Want to buy a ski resort?
Anybody looking for a little local ski hill to call their own? Your timing could be just right.
WHISTLER, British Columbia – At the height of its Olympic glory, Whistler — the ski resort hosting glamorous Alpine events at the Winter Games — may be headed for the auction block.
It’s owned by a New York hedge fund that is reportedly behind on a $524 million loan payment, the result of flagging resort business and plummeting property values.
Creditors want their money back, and they’re playing hardball — calling an auction to put Whistler and other property up for sale Friday, the same day Bode Miller is scheduled to compete for his second Olympic medal in the men’s super-G.
Full article at MSNBC.
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February 19th, 2010 at 10:14 am
[...] Want to buy a ski resort? | Vancouver Condo Info [...]
February 19th, 2010 at 4:37 am
@chumpdawg:
Oh, the lightweight cheap useless stuff will keep coming. What % of the price of a cell phone or Ipod do you think is represented by the energy cost to ship it here?
Heavy equipment is another story.
February 19th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Our 80s family trips involved piling the kids in the 77 Impala and driving around BC. Cheap motels, staying in relatives basements, or campsites. Hiking around ghost towns (visiting my great grandfathers grave at one of them) and having picnics instead of going to restaurants.
The real change for the middle class in recent years is renovation obsession. So much unnecessary spending and environmental destruction. Every goof who can swing a hammer thinks they’re the next Mike Holmes. Up until about ten years, renovations was something you might do if you won the lottery. People somehow survived their 20 year-old kitchens and washrooms.
February 19th, 2010 at 12:44 am
#37, #38, #40, #41, How to Protect your savings
I sold my Condo in November and now sit on a pile a cash waiting for the great sinking. My RRSP is already full, but that is where I would have put some of my money first. I decided to open a questrade account – they are cheap and give you some money back if you decide to keep your money in Mututal Funds. I didn’t like the idea of a private funds manager (they erode 1% of your capital every year) and storing it in the bank is just stupid (1% a year return on investment? If you include inflation, that again 1% erosion a year.)
I’m not a trader so I decided to buy a few different mutual funds. My advice (from an anonymous coward) is stay away from any long term bonds – if you really like fixed income, try something short like PH&N Bond fund.
http://www.google.ca/finance?s.....amp;tab=we
(The google graphs don’t include dividends/interest payments on any fund. On the plus side, they show the actual unit price rather than the fake (before they deduct the fees) graphs you see in mutual fund reports).
Picking the rest of the funds really does relate to your view of the world. Do you believe the world economy will be doing better a year from now? If no, maybe you want more bonds. If yes, what do you think will lead the charge? Do you believe commodities like gold and oil are going to be worth more a year from now? Banking? Small Business? Foreign markets? Pick your funds appropriately. Make a few bets – don’t put all your money on one market.
The more you have to think about how to keep your money safe, the more you wonder what you were thinking when you put so much of it into roof over your head.
Oh, and never believe what you read on the internet.
John
February 19th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Oh man, if I hear one more story about how the world will want to live here because we’re getting sunshine I might piss my pants, lol!
I went to Maui recently, loved it, could totally see myself living there. Did I move though? No. Why? IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID!!!!
How many times do you have to say it before it ever sinks in. Vacationers will always look at a place and think, ya, I could see myself living here. Then they realize vacationing somewhere and making a living somewhere are two, completely different things. Is there a ratio for sunshine days to price? Fuck me.
If sunshine ruled real estate, why are Vegas, Phoenix, Miami and San Diego crashing so bloody hard? Why? Bubbles are bubbles regardless of bullish simple-minded sentiment used to persuade the never thinking sheeple. It’s so fucking pathetic. Sooner or later this will be like taking candy from a baby, mark my words. This is so stupid I can’t even discuss it any further. I’m done.
Next, who gives a shit about the medal count, seriously? I’ve refrained from discussing the Olympics on here since they began. I’m enjoying them, vibe downtown tonight was pretty cool, Robson street and Granville were alive. Bars were packed, all in good fun. I keep hearing people say how sad it will be when it’s over. Ya, sad as in back to normal. For now, it’s all good in my little world.
Next, I have heard a few people I know that are just partying like it’s 1999. One I know spent nearly 10k in tickets, others just keep flashing the credit card and partying like rockstars. The one constant from all of them, they’re ignoring their debt, not looking at their statement until the games are over. LOL!! Nice!
Does that remind you of VANOC? Hell yes. Budget? What budget, the games are here now, write another cheque. Remember, when they first budgeted this was a $600M endeavour. Today estimates are at $6B. They are spending money like there is no tomorrow. Anyone of us that are remotely connected to VANOC see examples of it every day.
In other news I have two friends that are moving away this month. Work is drying up in construction and they see it coming.
February 18th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Stop fretting about the medal count. Check out the definitive source here. We’re a bit behind, but still on pace for WAY better than Turin.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Olympic related: I’ve been out of the loop on the Island since the games started. Returned home today (by transit, of course!) – I felt like crying hot tears of joy: Vancouver, for the first time I’ve been here in the past five years, felt like an actual CITY! (translation: people using public transit, every street in the city not emptying out by 6:15).
I’ve been against the Olympics, but MAN! I’m going to be sad to see them go! for two brief weeks in the winter (spring!) of 2010, I lived in the CITY of Vancouver, instead of the sad, tired, provincial dump of a glorified lumber camp that I’ve come to know (sniff!).
If only it could last!
February 18th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
@pricedoutfornow
how did we get here? Many reasons- but one important reason was the decision by our “leaders” to restructure our economy in North America. We sent low-skill jobs to low-wage jurisdictions in exchange for cheap consumer products. All that was required was a minimum number of jobs and enough credit to fuel consumption and keep this model working.
Of course, many of those who once filled these jobs are left out- the permanent underclass or 10-15% of the population who are “surplus”. In Canada we give them welfare, in the US they end up in prison or in Iraq.
Patriotz- you needn’t go back that far to find a much more modest lifestyle. In the 1980s, (the decade that 20somethings pay homage to through their sense of fashion) I shared a room with my brother (gasp), and a vacation was a ski trip to stay with friends. We went to a restaurant maybe once or twice a year.
i was 18 when i took my first flight ( I paid for the ticket myself)
We’ve been living on a fake economy for more than 15 years now, living off the fumes of cheap consumption and that is all coming to an end.
Without cheap oil, there will be no cheap useless stuff coming over here on boats from Asia. so we’ll be forced to make our own useless crap or decide we don’t need it.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
Article on IOC, couldn’t read entire article, in summary what did it say?
February 18th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
@bestplaceonmeth — unemployment is on the way up, perhaps way, way up in Vancouver. I talked to someone in a major roofing company the other day and he said his company is quickly running out of work, and so are many other companies. This is after a multi-year boom when they were constantly booked solid 6-8 mths in advance.
Also, bids on new contracts are so competitive and profit margins so low that companies who ‘win’ the bid will probably lose money, or break even at best. Essentially, the companies are just trying to keep their workers employed so that they don’t lose skilled workers when the market picks up again. They haven’t figured out yet that things aren’t picking up again any time soon. The boom is over and it ain’t coming back.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Olympics, Inc: Inside The Secretive, $6 Billion World Of The International Olympic Committee
http://www.infowars.com/olympi.....committee/
linked to
http://www.businessinsider.com.....of-the-ioc
February 18th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
@oneangryslav2:
Yes, I do realize that we’re just about 1/2 way through the games – that’s why I posted the link.
2006, 1.5 medals per day
2010, 1.1 medals per day so far.
I hope the 2nd half shows better results or we’ll “Own The Imodium” for being so full of shit.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Host countries want to do well, China had their “project 119″ and I’m sure that the UK will have something as well. WIth Own the podium the amount of funding for sports programs and training at the Olympic level was greatly increased.
While the pressure and expectations on athletes may have increased so did their funding. I’m sure that most athlete would prefer to keep the funding and deal with the added pressure. These are elite level athletes at the top of their mental and physical games, if they can’t deal with the pressure then they took the wrong path in life.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I hate to say it, but the bulls might be right about the weather and real estate.
While standing in line today at the Aboriginal Village venue, I was chatting with 2 couples – one from NY and the other from Bellingham. We started talking about the real estate market, the city, and the weather. The New Yorkers literally said, “I guess everyone is going to want to live here.”
I proceeded to inform them that our real estate was more unaffordably than NY, that we had no 30 year fixed mortgages (they were extremely shocked), that our average incomes versus our average house price, that our CMHC insured mortgages were more than our national debt, and that rampant Olympic price gouging by soon to be reluctant landlords. The Bellingham couple actually said that their city thought they would be able to cash in on the Olympics, and tons of people tried to rent their homes out but to no avail. They actually thanked me profusely for all the information on the market.
February 18th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
@bestplaceonmeth: Ummm…you do realize that we’re just about half-way through the competition, do you not?
I’ve been mostly enjoying the games thus far (except for Canada’s poor performance this evening in men’s hockey versus the Swiss.) So who’s in net against the Yanks on Saturday–the old man from Montreal, or the younger man from Montreal?