Comments on: Real estate board cancels conference

By: other ted

other ted — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:57:18 +0000

I hope this gets through as the site is closing. Scullboy thanks for the reply and I loved reading your comments over the last year. Hope you migrate over to condo hype or whatever blog takes over condoinfo

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By: Dave S.

Dave S. — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:12:13 +0000

I can't wait for all the loser 'realtors' who spend their days blogging and haven't sold a damn thing all year to disappear. I love it how the strongest opinions come from people who haven't been in the business two years. LOL. Keep on typing but you'd better go back to that part time job.

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By: patriotz

patriotz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:29:43 +0000

BTW median household income in Trail is 43K, compared with 47K in Vamcouver proper.

http://www12.statcan.ca/englis.....;start=601

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By: patriotz

patriotz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:16:47 +0000

Why not Trail?

“2 bdrm home in Columbia Heights with stunning views of the river. It’s the perfect time to buy and it’s cheaper than rent”

http://www.mls.ca/PropertyResu.....10&o=A

Pretty hard to have a meltdown from 99K. Ironically Trail is one of the few towns in the Southern Interior with real jobs, and yet it’s the cheapest.

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By: Dan in Calgary

Dan in Calgary — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:05:19 +0000

Every city, town and village in southern BC, except Trail, is going to see a meltdown. Why not Trail? I thought many Trailites had "done pretty well" over the past few years. I have a relative in Castlegar who paid what I thought was an enormous sum for a home last year, and I'll bet Mom and Dad's old house along the river, across from the Smelter, would have fetched a pretty penny last year.

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By: scullboy

scullboy — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:37:08 +0000

Other Ted:

People are brainwashed about all sorts of things.

I called my Dad tonight to tell him my first catering engagement was a roaring success. In fact it was so successful I was offered a job on the spot, catering for TV and movies. Seriously! Apparently one of the guests just loved the chanterelles and chevre in phyllo (a recipe I made up the night before I might add), along with the figs in Devon cream and the fresh pesto. I can’t accept the job because I’ll be in school, but she was clear that I was to call her as soon as I was out of school.

Anyway my dad and I were talking about retirement and how the Boomers won’t be able to retire at 65.

“And do you know why that is?” asked my dad.

“Um, because you guys spend way too much money on frivolous things like handmae fishing reels and antique motorcycles and refused to save for the future, so there isn’t enough money to go around” I asked.

Seriously, that’s exactly what I said.

“No,” said my dad, slightly miffed “it’s because Boomers had to pay for your education. You gen Xers are in debt up to your ears and you don’t seem to care. You’re so irresponsible. By the way there’s documented proof that when the baby boomers start to retire, the tax rates on our R.R.S.Ps are so high, it’s going to pay off the national debt.”

I had a major breakthrough this evening. I laughed at the ol’ man to his face.

“Are you fucking kidding? You HAVE to be fucking kidding. Everyone else is going to be paying for your medical bills and you people are going to live another 40 years leeching off the rest of us, and STILL you somehow manage to think you’re going to save the world, and nobody will appreciate all your hard work. God Dad, you’re full of sh*t”.

So…. other Ted, people tell themselves whatever lie they need to to get through life. Don’t worry, all the Boomers are doing.

God I hope they end up on the street eating dog food

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By: patriotz

patriotz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:24:56 +0000

“Five or 10 years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we will look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers.”

Bwahaha. House prices aren’t even done falling in the US, and are not going to recover until real incomes start rising again. Good luck with that. And that goes for BC too.

This article is from the NYT but the reporter is not one of the people who have been covering the bust such as Gretchen Morgenstern.

The readers aren’t being fooled – look at the comments section.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12.....EBIBtf/0Wg

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By: bdk

bdk — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:21:18 +0000

Sure enough rent has hit $1500 in shangri la….

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.....73818.html

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By: richard1

richard1 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:19:45 +0000

#9 thanks for that video. i've never seen it before. i liked this bit "There are so many condominiums that have been built in this town that nobody lives in. Their lights are never on. I mean they weren't even bought with the intention of living in. Some of them are so small it's like no one would ever want to live in. Why would you want to buy a condo in this town?" I almost thought he was talking about vancouver...

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By: oracle

oracle — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:16:43 +0000

a new type agent:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/08-6

that’s funny and real

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By: DEFAULT NAME

DEFAULT NAME — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:13:28 +0000

RE: 121 bdk Says: November 30th, 2008 at 2:14 pm #120 Your friends have nothing to lose by writing a letter to the landlord asking for a 10% decrease and mentioning they’re considering moving for January 1 or even February 1 (two terrible months to find occupants in the best of times) If the landlord has any common sense they will reduce it and if they don’t then look around for a 1+den. Update: My friends heard from their landlord today. The landlord is unwilling to grant the 10% decrease ($174) but is willing to forego the 2% rental increase ($34) they had planned for March/09. I guess they will be giving their notice Jan. 1st. Thanks bdk for the advice.

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By: patriotz

patriotz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:16:31 +0000

“we were right to invest when we did, our RE fundamentals were strong, BC was different, it was the RE crash in the rest of the world that dragged us down”. Yep, sort of like Mussolini claiming it was the Germans who were responsible for losing WWII.

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By: jesse

jesse — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:55:22 +0000

Great find, exx. I added Helmut's unfortunate quote to the Wiki of Shame.

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By: exx

exx — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:42:46 +0000

I was just cleaning up my favorites and came across this gem back from March 08.

At an asking price of $889,000, the Second World War bungalow in the 3100-block West 10th Avenue in Vancouver seemed like a bargain to realtor Terry Flahiff yesterday. With the average price of a detached home in Greater Vancouver nearing $921,000 last month, Flahiff's listing could be considered a bargain.

I hope nobody bought this "bargain", which is easily down $100K already.

Helmut Pastrick, chief economist with Credit Union Central of B.C., said it won't be long before the region's average house price breaks the million-dollar mark. "At some point, we are going to see that $921,000 break $1 million -- it won't be that far off."

Way to cause the market to crash, Helmut.

Nick Collier, 59, who is selling the house on West 10th that he bought in 1990, said he plans to rent and see what happens to the market. "I was a bit hesitant to sell but it is time to move on," said the former stockbroker. "Trying to judge the top of the market is a fool's game."

Well Nick, you're the only one who didn't end up a fool in this article. Well done.

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By: other ted

other ted — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:42:16 +0000

Just got off the phone with my mom. Told her I was right about real estate. Apparently I am making up that there are declines. In fact now is a good time to buy. And I shouldn't tell people my predictions because I sound nuts. Yup I honestly can't believe how brainwashed the average vancouver ite is about real estate.

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By: I have been banned

I have been banned — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:32:42 +0000

"When contacted, Watt declined to offer further comment on the cancellation." Could one of my fellow bears post this on Rob's blog. On Rob's last thread, he claimed to know Watt, perhaps Rob can contact Mr. Watt for us inquiring minds.

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By: The party’s over… literally « condohype

The party’s over… literally « condohype — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:06:26 +0000

[...] Hat tip to Vancouver Condo Info. [...]

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By: Disbelief

Disbelief — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:20:22 +0000

Every city, town and village in southern BC, except Trail, is going to see a meltdown. Asking $1.85 million for a house on a city lot in Revelstoke I had no idea that revelstoke was such a destination... Must be one of those resort towns like uncle Bob says. I think there must be gooood crack in Revelstoke these days. I think that we can put Regina and Saskatoon on that list of big crash cities also. It is pretty shocking that to buy a house in a sh*t hole town like saskatoon what you need to cough up. It is not just BC and Alberta that are in for a giant step down.

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By: NO -LYMPICS

NO -LYMPICS — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:40:28 +0000

Paul: Good stuff ...my compliments ...keep it coming!!! I agree, waves of listngs will come and for various reasons. Like a tsunami, it strikes in waves and quickly without much warning. I can foresee one wave based on reasons "X" (ie glut of new product) , maybe a lull many go "whew" its over, then another one comes out of the blue for other reasons "Y"( ie rise in interest rates , can't pay mortgage) then "Z"...etc. etc. . People will be left punch drunk, given the fiscal and economic etc. body blows from all sorts of different directions.

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By: read on

read on — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:32:09 +0000

Macronomics Says: December 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm Okay, which one of you guys posted this? You know, a lot of people are really getting killed out there and it’s not nice to mock them. *************** Oh noes. How sad. (BTW, wasn't me.)

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By: Purp

Purp — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:26:47 +0000

Coun. Derek Dang, a Richmond realtor of 23 years, said it was only a matter of time before the city’s real estate bubble burst. Wasn't it Yogi Berra who said, "It's tough to make predictions...especially about the future". Much easier to predict the past. I'd add the corollary that "As a future event becomes more probable, the number of people who knew it all along will grow exponentially"

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By: paul

paul — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:23:15 +0000

#11 there has never been a V shaped recovery in real estate history. The last L shaped recovery was the one between 1992 and 2003. That's right folks, the players in that market had to carry their dogs for ELEVEN years before the recovery began. There was a lot of opportunity cost equity lost in that market adjustment.I would speculate a guess that there won't be as many owners able to hold on for 11 years this time around because of the low equity requirements and the growing number of current upside-down mortgages which will require new second mortgages to requalify to re-up the original first as banks as you know will not finance at zero equity. Ergo, a lot of marginal players will be forced to bail whether they like it or not as opposed to past players who had at least 25% equity to qualify for the original mortgage. Sad fact. This will exacerbate the inventory numbers by competing in a race for the bottom with developers who are also squeezed to sell the last 25% of unprofitable inventory they hold in order to defend demand loans. Yea, it's looking grim indeed, unless your waiting to bottom feed or sell second. third and fourth mortgages at 16 to 20 p/a. Stop, I'm drooling. Opportunity for some, hell for others. I predict that there will some real deals two years from now when the above inflection point is realized. Then there will be the forced sales that exist in all markets, divorce sales, the court ordered sales, the estate sales etc., that will come into the market and skew the market down further as the forced nature of these sales will set new lower averages forcing developers and speculators to cough up blood trying to keep up with the death spiral down. I think there are many areas like Kits and Yaletown, Okanogan etc., which are more than 50% overpriced and these micro markets ( among others, could come off as much as 70%. This figure I get from technical analysis which bundles the inflation effects of a manipulated M3 and the artificial equity created by government manipulation of intrest rates. Many should hope this all just fun with mathematics.

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By: Macronomics

Macronomics — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:48:39 +0000

Okay, which one of you guys posted this? You know, a lot of people are really getting killed out there and it's not nice to mock them. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/reo/945494182.html

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By: Alexas

Alexas — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 22:03:01 +0000

A bit different bidding war these days, not so neighbor friendly thou. See MLS: V731997. "Dare to compare, this great space is priced to sell, $45,000-$109,000 less than the other 2 bedroom units currently for sale in the same building! This spacious and bright 2 bedroom and den NE corner suite is..."

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By: Kuroame

Kuroame — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:36:58 +0000

“It’s not that surprising as we were always going to get caught up like the rest of the world,” they aren't pumping RE anymore, all they're doing is creating little mantras that RE bubble participants can say to themselves on the way down. Mantras that obsolve them of blame or make them feel like they weren't the victims of a con game. Now their line is going to be "we were right to invest when we did, our RE fundamentals were strong, BC was different, it was the RE crash in the rest of the world that dragged us down".

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