy or before you list. I think about the next buyer from day one.
Common questions
- Is a duplex a good investment in Vancouver?
It can be. Demand is strong from upsizers and downsizers. Resale depends on layout, build quality, the shared cost arrangement and the street.
- Who buys duplexes in Vancouver?
Mostly upsizers leaving condos and downsizers leaving detached homes, plus families who want a yard at a lower price than a detached house.
- Does staging help sell a duplex?
Yes. Staging removes the discount buyers apply for personal taste and helps them picture their own life in the space.