It looks like most people here believe Vancouver real estate is a very poor investment at the moment, so what are you doing with your money in the coming year?
Are you buying US real estate, Rupees, Gold Stocks, Mutual Funds or just burying it in a jar?
What do you think the growth areas will be in the coming year, and where do you see the biggest risks for loss?
on Big banks facing home credit risk@mac: @condo watcher: Wait! I don't think that was explanation enough for you. By PAST, I mean a few years on Big banks facing home credit risk@condo watcher: Relax! I'm not saying it's happening now. In THE PAST when the MARKET WAS HOT, there were many
on Big banks facing home credit risk@mAC HOW DO YOU GET A SALES TO LIST FIGURE OF 115%--are they selling stuff that's not even on the
on Big banks facing home credit riskHopefully this time it works. Copied from PaulB’s number http://www.laurenandpaul.ca Using good-format’s format. Date Listing Price(+-) Sold Inv Inv(+-) S/L(%) on Big banks facing home credit risk Sorry for the previous post. I seem to have lost my PRE tag "touch". 
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Large 28%
Mid-cap 21%
Small 17%
Foreign 16%
Bonds 8%
Cash 10%
Real estate 0%
Rent and invest the rest…
Give 12 – 14% of gross to charity. Pay nearly $0 in taxes.
December 31st, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@Best place on meth: Finally someone with the straight poop!
December 31st, 2010 at 7:26 pm
@Anonymouse:
What are you talking about? Precious metals can only go higher! It's not like they're making any more of it! Buy now or be priced out forever! I hear tulip bulbs are pretty rare as well….
December 30th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
@moses
I agree with you in that this would explain recent performances. However, this does not explain why NV has closely followed the rising market until only very recently (post 2008)..
December 30th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
The TV just told me that starting now 10,000 Americans per day will turn 65.
I’m getting into Depends®.
Financially, not literally.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
@jesse:
Sell, Mortimer, sell!!
December 30th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Savvy Investor:Gold futures are a zero-sum game. For every short, there is an offsetting long. The gold producers are net short (hedging) while investors are net long (speculating).
a) The combined hedges of silver and gold producers do not equal the net short position of the 8 or fewer traders in the COT
b) The issue is not the total number of futures contracts outstanding, but the concentrations of the short side of the contracts in such few hands. The market risk is obvious as there is no way the "4 or fewer" or even the "8 or fewer" traders could possibly cover their positions in the event of a squeeze. Force majeur would be inevitable.
December 30th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
the true measure of your wealth is how much you would be worth if you lost all your wealth. Think about that, and invest accordingly in 2011. happy new year
December 30th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Farmland prices in Canada:
http://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/Products/Property/FLV/Fa…
Add 2% to 3% if you grow valuable timber.
See also http://farmlandforecast.colvin-co.com/2009/07/30/…
Analysis on CNN backed this up. It quoted research from Kansas State University that suggested the average annual return on US farmland since 1950, including crop yield and land appreciation, is 11.5 per cent, compared with a 12 per cent annualised return for the stock market.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:37 am
@McLovin:
I AM diversified….I have 20.00 in a savings account getting 1% IF that, 200.00 in my pocket to go to Costco with and have offshore GIC accounts mostly in AUD at 5% and 90% in silver/gold/potash and spec juniors and lg cap silver producers like First Majestic which BTW is a Vancouver company in a big skyscraper on Georgia and they also happen to sell silver products made of their own mined silver
http://www.store.firstmajestic.com/product_detail…
See…diversified ……90% silver and my banks wonder why I have so many lock boxes. I just tell them I'm using their advice as a contrary indication of what I should do.
December 30th, 2010 at 11:09 am
I'm betting the farm on frozen concentrated orange juice futures.
December 30th, 2010 at 10:53 am
@McLovin:
Silver is not the only investment out there. Having said that, it will continue to go higher. Diversify with agriculture and coal stocks.
December 30th, 2010 at 10:21 am
CRASH JPMorgan-Chase – Buy Silver
That link you sent was a joke. It was a puff piece full of inaccuracies made for Youtube. Its like a Realtor for Silver made it!
While I don't argue that precious metals including Silver have a place in all portfolio's I think that people who are massively overweight could be setting themselves up for a world of hurt. Going for the home run results in 20 strikeouts for every home run and in investing a strike out means losing your capital.
In the end no matter how sure you are and how many facts point in the direction of your thesis there is more than a 50% chance you are wrong. It is widely considered that the best money and hedge fund managers are right 60% of the time. If the best of the best are right only 60% of the time why would you put your whole portfolio in one asset class? You can be sure they wouldn't.
Example: In 2008 I was 110% sure that Vancouver Real Estate was going to crash as it dropped 15% in a few months just before it trampolined back to new highs. How many people here also had the same thoughts?
I am telling you from a lot of experience, diversification is the key. There are more good ideas then you have money so way not spread it out?
Just my 2 cents.
December 30th, 2010 at 10:01 am
FYI, that SHORT position on silver is done by JP Morgan. They have to eventually cover. If Silver pushes anywhere near $35, there will be a massive short squeeze in the makings driving prices above $40.
I love it Supraboy, you are smarter than JP Morgan! They didn't get to be an investment house earning BILLIONS every year because they telegraph their positions so that a Vancouver Real Estate Bull like you can see it.
Why don't you keep doing what you are good at and that's pumping Vancouver Real Estate?
December 30th, 2010 at 9:22 am
@patriotz:
"Gold and silver are inherently poor investments because they are zero sum over all owners. They have no earnings. You can only make money on gold or silver at the expense of the next owner. To put it another way every owner is a greater fool."
LOLOLOL
If you have your money invested anywhere else then it is YOU that is the fool. You need to go to school and learn to read a chart
http://www.kitco.com/charts/popup/ag3650nyb.html
So who is the fool here? Yes, I know, those who SOLD their silver are the ultimate fools especially if they invested in real estate in Vancouver. In 2011 Vancouver home prices get crashed and silver goes to 50.00 at least. Remember this post
December 30th, 2010 at 9:17 am
@Savvy Investor: You, if you are smart, don't play the futures as they are heavily manipulated
Here is what you DO!
http://maxkeiser.com/2010/12/30/holy-shit-im-buyi…
December 30th, 2010 at 8:42 am
@anon:
Retailers and home builders are "out of fashion" right now.
December 30th, 2010 at 8:18 am
@Keeping An Eye On The Pimps:
No doubt. This guy doesn't have a clue. He doesn't mention that when interest rates return to normal, many people won't be able to afford their mortgage. And he also tells the lie "As well, banks never adopted the practice of selling off most of their mortgages, so they had a strong incentive to lend only to those who were likely to repay." Really! This guy's never heard of the CMHC.
December 30th, 2010 at 8:08 am
@Ahab: Gold futures are a zero-sum game. For every short, there is an offsetting long. The gold producers are net short (hedging) while investors are net long (speculating).
December 30th, 2010 at 7:56 am
@Moses: Two words…Vista Place.
December 30th, 2010 at 7:29 am
The North Shore will continue to underperform for the very simple reason that Chinese don't go there. There are no good Chinese restaurants or supermarkets. Well… I did hear that T&T opened in Park Royal but under a new name "Osaka" – as if Osaka is famous for fresh food in Japan?
Still, the white folk are established there. The new ones are in deeeeep debt. The Persians, of which there are many, have stopped buying because while they have lots of money they aren't stupid. So who is left to buy N.Van or W.Van real estate? No one… except maybe the Albertans who are enjoying surging energy prices?
When Van West surpassed West Van in value and while Richmond continues to enjoy incredibly outperforming price gains you know EXACTLY what is going on. Chinese.
Go on. Ask your white realtor how they're doing. Ask your Korean Realtor how they're doing. Ask your Indian Realtor how he's doing (really well, if they work with builders). Then ask your Chinese realtor. You will get astonishingly different answers. And they are all very honest with their opinions. I bet when the medallion awards get announced in the paper it will be mostly Chinese agents (especially in the top 1%).
December 30th, 2010 at 7:10 am
@Keeping An Eye On The Pimps:
That article is an epic fail on so many levels, it would take me an hour to rebut everything that is patently false in it.
It's also written in an extremely condescending douche-like manner that would even make Cameron Muir ashamed.
December 30th, 2010 at 7:10 am
Agricultural land and cash.
December 30th, 2010 at 6:18 am
what sectors are 'out of fashion' right now?
December 30th, 2010 at 6:17 am
Some of the guys on CNBC fast money called the right shots, load up Coal and Agriculture. Check out WLT, ANR, AGU and MOS.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40840886
Been holding Agrium for 6 months and it's finally busting a new high. When planting season rolls around the corner in March, get ready to take home a nice chunk of gains.
You morons would probably vote this post down out of stupidity. I was the same guy who said to load up Silver a year ago. Someone else was also smart enough to say the same thing last year and a bunch of idiotic bears with their heads up their ass voted him down too.
December 30th, 2010 at 6:12 am
@Ahab:
"The fact is, there are enormous concentrated short positions in both futures markets that . It is also a fact that the CFTC is currently looking at how best to implement position limits in the precious metals. Why? Take a look at this chart, taken from the Commitment of Traders Reports, showing the concentrated short positions in a variety of commodities, scaled in days of production. It’s from Aug of this year, but obviously, little could have changed since then:"
FYI, that SHORT position on silver is done by JP Morgan. They have to eventually cover. If Silver pushes anywhere near $35, there will be a massive short squeeze in the makings driving prices above $40.
December 30th, 2010 at 6:10 am
@scullboy:
What a dumbass. haha….purchasing high end kitchen equipment.
December 30th, 2010 at 6:07 am
@Keeping An Eye On The Pimps:
Monkey see, monkey do:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4243
December 30th, 2010 at 6:03 am
This is by far the most unbelievable advertisement I have come across thus far.
“The most prominently quoted source wasn't an economist or a real-estate expert; it was Garth Turner, a former politician who had been promoting a book predicting a housing collapse. “
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/solid+bas…
Somebody must write to this chimp.
December 30th, 2010 at 5:40 am
Gold and silver are inherently poor investments because they are zero sum over all owners. They have no earnings. You can only make money on gold or silver at the expense of the next owner. To put it another way every owner is a greater fool.
As for myself, I own preferred shares, high interest savings, income trusts, dividend stocks, and corporate bonds outside my RRSP (from most to least $ invested). That's not a recommendation for anyone else to do the same.
December 30th, 2010 at 4:55 am
Do people have actual stats to back up claims about ethnic make-ups of various suburbs? I don't think North Van is any more "white" than New West, Delta or Tri-Cities, but who knows…
December 30th, 2010 at 4:36 am
@WTF
My point was more that unless you work DT or in N/W Van, living in NV can be a difficult commute and thus much less desirable than the other places
December 30th, 2010 at 4:23 am
@Ahab:
"I can understand the derision afforded the ‘goldbugs’ here, especially considering the nature of their posts, but that does not necessarily make gold and/or silver poor investments."
I agree, I was just referring to the Crash JP Morgan, Buy Silver campaign.
December 30th, 2010 at 4:16 am
@ANON:
But why would you want to communte to anywhere other than DT? Nothing to do on the west side except live there. Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, New West, east van etc. don't really have any attractions (and are mostly ugly and unpleasant to even drive through). Metrotown? I'd say that park royal is good enough.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:54 am
@anon
It could also be the simple inconvenience of living in NV and commuting to almost anywhere other than DT??
December 30th, 2010 at 3:53 am
@Best place on meth: "it’s just like buying real estate only you can sell your silver at a moments notice"
Can I take a mortgage out on my silver investments? I will use the proceeds to buy more silver because silver only goes up.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:49 am
"The rich asians don’t like North Vancouver"
The old no-go zones and supposed self-segregation zones for Asians have pretty much evaporated. Prices are too darn high to support monotonic enclaves.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:22 am
@Anonymous:
Well, I said "essentially" white. Of course it is not 100% white. Nothing is 100%. I stand by the observation that the NS is "essentially white". It is as white as it gets in GV. Yes, Maple Ridge is more white, but I don't include it in the GV.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:08 am
@WFT?: Are you sure on your observations?
Lots of Persians here on the Shore and there are more and more Asian. If you want "white", you need to travel to Maple Ridge or Langley, the two "whitest" areas of the LM.
There are lots of insane white people who are purchasing on the North Shore too. My new neighbours just bought a 50 yr old 3 br rancher for $860k. You're right in that they aren't rich…they are just up to their eyeballs in debt.
December 30th, 2010 at 3:01 am
@anon:
The rich asians don't like North Vancouver. It is an essentially white suburb (the last one in greater vancouver). Most white professionals (doctors and lawyers) with young families move there.
They can't afford the west side. East Van is where all the poor people have always lived. Richmond is for east asians and Surrey is for South Asians. Observing all this, the white folk flock to the North Shore. They are either not rich enough or too rational to go completely insane on real estate.