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Friday Free-for-all!

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160 Comments

At the end of each week we do a round up news post and open topic economic discussion.  And you know what?  It’s the end of the week now!  Here are a few recent stories to kick off the discussion.

–Think happy thoughts: the pleasant scenario
–Best place on earth, worse place to live?
–You bought a lot of tickets to the Winter Games
–Investment in Canadian hotels drop 61%
–Real Estate Council of BC suspends 4 agents
–Industry group urges severe punishment for mortgage fraud
–House poor can easily turn to house-less
–The start of a lost decade?
–Searching for answers on stocks plunge

So what are you seeing out there?  Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!

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Devore

@G

"From CMHC:

“Pre-approval does not count as a financing agreement as it doesn’t represent a binding agreement to advance funds. So even if the borrower gets pre-approved before April 19, given that he/she would sign the purchase agreement after the cut-off date, the new rules would apply.”

There may be some wink-wink-nudge-nudge re-qualifying going on, where lenders creatively stretch to qualify people under new rules, knowing they're giving them 2% less than qualification rate anyways. Suckers must feel really lucky to get their foot in the door.

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t

I saw one of those Buy for mother's day signs in north van today…HA!

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bubbly

Buy a Condo for Mother's Day!

This was on a For sale sign I saw today on Hornby. And people said that the bubble pricing stickers were silly…

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ReductiMat

@NO-LYMPICS:

"Anything that emanates from Gov’t these days is simply spin doctoring, unless it comes from an independent auditor."

Whereas before, they spoke the truth.

Christ, are you ten? Who doesn't know that?

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domus

If inflation starts increasing, so will interest rates. Bond prices are set for given inflation expectations. If interests go up, so will mortgage rates. Welcome to the crash!

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Ed

If the Gubermint does choose inflation over raising rates (which is a choice they can't really make anyways) I'm OK. As a renter I have a lot of breathing room for increasing product prices.

Unfortunately anyone who has bought a home recently is going to be hurting if they have to pay more for anything!

So, in the end the net effect will be the same as if rates had increased.

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Chilled

@Best place on meth:

Considering the disciplined are mostly foreigners, we can simply chalk it up to a communication problem.

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Chilled

@Keepint an Eye on the Pimps:

YOU ACTUALLY GOT A JOB AT DAIRY QUEEN??? Lucky bugger!

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Happy Renting

@vreaa said: "It’s remarkable to consider that an inventory chart could go parabolic, but that’s what happens if everybody yells ’sell’ at the same time."

You mean kind of like what happened Thursday afternoon?

http://www.google.ca/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&a…

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Keepint an Eye on th

I note many of the pimps are now pushing the idea that *government* will make sure that if rates go up it will be gradual, furthermore they go on to say that if it comes down to choosing more inflation, over raising interest rates, the Gov will choose inflation. Let’s remind them that there is so much hidden inflation in the system, that when it makes its official debut it will be too late for the Gov to tame it in an orderly way. The bond markets will crash, and the fools who barely qualified at negative interest rates, will get wiped out at renewal. It will be hell for the poor working folks in small cities and towns particularly in BC where you either work a Dairy Queen or for the Government. When cash strapped governments start to lay… Read more »

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G

From CMHC:

"Pre-approval does not count as a financing agreement as it doesn’t represent a binding agreement to advance funds. So even if the borrower gets pre-approved before April 19, given that he/she would sign the purchase agreement after the cut-off date, the new rules would apply."

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G

Correct me if I'm wrong, but pre-approvals mean nothing if the people can't qualify under the new rules. If they hadn't signed any paperwork prior to april 19 to initiate a transaction (with subjects etc), they must qualify under the new rules. The next couple of weeks will still have "old rules" qualifiers as these people signed paperwork prior to April 19 and are waiting for their subjects such as financing and inspections to be removed.

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LY

a friend of ours bought a condo in Richmond despite our advice. Their closing date is end of May and their mortgage was pre-approved prior to April 19 deadline. So I don't expect sales to drop downhill after April 19. There are still people rushing to buy with their pre-approved mortgage happy that they beat the deadline. With sales/listing ratio trending down, I expect sales to taper off by June when this last pool of buyers run out.

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NO-LYMPICS

We got the Hockey package from SHAW for a few months, access to all the NHL games.

Vancouver fans are suckers.

Most of the US cities, even DETROIT, advertise great deals for fans, like $40-$50 gets you 2 game tickets and meal+drink.

PS Hope the Hawks finish off the Canucks tonite. Maybe the fans will wake up and see this team ain't going to the Cup anytime soon.

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NO-LYMPICS

Anything that emanates from Gov't these days is simply spin doctoring, unless it comes from an independent auditor.

We simply pay these weasels to submit BS reports on how well the sinking ship is doing.

RealPaul:

People have no idea how corrupt it can be within the Public Service, and the cover-ups that go on and are orchestrated to protect their own. And yes, I am speaking from experience.

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rubberduckie

@Drachen: Yep, that’s why I’m happy in my rental house in Kits, same as you I think. I also live near that horrid triplex that’s up for sale, the one with the painted grey concrete around the bottom.

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NO-LYMPICS

A good parameter of a falling RE market is how many realtors no longer renew their license. Turnover is usually quite high regardless…but if anyone has those figures it might be quite interesting .

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Bob Rennie

#128 Anonymous;

re Psycholgy:

I read a recent stat that shows a large % of people think Winston Churchill is a fictional charcte, and Sherlock Holmes was a real person. An ignorant sample base can be given the properly manipulated study and prophetic results produced.

A friend of mine, re: any sales says the simple " FUD" is key to the successsful salesman….. Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt is the psychological key to the herd.

Employ them whether it be a house, car or shite on Shopping Channel.

I'll take the words of an Ex math prof…who shook his head during one lecture and said man is one creature that defies mathematical analysis.

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ReductiMat

Pope, how's about if someone get's ten or twenty 'foreclosures' their posts start at -10 and go up from there?

The signal to noise ratio is getting pretty unbearable.

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realpaul

BTW CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOKE Canuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuukkkkkkkks!!!!! Only a shithole the size of Vancshitzone would have a batch of low grade morons dumb enough to back this pathetic bunch of loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosssssers.

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realpaul

Anyone who takes any statements or statistics that are put out by the government at face value really has to take their head out of their ass at least once a year to do a check on the real world. If you don't get the lies about inflation targets, carbon taxes and CPI at this point you probably never will. Is it true what they say when its said that ignorance is bliss? Surely no one with an IQ over 10 can argue that inflation is stuck within a 2% range? Thats just insane. Obviously you'd have to living in your mothers basement to make such a statement. If you confuse the BOC controlling inflation with 'money supply' you didn't get through high school,and there isn't enough time left this month to explain it to you. You don't need a… Read more »

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Drachen

@Best place on meth:

"There is no shortage of sleazy, unscrupulous real estate agents in this city."

The ones on that list are the ones who got CAUGHT… The number of agents who got away with it is probably 5-10 times larger.

Personally I suspect about 50% of agents break the law and or the codes of conduct at least once a year.

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Drachen

@rubberduckie:

"…the second bedroom was an interior room with the only windows opening into the livingroom for light. I didn’t think it was legal to call that a 2BR."

I once went to an open house that was advertised as 2 bedroom and den. I couldn't see the den so I asked the agent about it. He pointed to a space behind the kitchen that I'd call a pantry or a large closet, about 1.5 metres by 2 metres. No windows of course.

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VRENGD

"Buyers are supposed to trust them with the biggest purchase of their lifetimes?

Better off dealing directly with the seller, if we could ever upend the cartel and make it standard practice"

Read the book "Freakonomics". It demonstrates that real estate agents add no value whatsoever. If you have one selling your house, you will not get a better price than by doing it yourself. Oh, yeah, and you save tens of thousands of dollars by not hiring one.

You already have a lawyer who will look after the transfer of title and make sure you don't get screwed. What on earth do you need to pay a realtor for? To babysit a place at an open house? You can hire a Gap greeter $10/ hour to do that.

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rubberduckie

Went to some open houses yesterday. What do the realtors do while they're sitting around with nobody in there? I don't usually see laptops or novels. Maybe they shove those into a cupboard when someone shows up.

I was surprised by how small the condos feel, despite the perfectly-staged furnishings. Walk into the bedroom, feel like I'm going to trip over the bed. Can't imagine my clothes fitting in the wee closet.

One place was called a "2 bedroom" even though the second bedroom was an interior room with the only windows opening into the livingroom for light. I didn't think it was legal to call that a 2BR.

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