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Funemployment!

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Laid off? Downsized? Turn that frown upside down with the latest hit buzzword in this recession: FUNEMPLOYMENT!

What is funemployment?  Why that’s the positive way to look at losing your job.  It’s not just a downturn, it’s an oppourtunity!  (Just don’t try this at home with a onerous debt load).

But out of the smoldering ashes of lost jobs, a burgeoning scene of independent, arts-loving entrepreneurs are turning unemployment on its head and ushering in a new era of “funemployment.” The term became an overnight viral sensation thanks to a widely-circulated June 3 article in San Francisco’s SF Weekly, chronicling the experiences of recently laid-off people who were collecting unemployment benefits and using their newfound time to reassess their career goals, and then launch their own creative businesses.

With the proverbial pink slips piling up and EI lines wrapping around city blocks, more and more Vancouverites are facing similar challenges, leading to our very own funemployment phenomenon.

Full article in this weeks Westender.

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other ted

#80 patriotz I agree with you if its $48000 total rent then I would want better. but the article stated that he is living in the unit and could get another $24000 in rent yearly. Well it wasn't clear if the $48000 already included this. But either way you are right. Looks good after looking at vancouver real estate but probably not as good as made out.

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jesse

patriotzed: "People who actually know something about RE rentals want a net yield of 10% on a multi unit property (or a condo, which is just a slice of one)."

Talk to RE investors from outside the city and you quickly understand how incredibly speculative Vancouver's market really is.

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jesse

realpaul: During the federal Liberals' tenure in Ottawa from 1993 to around 2005, the marginal tax rate dropped. I was thinking more of the BC tax base, which has seen rates drop since the NDP years. There was close to zero counter-cyclical economic policy during that time. Now budgets are being cut like mad at a time when unemployment is increasing. That will tend to deepen the recession unless you believe BC's population is innovative enough to pull itself out of the mud.

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realpaul

oneangryslav: #81 OAS, in better times it would have been a tactic, if thats true today then the Translink board really are dinosaurs. Without a signifigant tax increase the cupboards are bare due to the Olympics and the 'coordinated' recession. Corporate, personal and resource revenues are below even the worst case scenario. Campbell is going shortly before the 2010 budget blows up. The Libs who are looking at a horrible situation will be faced with staring down NDP majority landslide if they raise taxes to fund the debt. In this scenario I will predict all the major mega projects that were announced to be cancelled. The LIB insiders don't want to face a wipeout and won't allow things to get any worse. They are not going to let Translink run wild with special assesments, not after the blowback on the… Read more »

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oneangryslav

The Evergreen Line isn't dead…yet. It's a bit of pre-negotiation posturing on the part of Translink, which wants to send a very strong message to the provincial government that in order to fulfill the transit blueprint for the Lower Mainland, Translink will need a reliable funding source.

As for Evergreen specifically, I think that both the province and Translink will be loathe to cancel given the very real possibility that getting the Feds on board again would be next to impossible.

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patriotzed

other ted:

Anyone read a letter posted on Garth turners: It says:”Some Numbers: (Toronto)

Current Market Value $750,000 +- 10,000

Annual Net Rent $48,400

The net yield of 6.4% ignores inevitable contingencies like major repairs. That's lousy for an illiquid, immobile, high hassle asset like RE, although of course it looks good compared to Vancouver.

High quality preferred shares currently yield around 6% which is equal to 8.4% rental income (dividends get a tax credit but rental income is fully taxed).

People who actually know something about RE rentals want a net yield of 10% on a multi unit property (or a condo, which is just a slice of one).

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rentah

"Every $28,000 purchase of real estate in Canada creat(es) one job in real estate agencies and one job in property management"

—

This doesn't pass the sniff test…. doesn't seem right…

$28K of property can't possibly generate two salaries per annum.. ridiculous!

Perhaps $280,000..? (but even that seems like it'd be pushing it…)

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Thanks Informer10

Every $28,000 purchase of real estate in Canada creat one job in real estate agencies and one job in property management,These same jobs shop or dine for other jobs and economy cycle run upwards from there.

Canadian existing home sales, prices jump in June
http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/14072009/6/fin…

Thanks all the bears and bulls with your hard working efforts we have recovered faster than expected,Please keep it countinue.

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jesse

We've seen cuts to health and now transit. Does anyone have the skinny on the education budget? We were hearing talk of the early childhood education preschool being funded but my guess is that's on the chopping block.

It's amazing how pro-cyclical this government is. Do they know how bad BC is going to get hit by the lack of construction, financial, and real estate jobs over the next several years? They've dialed in 10%+ unemployment for sure now. But that's exactly what happens when taxes are lowered when GDP growth is high and ESPECIALLY what happens when a lot of that GDP growth was actually debt.

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jesse

realpaul: here's a link for the readers: TransLink to yank Evergreen Line funding. HT to you.

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Boombust

#70 Tourist Bureau BS like ‘we’re #1′ , ’supernatural’, ‘best place on earth’

Yes, this IS a VERY nice place to live.

Ever been to Teheran? I have.

Tel Aviv? I have.

Bangkok? I have.

TORONTO? I have. Ugh!

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realpaul

The Evergreen Line is officially dead. Myself and several others on this board correctly pointed to this conclusion when the announcement was made. For all the morons who speculated on 'cheap condos' along the line have officially been screwed, Bwahahahahahahha!!! The provincial coffers are empty. The 6 Billion that has been blown on the Sno-Job Olympics will cause the closure of schools , hospitals, seniors care homes, etc etc etc. The Billions of dollars have been pissed away and now the people will have to suffer for the greed and stupidity of the curent regime. Wait for the announcements of increases in taxes and service fees while facing big cuts and crappy service. The unions go on strike immediatley after the Olympics end, and theres no money left. In fact we're so far in debt only a special levy on… Read more »

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jigisup

I read here yesterday that the Swine Flu epidemic wasn't being reported here in Canada. I think whoever pointed that out is on to something. Heres an example from another jurisdiction.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23…

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factcracker

helltopay:

#71, heres an example of balanced reporting that we never see here in BC

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99FOPJ01…

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helltopay

Boombust: #70 Tourist Bureau BS like 'we're #1' , 'supernatural', 'best place on earth','world class' and all the BS we get here? -Tourism BC spends big bucks on staff ( your tax dollars) dreaming up these 'superlame' slogans. The amount they spend to advertise that you 'staycation' here in superpolluted, supercrimeinfested, superbedbuginfested, superdruggieoverrun, drunkenbrawlingeverywhereyougo, is pretty sickening. Couldn't the money be better spent on civic problems? Meanwhile I notice that the canadian press has become so blase' that they don't even post the unemployment numbers anymore. As if 584000 people losing thier jobs doesn't interest them anymore. Is the information counterindicatory to the staycation push? Of course the numbers will be equivalent in Canada. That means tens of thousands more Canadians have lost their jobs this week and it doesn't get a notice from the MSM. What a joke the… Read more »

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Boombust

"Don’t forget that new orleans had a catastrophy."

Even the areas that were NEVER touched by the storm are UGLY.

The French Quarter, too doesn't even COME CLOSE to Old Quebec. And the "Garden District" is no match for Shaughnessy/Kerrisdale.

Audubon Park is a joke. They would have a hemmorhage if they ever saw Stanley Park or, say, Central Park in Burnaby.

The landscape is nothing but a low lying swamp. Where golfers would ever go golfing is a mystery to me.

The closest decent beaches are in Miss. over an hour's drive away.

Greater New Orleans is a dump. Just like Las Vegas is a dump, Reno is a dump, LA is a dump…

Places like Miami, San Fransisco, Key West and Naples…now, THOSE are NICE!

I am so sick of "Tourist Bureau BS"!

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jesse

helltopay: I'd suggest driving around New Orleans before comparing it to Surrey. Even before Katrina it was a dangerous place. I'd live in any part of Surrey over most parts of Orleans any day of the week.

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helltopay

Boombust:

#49 Don't forget that new orleans had a catastrophy. Surrey is a shithole naturally. The crime rate is higher in Surrey I'm sure. The people in Surrey make it the way it is. You can deny and argue around it but thems the facts

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other ted

Anyone read a letter posted on Garth turners: It says:"Some Numbers: Cost Including Improvements $680,000 Current Market Value $750,000 +- 10,000 Mortgages (25 year & HELOC) $440,000 Net Equity $310,000 Annual Net Rent $48,400 I currently live in the building at no cost to me, with the rents covering all expenses, and positive cash flow of $200 per month. If I were to rent my unit, the cash flow would be $26,400, or 8.5% cash on cash return. The cap rate for the building is 6.4%, high for Toronto but low for any place but a major Canadian city." I say BS. Of course Garth tells him to sell. If those numbers are true I wouldn't. He clams net rent $48000 which nets him with all his expenses $200. If he were not to live there his net flow would… Read more »

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YLTNboomerang

Many of my colleagues have been in their positions for more than 10 years and are bored out of their minds. It's not worth leaving the company to find a new exciting job when a potential layoff package is around the corner.

Personally, I would throw a big layoff party for all my friends if I was let go followed by a summer off then an over-the-atlantic-south-of-the-border job search. Ahh, would be a dream come true!

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Anonymous

EB:

Don't forget FUNlympics! But most likely Failympics

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NO -LYMPICS

THE MAN NOBODY WANTED TO HEAR

Global Banking Economist Warned of Coming Crisis

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,15…

" William White predicted the approaching financial crisis years before 2007's subprime meltdown. But central bankers preferred to listen to his great rival Alan Greenspan instead, with devastating consequences for the global economy.

William White had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted to do with his life after shedding his pinstriped suit and entering retirement.

White, a Canadian, worked for various central banks for 39 years, most recently serving as chief economist for the central bank for all central bankers, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. "

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NO -LYMPICS

The Derivatives Beast Is Still Destroying World Banking http://emsnews.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/the-deriv… " What this means is very simple: NO PARTS OF THE ECONOMIC SYSTEM CAN FAIL. That is, if any parts, say, real estate, goes under, all the many zillions of derivative swaps such as interest rate swaps, have to be resolved. This means, the biggest holders of these swaps have to pay someone or get someone to pay them. And no one has any CAPITAL to do this. The entire derivatives system is tremendously undercapitalized." === It's probably old news, but that Goldman Sachs employee was caught trying to steal a GS trading computer program. This has opened a whole can of worms as to how rigged the market truly is. Seems to me like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan have taken over the Gov't, and the last gasp is these… Read more »

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EB

Funemployment will be followed by funkruptcy, which sounds even more awesome.

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admin

Hovering: Comment link limit is 2 per comment, I've rescued your #50 from moderation. It's a drag, but it's better than having the comment section fill up with spam.

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