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on Friday Free-for-all![...] house – you can click on the image below to enlarge it. (hat tip to Patiently Waiting on Vancouver Condo
on Friday Free-for-all!@Patiently Waiting: That ad is all kinds of stupid. - Since the "new luxury house just completed", why does it
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January 15th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I really liked the "movie". Finally some real reportage.
Today, by the PNE, a for sale sign.. and it posted the price too! 1st time Ive seen that.
Naah, not buying.. what if it burns down? Oh.. there is a thought, will we have more house fires now? Insurance money.
January 14th, 2009 at 9:38 am
# 173 Brokerealtor
Good post…LOL
BTW cheap sugar coated chinese food is the best…and I know how to make it too.
YOU sound like you have had an intersting life as well as the rest of us…good on ya.
I highly doubt many, if any, VCI posters haven't been in the " REAL world" and for a LOONNGG time with the rat race /war wounds to show for it. I highly doubt what is posted is sanitized fiction drafted by the vivid imagination of an Englsh Lit student.
Each of us gets something different out of this VCI blog…I just happened to stumble across it via a "link", but once I started reading I was sorry I hadn't found it sooner.
I have had suspicions re the RE market for years, since the late 1970's early 1980's… none of it made any real sense, especially seeing the lemmings dive into the market say every 6-8 years when in between cycles the product was cheaper.
I make no bones about criticizing the Olympics… but its more symbolic of how our so-called democracy is run…it is more a soft dictatorship. Our leaders actually fear, if not outright detest their constituents.
DEMOCRACY? We, the General Public are simply ATM's for the politicians and their "cling -ons entourages" agendas, and they kiss our asses just before the elections to re-load for the next go around.
We VCI posters may be future leaders or lead the charge to provide the enema our leaders and their cling -ons desperately need, in my view they have been exposed as "Emperors with NO Clothes" as they twist in the wind…..clearly the paths we have been on, or lead onto even on a global front , were not in anyone's long -term best interest.
RE market is often the THE key indicator in any given economy, and looks what has happened…question is was the collapse a passive reflection of the global ecomomy or an active manipulation that created a global tanking of all else ?
You chose the handle "brokerealtor"…
I guess we can read into that something…but maybe that handle may have been different if things had been done differently.
You seem to be an upbeat person….and I think most of the VCI posters are as well , and very content with our personal lives. However it's not "doom and gloom" as an objective .., its reporting on the global crash and burn which many of us had feelings was not a matter of IF but WHEN.
If our leaders hadn't failed us and failed us miserably, maybe VCI wouldn't even exist…but recall VCI was kept going by popular demand. It's an info and opinion swap,and most posters back up their opinions with FACTS and FIGURES etc .
Knowledge IS Power.
I have learned a lot from VCI and I thank my fellow posters for that valuable gift of their contributions and hope I can reciprocate.
January 13th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
succinct: brief and to the point; having characteristics of both brevity and clarity.
I think he used it correctly.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
#174 asalvari
C'mon 'succinct'ridiculous, bad word, not the right meaning
January 13th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
brokerealtor:
" Try to get away from your computer for a few hours a day"
What???? Are you kidding me? How can I do that? Is it done at all? Where? How?
January 13th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
brokerealtor:
Thanks for the good info, its very succinct.
January 13th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I just check these blogs out every few days for curiosity sake But looks like Realpaul+No-lympics+Arit-supraboy You guys need to get out more often and see what's happening in the Real Vancouver. Try to get away from your computer for a few hours a day. Way too much on the stats side. Rent/Buy truthfully, if you could have ever afforded to buy you would have over the last 5 years, Looks to me like the 'morons' are having all the FUN! I have lost more real money & real estate in a divorce than RE phantom value appreciation/depreciation could ever get. If I didn't read the blogs or newspaper I would have to ask Are things really that bad, even though I see they are, C'mon living in a van down by the river in Vancouver aint so bad! Once the floods receed and I clean out my van. Point is-how long can you guys re-iterate the same gloom & doom info? Call a girl & go out on a date! Wisdom from Living is far more interesting than internet bred intelligence. This is only a outside observation-do not take it personnally. Some of you need a liitle more LIFE experience.
Ps Beware of that cheap sugar coated chinese food you like so much!
OK I'm ready for the name calling
January 13th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
2012 Games
Cost of 2012 Olympics 'up £900m'
The costs of the games have gone up 38% in just over a year
The expected cost of the 2012 London Olympic park has risen 40% since the games were won in July 2005, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has told MPs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/61675…
QUOTE:
Asked who would meet the extra £900m cost, Ms Jowell said discussions were on-going, but the earlier "memorandum of understanding" had been for overspends to be met by a mix of London council tax payers, and lottery games.
'Entirely predictable'
QUOTE:
Shadow Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said: "The secretary of state has admitted to a 40% increase.
"She has failed to disclose the true cost of VAT, contingency, building cost inflation and security, much of which was entirely predictable at the time of the bid.
================================================
Same Olympic Shite, different City
January 13th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
NO-LYMPICs: I think Vancouver get the worst timing. Brits at least get to have their party at a time the world economy is likely in slow recovery. They also got 3 years to find cheap constructions and materials, rather than building facilities with the highest cost in two decades. Plus with Vancouver as a precedent, they get to downsize the Olympics while telling the IOC to get lost on many agreed on constructions. The head of IOC already said repeated that no Olympics is better than another, and the games is in "survival mode". I'm pretty sure London can get away with housing Athletes in university dorms and hosting competitions in high school gyms, if they so choose to. Vancouver on the other hand, are way too far along the line in building the white elephants. IOC wouldn't complain too much if Vancouver downsize the Olympics now, but the money is spent, and tickets are already sold. Tough luck. One thing though, I'm not fond of all the security measures. Tell the tourists and atheletes to hire their own bodyguards if they feel insecure. To hell with the 1 billion bill.
I still believe that China single-handedly delayed the financial crisis by a few months, just so that they can have the last party in at least a decade. Once the Olympics is over and the hype cools a bit, they gave up holding back the tide. I would call that the true cost of the Beijing Olympics. As far as I know, it's 100 billion+ USA, and they don't even have white elephants to show for it.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
arit:
Right on, and so polite to, such restraint. Admirable.
I have been thinking about this rent-buy ratio all day. I seem to rememeber as a student that the average historically was below 10. I just did a quick calc off the current median of 640K and got 44!!!!!!!. This market is so out of whack with reality it's insane. I read that this ratio was the second highest in the world and that got me thinking. Timberrrrrrrrrrrr !!!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_estate_bubble
January 13th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Anon, I also have a nick suggestion for you: How about "Anonymouse"?
January 13th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I wonder if it's the same anonymous all the time or there's a whole bunch of guys who are so insecure with themselves they cannot chose a nickname.
Just stay in the dark, fire at will, never assume responsibility for their words.
Even our beloved satv has a nick (5, actually), so when we belittle him, he knows it's aimed at him and it is done because of something he said.
Staying anon is the virtual equivalent of spitting at someone from a roof and hiding. Want to spit? Come face to face. Then spit.
Regards
arit
January 13th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
brokerealtor:
1)So the report is that 15 people have lost money in your area of intrest.
2) Assesments mean nothing, the government just proved that by asking everyone to disregard the assesed value printe on thier recent tax assesment notice.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Our new troll Anonymous has become a regular poster so it deserves a handle
I think something like
2.(n) -A depraved individual who sits in front of a computer all day and posts flames of an idiotic or pseudo-intellectual nature on public forums and private websites. Many of these people actually become emotional about what is said on the afore-said mediums and feel it is their duty to punish those who disagree with them. They too may pursue this object in an obsessive-compulsive manner.
will do
January 13th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
NO -LYMPICS: Nobody wants to hear about your obsession with the olympics anymore.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
163 Anonymous Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
NO -LYMPICS: Try to stay on topic.
==================================================
I am
Trolls = Wanker Couvers = running for cover
January 13th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
NO -LYMPICS: Try to stay on topic.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Very few new listings, sellers not reducing enough to sell, but still people buying(very few).Most # of sales in smaller west side condo's $200-400K taking the lead currently showing 15 units sold this year. These are currently percieved by buyers as good value, all units selling below tax assessed value.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Wanker-couver
Wankers running for cover
January 13th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Globe and Mail
" Minutes of 2007 meeting show council knew athletes village was already in trouble "
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGA…
QUOTE
VANCOUVER — Vancouver City Council knew as far back as the summer of 2007 that the Olympic athletes village was in jeopardy and that the city's own financial investment in the project was at risk, The Globe and Mail has learned.
At an in-camera meeting held that June, staff informed councillors that project developer Millennium Development Corp. was in "anticipatory default" – in other words, it was anticipated the company would not be able to meet its financial obligations to the city, according to minutes of the meeting.
QUOTE
Out of that meeting, the Non-Partisan Association party majority on council agreed to provide Fortress with the loan guarantee and a completion guarantee, obligating the city to complete the project in the event Millennium was unable to. That also meant the city would be responsible for paying the Fortress loan in the event Millennium defaulted.
QUOTE:
And that point, the city's exposure was $500-million. Fortress, meantime, had first charge on the property, which meant that in the event of a default by Millennium, Fortress would be first paid of any creditors.
===================================================
So……this actually goes waaay back almost 18 monthe ie summer of 2007.
Now I am curious if Fortress , in effect, has a lien on the COV's land , or will COV have to surrender it soon.
January 13th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Shiller said "Vancouver is the most bubbly city in the world, I believe," he said. "They've had very volatile prices in the past. The rest of Canada, I don't get quite such extreme stories."
Indeed, during a two-year period between 1979 and 1981, house prices in Vancouver jumped nearly 120 per cent — only to be followed by a spectacular crash that wiped out nearly all of those gains.
I was just touching on the rent-buy ratio in Vancouver today. It is so out of whack ( second highest in the world)
that prices can easily be seen falling 80%.
It was brought to my attention today that Sydney Australia ( a sister city to Wahhhhncouver in many ways) has been in freefall for much longer and continues to adjust. The fall off started to happen during the Olympics and has deteriorated due the global recession. So goes the world, so goes a backwater service provide like Wahhhhhncouver.
January 13th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
back on the topic(of interest, I think)
I am watching the Dunbar area in Vancouver west side. The number of listings are quite flat, sitting on 66 total for January so far (no change after the expired listings got removed at the end of the year)
Is anybody seeing inflow of new listings, and where?
January 13th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Realturds;
Surplus inventory
Soylent Green : The Sequel
Yummmm ?!?
January 13th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
More on TROLLS
http://www.flayme.com/troll/angler.shtml
January 13th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
"Internet Trolls"
Intelligence Test
http://www.flayme.com/troll/quiz.shtml
January 13th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Move over squirrel lovers, theres a new dark meat in town
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59566.html
January 13th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
How can troll posts be recognised?
No Imagination – Most are frighteningly obvious; sexist comments on nurses' groups, blasphemy on religious groups .. I kid you not.
Pedantic in the Extreme – Many trolls' preparation is so thorough, that while they waste time, they appear so ludicrous from the start that they elicit sympathetic mail – the danger is that once the group takes sides, the damage is done.
False Identity – Because they are cowards, trolls virtually never write over their own name, and often reveal their trolliness (and lack of imagination) in the chosen ID. As so many folk these days use false ID, this is not a strong indicator on its own!
Crossposting – Any post that is crossposted to several groups should be viewed as suspicious, particularly if unrelated or of opposing perspective. Why would someone do that?
Off-topic posting – Often genuine errors, but, if from an 'outsider' they deserve matter-of-fact response; if genuine, a brief apposite response is simply netiquette; if it's a troll post, you have denied it its reward.
Repetition of a question or statement is either a troll – or a pedant; either way, treatment as a troll is effective.
Missing The Point – Trolls rarely answer a direct question – they cannot, if asked to justify their twaddle – so they develop a fine line in missing the point.
Thick or Sad – Trolls are usually sad, lonely folk, with few social skills; they rarely make what most people would consider intelligent conversation. However, they frequently have an obsession with their IQ and feel the need to tell everyone. This is so frequent, that it is diagnostic! Somewhere on the web there must be an Intelligence Test for Trolls – rigged to always say "above 150"
January 13th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Meanwhile back in this galaxy, real concerns are showing up.
I have been noticing more and more local professionals being laid off. I know several of several cases myself. Ex: A friends wife who's bio-tech lab was shuttered ( staff of around 25 and other examples , several engineers , top flight managers, one lawyer, and a notary whose buisness is on life support due to the real estate market implosion resulting in the layoff of several clerical staff. These are just people I know. How about you? Whats the actual bodycount? I don't see this story in the local rags. Aside from the announced layoffs at Microsoft, Nokia, telus IBM, and 40,000 construction jobs etc etc the news has become suspiciously silent?
Are any of you seeing the same thing? This article brought the subject back into focus. There has been a LOT of high end lay offs in Vanc, not just the construction jobs.
One article I posted about Ireland stated that it will be difficult to retrain the construction workers because of a general lack of education ( same case here especially among the South Asian community , the boys barely if ever graduate high school , put no emphasis on education) but what happens to these other really smart people when there is simply no work anywhere on the continent?
BTW , many of these high tech jobs are held by new Canadians.
These are the bullwark of the upper end housing market; what happens when this demographic is stymied in it's economic advancement? Who is going to support the higher end products on Wahhhhhncouvers 'world class' waterfront.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Pfizer-repo…
January 13th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Anonymous:
Blog Troll 35 up, 8 down
1.(n) -A pathetic and moronic person who maintains a blog with an unhealthy obsessive-compulsive drive, especially angsty goths (sorry to all the likeable goths out there). The content of their blogs usually includes events that no sane person would care about. Here’s sample of what a blog troll might write on their blog:
“today, I ate a sanwich. It bad – it was just ok, mediocre, I guess you could call it. After that I read a few chapters out of an Anne Rice book and was deeply moved by her erotic descriptions of gay vampires fornicating. . Then I took a nap.
2.(n) -A depraved individual who sits in front of a computer all day and posts flames of an idiotic or pseudo-intellectual nature on public forums and private websites. Many of these people actually become emotional about what is said on the afore-said mediums and feel it is their duty to punish those who disagree with them. They too may pursue this object in an obsessive-compulsive manner.