You should tell them private schools don't have catchments!

I remember having a great discussion over how one's quality of education at grade school, not university, is the largest determinant of future success.

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I can't tell you how many chinese families I've met that have wanted to move to the west side so their kids could go to the best private schools. They are willing to sacrifice a lot financially to make this happen. Personally I think this is a waste of money. This isn't the U.K. — nobody here gives a damn what school anyone went to. At the end of the day how you prove yourself after school is over is what matters.

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I remember one place I saw that had the breaker box in the downstairs bathroom. If you do buy the place, ask for discounts because there were no permits. If the Realtor says that the "normal" practice is for Vancouver to have illegal renos so there is no discount, laugh, because it's a lie.

In terms of legal implications, I think the City can inspect and tell you (the owner) to bring it up to code but I don't know what latitude they have for fines for non-compliance. In Vancouver, they usually only inspect upon receiving a complaint.

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"Down in LA for a few weeks. I met a friends husband today who is a professional actor. When I brought up the possibility of him getting work in Vancouver he said the following:

“Not anymore. They still do some production work up there, but most of the acting work has gone to Detroit. With the high $CAD it’s not really worth it.”

Has another BC industry bitten the dust? Is there anything doing well right now that isn’t RE related?"

There are several major productions shooting in Vancouver this summer. Your friend's husband shouldn't blame Vancouver for the fact that he can't get a gig.

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Conversely, I was talking to someone scouting locations in town for a major shoot just last Friday who said the opposite, things are busy here.

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And if that price tag is a bit rich for you the house right next door, also lake front, recently sold for $675K.

http://www.zillow.com/homes/1235-SW-152nd-Street-…

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you really expecting carnage downtown? this is a market thats more or less been stagnant for three years. the flippers have primarily exited the market over that time. demand has not exactly lit it up but either has supply. some post olympic shake out is in order. i'd look to the suburbs for more drama, leaky condo liquidations and rental restriction bylaws are a couple of factors helping a bearish demand/supply dynamic.

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http://www.historicseattlelakefront.com/

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Overheard a conversation at the grocery store:

“We put our Tsawassen property up for sale but the market is really slow and we haven’t gotten any offers”

“What are you going to do?”

“If it doesn’t sell we’ll just rent it out, we’re not going to sell it for less than it’s worth”

Yet another quote straight out of Ben Jones' Housing Bubble Blog circa 2005. It's like some Star Trek or Twilight Zone episode where people are stuck in a time loop but don't realize it.

I will extrapolate a bit and assume they plan to buy a new place and rent out the old one until the market "recovers". For the outcome, check Housing Bubble Blog circa 2007.

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