Friday Free-for-all!
It’s not just death and taxes that are inevitable. Eventually the weekend will arrive, the sun may come out and we’ll do our regular end of the week news round up and open topic economic discussion thread! Welcome to the Free-for-all, here are a few stories I’ve noticed lately:
-Leaky condo program ending (they took our photo)
-Should first time buyers buy now or wait?
-Condo couple unhappy with $17,000 in yappy dog fines
-G20 the new Canadian sublet rental goldmine
-No more BC public service layoffs
-RBC predicts massive economic surge
-Consumer confidence dips in May
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So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!
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June 14th, 2010 at 6:07 am
“In Israel’s madhouses (sorry, psychiatric hospitals) many inmates claim to be the “messiah”.
They should become “Jews for Jesus” like Bob Dylan. Problem solved.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:42 am
@SensibleOne:
You hang out writing letter with lady boy in bar for free blow job, and now you know Thailand. Yet Mang. I’m happy you no like Siam. Don’t come back na.
June 13th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
@paulb.: Now how about that UFC… didn’t they proclaim there wouldn’t be any more MMA licenses after the first trial? City must need the money.
June 13th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
@crabman:
Mobile homes? Really.
June 13th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
@SensibleOne:
Drinking till three am writing letters for prositutes. Maybe they gave you a freebie. Hahaha, why don’t you F off you loser.
June 13th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
“Yes you are! Brains! Intellect, Common Sense, No Prejudice, None of which you apparently have!”
well, no, that’s not it. it just struck me as thick with irony, considering the unpleasantness in the first half of the 20th century. either that or you’re dumber than you think i am.
June 13th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
@SensibleOne:
Haha, you think you know so much just because you have been somewhere, but you don’t know shit. My Dad is Thai. You don’t know shit! I can speak Thai and I know what’s up. You’re just another chump farang eaing at the Macdonalds in Bangkok. Keep travelling, maybe you will learn something fr the locals one day. Hahahahaha. I won’t bother to talk to you again, it would take years for you to wipe away your ignorance.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Anyone see all the pretty dots in White Rock?
From Garth’s Blog.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
258
We need to stop this kind of garbage from getting away with this. We have to seize all assets and send these new immigrants back where they came from to send a strong message that this will not be accepted. I would like to see some strong laws that would quash this get rich quick Asian gang scum in their tracks. This real estate bubble is fueled in part by these vermin. These people are Vietnamese not Chinese.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
@patriotz:
“Completely untrue. You don’t even have to set foot in the US to buy RE there.”
Right but if one buys there they can live in it or leave it empty as an investment but they now become what is known as a “US Person” and therefore even though they have never set foot in the US they must declare all foreign accounts and all business interests of suffer penalties. Owning investment property in the USA means that the tax rules are different and they must file declarations in the US for their RRSP or pay tax on it. They will then find that it may not be worth it to own a TSFA in Canada because it is taxable under US tax rules and if your accountant knows the right forms to file to get you an exemption for taxes paid in Canada, it takes 4 hours for them to fill out the necessary forms for your TFSA and depending what your accountant charges per hour this is an extra added nuisance.
Now, if one wants to rent out the property which means it is a business enterprise, the person is not allowed to live in it even part time but if they do they MUST NOT DO ANY KIND OF WORK THEMSELVES on the property including mowing the lawn because since it is a business one needs a work permit to work on the property. A Canadian would have to immigrate or get a work permit as a non resident alien and that is not easy.
Believe me, most people here who think they can go buy a home in the USA and live in it for more than 6 months are sadly mistaken and really mistaken if they imagine they can rent it out for the rest of the year without landing themselves in jail because they did work on the house during the 6 months they live in it each year. DYODD
June 13th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
@San Franciscan leaving Raincouver for good:
I think the prices in San Fran are higher than here. You should find a good cheap place in Stockton or Sacramento, though.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
@chip
I’m pretty sure there were a couple cities in the U.S. that rivaled Vancouver at their peak.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
“someone makes racist comments and then someone from israel agrees with him… hmmm…. am i missing something here?”
Yes. It’s a real estate blog/forum….
Tinfoil hats need to be checked at the door. Sidearms and crossbows as well……:palmtoforehead:
June 13th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
@Anonymous: Yes you are! Brains! Intellect, Common Sense, No Prejudice, None of which you apparently have!
June 13th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
“I actually see value in your comments,”
someone makes racist comments and then someone from israel agrees with him… hmmm…. am i missing something here?
June 13th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
“Spectrum would be scary enough on its own even with 0 listings. Yikes.”
I always think of Spectrum of the “moderne” vision of Anchor Pointe on Burrard and Pacific.
June 13th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
@arit: Unfortunately those messiahs are false! Strataman is the true one and only Messiah!
June 13th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
@arit:
Reminds me of a joke: Oprah had five guys on her show last week claiming that they were Jesus. It turns out that only one of the five actually believed that he was Jesus, while the other four were Mexicans who hadn’t quite understood the premise of the show.
June 13th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
FWIW
35
5
0
For Saturday
Beautiful weekend,got quite the sunburn at Ambleside and checked out the UFC shenanigans. Now let’s crack 19k!
June 13th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
@SensibleOne:
Haha, sounds like you got burned in Thailand and are now taking it out on others. What a sucker.
That country is no more corrupt than this one, and at the highest level of government we’re probably worse. I never came across anyone there as bad as Gordo or Harpo. They are pure scum, like Dick Cheney type scum, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone spending their tourist dollars here when we’re run by such criminals.
The Thais had far more patience with those litte red-shirted fuckers than anyone else would have. I’d have mowed them all down on day 2, fucking terrorists that they are.
Nice way to ask for democracy, by holding a city hostage and then burning it down when they don’t get their way.
June 13th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
@scullboy:
“The only difference with this cycle is that it coincided with a period of easy credit and lax landing practices, which amplified the effects.”
Again, this applies to every city in North America but it is Vancouver that has become the most expensive relative to earnings on the entire continent. And Vancouver isn’t even marginally more expensive — it’s way out there.
So the question is what makes Vancouver unique in terms of its insane real estate prices? You need to look at those changes that have correlated with rising real estate prices, and one of those is a drug (and money laundering) industry that his now the province’s second biggest.
Another is the emergence of Vancouver as a destination for Chinese money, both legal and illegal.
No one is ever going to know the extent of these influences because even the police are next to useless in dealing with it. It is and probably always will be one of those known unknowns.
June 13th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
SensibleOne,
I actually see value in your comments, you tell it how you see it – even if you get voted down. Some posters here have an online persona which is someone totally different than their real life one. And youv’e been to places…
BTW: In Israel’s madhouses (sorry, psychiatric hospitals) many inmates claim to be the “messiah”. How can we know one of them is not the real one?
Regards
arit
June 13th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
“…you may have been here telling us you are Jesus from the ‘Jeruselam Effect…”
Nah, Id rather the “Toronto Rapture” that was popular a few years back.
June 13th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
….”I fell in love with you”…or “You were my first customer”…or I’m pregnat with your baby”.
You are so…limited.
Maybe that’s how people survive there. Idiot.
June 13th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
A 233, You’re such a lying douchebag. Anyone who’s ever lived Thailand knows what a laughable corrupt shithole it is. If you visit you wouldn’t notice. What you got on your vacation there was what Carl Jung called ‘Tropo’, the blinding effect of a foriegn culture on a new arrivals sensibilities. Good thing your weak mind didn’t decide on Jeruselam, you may have been here telling us you are Jesus from the ‘Jeruselam Effect commom to weak mind minded fools who decide to go local because ‘they care so much’. F….off you wanker. tell us something are you getting letters from your Thai girlfriend saying “Oh Anonymous, send me money so I on’t have to work in that bad place anymore” or….”I fell in love with you”…or “You were my first customer”…or I’m pregnat with your baby”.
Hey pal, I used to sit in a bar close to Hualumpong until 3am drinking Mekhong and Kao Lau Nam Kang and write those letters for the girls to suck douchebags like you out of thier money. I guess you didn’t see how the ‘nice’ Thai government recently mowed down hundreds at the Erawan temple because they were asking for their democracy back from the asswipe generals who run the whores in Pat Pong and Pattaya. I guess you support the kiddy fuckers who hand out there eh” Cause it’s all so beautiful. Only a morally banrupt and ethically deficient moron would support the dictatorship In Thailand with their tourist dollars. Again….you ain’t been there either sweetcheeks.
June 13th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
“News to bear. You are closer to your death today than you were yesterday.”
Hmmm…I wonder if God has a long white beard to complement a long flowing robe?
June 13th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
@Jimmy
nice link.
that is precisely what is wrong with our country. It is a shame, not that those people grow pot but because they dont pay any taxes and earn tax free money. I make 50k a year and pay 20k in taxes wheras those guys rake in 15k each month tax free.
It is also a very plausible explanation to the rich asian myth.It aint true, most those rich chinese are involved in the marijuana trade, that is how they became rich in the first place. RE is just a nice vehicule to launder money and is big business in BC.
Behind each big fortune there is a big crime.
The hard working immigrant myth is just that , a myth. Anyone who has a job in this country knows that to make 1million dollars you would have to work a lifetime and that is in a good paying job. And still you cant buy a house in Vancouver.
Welcome to Vancouver in British Colombia, drug capital of North america.
June 13th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
News to bear. You are closer to your death today than you were yesterday. That mean that everyday you spend renting like loser is a day wasted in your life. You can’t get it back bear. You can never get it back. Rent is due in 17 days bear. You make your time.
June 13th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
@Jimmy: Grow-op was financed by banks
Forfeiture office seeks mortgage proceeds from seized property
http://www.theprovince.com/bus.....story.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why should RBC and BMO worry, when CHMC is the sucker insurance douchebag? Besides it is impossible to prove that they too are on the take.
June 13th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
231 Rent “poor”
Interesting that almost no-one here discusses the data, other than “Wow listings are high today”. MOI is now at 18700/2873 = 6.5!!
Also, the CREA sponsored posters (Dave, Superbull etc.) barely have to expend any effort disrupting this blog as the anti-PC guys are doing it for them.
June 13th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Grow-op was financed by banks
Forfeiture office seeks mortgage proceeds from seized property
http://www.theprovince.com/bus.....story.html
June 13th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Go Argentina Go
I believe with this month end expiry ,listings will expire permanently then towards size zero after september 2010.
Now back to FIFA where Germany will take over Australia and ofcourse in high definition.
June 13th, 2010 at 11:04 am
@Best place on meth:
I agree, this is a great article. The author calmly makes the point that real estate is cyclical and that we’ve been in a “super cycle” for the past 30 years. He also points out that memories are short (of the previous cycles) and the current trend is believed to be sustainable forever. Even (some) of our parents have fallen victim to this thought pattern, and have encouraged us (in our 20s and 30s) to buy real estate, at nearly any cost, as this uptrend has been their experience since after 1982. But now it seems we are hopefully at the end of the cycle and there may come a day when real estate is not seen in the same light as it is today (a sure bet). Just waiting for the next downturn…hopefully soon, though it will surely take years for a bottom to be reached.
June 13th, 2010 at 10:16 am
@Tom: #249
A perfect summary of the state of real estate in the article you posted, very sensible compared to the bullshit coming from the real estate industry douchebags.
Of course this bull market is interest rate driven, for 30 years now, but particularly the last 8.
Foreigners have very little to do with driving up prices, not enough to be significant anyway.
June 13th, 2010 at 9:55 am
@Limey:
“My position in SF & SD starts at around 225-250k – in a big agency you might be looking at 300k. In Vancouver I would be grovelling to get 150k….
100k+ a year makes a lot of difference when you buy a house.”
Wow. If I were in your position I would get the hell out of this place as quickly as possible. In additon to the superior career opportunities, SF is an awesome city and I would move there in a heartbeat if I could make $150k more, heck even $50k more. No-brainer. Also its a cheap 2 hour flight from Vancouver. Your wife could visit home whenever she wants.
June 13th, 2010 at 8:08 am
“a bust in the GTA is the Cons’ biggest nightmare.”
It also increases the chances for some form of a bailout.
June 13th, 2010 at 3:32 am
Holy crap!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a low signal to noise ratio on VCI. Even the tipping threat wasn’t nearly this bad.
After wading through a lot of tinfoil hat postings, I’d like to offer an observation. When you look at the price history of Van real estate, then check that grim little property out in Point Grey (a well named place if ever there was one), you can only come to once conclusion:
Vancouver property owners are the greediest, stupidest, most gullible sons o’ guns on the entire planet and about once a generation they get fleeced by a group of slick con artists who know exactly how to stroke the egos of the locals.
They use the same phrases over an over like “everyone wants to live here, people are flooding in from Alberta/America/Hong Kong/mainland China/Korea/Russia/Iran, you better hurry up and buy or you’ll be priced out forever!” The locals fall for it every fucking time as if it were the first. Then the whole thing falls apart and people blink, look at each other and say things like “who could have known?”
The only difference with this cycle is that it coincided with a period of easy credit and lax landing practices, which amplified the effects.
There’s no point in blaming foreigners. I think if you look at the data there aren’t enough people coming to Van, and those that are aren’t pulling in enough money to fuel this boom. Canadian immigration’s got its problems but there’s no point in blaming others for the stupidity and greed of the locals.
@San Franciscan, I’m with you man. Van’s a city in a very pretty setting but other then that, there’s not a lot going on there.
Well, I’m off to Washington D.C. Much to my surprise, my new employers are sending me off for a week’s training on some software. Washington wasn’t my first choice (that was NYC Boston of Chicago), but at least they didn’t send me to Indianapolis.
Supra if you’re out there, techie nerds are at the bottom of the ladder in business. Believe me I know, I spent 6 months doing Linux server work for Morgan Stanley. That shit’s getting farmed out to India at a scary rate.
Be smart and get into something else… project management’s a good bet. You’ll have to give up your silly little die cast action figures but at least you’ll gain credibility.
June 13th, 2010 at 3:23 am
Toronto gets real:
We’re in a bubble – now what?
And remember, Toronto is only about 70% as expensive as Vancouver.
BTW as I have said before, a bust in the GTA is the Cons’ biggest nightmare. The “recovery” from the recession was simply driven by RE and debt, and when this mirage evaporates, look out.