Vancouver feels split rather than uniformly fast or slow. I’m looking at duplexes around C$1,323,000–C$1,984,000 and seeing roughly 71 days on market. Properties with a clear explanation of building reserves seem to move differently from those with unanswered questions. Is that enough time to justify negotiating firmly, or am I reading too much into one number? Recent completed sales would be useful, especially where the final price differed from the public asking history.
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Are Vancouver duplex buyers gaining leverage after 71 days on market?
- Thread starter cairn.common
- Start date
Seventy-one days creates room to ask questions, but it does not prove the seller will accept less. The listing might already have been repriced, or the seller may be comfortable waiting. I’d compare the current ask with the entire listing history and make any offer conditional on satisfactory answers about reserves and condition.
tradeTheLoft
Buyer
Which neighbourhoods are included? Averages can become misleading if the search crosses boundaries where lot position, school access, noise or redevelopment potential differ. Also check whether those 71 days include withdrawn and relisted properties. A fresh listing date can hide a much longer marketing period.
I’m not convinced reserves are necessarily the main divider. For duplexes, layout, maintenance responsibility and the condition of the specific half may matter just as much. A clear reserve answer can reassure a buyer, but it will not rescue an awkward floor plan or significant near-term work.
For completed sales, keep the comparison narrow: same immediate area, similar ownership structure, comparable size and similar condition. Then record original ask, any price cuts, days before each change, final ask and sale price. A sale below the last ask means something different from a sale below an unrealistic original ask after several relistings.
cedar.steady
Landlord
Price-cut timing may reveal more than total days. A seller who reduced recently could be testing whether that brings buyers back and may resist another drop. No reduction after 71 days could mean stubborn pricing, little urgency, or simply confidence that the right buyer will appear.
Liam’s neighbourhood point is important. I would not pool every duplex between C$1,323,000 and C$1,984,000 into one negotiating assumption. That is a wide price span, and even a small boundary change can alter the competing listings. Start with properties a buyer would genuinely choose instead of this one, not everything sharing the property label.
Financing also affects apparent leverage. A lower price is not the only useful term if the buyer needs time for approval or appraisal. Conversely, a well-prepared buyer may be able to offer the seller more certainty while still negotiating on price. The structure depends on the buyer’s lender and the specific contract, so contingencies should not be dropped casually.
Be careful with public asking histories: withdrawn listings, changed descriptions and relaunches can obscure the sequence. Completed sales are still the better evidence, but only if condition is accounted for. Photos may not show deferred maintenance, reserve uncertainty or work completed between listing attempts.
Getting the seller’s circumstances wrong can lead you either to overpay or to make an offer that is dismissed before any real negotiation starts. Ask the agent what outcome matters most to the seller, whether earlier negotiations reached a serious stage, and how any price reductions were timed. Treat those answers as leads, not proof.
The harder mistake to undo is overlooking uncertain building reserves or necessary work. Put credible costs against known issues and allow room for anything still unresolved. That produces a more defensible offer than simply subtracting a chosen percentage because the listing has reached 71 days.
The harder mistake to undo is overlooking uncertain building reserves or necessary work. Put credible costs against known issues and allow room for anything still unresolved. That produces a more defensible offer than simply subtracting a chosen percentage because the listing has reached 71 days.
fresh_glass
First-time buyer
So the sanity check is: 71 days supports a firmer investigation, not automatically a low offer. Build a short set of genuinely comparable completed sales, include withdrawn or relisted competition, note when price cuts happened, and separate property-condition issues from general market softness. If those all point the same way, the negotiation case is much stronger than the days-on-market figure alone.