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Friday Free-for-all!

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Yessir, another weekend in paradise! It’s the end of the week and you know what that means, it’s time for our regular news round up and open topic discussion thread! Here are a few stories to kick off the chat:

–Nice chunk of taxpayer money headed to BC!
–$100 million loss on Olympic Village?
–Green quits Little Mountain over “difference of opinion”
–15 Years of economic growth not trickling down
–Occupy Vancouver pretty laid back
–The pros and cons of being an absentee landlord
–Toronto house price growth could soon top Vancouver
–$500k: Buy a mansion get a US visa

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

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[…] “A month or two ago, a guy at work described his experience looking for an old starter house in Coquitlam. I think he was looking around the Coquitlam/Burnaby boundary. He said every house he tried to put an offer on was bought by developers with no conditions. He was not considered by the sellers because it was easier to sell to the developers, so he gave up looking.” – Summer at vancouvercondo.info October 22nd, 2011 at 9:09 am […]

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[…] “A month or two ago, a guy at work described his experience looking for an old starter house in Coquitlam. I think he was looking around the Coquitlam/Burnaby boundary. He said every house he tried to put an offer on was bought by developers with no conditions. He was not considered by the sellers because it was easier to sell to the developers, so he gave up looking.” – Summer at vancouvercondo.info October 22nd, 2011 at 9:09 am […]

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patriotz

@southseacompany:

"“Even cut in prices not enough to sell at Tobiano"

That should be "Present cut in prices not enough to sell".

If the prices are cut enough they will sell and that will happen, because this is one of those "have to sell" properties. Take note "I'm not giving it away" sellers – this is your competition. Like you know where.

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jesse

@Devore: Don`t know. I could care less how many Realtors there are. As a business they`re doing better than last year both in sales volumes and total commissions (prices are higher year-on-year). If there are more Realtors around compared to last year it sounds to me like the employment stats might be overstating things a tad.

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Devore

@jesse: Too many realtors! Does the REBGV publish # of realtors every month, like the Okanagan board?

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jesse

@pricedoutfornow: "the market isn’t as quiet as it once was"

Some Realtors claim SFH sales in certain markets have slowed considerably. Also if their gauge is last spring of course things are slower. Last spring listings were lower and sales were higher. If they're comparing year-over-year there have been more sales in every month of 2011 than 2010 with the exception of one. From 30,000 feet, 2011 has been, and continues to be, a great year for Realtors. So next time you hear them claiming things are "slow" tell them to STFU.

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pricedoutfornow

@jesse:

Anyone checking out open houses? My neighborhood (condo/townhouse development) has been infested with open house signs every weekend for the past few months. Some of the signs even have "Reduced" stickers on them! Funny, the only people I see talking to the realtors are…other realtors, all hanging out waiting for buyers to come by. I hear snatches of their conversations as I walk by, it all seems to be the usual realtor BS-each one trying to convince the other that the market isn't as quiet as it once was. One place I've kept an eye on for some time in my building has gone from asking price of $525k in the summer to $480k now (no more open houses for that one, the realtor's given up). How low will it go….

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Runawayscreaming

Tobiano is nothing more than British Columbia at its worst. It's unsustainable urban sprawl that should never have been taken out of the agricultural land reserve. It's a blight on an otherwise stunning landscape.

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southseacompany

More news about the in-receivership 2000 unit Tobiano (Six Mile Ranch) project in Kamloops;

"Even cut in prices not enough to sell at Tobiano, court ruling shows" Kamloops Daily News

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20110928/KAMLO…

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Anonymous

"Wasn’t such a bad idea 3 years ago now was it"

In Kelowna it was.

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jesse

@Dave: "Wasn’t such a bad idea 3 years ago now was it?"

Depends where you are. Prices in certain locales are lower than 2008. Condos don't look to have appreciated in real terms in many areas of Vancouver and sellers would be net negative after sales fees and taxes. Finally your statement assumes this person can and does sell at current valuations.

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patriotz

@Dave:

Not as bad as buying today.

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Dave

@patriotz:

Wasn't such a bad idea 3 years ago now was it?

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WFT?

@Keeping An Eye On The Pimps:

"Oh fcuk, it’s come to this now, why don’t we also adopt some of the other virtues and customs like female circumcision while we’re at it."

Yeah, because female circumcision is the same thing as kids living at home.

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Patiently Waiting

Over 80 and homeless,

“because the only thing worse than dying young is outliving your money.”

Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Homeless+seniors+…

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Patiently Waiting

DIRTY HIPPIES (shakes fist) LOL

http://twitter.com/#!/thesimeon

Simeon is Scam Good's receptionist or something.

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Keeping An Eye On Th

“It is a cultural thing – Indian and Chinese (and others) often have kids living at “home” their entire life.”

Oh fcuk, it’s come to this now, why don’t we also adopt some of the other virtues and customs like female circumcision while we’re at it.

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patriotz

@patriotz:

Guess which province is the hardest place in Canada to raise a young family

And saying "families" every time you open your mouth doesn't change that, Crusty.

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patriotz

@Dave:

"Good to see you guys catch on to Garth Turner and his fear mongering."

You mean the global economy is just fine, Canadian households are on sound financial footing, and we should run out and buy a house right now?

Okay.

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Anonymous

I agree with anonymous above. It's a cultural thing, and I hope Westerners would recognize this rather than always treating the son who "stays home" with derision. In fact, the son who stays is the good son, the one who sacrifices his freedom and privacy to take on the responsibility of taking care of his parents. In some cultures, it is considered scandalous for all the children to leave the parents alone. Parents like these would be pitied and children derided for being too selfish. Of course the savings do help and in a way, the current Western system of kicking the kids out fuels the demand for real estate (bought or rented).

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MM

@patriotz: Well put. Poor wording on my behalf, came across all anti-science. I think my point is that the realms of Business or Science are limited, and other things may be important to a society or it's citizens. Such as the appreciation of a good cheese, regardless of any commercial value it has.

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Anonymous

It is a cultural thing – Indian and Chinese (and others) often have kids living at "home" their entire life. The oldest son, normally takes care of the parents when they are old and the parents take care of the grand kids while their parents are at work. It is great system – alot of families that do this have separation as well, for example, a duplex with one side belonging to each or a multi level home with separate levels for different family groups.

With real estate being as expensive as it is, the whole "kick the kids out" is completely dumb ass.

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Anonymous

Down at ows and just saw this sign:

Real estate speculation is Vancouver's Wall Street

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Patiently Waiting

@pricedoutfornow: "some guys I know still live like this, despite earning $60k per year"

Of course, they sound like university grads and are probably closer to 28 than 18 🙂 I have a relative who is 34 (with an Engineering degree) and still keeps returning to the nest where his Mom does his laundry and cooks him meals. That's pathetic.

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Dave

Good to see you guys catch on to Garth Turner and his fear mongering. The guy was viewed as a god on this website just 3 years ago.

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