Friday Free-for-all!
Friday is here once again, lets do our end of the week news and link round up. Here’s a few to get the conversation started:
-Vancouver Condo Wiki – supply updates!
-In unstable economy, renovate (don’t buy)
-Vancouver RE boom is over, more declines ahead.
-Vancouver guarantees $100 million for Olympic Village
-When should you start marketing your 2010 rental?
-City gives up 4.3 million in development fees
-Nanaimo hotel becomes election issue
-RRSP participation rates low
-Toronto real estate falls below 2006 levels
-Canadian building permits rise in September
-London Olympic village needs £1 billion bail out.
-Real Estate Downfall (youtube)
So what are you seeing out there? Post your thoughts, news, links and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
note: any conversation on Vancouver, 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. Pasting a link will automatically create a clickable hot-link. Thanks!
November 10th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Anonymous, don't expect a lot of votes for a post with nothing but a link. If you don't include at least a one-sentence description, a lot of people won't bother clicking the link. At least it wasn't a tinyurl link.
November 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
The tax credit and OAS clawbacks are significant for many retired people.
Not many. The OAS clawback starts at $62.124…If you’re flush enough to be close to that figure in retirement it’s certainly worthwhile using the TFSP to keep under it.
The old age credit gets clawed backed starting at ~30k and is gone by 65k. So I'd aim to keep taxable retirement income below 30k if possible. I don't know what percent of retirees exceed that, but most of us here seem to be good savers and so are likely to have greater than average retirement income from RRSP/TFSA investments.
November 10th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Land Shortage???
Not to worry..the sweatshops in the Far East are working overtime to create more land as we speak !
Next they will breed more Condo purchasers ! (Y'know, dialed into Muir, Jurock, and Pastrick and able to stand in pre-sale line -ups for hours )
They will build Mountains , trees , treehuggers , protestors, BMW's , Rennie's and other peripheral scenery to mimic Vancouver
PS Warning : Watch out for the Melamine in any of the above !!!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:56 am
But but but… I thought China was RUNNING OUT OF LAND and it was full of RICH PEOPLE and EVERYONE WANTED TO LIVE THERE and and…
…they had the Olympics!!! However our Olympics will be so much better and prosperous under the beautiful and awe inspiring dome of BC Place, the "Best Dome on Earth"!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Something interesting from the vancouver sun. about price drops in BC next year.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Canda housing starts down 3.1%.
Prices up 2.1%.
On the other hand, Circuit City is bankrupt in the US. That kind of counts, because they own The Source here in canada. So there might have to be some impact on their operations here, i would imagine.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:28 am
The tax credit and OAS clawbacks are significant for many retired people.
Not many. The OAS clawback starts at $62.124 which is almost twice the median full-time employment income in Canada. It's also adjusted for inflation.
If you're flush enough to be close to that figure in retirement it's certainly worthwhile using the TFSP to keep under it.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Betamax, you aren't paraphrasing the article correctly. Vancouver still gained population in the early 90s. All the data shows is that BC residents had a net outflux from Vancouver into other major population centres. Nothing surprising about that.
November 10th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Richmond Rich Renter,
How about Saturday or Sunday night?
If you wish, I would like to talk to you by phone first and give you the details.
We could exchange phone numbers in my site's chat function – just post here an exact time where you can be at http://www.bemecollective.com , and I'll meet you there.
Regards,
arit
November 10th, 2008 at 10:12 am
article from Burnaby NewsLeader stating Vancouver lost 25k people during years 2001 – 2006. So much for real demand:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burn…
November 10th, 2008 at 10:05 am
The initial contribution is paid from before-tax income, so your after-tax returns are the same as your gross returns, provided your marginal tax rates are the same at contribution and withdrawl time.
Good point…from a taxation perspective, RRSP and TFSA are equivalent provided the marginal tax rates are the same pre- and post-retirement, AND ignoring the clawbacks of tax credits.
I'd still go TFSA first, then RRSP. The tax credit and OAS clawbacks are significant for many retired people. Plus, being risk averse, I'd rather pay a known tax now than an unknown tax sometime in the future when it's too late to save more.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:56 am
About the guy with “queens english”. Language is important, dont underestimate it. Think George Orwell.
Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language speaks precisely against the idiom used here by "the guy with 'queens english'" — pretentious diction is a tool of pathetic self-aggrandizement rather than communication.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:29 am
A deep breath.. I guess we all got to purge this weekend.
Funny, that baby boomers were attacked. They are soooo bad or are they really? All?
Yes, I dont like all boomers, but I dont like all Genexers either or Y's. There are some entitlement issues there too, depending on where they are coming from.
I think what makes us come here is to air frustrations, but also to share some truth since the media is not about news/truth/info anymore.
I also am painfully aware of the environmental situation of this planet is, of polarization of assets, coroporations, and am suppressing my fear to keep going the best I can.
About the guy with "queens english". Language is important, dont underestimate it. Think George Orwell.
If we cant convey our thoughts well and clearly, then we have lost contact with each other. A bunch of strangers ending up hating each other.
There are good people in every gen, and x'ers are a product of their time and place just like every other generation.
We talk about getting along, no racism, how about putting a lid on agism. Look at the individual. All individuals that are going through the process of life. You are all getting older as I speak.
Sorry, no economics or RE in this posting.. but thought it could fit in at the tail end of "free for all".
Just my two squeaks.. back into my modest hole behind the couch.
November 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Story: Rise and Fall of the Vancouver Hi Rise
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC….