Comments on: The Forgotten

By: Patiently Waiting

Patiently Waiting — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:05:00 +0000

By the way, those numbers are from a story about a new bylaw creating "a municipal team that will search out and shut down grow ops using tips from neighbours, BC Hydro records and observations."

Is this the beginning of a trend? Is it a serious crackdown? Does this have anything to do with 2010?

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By: Patiently Waiting

Patiently Waiting — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 04:01:00 +0000

In The NOW I read that city staff estimate there are 200-300 active grow-ops in Poco at any one time. I did a bit of rough math, and that would mean about 12,000 in the GVRD.

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By: markx

markx — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 01:37:00 +0000

"My opinion is that the majority of those that have moved to BC or to its cities for work purposes are actually renters rather than owners. "

That's true, in any rational market. The problem is, people that movED here for work purposes have already rented, assuming that they're not on the street. Therefore, when the condos complete, they can not be counted on to absorb the supply. Rather, MORE people will need to come to BC to absorb the supply. The flood of condos completed or to be completed in Florida would serve as a good reference.

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By: tulip-Mania2

tulip-Mania2 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:19:00 +0000

â€œHome Prices Are Falling Like Almost Never Beforeâ€ I likethis story

It states in a neat little nut shell what the usual suspects are peddling here.

"The painful part of this story is that it was all predictable and preventable."

"In short, there was no explanation for this sudden run-up in house sale prices based on fundamentals."

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By: Drachen

Drachen — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:30:00 +0000

From Digi's link

"Historically prices have appreciated probably at about 7-10% per year."

Historically in this case meaning over the last 4-5 years I guess.

What a bag of wind that guy is! Let me get this straight.

decreasing demand + increasing cost of ownership + increasing supply = it's a good time to buy!

It doesn't take an economics degree to know that if supply goes up and demand goes down or is flat a rational market will fall.

And as we all know, market forces will eventually force a return to rationality.

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By: rentah

rentah — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:09:00 +0000

digi: Thanks for that rental video link, very informative.
Note the change from the Oct 06 video (very tight, almost 0% vacancy) to July 07 ("lots of product", more product getting ready to come on the market).

Also worth watching for the bit where he discusses wages versus asking-rents (and manages to do it with a straight face..).

This is one way in which we'd expect the next part of the cycle (the drop) to commence.

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By: Akhen

Akhen — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:11:00 +0000

I'm wondering what level of rental demand there is and whether or not it can easily absorb the new units coming online.

My opinion is that the majority of those that have moved to BC or to its cities for work purposes are actually renters rather than owners. If so, then there likely would be enough demand to maintain the rental rates without a significant dip.

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By: digi

digi — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:03:00 +0000

So whats the downtown rental market look like from an investors perspective?

The thing about renting is that even if you foolishly pay one of these neophyte investors a bunch for a tiny condo rental you can always move if something better comes up, and with thousands of new condos being completed downtown in the next year or two its looking like there will be lots 'better'.

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By: Akhen

Akhen — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:45:00 +0000

Plenty of desperate people out there. At the end of the day, there's no sacred cows. With property prices sky high and rental market tight, anything is negotiable.

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By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:17:00 +0000

mk,

Who's stupid though, the landlords who advertise this crap or the tenants who fall for it? Caveat Emptor.

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By: mk-kids

mk-kids — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:35:00 +0000

A little OT but I've been seeing a number of places on Craigslist advertise that rent INCLUDES STRATA FEES! Yeah, you dumbass, of course you are responsible for the strata fees. Oooh, like tenants are dumb enough to believe its some big favour your amateur landlord is doin' for you, covering the strata fees. Freakin' morons.

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By: Warren

Warren — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:59:00 +0000

Nice strata fees, thanks Rennie! Strata fees tend to be set artificially low on new buildings by the developer, to make the unit more attractive. Anecdotally I've seen them close to double within the first 5 years or so, then remain fairly steady. I can't imagine that fee going up to $1200/month. That + taxes, how much could rent possibly be?

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By: WoodenHorse

WoodenHorse — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:29:00 +0000

clarke: it is it's own satire that's the problem.

aetakeo: Yes, people are completely unhiged.

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By: aetakeo

aetakeo — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:50:00 +0000

That Oakridge 1 bedroom - which looks suspiciously like the rentals I tend to stay away from because everything in them is cr@p - has a $300/mo strata fee. So, what's that all together? $2500/month? $3000k? For a one bedroom in Oakridge?

Are people completely unhinged?

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By: Clarke

Clarke — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:27:00 +0000

I better put in an offer fast, perhaps with an extra $20k so I am not outbid. If I wait longer, the price will just go up more.......

Good grief, this is so outlandish you cannot even do a satire of it properly.

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By: David

David — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:22:00 +0000

That's a steal.

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By: the pope

the pope — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:06:00 +0000

When you're doing your calculations to figure out how rich that Richards st. place will make you, don't forget to include the $716.88 per month 'investment' in strata fees.

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