Friday Free for All!
It’s time for our open-topic link round up from the past week – here’s a few stories to get us started:
-April REBGV listings grow dramatically
-Coco closes her daily economic news blog
-Caps owner has ‘no plans’ to build condos
-Coal Harbour is a weekend ghost-town
-Richmond RONA closing on Olympic tax hikes
-Forestry slump bites Prince George prices
-Live in a shipping container in Whistler
-Immigrants to Canada struggle financially
-Carney: ‘a lot of strength‘ in this economy
-Bank of Canada needs more power
-Soft landings are for the Moon
-US prices drop at fastest rate ever
-US foreclosures up 112%
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news, links and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
update: The Sun finds some missing comments
note: any conversation on real estate or economics is allowed, please keep it civilized. when posting articles please only quote pertinent points and link to the original instead of pasting the entire article here. Thanks!
RSS 2.0 comments feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
GDP still hasn`t gone negative.
That’s the biggie. Recession now officially overdue. What if it doesn’t come after all?
May 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Wow, I thought the whole idea of living downtown was to save on car expenses.
One nice thing about housing crashes is the property rich will lose the most wealth. All housing will fall roughly the same amount, so we will see some major pain for those who will lose a million or so in equity.
Meanwhile, at the Quattro in Surrey:
“At least half the buyers intend to live in the suites they purchased,” he said.
http://tinyurl.com/3zbowo
And out in Abby, new leaky townhouses at Junction Creek:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....83520.html
“Avoiding buying in this townhouse complex, JUNCTION CREEK, at all costs. I did and I got ripped off royally. They leak, they are supposed to be new, they were never repaired properly and now some of them have burned down! The developer and the realtor DO NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS! iF YOU HAVE BOUGHT THERE OR ARE THINKING OF BUYING ONE, PLEASE CALL ME FIRST! 604 XXX XXXX”
May 5th, 2008 at 8:15 am
“suburban jerks in Canada are this wasteful of electricity:” Don’t be discriminatory now; Urban Jerks are no better! I’m troubleshooting in a huge Yaletown strata right now full of Hummers, Porches and the like, kept and used constantly just for image as opposed to commuting! Surveying the parkade I would say well over 85% of the vehicles are gas guzzling status symbols. Most of them are leaving now; to drive to their corporate parking downtown a few blocks away. (Don’t want to get their Gucci’s dirty). By the way I walk to these customers with all my tools (electronics) in a back pack!:-)
May 5th, 2008 at 2:12 am
I should be appalled by the violation of his rights and I usually oppose the War on Drugs, but I can’t make myself sympathetic to this clown. I mean, how can we hassle China when suburban jerks in Canada are this wasteful of electricity:
http://tinyurl.com/6nn2ec
“I’m now on medication to keep calm because my temper was getting up,” he said. “I was on sleeping pills for a while because I couldn’t sleep. It’s affected my health.”
He said his electricity costs were high because his home has a 40-by-20-foot electrically heated outdoor swimming pool, an electric sauna and “three kids who don’t turn off a light and leave TVs playing all over the house and wear clothes once, then put them through the wash.”
———–
Get ready for the sob story articles when guys like this are foreclosed on. How much do you wanna bet he drives a SUV?
May 4th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Also don’t forget that the loonie soared in value vs the USD in a relatively short period of time with no fundamental explanation, it could plummet just as quickly.
I think there is a very compelling reason why the loonie has moved towards par – rising oil and gas prices. Energy products are our largest export group (at least in Feb) and I believe there is a good correlation between changes in energy prices and our exchange rate.
And, according to a story tonight on bloomberg, the commodity “bubble” is not quite over yet thanks to electrical shortages in producing nations.
Given the huge capital that these countries need to build their productive infrastructure, I think Bob’s buyers are going to have some competition for mortgage money over the next year or two. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....refer=home
May 4th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20551
May 4th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
.
The problem is that the high CAD is the only protection we have against US-generated inflation. Inflation in Canada would be disastrous on the interest rate front.
patriotz -
Quick question. Do you have idea where ‘inflation’ is coming from?
May 4th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Do you think the economics of shipping oil etc to China or anywhere other than the US make sense at historical prices?
Well yes. We’ve been shipping coal to Japan and Korea for decades now, and its value/shipping cost is way lower than for oil.
Anyway I think the US will be buying all our oil exports for the foreseeable future, even if their total consumption drops. They’d much rather keep buying from us and reduce their imports from Venezuela and the Middle East, for reasons that I think are obvious.
Also don’t forget that the loonie soared in value vs the USD in a relatively short period of time with no fundamental explanation, it could plummet just as quickly.
The fundamental explanation is oil. And anyway, a lower CAD is positive for exports, as everyone knows. The problem is that the high CAD is the only protection we have against US-generated inflation. Inflation in Canada would be disastrous on the interest rate front.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
.
Japan succeeds because it has an amazing work and education ethic. The same goes for Germany and the belt of Protestant countries in northern Europe. This kind of culture will take you a long away.
Yeah, sure. It’s taken us to where we are right now. You’ve suggested hive-mentality and Prussian group-think as a model for humanity. Very original.
Back to real estate….
May 4th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Tony,
You forgot to transfer jobs from residential construction to non residential construction projects where construction industries are heading towards 2020.
Bdk,
The sun did not add your comment because you are not a DJ.
Alexcanuck,
I have heard at chipos site that Mish,Mohican,and Garth Turner are home owners,They are small agent for banks they advice people to invest in bounds or stocks where in case of leverage people are having 100% hair cuts but in housing sectors every one is able to survive even in a case of crash.
misanthropic curmudgeon,
“I haven’t been a perma-bear, but I’m genuinely scared here, and want to know.
inquiring minds have the same questions”
what question?why don’t you explore your thought instead of being lip tight btw why your english is better than anybody else?is it because you write to short or are you really out of oxford or harvard?
bdk do you like to shed some light on this?
Sonika,
Sorry no mail 4 you today.
May 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
.
alexcanuck, that was an amazing blast from the past…
Premonitions of a bubble on the verge of popping do not ruffle those who are bullish on real estate. In Miami, Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, predicted that a limited supply of land coupled with demand from baby boomers and foreigners would prolong the boom indefinitely.
“South Florida,” he said, “is working off of a totally new economic model than any of us have ever experienced in the past.”
That was just 3 years ago. Look at it now.
Thanks for the ‘history’ lesson
May 4th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
^ that was me
May 4th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I know the US has some problems but I really believe that they will at least make a partial comback. May not be the world leader in years to come but they will be back.
As for Canada I think our only glimmering hope right now is Oil.
This is where history comes in handy. Everyone thinks the economy was really bad in the US during the last depression, but it was much much worse for Canada. If the US is going down Canada is economically doomed, it’s the curse of a resource rich economy. Do you think the economics of shipping oil etc to China or anywhere other than the US make sense at historical prices?
Also don’t forget that the loonie soared in value vs the USD in a relatively short period of time with no fundamental explanation, it could plummet just as quickly.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Sean O’Grady: Hooray! House prices are falling again
May 4th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Mine are 2007 estimate figures and from here:
http://start.csail.mit.edu/mirror/cia.gov/library/
publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2186.html
Last updated in late March. It could be a difference in defining public debt: eg, inclusion of state and municipal or not.
Yes, borrowing is a mostly domestic concern for the Japanese. The buyers of its debt are local pension funds, the postal bank (the world’s biggest bank) and other banks and govt-run institutions. They are forced through coercion and otherwise to fund the national government’s liabilities. But I’m not sure I would want to be holding these bonds considering the overall debt load, weak growth and aging population.
In other words, the ramifications of Japan’s debt crisis are magnified on the domestic level, whereas the US has outsourced much of the risk.
Sure, the US could see a major withdrawal of investment but this begs the question of where these investors could go in an anemic global economy. Fundamentally, the US still has a very dynamic economy, fueled by world-beating productivity gains.
Personally, I think the worst is over for the US economy and dollar. Jobs data isn’t awful. GDP still hasn`t gone negative. The credit crisis is largely contained. And a recent survey of FX traders even showed a net balance expecting a stronger dollar going forward.
I recently moved into US equities again. So far I’ve been fortunate. I rode the Chinese market for a 100% gain in the two years till October 2007, went into cash before their 30% fall, and now I’m into the US.
Time will tell.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
depends on what you define as excessive ….
http://tinyurl.com/6plbrm
Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world’s largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion
May 4th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Your numbers regarding relative debt/GDP for the US and Canada are way off my sources which show them currently about equal, with the US rising and Canada falling:
http://www.budget.gc.ca/2007/bp/bpa2e.html
OECD
Note also that Japan’s government debt, while high, is entirely internal, which means that borrowing and debt service is a domestic issue for Japan. It is the opposite for the US of course.
May 4th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
“Given they (Japan) are dealing with demographic issues that are only just arriving on North American shores their economy is doing quite up well.”
Depends how you define “well” I guess. Public debt as a share of annual GDP is 194% in Japan. In Canada it’s 64% and in the US it’s 37%.
And it probably comes as a surprise to some, but Japan’s economy is quite inefficient. Sure it has some star exporters, but on the domestic front the country is very different.
Japan succeeds because it has an amazing work and education ethic. The same goes for Germany and the belt of Protestant countries in northern Europe. This kind of culture will take you a long away.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Check out this bit of history.
http://globaleconomicanalysis......adigm.html
Bulls will like it too, lots of links to some really good sounding reasons why “it’s different this time”. Krrish; you can even find some things to paste in that WON”T sound nonsensical.
Mish, written in ’05 just as the US bubble was peaking.
May 4th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
.
.
Pretty much a foregone conclusion, the inventory will continue to swell, while the sellers hold on to the kool aid induced stupor dished out by Muir and Co.
Finally the bubble blows up, and once again, the illiterate followers of the Bill Good show will confuse cause and effect.
By next spring they will think it was the economic slowdown that caused the crash.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
DaMann, is your place sold yet? my parent’s place sold last week for a little under ask. 28 seperate parties for first open house, one offer. gone are the multiple offer days. for my advice to sell, i’ll either look like a genius or a fool in the coming months.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Vansanity said.
“3) As much as we Canadians believe we’re different from Americans,”
I think this is a big blind spot for many people, and part of the “perfect storm” of bubble psychology thats been driving things here an overestimation of uniqueness.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I hear the point that if we provide too much for the homeless it’ll attract more but it’s still cheaper to help them than to put them through the legal system and have them in jail.
Au contraire. Look at our neighbours to the south…there’s plenty of money being made in the prison industry. Buy shares of Wackenhut, there will always be profit in societal dysfunction.
Don’t let compassion blind you. Perhaps you’re hoping to live in a sane world, then you might be SOL.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Much of the cost of the homeless is borne by the individual whose car or home is broken into to support their addiction. Some of that is passed on to insurance, but none is supported by taxes, hence not the governments problem. Welcome to laissez faire capitalism! Overall societal costs far higher, but shortterm and simplistically attractive. “Get a job,you bum!”
(I took it as that you were joking)
May 4th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Sorry, that might not be obvious that I was joking.
I hear the point that if we provide too much for the homeless it’ll attract more but it’s still cheaper to help them than to put them through the legal system and have them in jail. Doesn’t one homeless person cost between 40 and 50 thousand dollars per year?
Seems to me that was the stat thrown around in the always true Vancouver Sun.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:04 am
When did we decide that the mentally ill should just be left to take care of themselves?
When the liberals took power, proceeded with the closure of Riverview but cut the community support services that were supposed to take it’s place!
May 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Impolitic. I grew up a near jericho park.
The hill there has always been a bum hangout. They sometimes clash with the teenagers who drink there and the fire dept comes down and extniguises their fires.
They also hang out near the fringes of the Dept of national defense.
Do you ever see the homeless guy who hangs out around Drummond Drive? I haven’t seen him in ten years but he would talk to some of the neighbours and one of them told me he had been a stockbroker in the 1980′s and lived n the area but had had a nervous breakdown and started living in the woods.
But who needs social services when we have world class condos?
What we really need is another speedskating oval, oh boy that’s going to be a blast when it’s done.
Anyone want to go speedskating?
May 4th, 2008 at 10:49 am
I hear you freako. My comment was not well thought out. I was giving the original poster the benefit of the doubt, skimming comments & trying to make the irrational rational, but I think he\she even said in a subsequent post they were having fun. Clearly I missed the joke…
May 4th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I walked down to the park in Point Grey yesterday and what a shame this booming city is turning into. I saw two people passed out on the road near west 4th avenue and down in the park itself there was an ambulance hauling someone out of the trees surrounded by a large caravan of homeless people with shopping carts and bike trailers.
You can’t go more than a couple blocks here with out seeing someone digging through trash or sleeping in a doorway. There are a couple of regulars on West Broadway that I assume have tourets, they shout and air punch near peoples heads as they pass by. When did we decide that the mentally ill should just be left to take care of themselves?
Even if you look at this sad situation in cold financial terms it’s got to be cheaper to provide for these people rather than pay for all the extra police and emergency medical care.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Does anyone here have inside knowledge of Japan?
Japan is certainly not the bubbly effervescent place it was 20 years ago, but the economy is stable, people are employed, fed and housed, the streets are clean, and the kids are having a blast.
Given they are dealing with demographic issues that are only just arriving on North American shores their economy is doing quite up well.
May 4th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Hey! No posts from Drachen! We still have 50% to go, too early for house hunting!
May 4th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Comment by hughz
2008-05-03 12:44:54
Likewise for his professorship …underwritten by the same people. One shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds them.
*********************88
Underwritten, perhaps (whatever that means), but funded from your tax dollars. And many of them…
May 4th, 2008 at 9:07 am
08:57:31
Good talking!
That was me
May 4th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Good talking!
The US Fed Appears to be willing to risk the loss of reserve currency status for the $US in order to keep the party going a bit longer. (until after the election, perhaps?)
Does anyone here have inside knowledge of Japan? Seem to me that all this bemoaning of the lack of growth is merely those who want the opportunities to get rich! rich! rich! that a bubble brings, while the vast majority is better served by a stable and prosperous society. Perhaps Japan has made that transition? The States and Canada are stuck in this perma-growth model.
Europe, too, is willing to accept stability over endless boom/bust cycles, I believe. The UK have bought into that bubble mentality also, and will feel much more pain. The speculators in Europe will NOT be bailed out, Spain,especially, will lose everything they didn’t have to begin with.
Here in BC, Gordon Campbell and his group of developers have stoked the fires of a mighty boom, with no thought of sustainability. (A bit of lip service. No action that I can see.) It’s a mighty seductive offer; you can have it all, we will all become rich beyond our wildest dreams, this will continue forever, no piper to be paid in the end. Now go back to being distracted by the Olympics, Survivor and American Idol (Canadian Idol doesn’t get the same attention but so what – we can be a branch office of the American dream). I brew beer (mighty fine beer) and I see what unconstrained growth in a limited environment ends up like!
The $US dollar has farther to fall than than most, due to the excesses being greater there, and the sustainability less.
Enough from me for now. What say ye?
May 4th, 2008 at 8:40 am
RE Quattro… What a surprise that they have a few units left. $139,000 for a 417 sq ft shoebox a short walk from crack whore corner. There was some shady business in that complex anyway… A friend lined up at the last sale and they were sold out before the line ended. They had presold most of them before the sale started to drum up business for the next one… Good marketing but small condo in a bad area. A good product sells itself while a crap in a box is much harder to sell… This is a good example (Quattro- I guess at 417 sq ft is the perfect size to rent to a crackwhore so easy to rent)
May 4th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Can they go much lower? Can they do a Japan?
No they can’t, because Japan is a creditor and the US is a debtor. The US relies on the confidence of its lenders to keep going, and that confidence is being severely strained. If the Fed is not willing to put a floor under the dollar the Chinese and others are going to demand much higher interest rates for USD debt, which would increase US market interest rates (what individuals and business pay, rather than the banks) and needless to say would be disastrous for the economy.
The Chinese have already been making blunt statements about this through “unofficial” spokespersons which is their way of conveying tough talk without risking “face-saving” issues.
The US current account deficit of $2bn/day represents real goods and services and the Fed cannot make it go away by waving a magic wand.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Lots of good reading material you guys, much appreciated!
This whole boom and eventual “correction” has taught me plenty, much of it I may have already known but never observed to this extent:
1) Stats can prove whatever anyone wants them to, it all depends on what they are compared to;
2) People ARE lemmings, I believe it comes from their laziness in not wanting to undertake proper due diligence, the rest stems from fear;
3) As much as we Canadians believe we’re different from Americans, we too are a society completely defined by what we “own”, we too are driven by greed (the majority);
4) Always take what someone says, who has a vested interest in the subject, with a handful of salt (common sense to some and… well you know).
I maintain that if we’re wrong about the impending “correction”, then whoever is left can have it and good luck to them once the party ends.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Alexcanuck
I replied to your post at the other blog. Thanks for your response. I’m still on the fence about going with US$. For the sake of ease, I will post my response here as well. It’s interesting studying the currency market right now.
e8005
Thanks for the info. I will do some checking with the credit unions and see if US$ GIC’s are indeed insured. If they are I stll may consider that as on option.
Tony Danza,
That’s my thought as well. I think it was Warren Buffet who said sell on greed buy on fear.It’s certainly time to dump RE in Van and there is so much fear and uncertainty with the US. I know the US has some problems but I really believe that they will at least make a partial comback. May not be the world leader in years to come but they will be back.
As for Canada I think our only glimmering hope right now is Oil. I personally don’t think it can keep our dollar up forever. I think Canada is heading for some tough times, the east is already hit hard and forestry is toast, and with a par dollar you can bet tourism from the US is toast as well.
To me it just seems like a good move to go to US $ right now. It may take 2 years or so but I think it may be worth looking into.
Alexcanuck,
Great points as well. I do realize that the US$ has been falling compared to us rather than the Can$ going up. What I need to do homework on is why hasn’t the CAN$ fallen in relation to other currencies. My only answer so far is oil. However as soon as the west tanks, namely BC RE, then BC’s economy will be finished. IF that happens then there really will be no more bright spots left for Canada.
As well the US is going to have to start raising rates at some point. Can they go much lower? Can they do a Japan? I just don’t see it. If they have to start raising rates again to combat infaltion then we may see a flow back to US$.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:53 am
That Thornberg article was a great find, patriotz. Just replace “California” with “Vancouver”, and change the date to today’s…
May 4th, 2008 at 6:33 am
http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.....-woes.html
“fresh victims of the RE bust, condo owners whose mean, nasty condo boards won’t let them rent out their units:”
Good stuff from Calculated Risk
Look for this to start up here as the bust proceeds.
Incidentally, Tanta is a former bank officer and mortgage lending specialist, so VERY credible when it comes to RE stuff.
May 4th, 2008 at 6:12 am
“We see much less upward pressure on home prices — they are still growing but in single digits rather than those higher double-digit numbers we’ve seen in the last few years,” said Cameron Muir, the chief economist of the B.C. Real Estate Association.
“That’s good news for home buyers because there’s much more selection to choose from,” he said.
Translation: the bust is on.
So when is Cam going to come out with the first bottom call?
May 4th, 2008 at 2:28 am
http://tinyurl.com/46248o
May 4th, 2008 at 2:23 am
BOOM BOOM BOOM at Quattro Phase 3
<a href=”http://tinyurl.com/46248o”
I haven’t done html code in many years.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Oh BTW, if you like the neighbourhood in the photo (Ravenna, Seattle’s equivalent to WPG or Dunbar) here’s what you get for 500K (and Seattle is only starting to fall):
Looks just like WPG/Dunbar too
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I think this is the comparison you were talking about Patriotz:
Kitsilano vs. France
So if you’re ‘wealthy’ you can choose between a ‘fixer-upper’ on Vancouver’s west side or a estate mansion in the south of France with a pool and 3 apartment guest house.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Erin and Andy Mathias started looking for a new house around the start of the year on the north side of Seattle because it was convenient to work, shopping, parks and other amenities.
They found a good selection, but at least as much competition for anything decent in their price range, up to $350,000.
In Seattle today, if there’s competition for a house in a good central neighbourhood for under 350K, that’s considered a seller’s market.
Earth to Vancouver?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....and02.html
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I haven’t been a perma-bear, but I’m genuinely scared here, and want to know.
inquiring minds have the same questions….
no one person has the entire picture, things just happen and someone tries to explain it and then extrapolate what could happen next..
so there is no answer..
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:32 pm
One point on Europe, they are already adapted to high energy price. Not car dependent, compact cities, good transit, etc. They protect farmland, manufacturing ability has not been gutted like ours.
A conspicuous exception to this is the UK, which is really just the US in Europe – deindustrialized, debt-ridden, car-dependent (more so than any other country in Europe though not as much as the US of course), and with an even bigger housing bubble than the US.
The rich will do fine, with homes in the south of France
Actually you can buy a nice country house in the south of France for less than the price of an East Van crapbox. VHB had an item on this sometime back, I remember it well.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
I’m going to post this on to here as well, because I really want to know if and how it’s wrong. Originally on Mohicans site in response to Damann and Tony Danza.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=31427364&postID=4705273067761909288
What say ye all?
One point on Europe, they are already adapted to high energy price. Not car dependent, compact cities, good transit, etc. They protect farmland, manufacturing ability has not been gutted like ours. They can adapt to $200 oil much better than North America.
The ECB has as it’s only mandate, has re-iterated and backed up by action, that they will protect the Euro against inflation. The US Federal reserve, OTOH, is supposed to promote growth as well as protect the currency. They give lip service only to the protect the currency part, while printing money and bailing out all and any. Inflationary pressures are huge and growing, with real inflation being much higher than the massaged official numbers.In addition, there is the HUGE pile of derivatives of various flavours, 500-800 TRILLION, depending on who’s counting, all denominated in $US. If these are allowed to collapse, the great depression will be renamed! If they are monetized the $US will look like the Mexican Peso circa early ’80′s or Argentina more recently.
According to Denninger, who may rant kinda strongly, but does have impeccable math skills and good sources, the total debt of the States is 280% of GDP with interest charges of 22.4%. By comparison, in 1929 it was “only” 150%. And back then they didn’t need oil imports. There is no way this debt gets paid back like it’s supposed to be.
http://market-ticker.denninger.....tters.html
Either it defaults, or hyper-inflation sets in until the debt can be paid in face value dollars, but by then oil is $2000 a barrel. At least homes will have stopped going down, but China and the Gulf States might not be so happy being paid with wheelbarrows of paper. I really believe we a at a historical turning point.
If you know of a third way out, that lets business as usual to continue, please tell me. I haven’t been a perma-bear, but I’m genuinely scared here, and want to know. The rich will do fine, with homes in the south of France and money beyond the reach of any mere nation, but what of yours and my pension funds and small savings?
May 3rd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
.
BTW, you guys seen that shitbox Chipman is trying to unload for three quarters of a mil in east Van? In east Van for cryin out loud!
The sad part is, people are looking at it and saying, well…maybe it’s not *that* bad…maybe it’s a better deal than some other shacks on MLS, it might be reasonable.
Crikey! That’s how bad we’re being manipulated – three quarters of a million bucks is supposed to be, like chump-change.
This market needs a lot of ‘correcting’.