Comments on: Buy or Rent?

By: D_Oush

D_Oush — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:51:00 +0000

I'm saying that vancouver is a *growing* city.

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By: bc_cele

bc_cele — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:16:00 +0000

Isn't that the whole point about vancouver's market? That we do attract wealthy individuals who buy here and drive demand and prices up? So are you saying that Vancouver is a small city, or a large one?

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By: D_Oush

D_Oush — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:15:00 +0000

bc_cele:Large cities also attract a large number of weathy individuals who can also prop up the market.Isn't that the whole point about vancouver's market? That we do attract wealthy individuals who buy here and drive demand and prices up?

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By: kam

kam — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:50:00 +0000

I think Vancouver stats are way off the mark with regard to rentals. It is stupid easy to find a place to rent for a pretty reasonable rate.Yeah, I found the same thing- there are many many places on craigslist as well as in the papers and just signs on the street. Are the stats skewed because of all the illegal suites that aren't counted?

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By: WoodenHorse

WoodenHorse — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:02:00 +0000

D_Oush said... I don't know much about the depressionYou should read about that. Current credit markets and asset inflation are mirroring the last 20's like you would not believe.Furthermore, back then, the US Dollar was tied to the Gold Standard, which it isn't now thus allowing for things to get even further out of whack before correcting.But I agree that information tech/communications will have an effect....it'll likely cause a correction to occur with greater speed and intensity when it does come.I do have a question for you d_oush:Have you spent any time (i.e. 6 months or more) in an area other than BC? Not being from here it often amazes me what ppl who are from here think of Vancouver's relative position in the world and the benefits of it's climate, surroundings and what not.Make no mistake, this is a small city on the edge of a small country with little more than 100 years of history. While is does have a lot of things going for it...it's not even close to NYC or Montreal even.A nice environment and mild weather doesn't put food on the table, money in the bank or hummers in the driveway. However people here seem to think we can run the city with RE and tourism alone. This may work for a while...but not that long.

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By: bc_cele

bc_cele — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:48:00 +0000

d_oush said: Its not just mountains - we have a better climate and cleaner air. If anything the fact that we are a smaller city is a plus not a negative. It means we have more to grow and more growth means higher prices right? No offence, but I'm always rather bemused when people mention the climate for two reasons. One, it really isn't a major concern for most people, if it was then why is the population of Toronto larger than that of BC by about 1 million people. Second, it isn't like BC has the climate of Florida. It's more of a trade off between snow and rain. I spent five solid days in a fog last winter that just didn't lift. And how many days in a row did it rain? A few days of -20 that a cold and clear isn't a big deal for the most part. It's still 20C inside.As for size, larger cities tend attract more people, even if the rate of growth is the same. My home town is now about 350K people, but the population growth is smaller than that of Toronto, both in absolute terms, and rate of growth. Large cities also attract a large number of weathy individuals who can also prop up the market. It's no secret that large cities like NYC, London, Paris, and LA, are much more expensive to live in, and housing is a big part of it.

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By: solipsist

solipsist — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:06:00 +0000

Glad that you are still here d-oush, and that you are not too sensitive.I did not mean to imply that you are a "kid" - just young. Pith and vinegar is a good thing to have at any age. It's better when young though, because the young have lots of time to recover (and learn) from mistakes.The Depression was nasty, and few saw it coming. It happened pretty much over-night. The world has definitely changed since then - now we have nukes, internet, plasma tv's, and yes, communication is much better. Communication is not really the lynch-pin though. Communication didn't help much in the Stock Market crash of 2000 - when a lot of people took a bath (including me - full of pith and vinegar, I was). It really hasn't helped in any of the melt-downs of the last century. Communication is a double-edged sword though - it depends on what one reads, and how one interprets that.The psychology of marketing has become a lot more sophisticated, and the marketers can make people dance to just about any tune. As well, not nearly so many people (average people) were invested in the markets in those times, and credit cards, lines of credit, home equity loans, etc. were nonexistent. The biggest debts that consumers had were a tab at the dry goods store, or a farmer's seed stock on credit. People were also a lot less reliant on energy. Few people had cars, electricity, telephones, etc. There were no daycare fees because mothers stayed at home, made the kids' clothes, had a vegetable garden, made their own bread, jams, pies, etc. Food was much more locally produced, and so on. There was a decade or so of exuberance after WW1 that ended in a right mess that lasted for ten years before WW11 kicked in. Then, there was another decade of hurt around that. The pain in Europe lasted right into the early 1960's.I think that because things were so much simpler then, it was easier to recover.But I may be wrong. We'll see.

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By: D_Oush

D_Oush — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:16:00 +0000

Oh, and as far as the age thing goes, I'm not a kid, I'm at the top of bc_celes estimate.I don't know much about the depression, but I do know that a lot has changed since then. I would think that just the fact that communication is so fast now compared to then would make a difference in keeping anything like that happening again.

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By: D_Oush

D_Oush — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 09:47:00 +0000

I'm still here. I've got a thick enough skin to take a bit of debate without taking it personally.The city of Vancouver is only about 600K and the GVA is about 2.5mil. Compare that to Toronto's population of 2.5, and GTA's 5 mil. So why are housing prices here more expensive? Oh wait, mountains, right?Its not just mountains - we have a better climate and cleaner air. If anything the fact that we are a smaller city is a plus not a negative. It means we have more to grow and more growth means higher prices right?

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By: WoodenHorse

WoodenHorse — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 09:01:00 +0000

Hi Solipsist:I like how el vince does that to....except for it literally reads "at such-and-such".I would hope that d_oush sticks around. At least he had the decency to not be anonymous (btw: I only hate that when anonymous stirs the pot). And I hope he can find the time to read some more about the market.Although I shouldn't have said that you were quick to say that, what I should have said is I don't have a lot of confidence we could predict his age based on our current knowledge.For every young person that has never experienced hardship, there's an older guy that thinks the hard times are all in the past.I try not to be condescending either, but I seem fail at that effort more frequently than yourself. Also, in text I come across as a hard ass when I'm really soft like cookie dough.

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