Crackshack or Mansion? The Answers.
A week ago we had a community driven interview of Petr and Ola, creators of the instant classic Vancouver Real Estate quiz “Crackshack or Mansion?”. You asked your questions and voted up the comments you wanted to hear answers to. Well we’ve sent the highest rated questions on to Petr and Ola and here are their answers:
How long have they lived in Vancouver?
PETR: I have lived here since 2002 and Ola has lived here since she was about 10 years old.
Do they rent or own? (wouldn’t want to presume even the obvious!)
PETR: haha. We rent.
OLA: …one of these “special” 1950’s bungalows.
If they rent, have they been tempted to buy?
PETR: Ola had considered buying a place with her friend in about 2007. I thought the bubble was pretty much at its peak back then and strongly encouraged her to wait. A lot of her friends were getting into the housing market (or thinking about it) and I think the mob mentality almost got the best of her. It didn’t take long to convince it’s a crazy idea (to buy with a friend, and at these prices).
OLA: I shudder when I think about it now. Even if prices kept going up and interest rates stayed low, it’s insane to tie yourself down with other people like that.
Have they considered leaving Vancouver because of RE prices?
PETR: Even though we are convinced this is a bubble that will have a severe correction, the prices will probably still be too high for us. I wouldn’t pay 200,000 for most of those million dollar mansions. The city is nice but it has a lot of competition for the pretty city of the month award. The bubble will pop everywhere so the interior of BC will look pretty good.
OLA: I must admit, owning my dream home has been a fantasy since I was 8. However, my dreams are extensive and require many acres and handcrafted woodwork. It would be a trophy for career success. It would be a frivolous indulgence when I have excess cash flow. Enslaving myself to a peach-coloured 80’s built condo isn’t really a replacement for that.
What is the effect of the RE market on their own social circle? Are friends overextending to buy RE?
PETR: We both know several people that have bought recently. We don’t know their financial situation but based on their careers it’s a safe assumption that they are severely overextended. I hope it works out for them but it likely won’t unless they sell and swallow all the closing costs.
Are they experiencing pressure to buy from family/friends/colleagues?
PETR: Not at all. Most people have no clue of anything outside of the nighly news. They understand their knowledge limitations so they don’t try to convince anyone.
OLA: My step dad tried to pressure me into buying in 2003. But I was a university student on loans then and it couldn’t happen. Hindsight being 20/20, it could have worked out well if I sold at the peak… but it’s hard to gauge the peak. Since the driving force is credit, and the credit pushers do whatever they want, whenever they want, it’s impossible to see the end of the gravy train far in advance. Pete & I were convinced it was the end a few years ago, but then the credit spigots were cranked even farther.
Are any friends leaving for more reasonably priced pastures?
PETR: nope 
OLA: I know some people who bought further east in the Lower Mainland. Save a hundred thousand, take 2 hours of commuting off your life each day. The bubble is the worst here, but it’s Canada wide so there’s not much one can do within the country.
Hi Petr and Ola, thanks for making such an entertaining site, I’d like to know how much exposure this got outside of Vancouver. Do you get many visitors from other countries?
PETR: We don’t know where our hits come from but I suspect most of them are Canadian. We have done interviews on many networks (all but one in Canada). We did a long interview with Al Jazeera English which was very cool. They took us to the houses on the game and interviewed us from the front doors. From what I understand they are doing a very extensive story on the Vancouver real estate market. They asked Garth Turner for an interview but he was unavailable.
OLA: Judging by the forum hits we get, we’re biggest in Vancouver, big in Canada, and also make a splash in other bubble cities. The appreciation seems greatest from people who are out-priced.
Do you have mls number for the mansion in the game since many people are interested in buying after seeing picture.
PETR: Hahahaha. I’m sure the interest is huge. They are easy to find on mls.ca if you put in the price range. There are a few that have been removed and at least one with a reduced price.
I’d like to know if they’ve gotten any hate mail from Crack Dealers who are pissed that they’ve exposed their sham: the selling of a temporary “high” followed by a lifetime of debt, to the unsuspecting masses looking for escapism. Also, please ask the same question again replacing “Crack Dealers” with “Realtors”.
PETR: Hehe, I like the question. No crack dealer complaints, they’re used to being made fun of. I think realtors will soon be pacing up and down east Hastings at 2am asking if you want to buy a house. Maybe the two could work together. You are much more likely to borrow 1 million if you’re high.
OLA: No hate mail to our virtual “face”, but we’ve heard multiple accounts of them rolling their eyes whenever the game is mentioned.
You’ve done a lot of interviews now. Have any of the interviewers tried to justify the prices or is everyone just as shocked as we think they’d be?
Did the dynamic duo have any reservations about doing the project under their real names and has there been any negative or positive feedback of “going public” with the view that real estate in Vancouver is ridiculous.
(answering both at once)
PETR: Most of the interviewers really loved the site. I think a lot of them are renters and related to it just as much as everyone else. I was very cautious at first because I know how much Vancouverites defend their bubbles. I was expecting a lot of backlash when the site started blowing up. I am a teacher in one of the areas that is highlighted in the game and was expecting angry parents and bad press but none of that happened. I have only had one negative comment. One lady was mad that we accused her of having lived in a crackhouse (she got 15 out of 16).
We were misquoted a couple of times by interviewers (probably homeowners). They represented us as being angry, distraught, pranksters. I am anything but distraught; I don’t owe anyone a million dollars.
OLA: one article talked about our site, then quoted some “expert” as saying that well, we’ve learned one of life’s hard lessons: real estate prices are tied to land values. Another “expert” chimed in that Vancouver prices are high because the city allowed too much dense development. If that’s not dredging the bottom of the justification barrel, I don’t know what is! (ED: you mean this gem?)
I believe Crackshack or Mansion, fresh in people’s minds, is helping to burst the bubble psychology and that it will prove a big part of the psychological wave down – where rate adjustments and changes to underwriting kick the financial legs out from under the bubble.
My question is, did you point out the “Emperor’s New Clothes” intentionally to help with that, or was it that you’d reached a point where you just couldn’t be silent about insanity any longer? We know you as readers of Garth’s, and savvy on the fundamentals but your timing and execution also seems perfect, and I am curious as to your thoughts on that!
OLA: Haha, I’ve been calling it the “Emperor’s New Clothes” in all the interviews, but sadly nobody has quoted me for it. I’m glad someone else sees the parallel! We’re totally that little girl in the story, and I think that’s why it resonates well.
PETR: I don’t want to overstate the impact of the game but I do think it will make a difference. Friends of mine bought a couple of months ago and after the game came out they were openly discussing regretting the purchase (when they were celebrating the week before). The timing was pretty much perfect but that was an accident. This bubble is old news to a lot of people that care to do a bit of research, but most people respond best to a silly game with pictures 
At first I felt guilty about posting peoples houses and probably making it harder for them to sell (Ola was wise enough not to have that guilt). I look at it differently now. The bubble was a terrible thing on the way up and will be devastating on the way down. If the combination of all of us can help pop it earlier, we are doing a community service. It’s probably too late though, the bubble is too big and the damage will be severe.
OLA: The worse the damage, the cheaper the scraps
May 10th, 2010 at 5:18 am 1
Sometimes I think it should be Crackshack And a Mansion, because the some $7 billion a year generated in the basements of crackshacks and other homes throughout the Lower Mainland is surely paying for a fair number of those mansions.
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:14 am 2
Stock market is good indication to make sure Vancouverboom2 run smooth,It's kind of tune up before listing goes blur with heart touching sales and rock solid prices.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:21 am 3
Thanks Petr, & Ola; and thanks for the interview, Pope; great idea.
Interesting that 'Al Jazeera English' actually took them to the houses and interviewed them there. Sounds like that "very extensive story" should be worth watching.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:43 am 4
@chip: I don't recall any part of the popular definition of a "mansion" to include "has part of the mortgage covered by renters in the basement".
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:24 am 5
Debt is piled on top of debt. ECB buys one trillion euros of its own paper. As is the case here and in the US it only puts off the inevitable for a short period of time. Kind of like getting drunk the night before you go to jail or thinking the Canucks are a good team based on one game.
Can you imagine what this is going to do to the value of international paper money? Straight into the crapper. Look for a continued devaluation of your purchasing power as the governments are stupid enough to think they will inflate all this paper away. Case in point:
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article….
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:28 am 6
"A real estate agent that wishes to remain anonymous has told me that, thanks to unscrupulous mortgage brokers, falsifying documents in mortgage applications has become rampant in Vancouver. The agent says this is how some local and foreign buyers that want to get in on Vancouver’s real estate boom extend their buying power. The same assets, for instance, could be recycled and used by a number of different parties to support mortgage applications, and it’s especially easy to forge documentation from foreign sources. With HST and rising interest rates it will be more expensive than ever to own or maintain property in British Columbia, and the question is if low income home owners can trigger a bust in BC’s mortgage bubble."
From an article by Steffan Ileman, examiner.com 8 May:
http://www.examiner.com/x-36530-Vancouver-Governm…
Archived as an anecdote:
http://wp.me/pcq1o-Rh
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:44 am 7
Stock market rally big time on trillion dollar grecian money orgy. How does this affect vancouver condo market? Everything go up in market including bond price so mortgage rate come crashing hard like ukranian luge racer. Once rate go down condo go up. This is the start of third boom in Vancouver.
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:03 am 8
CDN 5 year bond rapidly heading back up again.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GCAN5Y…
~The cure for higher prices is higher interest rates~
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:39 am 9
@Best place on meth:
Doesn't matter what central banks do any more.
Mortgage rates everywhere have nowhere to go but up. The collapse of US Real Estate has made banks and lenders very risk averse.
There is absolutely no way that bank lending rates will decline in the short term.
The only way they will decline is if they continue to rise first, and then decline again in a new recession in 2-3 years.
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:43 am 10
@vreaa:
This should be the big news today, but even the MSM will sweep this under the rug…
But this is exactly the kind of stuff that will blow-up in the media when RE prices collapse, and the fallout will be a far more regulated and tighter compliance mandate on the CAAMP, which currently has no more credibility than the CREA.
Mortgage brokers should have a fiduciary duty to advise cleints on debt management and financial planning. Instead they just lend to anyone who qualifies, and just make up shit for the other borrowers.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:15 am 11
Just to resurrect a dead horse for a moment. The sign that I took a picture of with a bubble pricing sticker now has a bright red "sold" on top while the bubble sticker remains.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:22 am 12
"Mortgage brokers should have a fiduciary duty to advise cleints on debt management and financial planning. Instead they just lend to anyone who qualifies, and just make up shit for the other borrowers."
They don't have the education of the brain power to do this.
Buyer beware.
Lenders who have been vicitmized by broker fraud and buyers who willfully participated should sue the brokers and the buyers. They should also be charged with criminal fraud.
More legislation is not the answer. Law suits and financial consequences for the perpetrators are the best deterrant.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:25 am 13
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business…
Wow…I wonder what the numbers look like for this slice of heaven. I'm sure that they would be disproportionately higher for Vancouver.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:26 am 14
"OLA: I must admit, owning my dream home has been a fantasy since I was 8. However, my dreams are extensive and require many acres and handcrafted woodwork. It would be a trophy for career success. It would be a frivolous indulgence when I have excess cash flow. Enslaving myself to a peach-coloured 80’s built condo isn’t really a replacement for that."
THIS.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:49 am 15
@nonymouse: "The sign that I took a picture of with a bubble pricing sticker now has a bright red “sold” on top while the bubble sticker remains."
—
Thanks for the update.
Surreal.
Perhaps 'certified anything pricing' increases sales?
The realtor took the trouble to post the Sold sign without removing the sticker?
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:06 am 16
"Even though we are convinced this is a bubble that will have a severe correction, the prices will probably still be too high for us. I wouldn’t pay 200,000 for most of those million dollar mansions."
So $200,000 is still to much for a house in Vancouver? Makes you wonder why these bitter renters bother to live here at all? And from their own comments they've midjudged the market at least twice already.
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:07 am 17
@vreaa:
I just hope the CMHC will do a proper investigation of each and every house that goes under for the next few years. The banks and the mortgage brokers should be on the hook for the billions of fraudulent failed mortgages, not the taxpayer.
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:33 am 18
Let's see… Ola was strongly urged to buy in 2003 but didn't. Oops. Petr wouldn't buy a home for even $200k today? WTF?
These guys aren't just bitter and astonished renters… they're living in regret and have ventured into fantasy.
But, boy, I bet they love the attention that reinforces their beliefs. Now, this will get voted down because it questions one of your uber-bears. And, no, I am not saying prices will keep going up. I think prices will drop substantially. I am just saying that these two really aren't all that.
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:44 am 19
@No Insight:
Regardless if they are "all that".. you gotta admit the crackshack game was brilliant and it went mainstream. Like they said, the regular joe on the streets understands pictures, and games.
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:46 am 20
@No Insight:
Ola had considered buying a place with her friend in about 2007. I thought the bubble was pretty much at its peak back then and strongly encouraged her to wait.
Where did you get 2003 from?
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:48 am 21
Houses today are sold like used cars. Its the monthly payment that is important for people. So while someone would not pay $200,000 for a home in Vancouver. Would they pay a mortgage payment of $800 a month for a 3 bedroom rancher? How about $1,800 a month? $2,800?
If you just sold your condominium and could put $200,000 down on a house and are still willing to pay $1,800 per month. How much house can you buy?
The amount someone is willing to pay in a mortgage payment is not going to change much. What will change is what they have as a down payment and the interest rate. As prices decline, so will the size of the down payment decline, then add in rising interest rates, lack of consumer confidence, and a smaller pool of prospective purchasers for the next decade.
And another question. How large can a city get, before the quality of life deteriorates. Has Vancouver reached this point with pollution, congestion and crime. How much is a house worth, if you are worried about your children getting home safe? Or you spend 2 to 3 hours each day commuting? or you're stressed out from road rage? A continuous yellow haze of pollution that you inhale each day? How much wealth is enough to warrant a premature death at age 55. For Vancouver today that's about a million dollars. Pretty high price to pay for cutting 30 years off your life.
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:52 am 22
Interesting comments.
Ola "…My step dad tried to pressure me into buying in 2003. But I was a university student on loans then and it couldn’t happen. Hindsight being 20/20, it could have worked out well if I sold at the peak… but it’s hard to gauge the peak…" — Actually it WOULD have worked out well if you had sold ANYTIME in the past few years, without trying to gauge the peak.
Petr "…Even though we are convinced this is a bubble that will have a severe correction, the prices will probably still be too high for us. I wouldn’t pay 200,000 for most of those million dollar mansions. The city is nice but it has a lot of competition for the pretty city of the month award…" — Huh? Is he seriously thinking that an 80+% drop is required to bring prices back to affordability?
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:52 am 23
@vreaa
I find Al Jazeera to be a fairly robust media outlet. They go in depth into stories western media do not touch or do not bother with. They remind me a little of the original independent CNN, where they would actually spend money to send a person on-location, instead of reprinting press releases and throwing soft-balls at interviewees that they specialize in now. They of course have their own bias, as do all media. Different sides of the same coin.
@No Insight
Interest rates have no where to head but up. This level of pricing is only sustainable while rates are low. Each 1% rate increase cuts purchasing power by 10%, combine with already high income-price valuations, the drop will be much larger. As the cheap pre-approved buyers run out in the next few weeks, prices will start sliding. Even if rates stay low, people are already stretching to afford to buy anything, how much higher can things go before there are no buyers left?
Things seemed terminal in early 2000s because no one rational expected government to start giving people free money. That's what happens when you politicize economics, you throw fundamentals out the window and watch which way the political winds are blowing. But politicians are capricious, and their political futures are always ahead of your and the country's well being. Don't count on them to be reasonable, which way will they move next?
US led the way there, and look where they are now. Why are we different? Why will this bubble not burst too?
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:06 pm 24
@Gordon C.:
Actually, I agree with the sentiment of this quote, but it's now even worse than you suggest. I had been meaning to post on this phenomenon but had forgotten to do so. Thanks for reminding me.
Over the last couple of weeks, I been hearing a radio commercial put out by some car dealership. The catch is that they are now eschewing the "only $XXX a month" phrasing and going with "$XXX dollars "every two weeks".
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:08 pm 25
If you bear can't pay more than 200k for house you will never own in Vancouver. That ok since you happy renting forever and pay my mortgage. You happy, me happy. I like my maguerita on the rocks not with the crush ice when you get a chance.
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:13 pm 26
Off-topic but may I humbly explain that I find some posts on Calculated Risk to be highly diagnostic of the mess we're in, or will soon be in. So … for those who don't read CR:
"CoreLogic reported today that more than 11.2 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, were in negative equity at the end of the first quarter of 2010, down slightly from 11.3 million and 24 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009. An additional 2.3 million borrowers had less than five percent equity. Together, negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for over 28 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide."
24 per cent!!!!!! Well, at least it's an improvement over last quarter, lol.
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:14 pm 27
@No Insight: Petr didn't say he wouldn't spend 200,000 on anything – he said he wouldn't on any of the "mansions" he featured on his website. Those places needed work. Maybe he'd take attached or something smaller in move in condition. Or go buy in Ottawa.
There's nothing BITTER about deciding that the things here don't have value, any more than there's anything bitter in me thinking that those high end brown purses with the gold logos are fugly and bizarre and I wouldn't pay a buck fifty for one at a yard sale.
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:15 pm 28
@boomingVancouver:
"BoomingVancouver, you sure you could afford that maguerita? It's gonna cost more than the mac and cheese dinner that you ordered from the kids menu.
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:23 pm 29
The crash is coming and this is what it looks like…
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/reb/1733754212….
Crack shack or mansion? For $178K who cares?
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:37 pm 30
This weekend, I had friends over for drinks and both announced their intentions to move out of Vancouver in the next year. Both are born and bred in Vancouver, but have recently spent time in Ontario. They've realized that life does exist East of the Rockies.
One of these friends is in the artistic class – working and being paid in her creative profession, but not rolling in cash. Work tends towards feast and famine. The other friend is currently on mat leave, her husband has been recently laid off.
My artistic friend said this: "This city doesn't want people like us anymore. So I'm listening and leaving." She also is shocked at how lovely the architecture is "even for us impoverished folks" when you venture East, and how you can go find funky shoes and clothing in a place like Kensington Market for a fraction of the price.
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May 10th, 2010 at 12:53 pm 31
New Listings 123
Price Changes 92
Sold Listings 42
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May 10th, 2010 at 1:04 pm 32
@Kite towards moon Says:
Can't believe I just +1 a Kite post. Is he finally coming out of the closet and admitting that he's a realtor?
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May 10th, 2010 at 1:19 pm 33
That was a Paulb post. Look at the name more closely. Am I right Paulb?
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May 10th, 2010 at 1:21 pm 34
@Kite towards moon Says:
Hang on, is that a Kite imposter? If so, how lame is it to impersonate Kite of all people. Now makes me wonder about those numbers he posted. Paulb?
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May 10th, 2010 at 1:31 pm 35
@Kite towards moon Says:
Thanks Paul.
Looking good for another 300 list, 100 sale day.
~The cure for higher prices is higher interest rates~
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May 10th, 2010 at 1:51 pm 36
Absinthe "…There’s nothing BITTER about deciding that the things here don’t have value, any more than there’s anything bitter in me thinking that those high end brown purses with the gold logos are fugly and bizarre and I wouldn’t pay a buck fifty for one at a yard sale…" — Silly comparison, how are purses at all like houses? One has value as shelter or investment the other is a consumer good. Petr may not be a BITTER renter, but he clearly doesn't understand the value of RE when he says he wouldn't buy a Westside Vancouver home for $200K. If he truly believes that they're not worth that, then a previous posters point has merit in that what the heck are they doing in this city then??? If Vancouver RE has virtually no value to them because they don't like the city, then move!
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May 10th, 2010 at 1:54 pm 37
It was probably Paul– sometimes this site gets its cookies confused and auto-fills the wrong name and email at the bottom of the page.
Which means paul has Kite's email address.
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May 10th, 2010 at 2:11 pm 38
Article in Globe and Mail about problems with rising mortgage rates – apparently over 500K borrowers will be in trouble if rates go over 5.25%
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business…
But reading the comments, I think an even bgger problem crops up. That is a lot of people don't know how the math behind amortization works. There is one guy who claims that on a mortgage with $1500/month payment, a 1% interest rate increase equals about extra $15/month in payments! I wouldn't be surprised a lot of people think like that. So if they are worrying about having to come up with extra $100 to $300/month for a 3% interest rate hike, possibly even after cutting down on cable bills, cell phone, etc, and they are vastly under-estimating the actual difference in payments for a 3% interest rate increase, then I see a very bleak future for a lot of the purchasers! Especially those who's 3 or 5 year VRM is coming up for renew in the next 3 years and who took the max 35/40 year amortization and only made the minimum payment. They are going to be so screwed…..
PS – Anyone know why there were such a long line up at the Power Bar booth at the Sun Run finish area? I was there around noon and the line was like 100m+ long! Why??? The Island Farm and Weetabix had virtually no line ups at all. Why were so many people in that Power Bar line up???
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May 10th, 2010 at 2:23 pm 39
@Kite towards moon Says:
Another day with a huge percentage of Price Changes.
Hmmm……sellers scared much?
Be really interesting to see this months report in a few weeks. My guess is some serious price declines!
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May 10th, 2010 at 2:25 pm 40
@Purp1: I still disagree: you can want to live in Vancouver and not want to have to do renos. You may be willing to spend more on a new build, or have less space. Maybe you don't like yardwork. You may be a condo person – maybe you have a disability and need elevators and no upkeep. Maybe you don't need that much room. These places aren't universally desirable shelter.
And as investment, it's not like everyone's going to want to take on a run down old place and fix it up again. Houses are not the only or even the most ideal investment for everyone, even if they're underpriced.
Then there's location. The Westside, in gentrifying, has changed. Not as funky. Maybe Petr's too cool to live in Point Grey and would rather spend 200K in the Main corridor or near Trout Lake.
You're right, that a purse is a consumer good, but you're missing the point. Value for *shelter* is also in the eyes of the beholder, and it is *bubble* mentality that judges houses mainly as an investment to an asset class. Only in a bubble could someone say that "everyone" will think there's something fabulous in buying an old-timer/fixer-upper in the Westside, even if dirt cheap. Horsepucky – most people buy houses because they want to live in them.
Similarly, I have no interest in investing in a run down badly placed westside home I'd need to pay property taxes on, maintain, and find awesome tenants for! Bah, no thanks. Landlording an old SFH isn't free money without headache. Plus, why is it down to 200K? My investments don't make me work that hard, and I already have life and career, thanks. If you gave me such an "investment property" as a gift, I'd sell it as soon as possible and pick a less whiny and stressed investment class. Because, hey! 200K! I'd sell it to Garth!
SO: I also agree I wouldn't buy many of those houses, and how I would make that decision would be personal. If that run down million dollar home on the corner of Alma and 10th was newly priced at 200K, I wouldn't feel terribly compelled to buy it, "just because" it was on the Westside and this was an awesome deal. I'd rather live on a less busy street and somewhere east of Main, I have no interest in being a landlord, I have other investments that are less stressed out globally, and I'm not wealthy enough to drop 200K into an asset class and then hire someone to manage it.
I do, however, like old timer fixer uppers. So I probably would end up in a "crack-shack" of some sort. *g*
That simple.
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May 10th, 2010 at 2:36 pm 41
@Gordon C.:
If you think Vancouver is polluted and congested, you've obviously not very well travelled.
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May 10th, 2010 at 3:13 pm 42
@space889:
I thought a recent survey showed that most people DON'T take the maximum amortization periods, DON'T borrow 100% of what the bank has "qualfied" thme for, and DO intend to pay down their mortgage early. That doesn't sound like a bunch of uninformed sheeple to me.
You seem to be hedging your bets on the fact that most people, who are obviously doing well enough in their lives to spend $500K-$2m on a place to live, somehow aren't bright enough to understand how mortgage interest works.
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May 10th, 2010 at 3:16 pm 43
I did my best KTM impression here about a month ago, and the cookies saved this info in the online form. I have to login to post since I registered. That or I am secretly KTM. Hmmm
I guess KTM getting a 40+ can be my good deed of the week.
Anyways, onto more important business:
New Listings 174
Price Changes 135
Sold Listings 64
Monday and Friday have typically been big listing days. I am curious to see if sales rush in mid week, or if this start of the dry spell for sales we've been anticipating.
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May 10th, 2010 at 3:40 pm 44
Just checked Craigslist apartment rentals. Almost 1100 listed today! The list doesn't roll over to Sunday until page ten here:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/apa/index1000.h…
Although give it an hour and probably you'll have to go another page over (1100 listings) too.
Guess I'll have my pick of places when my lease comes up. Dumb bitter renter that I am.
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May 10th, 2010 at 3:40 pm 45
Absinthe — Come on now, who was arguing that a $200K 'mansion' was a universally desired house? Of course in any market, there are different needs and wants, so saying that you or I don't want or need this particular type of house doens't say much about it's value in the market. I wonder why Petr gave that example is he's not interested in that type of house? It gives the impression that he's not able to recognize a good value.
You talk about value for shelter being in the eyes of the beholder. That's fine, but it doesn't give any insight that you understand what the house is actually worth. I'm not talking about 'certified bubble pricing', but value based on rental rates and price to rent ratios. How is that anything like a 'purse' which neither serves as shelter or can provide income?
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May 10th, 2010 at 3:50 pm 46
@Gordon C.:
150x monthly rent regardless of any of these factors. The market rent is the only objective measure of the utility of any dwelling. People pay big money to rent in Fort McMurray, NYC, Hong Kong, etc. and there's a reason for it.
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May 10th, 2010 at 4:06 pm 47
@Purp1:
I hear him saying that 200K will still be too much for him to pay even if they pop, and he's considering moving to the interior. In that quote, he says absolutely nothing about price/rent ratios. He talks only about the stuff he's put up for his game (which is why he's referencing those properties), and says only that it will still be too much FOR HIM when there are other pretty cities out there.
That's not bitter, that's realizing that post bubble, 200K in Nelson will probably buy more than an old teardown on a busy intersection in the Westside of Vancouver. I'm not sure where you're hearing "and 200K for that house will be a bad investment for everyone", because he's making a personal claim about what he personally wants and can afford.
Even though we are convinced this is a bubble that will have a severe correction, the prices will probably still be too high for us. I wouldn’t pay 200,000 for most of those million dollar mansions. The city is nice but it has a lot of competition for the pretty city of the month award. The bubble will pop everywhere so the interior of BC will look pretty good.
This is his personal business he's referencing. It doesn't give me any sense he has no understanding of general value because I'm noting his use of the pronouns "I" and "us".
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May 10th, 2010 at 4:18 pm 48
@bums up2: Do you know what the average number of rental listings is in a given day? Is 1100 normal? Higher? Lower?
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May 10th, 2010 at 4:21 pm 49
@Purp1 –
I have a feeling you're not reacting to Petr, who is judging individual value, but rather to my wording. I said "There’s nothing BITTER about deciding that the things here don’t have value,…"
But I missed (or rather, meant to infer with the consumer goods analogy), "to a given individual". Value TO a given individual.
Yes, land has the possibility of generating income that a purse doesn't, and yes, that means that there is some value in ownership of it. Also, yes, you can traditionally estimate house prices in the market by (potential) price/rent, as long as we understand that rent is also a moving target. But we need to be very clear that market value isn't the same thing as value to every individual in the market – and that housing isn't in its own special privileged class.
The problem with this bubble is that housing's been put in its own special privileged class within the vernacular.
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May 10th, 2010 at 4:29 pm 50
Was riding by the former Olympic village this afternoon, when someone protesting in front of the Millennium Water presentation center caught my eye. He purchased a unit presale, but it was built differently than shown in the plans at the time of purchase. He said he was unable to afford the legal fees to fight the many lawyers Millennium has working for them. He hoped by protesting Millennium would do the right thing; annul the contract and refund his deposit. I suggested going to the media for more attention but he wants to wait a couple weeks before it reaches that point.
He let me take some photos of him and his signs, but I'm not sure how to post these…
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May 10th, 2010 at 4:43 pm 51
I wish I'd been keeping better track of it but in my opinion no it's not normal. 200-300 would be normal listings for a day. 500 would be a lot but not unheard of, say, for the first/last of a month.
It's been a while since I've been apartment hunting so maybe 1000+ rentals per day is the new normal but 6-12 months ago it sure wasn't! I'm gonna say it's probably due to post-olympics rentals coming online plus new condos being speculative "investments". Perhaps we're entering a period of net negative population growth (migration) due to economic factors (e.g. high cost of living, low wages, slowing economy, etc.) and it's showing up in a flood of rental listings.
These days Vancouver's economy is better than a land-making machine.
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May 10th, 2010 at 4:48 pm 52
I've been browsing the rental listings for a month or so, but never really paid attention to the date of the listings, as I would usually never go beyond a page.
One thing I have noticed is that there are a lot of repeats lately, so obviously properties aren't being rented out quickly.
Another thing I have noticed is that when I actually call someone, once they feel comfortable with me on the phone (that I may be a good tenant), they often say that the rent price is negotiable.
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May 10th, 2010 at 5:31 pm 53
When I try that link on Craigslist mine rolls to Sunday after three clicks, so approximately 250 listings so far today. Any idea why it would be different for different people?
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May 10th, 2010 at 5:39 pm 54
@VancouverGuy: Yeah, that link starts at a certain point of about 10 pages along, so it has grown a lot already today. If you click on the last tab on the top, you will start at the beginning, and there were 11+ pages when I tried it about an hour ago.
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May 10th, 2010 at 5:46 pm 55
17,434
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May 10th, 2010 at 5:50 pm 56
The question is not whether Vancouver is or is not polluted. Vancouver is polluted. The question is how much more pollution, congestion and crime can Vancouver take before the city deteriorates.
How much would you pay to live in Detroit, Calcutta or Guangdong province. The suggestion that if I traveled more, Vancouver would somehow become less polluted is ludicrous. We are very, very lucky that we have the winds off the ocean, pushing the pollution back onto Abbotsford. To me, the quality of life in Vancouver has been declining since the mid 1980's. Google Earth Vancouver and see how it has grayed out – then google Beijing and see your future. Vancouver is a confined space – the growth over the last decade has been at the cost of destroying the beauty of the city as the hillsides are shaved for subdivision.
Nostalgia for the City is wonderful, Vancouver was gorgeous 25 years ago – now it is just another North American city. A city, like Toronto, where you work hard and long hours to earn enough money to leave.
Maybe we just need more hot dog vendors to complete the picture.
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:01 pm 57
New Listings 253
Price Changes 212
Sold Listings 92
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:10 pm 58
So we would need to have another 1,400 or so net listings by May 15th to match pace with May 2008 (and by pace I mean listings growth from beginning of the month to mid-month, not absolute number of listings). So I guess that's unlikely…
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:14 pm 59
I've seen 1000/day on and off over the past number of years if you've got no restraints on the search, depending on the day in the month, and the 10th-15th seems to me when it gets most busy. (Which I've mainly noted because I would have guessed it would be busiest on the 5th, but I've been wrong.)The volume doesn't strike me as unusual, but the price tiers are fluctuating, I think.
I really should have been graphing my Craigslist searches, hey? *g*
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:16 pm 60
@Absinthe: Sorry – I was commenting on rental/Craigslist.
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:25 pm 61
"He said he was unable to afford the legal fees to fight the many lawyers Millennium has working for them."
He paid over $1000 per square foot for a condob and he can't even afford a lawyer?
A legal action of average complexity such as this costs about as much as a new mid-size car.
If this is indicative of the financial resources and common sense of Vancouver RE "investors", the bust will be painful in the extreme for thousands of people. I can't wait.
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:32 pm 62
@Plummet:
I don't recall saying it was … . But if the RCMP can say that Vancouver's luxury SUV market is underpinned by the grow-op industry I don't think it's a reach to argue that proceeds from the underground economy are finding their way into the mansion market.
Ask someone who has a child at the elite West Point Grey Academy what they think? They have had murders of two unconnected parents in the last couple of years; both of whom bought their mansions (sans renters) with income you wouldn't declare to the CRA.
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:42 pm 63
RCMP and the Calgary police have told the Bank of Montreal they won't investigate what could be the biggest mortgage fraud in Canadian history, CBC News has learned.
Both police forces stated last week they were reviewing the voluminous case — more than 35,000 documents — assembled by the bank's investigators to see if a criminal investigation was warranted.
But sources have told the CBC that top investigators from both forces recently met with the bank and told it they were not interested in pursuing a criminal investigation.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/05/09…
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:43 pm 64
Hey kids!
Olympic Village condos go on sale Saturday! WHOO HOO!!!
First off, a ribbon cutting ceremony. COOOOOLLLLL.
There's going to be 35 real live Olympians hanging around posing for photos, signing autographs and flogging real estate for Bob Rennie. GO CANADA!
And genuine Paralympic medals will be on display!
If you go you'll get a limited edition "May 15 Olympic Village" pin. Can you believe that?
Special discounts on 3 or more units for our wealthy Asian friends.
Music, food and prizes will round out the festivities.
And remember, it's "Vancouver's Last Waterfront Community". Until the next one is developed.
http://www.millenniumwater.com/
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:44 pm 65
paulb – nice set of price changes today -84% to new listings
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:45 pm 66
@Gordon C.:
"The suggestion that if I traveled more, Vancouver would somehow become less polluted is ludicrous."
What's ludicrous is the strawman you just set up there. I was suggesting that you might reevaluate your perspective on what's clean and what's polluted. Vancouver is a shockingly clean and beautiful city, and opinion which was shared by the vast majority of those who visited during the Olympics. Try spending a day in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Rome, New York, then come back and tell us what your idea of "polluted" and "congested" is.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:02 pm 67
@Anoymous: Actually I'm not hedging at all. I already own my house (West of Cambie, SFH and no renters) outright and I'm just past 30. So none of that bitter/losser renter, don't know how to be a homeowner, etc argument. Just to get all those stuff out of the way first.
Anyways, from my experience, most people even engineers don't always grasp the concept of compounding interest and amortization and it's effects as it is not intuitive like say simple algebra nor is it a linear function. As interest rate changes, the payments changes in a non-linear fashion which is hard for people to grasp and estimate, even for mathematically inclined. Off course the average person has even less understanding of math. So betting that people don't know what effects increasing interests rate will have is not a stupid or bad bet in my opinion.
As for the argument that most people don't take the max amortization, etc, well off course not since the 35/40 amortization was only really introduced and become popular in the last 5 years or so. So unless we had an avanlache of mortgage borrowers, the vast majority of mortgage holders who got their mortgage 10 or more years ago aren't doing 35/40 amortization. However most of the people in the last 5 years are and housing being illiquid asset will have its prices set by these marginal buyers. And they are doing close to maximum, otherwise how could we have all those bidding wars with prices going $50K, $100K or more over asking?
As for the stat showing people intended to pay off their mortgages earlier, faster, etc. Well intend is very different from actually doing it! Personal example, I have an engineer friend who thinks it's perfectly fine to get a 35 year amortization to buy a condo because in her words: everyone is doing it and how else will you buy? Plus it's not like I'm going to take 35 years to pay it off? I will get raises, bonuses, etc and use them to pay it off early! Except she forgot things like inflation, interest rate increase, getting married, having a baby, upgrade from 1 bedroom to 2 bedrooms, new car, etc that will all cost money and take money away from paying down the mortgage early! It's like in the movie UP where the main characters keep breaking their dream vacation to South America saving jar because something always come up that required them to use that money! By the time they finally had enough $ for him to go and buy the ticket, well, I actually cried during those scenes….. might be a reality for a lot of Vancouverites who believes in the doing the right thing, the Canadian thing, and paying their mortgage faithfully no matter what.
Ok, got that long rant off my chest.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:06 pm 68
@Best place on meth:
I never thought False Creek was much of a "waterfront". Its a tiny body of water, surrounded by concrete, and not spectacular at all. The fact that it is sold as something special is yet another example of how delusional people are in this city.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:17 pm 69
@Animal Spirit:
No kidding, the sales number has stopped moving but listings and price drops are racing! I'm good either way
New Listings 285
Price Changes 244
Sold Listings 92
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:19 pm 70
That was me!
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:27 pm 71
@paulb: Paul!!! Don't steal the guys "Kite" for cryin out loud it's all he can afford to do!
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:34 pm 72
@space889: Well written! Yes most if not all of recent buyers want to pay their mortgage off in well less than the amortization period, good intentions are wonderful!
If they have bought at around 30 to 40 % of their disposable income they probably could do that. Above 50% Not a hope in hell! I speak as a double home owner in the interior and SCal, both initial mortgages were for terms in excess of 15 years which had payments close to 30 % of my annual Net income. Both are paid off. I cannot afford to buy in Vancouver.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:35 pm 73
Yay!
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/…
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:37 pm 74
@bums up2:
Or maybe Kite towards Moon is really Paulb living his realturd alter ego?
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:37 pm 75
@VRENGD:
"On this site the bulls taunt bears with phrases like “I’ll have fries with that, you loser renter.” "
You mean trolls taunt people like you, and you eat it right up….
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:43 pm 76
Inventory is growing at a nice rate. I wonder if we'll hit 18k by week's end. =)
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:48 pm 77
High on RE in China:
"Mr Han is saving hard – half his net salary each month – but a two bedroom place can cost 20 or 30 times the average annual wage here at the moment.
Currently he shares a cramped company dormitory with his girlfriend and a colleague from work.
The walls are bare. The couple share a narrow single bed.
Marriage plans
He says buying a property is not a choice, it is a necessity.
If he loses his job they will lose their home. He wants to get married in three years time so he has to become a homeowner.
"I am a very traditional person," he says.
"I feel that when you get married you must own an apartment. If not the marriage is meaningless, because you can't offer each other security.
"In fact, my girlfriend's parents might not allow her to marry me unless I have one," he adds."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8665458.s…
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:48 pm 78
I wonder if tolls will increase with the bursting of the housing market or decrease? I bet they just vanish. The fight is just so one sided.
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:49 pm 79
TROLLS…angry ones
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:52 pm 80
@Gordon C.: I don't understand this "Vancouver is polluted" mentality. There are a few posters on this site who regularly complain about this but I have to wonder if you have ever visited any other cities? Due to the nature of my job I have travelled the world, and seen a countless number of cities, many a similar size to Vancouver. Vancouver is cleaner than the vast majority BY FAR, the only cities that I can think of that are similarly clean are Oslo and Stockholm. Of course it's "polluted" – it is a city – but it is about as good as you're ever going to get, anywhere. Don't want pollution? Move to the island.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:24 pm 81
Sales numbers are inline with expectation because bears can't take higher sales on first day of the week so to shut them off as usual, the board setup the installments from dusk to dawn that way sales end like a kite 2 the moon.I personally think that fastest sales take prices higher very very fast slow sales will take it easy but listing,sales,prices corelation can accelerate the speed upward or downward.So what to do with listing or sales? Stop countining it,It's a data entry job.
Note:I suppose not to comment here anymore,however, just to respond to the brand new call.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:27 pm 82
@Bizznitch:
Hey Pope, you're famous.
Your name, "a Vancouver blogger", will now be on the lips of people from coast to coast.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:29 pm 83
@Kite towards moon:
I can't vote your incoherent rants down fast enough these days.
Here's a great new game for all to play:
"How fast can Kite get foreclosed?"
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:35 pm 84
Kite,
I don't know whether to downgrade or upgrade your post. The first paragraph is your usual nonsensical gibberish, deserving a negative score. In the second paragraph I think you are saying you may not post here anymore, which would deserve a very positive score indeed. Ah well, I suppose they cancel each other out.
On a side note, surely we'll get to 18,000 this week. Kite towards moon for sure! In regards to inventory that is.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:37 pm 85
@Best place on meth: I don't give a fuck to what you do to my comment you guys had seen the answer to your karma in the past.I think the pope and other bears need some help to resurface their lifes.Here is an recomendation called"living life to the full" website address is bounceback.ca Go take your pope and other left over ex's and dv's.Good luck,hope you will get better asap.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:40 pm 86
oh god, now real estate prices change because of karma…
KTM is losing it
also his english is morphing…
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:43 pm 87
It would seem the only bull left on this blog is the always incoherant Kite..
Where did they all go?
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:44 pm 88
@girlbear:
You mean his Engrish.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:48 pm 89
@girlbear: you shouldn't have utter a word "kite towards moon" in friday free for all.The pope didn't like it.
bye bye.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:50 pm 90
@Best place on meth:
Seriously, is Rennie really bringing in some live Olympians? What a circus act lol
I met a realturd that sold a unit at OV to a local sports figure. People that would buy regardless of price might buy here, but there is a limited supply of such buyers. This is one building that I'd love to have sold ASAP since we are on the hook for it.
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:56 pm 91
Why is kite so touchy today? Did something trigger him?
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May 10th, 2010 at 8:57 pm 92
Today the local chinese newspaper Mingpao Daily, citing globaltimes.cn, claims that $4 trillion RMB in hot money is flowing out of China into other RE markets in light of the recent domestic mortgage crackdown in China. I tried to locate the source on globaltimes' website but so far nothing shows up. I suspect someone has confused the 4 trillion in stimulus money put out last year with hot money. Regardless, I'd be really surprise if someone…anyone can measure the effect of the crackdown in such short time.
I've long had an issue with the local chinese news outlets – if you think your MSM is biased, then you've gotta see the things we chinese have to put up with on a daily basis. Unsurprisingly though, an overwhelming majority of their ad revenue comes from RE. And much like the MSM, users of local chinese news outlets believe that "all news were created equal" and have zero appreciation for objective reporting and critical thinking. Groupthink knows no ethnic borders…sigh.
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:05 pm 93
@Animal Spirit:
He's fighting with his girlfriend johnny horton
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:05 pm 94
@Kite towards moon: Seriously Kite, WTF are you talking about??
Anyhoo, if the "bye bye" means you are leaving this blog then… BUH BYE NOW! And good luck and karma and all that to you….looks like you are gonna need it. For more reasons than one.
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:05 pm 95
Post 92 Kite said: "bye bye"
Promise? Or is it more of your delusional, unsubstantiated bullshit?
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:11 pm 96
@Bizznitch:
Mr. Somerville is a doofus. He's basically inferring that Vancouver real estate IS highly volatile. So whats the problem? This was his quote:
"The only thing I had a problem with is that [it implies] what really is going to happen is we're going to fall off the roller coaster and sink into the water," Somerville told ctvbc.ca.
"Investments are volatile. If you want low volatility then buy low-volatility GICs."
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:14 pm 97
Try not to take it so personally, you're not a city. Of course Vancouver is polluted and getting more so each day. You have to leave the city and look back on a windless day to see the belt of nicotine yellow. If you want to live in a city, unfortunately you have to accept more health problems. It's hilarious that Vancouver bans smoking in parks, yet most of the schools are situated along arterial roads gassing our kids eight hours a day. That the city tries to discourage cars by gridlock, thereby spewing more carbon while idling.
The city is not as pro-active against pollution like some European cities – its just lucky to have lots of rain and wind so that the city can export most of its smog to the Fraser Valley. Our houses consume twice the energy as European city, we guzzle fuel like a drunken sailor on shore leave drinks beer, and our recycling program is minor compared to even some cities in California.
Vancouver, is not as bad as other cities -yet, but it will continue to get worse and in 20, 30 or 40 years from now, when you may be retiring Vancouver may just become Los Angeles north. Google Earth Vancouver – see it for yourself. The city is graying out – green is disappearing from the city except for parklands as the city gets denser. Take a tour in a small plane and see how the surrounding area has been de-forested.
Vancouver's terrain while picture pretty is not conducive for a city that can double in population. If that were to continue, then the quality of life will drastically change. You may be willing to pay a million dollars for a starter home today, but it may not be such a good deal when you have to have a respirator in 20 or 30 years.
We could be doing a lot better, but as usual nothing will change until our number of clean air days drops to a level that we lose our bragging rights.
STEP ONE : BAN WOOD BURNING FIREPLACES IN ALL NEW CONSTRUCTION.
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:17 pm 98
@Urbain (at 7:48pm), regarding "High on RE in China", you missed the absolute best quote in the story (underneath Wang Yong's photo):
"Estate agent Wang Yong says now is the best time to buy".
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May 10th, 2010 at 9:27 pm 99
@ibought3: “The only thing I had a problem with is that [it implies] what really is going to happen is we’re going to fall off the roller coaster and sink into the water,”
What does he mean 'we'? I thought the ending of the rollercoaster video was very clearly alluding to 'underwater' mortgages, i.e. people who owe more for their houses than they can sell them for. It doesn't take much of a correction to drop a lot of recent buyers into that situation.
Don't you think it would be a similar sinking feeling to that in the video to sit in a house that you're paying more than its worth year after year and the price is dropping? That's whats happening in all the big bubble markets in the US and about to happen here.
The only way that he should be referring to 'we' is if Tsur is chin-deep in debt and set to be underwater on his mortgage, other than that there is no 'we'.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:04 pm 100
SE said: "What does he mean ‘we’? I thought the ending of the rollercoaster video was very clearly alluding to ‘underwater’ mortgages, i.e. people who owe more for their houses than they can sell them for. It doesn’t take much of a correction to drop a lot of recent buyers into that situation."
Solid point. Touchy subject Re is. People are going to lose (or never had) perspective and the ability to perceive events from a non-invested viewpoint. There are all kinds of similar (not necessarily true) assumptions made out there: renters are poor/can't afford to buy, we all lose when RE goes down, etc. etc.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:34 pm 101
1oo. Gordon c. you had a decent post up until stop burning firewood. Voted you down as that made no sense. Apparently we use to much energy but burning scraps of wood is bad. Biomass is an untapped energy source, everyone should be encouraged to burn wood in their fireplace and use less gas or electricity.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:37 pm 102
I'd love to see a real estate rollercoaster that shows the ride down that occured in Las Vegas, Phoenix, or San Diego after their markets peaked. Perhaps it would give us all a nice visual of the wild ride that awaits us here in Vancouver.
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:39 pm 103
Here's the photos from earlier today, can't argue with the message…
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/P7aydKE7pi_v…
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MPxen8LvZpFf…
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:46 pm 104
Hey, Kite Towards Solar Flare….
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434——–17,434
How's you english now? I noticed you now have learned to spell "Fook"
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May 10th, 2010 at 10:52 pm 105
193 net listings today yet inventory only increased by 71…were there that many expires today paulb?
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May 10th, 2010 at 11:20 pm 106
Actually, Gordon, air pollution in Vancouver has been declining for years. Of the 6 pollutants tracked five have fallen and the 6th, ozone, has increased slightly.
http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/publications/…
This is the trend in almost Western cities as our technology continues to improve. London, for example, had their cleanest air recently since some point in the 1500s.
Salmon are returning up the Thames too.
I know the conventional wisdom is that we're destroying the planet the truth is things are getting better all the time. The latest fad for banning CO2 of all things is just a symptom of how deluded we are.
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May 11th, 2010 at 12:00 am 107
@Chip: "I know the conventional wisdom is that we’re destroying the planet the truth is things are getting better all the time. The latest fad for banning CO2 of all things is just a symptom of how deluded we are."
Chip – most of your post is very true. Air quality is getting much better in most areas due to improved pollution controls. I am curious, however, where your information that CO2 is a fad comes from and how this is delusion.
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May 11th, 2010 at 12:03 am 108
@Bob Arctor:
He's the guy who is refusing to do the right thing – meeting his contractual obligations. Pre-sales contracts give the developer the right to make changes to the original plans.
Speaking of lawyers, obviously this doofus didn't find it necessary to hire one to give the contract a quick read before he signed it or during the legal one week opt-out period after the signing during which he could have gotten his deposit back, no questions asked.
Cry me a False Creek, baby.
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:29 pm 109
“He said he was unable to afford the legal fees to fight the many lawyers Millennium has working for them.”
And here we have the swaggering, arrogant Vancouver real estate investor – reduced to standing around with a protest sign.
On this site the bulls taunt bears with phrases like “I’ll have fries with that, you loser renter.”
The reality is that many bulls are debt-enslaved serfs like this guy. He can’t even afford a lawyer to stand up for his rights. He is reduced to begging for public sympathy. How pathetic.
“Hey bull, come clean my house and wash my car for a year and I’ll represent you pro bono.”
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May 10th, 2010 at 6:44 pm 110
It’s tough to tackle the problem of mortgage fraud because no one knows exactly how widespread the problem is, police and industry officials say.
There are no solid Canadian statistics on the impact of mortgage fraud since losses are shared among banks, credit unions, other mortgage lenders, and lawyers’ indemnity funds, according to industry experts. But police who investigate the scams say they have one thing in common: They are cyclical.
“The scope and the size of it is really unknown because until the housing market starts slowing down, nobody’s affected,” said RCMP Superintendent Eric Mattson, whose office is investigating the scheme Bank of Montreal is now alleging.
“Once it starts slowing down, these things start popping up like dandelions in the spring because they become more noticeable.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/bmo-mortgage-lawsuit-reveals-need-to-crack-down-on-scam-artists/article1564164/
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May 10th, 2010 at 7:37 pm 111
[...] May 2010 · Leave a Comment Absinthe at vancouvercondo.info 10 May 2010 12:37 pm [...]
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May 11th, 2010 at 4:59 am 112
Other Ted Said:
"1oo. Gordon c. you had a decent post up until stop burning firewood. Voted you down as that made no sense. Apparently we use to much energy but burning scraps of wood is bad. Biomass is an untapped energy source, everyone should be encouraged to burn wood in their fireplace and use less gas or electricity."
You didn't vote me down – you voted the planet down. Biomass requires a high efficiency furnace which is not a fireplace. The particulates that a fireplace spews may cause respiratory problems in the elderly and people with health issues. To suggest that burning scraps of wood in fireplaces is helpful for the city is obviously ridiculous. People burn all sorts of things besides scraps of wood in their fireplaces.
You don't need a wood burning fireplace – put a sweater on.
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May 11th, 2010 at 5:27 am 113
Patriotz said:
"He’s the guy who is refusing to do the right thing – meeting his contractual obligations. Pre-sales contracts give the developer the right to make changes to the original plans."
Absolutely, the doofus could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he was from a different country. To sue someone across borders is very difficult and costly. If you're going to buy pre-sales for flipping do it from another country, have zero assets or be a straw buyer for organized crime. Or go to you're lawyer hand him/her a check for 10 grand and tell your lawyer to bury Millineum in paper work. Even big companies know when to cut their loses.
As long as the changes to the condominium did not significantly affect the property's market value, or there was not deliberate intentions of the developer to bait and switch what the person was buying, the contract should be completed unless there are other mitigating circumstances. As for showing the document to a lawyer, you will get his opinion of what should be altered in the document. When you take it back to the developer, the developer just says – no. No condo for you.
But there are gray areas in the law. And not all contracts are legal or enforceable. Because if we did not have gray areas then their would be no need for lawyers and the courts.
But before everyone picks apart their favorite phrase, most of this is meant to be sarcastic. One should always try to meet their legal obligations unless they feel that they have been wronged by the other party.
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May 11th, 2010 at 5:36 am 114
And salmon are not returning to the Thames. For three decades the Brits have been stocking the Thames, with no evidence of spawning, the project has been a failure. The stocking was more of a publicity stunt.
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