FREE BEER!

All over BC the decline in real estate is in full swing. When you’ve got more sellers than buyers it takes a little extra to stand out.

And when that extra is FREE BEER! it does stand out.

Allen has had his three bedroom condo on the market for just over a month and says only two prospective buyers have stopped in.

“I have two houses, one in Kelowna and one in Kamloops and I just can’t afford to keep both going.”

The condo located on Springview place in Kamloops, was being rented, but after the tenants moved out and the house went on the market, Allen knew he had to be creative or he could be stuck paying two mortgages.

“I was sitting around thinking, this house is a real pain, it’s not getting nearly as many views as I would like. How am I going to attract people to this house? Well I was drinking a beer at the time and I thought why not just give away beer for a year.”

Allen hopes the free beer initiative will be the final push to get people thinking about buying.

“This place is geared towards students, and that is who I am marketing with this campaign of free beer for a year.”

Here’s the full article.

71 Responses to “FREE BEER!”

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    patriotz patriotz Says:
    1

    “I have two houses, one in Kelowna and one in Kamloops and I just can’t afford to keep both going.”

    Feeding the alligator. If buying is more expensive than renting a price decline is inevitable. Nothing more is needed.

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    patriotz patriotz Says:
    2

    Can we predict a housing price correction?

    For the motion: David Madani
    Against the motion: Helmut Pastrick

    Surprise, surprise, surprise!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    I voted for Helmut.

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    condo watcher Says:
    4

    the problem with “beerman” is the property is priced way too high compared to others in the same complex –here are the links to the 5 properties for sale in the same complex. –just going by the square footage a couple of these are way out of touch with comparable properties

    beermans is listed first–#346

    http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11894553&PidKey=1824732185

    http://propertyguys.com/property/index/id/64672

    http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11736179&PidKey=1252761736

    http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11624790&PidKey=-796515595

    http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11979541&PidKey=960817106

    and a 6 pack of beer every week for a year to the buyer–great incentive–what $500

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    5

    “Allen hopes the free beer initiative will be the final push to get people thinking about buying.”

    I am sure this will work. Bidding war maybe?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    patriotz patriotz Says:
    6

    Canada joins global list of softer housing markets

    Best part is the comments. Standard retorts from the RE shills. Best comment is from “Diplomacy”.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    vreaa needs this under the “jumping the shark” category.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Helmut. If buyers are balking at the prices of high-end properties, what makes you think that the average million-dollar-crack-shack will hold its value?

    Come on man.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Mick Murphy Says:
    9

    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-13/canadian-real-estate-posing-risks-to-economy-oecd-says

    Canadian Real Estate Posing Risks to Economy, OECD Says

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    space889 Says:
    10

    This guy is expecting to sell his condo in Kamloops to students??? WTF?? I didn’t even know there is a university or college near Kamloops with rich students or students with rich family looking to buy. It just doesn’t sound and feel like that kind of place.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Didn’t someone try exactly this (free beer for one year) well over a year ago (maybe 2008)? Or was that somewhere else?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    I’d feel better if the media frenzy over the bubble would slow down. I rather the whole unraveling was by stealth. Plus I need the entire area surrounding the OV bought by spekers so that it’s completely built out and deadly quiet. A little corner of Dublin in Vancouver.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    The Sun headline reads, “Canadian home prices fade, market still outshines others.”

    The writer is probably unaware that still outshining others is not a good thing in this case.

    http://www.vancouversun.com/business/2035/Canadian+home+prices+fade+market+still+outshines+others/6775942/story.html

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @mac:

    “I rather the whole unraveling was by stealth.”

    I’d much rather have a US style crash than a Japanese style bleed. Let’s fix this mess and move on.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    patriotz patriotz Says:
    15

    @N:

    Comment by truthout
    2006-10-20 05:30:43

    ““Even open house parties must stand out. In May, one agent threw a party at one of his listings in Oyster Bay Cove, complete with DJ, champagne and models in the pool, though he still has no contract.”

    “Samira Johnson decided to forgo Paris and give a seven-day stay at any luxury Marriott worldwide with the sale of her three-bedroom Northport ranch. She will hand over her 115,000 reward points, after hearing a California seller offer a year’s free beer and pizza. She’ll do another open house this weekend after a lackluster response to her vacation offer.”

    These sellers must be out of their minds. It is as if they are treating buyers like 3 year old kids. Are these sellers REAL? Cut the freaking price and let me decide what I do with my savings.

    http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=1664

    Many similar postings around this period.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    fixie guy Says:
    16

    11 N Says: “Didn’t someone try exactly this…”

    A little something I posted on RET at the start of the American crash:

    http://i47.tinypic.com/2yl4mtu.jpg

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    http://www.richmondreview.com/business/157865415.html

    “Aberdeen Centre’s landlord is suing the operator of a former mall restaurant for $412,596 in unpaid rent.”

    I started to wonder how business can survive in Vancouver/Richmond… $400k of rent for 4 months, without calculating the cost of wage and food, the restaurants need to sell 20600 of all u can eat dinner to cover the rent…

    Who’s the fault? Expensive rent? or Most money went to mortgage payment?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Bob123 Says:
    18

    Someone should start a blog totally dedicated to Helmet quotes, the rationalizations will only get more bizarre as the market continues to slide.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @Al:

    The Aberdeen Centre was built in 2003, before RE price run ups, and plenty of restaurants prosper there. This is more a story about the popularity and profitability of hot pot than a story about real estate.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Patiently Waiting Says:
    20

    Canadian investor immigrant program could be cancelled or have much stronger requirements. There is also some doubt about whether the Americans will continue their program.

    These programs aren’t working as intended, surprise surprise.

    http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/canada/Future+immigrant+investor+program+uncertain/6771301/story.html

    “Regardless of what the Americans do, a price hike is among the changes Canada is exploring as it seeks to revamp the program, which basically gives millionaires and their families permanent residency in exchange for cash.

    Kenney has said the $800,000 minimum investment required under the current system — it was just $400,000 up until 2010 — and $1.6 million net worth requirement is too low and that Canada needs to consider making it a permanent contribution to the Canadian economy rather than just a loan.

    As it stands, provinces get the cash to invest in economic-development projects but have to pay back the principal five years later. The federal government has complained that provinces such as Ontario haven’t put the cash to good use and have instead let much of it lie dormant in accounts.”

    If the Americans cancel their program, we should do the same. Maybe they’ve obviously discovered little value and much damage from bringing in war criminals, fraud artists, slave-drivers, and parastic aristocrats.

    And if our economy is worthwhile, we should get investments from legitimate investors not people who are forced to hand over money for Permanent Residency…that’s just mismanaged by Provincial governments.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @N:

    I am just teasing on people running out of money for paying their mortgage rather than out dining~ How is that not RE related :)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    22

    Re: TD’s forecast for a 15%+ additional price decline

    Earlier in the year, my gf somehow got the genius idea to buy a second condo. I repeatedly showed her what a terrible risk/reward that decision carried, but her house lust was too strong for her to budge. Fast forward to this month when she has lunches with her banker friends. All of them independently tell her their uncensored outlook: that their best case scenario is a further 15% decline in prices. The effect? She went from wanting to double her exposure to real estate to eliminate it completely and rent – all over the span of 6 months. I can personally tell you that market psychology is undergoing a tectonic shift.

    Real estate. The most emotional of asset classes.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    vangrl Says:
    23

    oh dear, Jim Doak is crying on BNN about all the bearish news on real estate lately

    He’s saying that all the owners that could potentially lose out on capital gains from being too scared to buy a Toronto condo, should get together a class action lawsuit against Flaherty, Carney etc.. to recoup that money. He thinks if that became a possibility that it might stop these bearish predictions.

    WTF can you imagine flipping that table, and having all the recent home owners sue the bullish analysts, real estate agents etc.. when (not if) this market goes down…..what an idiot.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Is it really surprising that this Doak joker make that claim about RE?

    The first thing that pops up on a google search of Doak is this:

    “Jim Doak, Asset Manager, Compares Tax Hike On The Rich To Ethnic Cleansing”

    Clearly, this guy is a sensationalist moron….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    “Against the motion: Helmut Pastrick”

    According to the article, Pastrick claims “Prices decline as a result of recessions, not the other way round.”

    Is this guy aware that US prices peaked in the Spring of 2006 and the recession started in Dec 2007? At the start of the recession, the Case Shiller composite was already down 15%. Is he uninformed or lying?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    vangrl Says:
    26

    does this guy have any idea how much of a raise normal peeps have to get to bring the fundamentals back to the norm?

    “Somerville said rapidly falling house prices are not the most common way for real estate markets to bring them-selves back into equilibrium. More commonly, prices will stay relatively flat while other measures – such as income levels – catch up, or prices will decline very slowly, Somerville said.”

    Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Home+price+drop+could+mean+less+spending/6773895/story.html#ixzz1xhiFT2Lc

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    SpanishBombs Says:
    27

    @N: At least two in Calgary tried it, but it was only $1000 worth of free beer:

    http://www.toptenrealestatedeals.com/real-estate-news-headlines/150-free-beer-with-home-purchase/

    They got inspiration from the same deal in Chicago. I also seem to remember a similar attempt for a house in or near Hope BC last year.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    28

    @vangrl: ..unless you speed up your perception of time, then the drops seem very sudden.

    http://vancouvercondo.info/coaster

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Makaya Makaya Says:
    29

    Check out the latest inventory graph from Larry’s blog:

    Amongst the three real estate boards the past month saw a total of 1,308 listings added to the total of 27,744 homes for sale. As of June 01, 2012 Vancouver alone accounted for 17,835 of that total for an increase of 15.3% above June of last year.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    30

    @vangrl: Sewerville: “rapidly falling house prices are not the most common way for real estate markets to bring them-selves back into equilibrium”

    OK sewerville,

    So the rapidly falling house prices in most countries (incl. US, UK, Ireland, Spain, Australia, China, South Africa) are supposed to be abnormal?

    And the rapidly increasing house prices we had were normal?

    Effing idiot.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    “A bubble occurs when exaggerated expectations of future prices increase unusual demand either by people who fear being priced out of a market or by investors hoping to make a lot of money fast. A bubble is a self-fulfilling prophecy for a while, as successive rounds of buyers push prices higher and higher. But the willingness to pay higher and higher prices is fragile: It will end whenever buyers perceive that prices are no longer going up. Hence bubbles carry the seeds of their own destruction. Only time is needed for bubbles to end.”
    – Robert Shiller

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    shriller Says:
    32

    I wouldn’t be so hard on Tsur. He’s expert at making unverifiable claims. Who knows when a market is in equilibrium for instance? Maybe based on his definition, his claim is accurate.
    As for the meme regarding bank economists and predictive abilities. It’s sort of like taking medical advice from the technologists. And as for economists on TV, do we really take our psychological opinions from Dr. Phil?
    Most academic economists don’t study housing prices and so aren’t experts. And, possibly because they have reputations to protect, they don’t like to be interviewed on subjects that they haven’t studied in detail. But equally I’m sure that a large number, if asked privately, would point towards Shiller for opinions. And his view on Vancouver is pretty well known.
    The problem is that the news cycles these days are not `conducive’ to having smart people have rational arguments. They want `expert’ opinions and seem pretty willing to consider anyone an expert. And if one’s opinion doesn’t come true in the immediate future this is often taken as proof that the opinion is invalid and thus the expertise is in question. Why would `smart’ economists have any incentive to participate?
    Now I’m not claiming that all academic economists are smart. Just that any smart ones have no incentive to tell us what they think.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Devore Says:
    33

    “So I was drinking beer…” is how all the best ideas begin!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @Al:

    Where does it say 4 months? I said $800k for the term of the lease. Doubtful the lease was only 8 months.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    35

    @Anonymous:

    “Sewerville: “rapidly falling house prices are not the most common way for real estate markets to bring them-selves back into equilibrium”

    So now he impliedly admits that the market is out of equilibrium. He was only able to figure that out after the average price dropped 12% in a year. Now his only disagreement is with how “rapid” (a vague term) the decline will be.

    How useless can you get?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    patriotz patriotz Says:
    36

    @crabman:

    According to the article, Pastrick claims “Prices decline as a result of recessions, not the other way round.

    The biggest post-war bust in Vancouver started in spring 1982, a full year before the recession of spring 1983.

    As well there was no recession preceding the long decline which started in 1994.

    This guy is unreal.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    vangrl Says:
    37

    “Anyone have any thoughts about recreational properties, more specifically Whistler? Our house there has dropped 35% since 2008. Would love to sell but not sure this is the time…”

    this is a commenter on Rob Carrick’s latest facebook post “Is it a bad thing if housing prices fall some?”

    what i want to know is, why have they not talked about the massive hit that Whistler has seen, or am i missing something? i don’t recall hearing anything about this in the news.

    but on another note, don’t you just love the bearish sentiment wafting through our cloudy drizzly sky:)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @Patiently Waiting:

    It was a foolish program to start with. How is anyone ‘investing’ when they just leave a big chunk of money interest-free with the government. Heck Government bonds are almost interest free now anyways.

    If we are going to sell our citizenship to the rich, why not just auction it, or set a One Million price tag. Rich Russian or Chinese want to leave, sure, that will be $6 Million for the family please….

    Repeated 1000 times. We are getting the same people anyway, may as well make some serious money!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    900kCrackHouse Says:
    39

    I wonder how far housing will fall before the local real-estate boards index actually shows a decline. We are down 12% on detached houses and they still show up. Maybe once we are down 30% they will show -5%?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Best place on meth Says:
    40

    The Helmut says:

    “However, most home buyers are existing homeowners and some are renters or other first-timers with principal residence their main motive, not greed or speculation.”

    So he’s saying that the two motives of principle residence and greed/speculation are mutually exclusive and buyers must be in one camp or the other which is absolutely false.

    This makes Helmut a liar or an idiot.

    Wait…could he possibly be both?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @Best place on meth:

    This makes Helmut a liar or an idiot.

    Wait…could he possibly be both?

    Actually, he’s more accurately described as a bullshitter. Yes, that’s an actual term according to philosoper Harry Frankfurt.

    Bullshit can either be true or false but bullshitters aim primarily to impress and persuade their audiences, and in general are unconcerned with the truth or falsehood of their statements (it is because of this that Frankfurt concedes that “the bullshitter is faking things”, but that “this does not necessarily mean he gets them wrong”). While liars need to know the truth to better conceal it, bullshitters, interested solely in advancing their own agendas, have no use for the truth. Thus, Frankfurt claims, “…bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_bullshit

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    Apocarypse Mao Says:
    42

    @ 900kCrackHouse

    We are down 12% on average SALES price. That is different from overall average price.

    There were a lot of high end homes selling in early 2011, so, of course, the average price of what was being sold went up. That did not mean that overall average home price went up, overall remained flat. This, year, no high end sales, so average SALES price is down 12%, rest of market still fairly flat, as it has been for last 2-3 years.

    Don’t get the two figures confused. Bulls have made many uninformed or misleading statements due to the difference. Bears shouldn’t have to.

    If your looking to buy, don’t think you’ll be saving 12% from last year. At least not yet. It’s taking a while for the high listing/low sales news to sink in with most sellers.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Missed the train Says:
    43

    Free beer and … Free money ! Some bank are coming back with the 5 years at 2.99%. Is that the lowest ever ?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    44

    According to the article, Pastrick claims “Prices decline as a result of recessions, not the other way round.”

    That may be true when prices are historically normal (inline with rents and incomes). Prices typically only decline below normal in a recession or with some other economic trigger. The problem with their analysis is we are in a bubble and prices are not at normal levels. To return to normal levels we don’t need anything as has been shown in other markets around the world. Kind of like the Nasdaq crashing in 2000. It was not about a major economic event which would normally be required to crash the stock market if it was fairly valued. The Nasdaq was in a bubble and nothing is required other than running out of greater fools to pop a bubble. Of course an economic event can speed things up and make the crash more severe.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    “Prices decline as a result of recessions”

    Recessions occur for a multitude of reasons, and when an economy is heavily dependent on construction and real estate it doesn’t take too much brainpower to figure out sector exposure and cause and effect. Or at least I thought.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @32

    From what I have seen from browsing the academic literature, academic economists seem to care most about impressing other academic economists. Dispensing advice to the public is probably tertiary.

    They seem to really have a bent for developing complicated models demonstrating ‘neat’ theorems from various branches of applied mathematics. It’s like half of them would be engineers, but for the fact that they don’t like getting their hands dirty and actually building things. That discipline attracts odd types.

    (I delve into economics as a computer scientist, since much of the work on rational choice, game theory and the like is applicable to systems engineering and AI)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    New Listings 266
    Price Changes 164
    Sold Listings 103
    TI:19183

    http://www.laurenandpaul.ca

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    patriotz patriotz Says:
    48

    @Jim:
    Somerville is a business school prof, not an economist. Pastrick calls himself an economist but works for a business.

    In fact it was the academic economists in the US, such as Krugman, Roubini, Shiller, Leamer, and Thornberg who saw the bust coming. It was Somerville’s and Pastrick’s counterparts at the “joint institutes” (great name, what were they smoking) and financial institutions who didn’t (or wouldn’t), likely because doing so would offend their paymasters.

    It’s difficult to understand something… etc.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @paulb: I was stuck in “rut” now I’m “moving up” to “rut-roh”

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Jun-2012
    Total days 21
    Days elapsed so far 9
    Weekends / holidays 4
    Days missing 0
    Days remaining 12
    7 Calendar Day Moving Average: Sales 114
    7 Calendar Day Moving Average: Listings 270
    SALES
    Sales so far 1106
    Projection for rest of month (using 7day MA) 1370
    Projected month end total 2476
    NEW LISTINGS
    Listings so far 2578
    Projection for rest of month (using 7day MA) 3245
    Projected month end total 5823
    Sell-list so far 42.9%
    Projected month-end sell-list 42.5%
    MONTHS OF INVENTORY
    Inventory as of June 13, 2012 19183
    Current MoI at this sales pace 7.75

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    @patriotz: Quite apart from their vested interests, I think you’ve also got to factor in the “don’t want to start a stampede” syndrome with these guys. Sommerville gets quoted a lot as does Pastrick. Local “jounalists”, and, I use that term loosely, follow these guys like hounds. The masses eat their perspectives up. They are capable of sending lemmings over a cliff, faster and in more volume than what might otherwise be the case, and they know it.

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    patriotz patriotz Says:
    52

    University professors are supposed to tell it like it is, not make people feel good, and if Somerville can’t bring himself to do that then he should at least STFU.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    McLovin Says:
    53

    Sadly inventory growth has stalled. I don’t think we’ll see a 20K party this month unless it picks up.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    condo watcher Says:
    54

    @Vangl

    “what i want to know is, why have they not talked about the massive hit that Whistler has seen, or am i missing something? i don’t recall hearing anything about this in the news.”—— here are a couple of past links from Whispers blog concerning Whistler pricing

    http://whispersfromtheedgeoftherainforest.blogspot.ca/2012/03/noose-tightens-whistler-is-down-50.html

    http://whispersfromtheedgeoftherainforest.blogspot.ca/2012/05/whistler-at-65-off-now.html

    many posters on the various blogs have commented on what they have seen concerning the downward pricing in Whistler–stay tuned –i’m sure there will be more (check the links in the comments on the two above)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Bull! Bull! Bull! Says:
    55

    @McLovin: tracking 2010 perfectly.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Tacky Tocker Says:
    56

    Only 817 more listings till the June 20K Party! 14 more business days to do so! no probs!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    McLovin Says:
    57

    “tracking 2010 perfectly.”

    More like 2008 Dumbass!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    patient renter Says:
    58

    @condo watcher

    i just checked out prices in Whistler on the mls. If prices have crashed, they still have a long way to go. The prices still seem ridiculous to me.
    Maybe if you could get a good deal there it would make the news….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Anonymous Says:
    59

    @McLovin:

    (Sadly inventory growth has stalled. I don’t think we’ll see a 20K party this month unless it picks up.)

    Cause Chinese new comers are start buying in drone.Bears have to take China factor in the self-fulfilled formula otherwise, you will keep humiliating bear camp once again like 2008.U have to realize China is already a pivotal force in shaping Canada and US economic future.Canada,Australia,US,Russian and the whole world are depending on China rescue;once Chinese buy spree in full force,inventory will be down to zero.

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    Anonymous Says:
    60

    @McLovin:
    Check out Larry’s last post,
    http://www.yattermatters.com/2012/06/vancouvers-mountain-of-listings/
    Listings may be slowing, but that’s some inventory …

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Absinthe Says:
    61

    @McLovin: It’s slowed, but it hasn’t stalled yet!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Always a comedy show watching the RE ‘experts’ spin the facts. Here’s a great chart showing the US bust with anecodotes from David Lereah. We’ll be recycling this for Canada, replacing Lereah with Helmut/Sewerville.

    http://static.seekingalpha.com/wp-content/seekingalpha/images/housing_bellwether.png

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    @Patiently Waiting, the american investor program (EB5) is going to continue and is very successful and very different than the Canada’s investor program. Here are some key differences

    1) In Canada the investment is guaranteed to be returned, in the US it is not. Some EB5 investments lose money, some of the programs lose a lot of money. You are investing in a regional center with ideas on how to use your money to create jobs and ideally preserve most of your capital. Sometimes they fail on both counts.

    2) In Canada there are many cases where the investor does not make the move here and instead sends the family and continue to earn income in their place of birth while having the family see all of the benefits of our generous society. In the American Visa program this is not allowed, foreign income would be taxed and your permanent residency and visa cancelled.

    3) In Canada the money may just sit there and do nothing. In the US your EB5 center that you invest in must prove that they have created at least 10 full time jobs per investor or else investors in that EB5 program will not get their residency and the visa will be revoked.

    How Canada implemented this program so poorly I’ll never understand. On the other hand the US program has done well for them and achieved the goal of having an investor program. The only reason it hasn’t been extended past September 2012 yet is because there are a few people that want to raise the minimum contribution amount (currently $500K) so they are awaiting on that being final before extending the program.

    An Observer

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    Anonymous Says:
    64

    Notwithstanding a ‘rush for the exits’, won’t there be downwards pressure on new listings when people are told by their agents that it’s not a good time to list and they’d be better waiting until inventory is lower? I understand there will always be some who have to sell, but there simply doesn’t seem to be much distress in the market right now.

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    Navin R. Johnson Says:
    65

    @Anonymous:

    Nah, they’ll likely remove from the market for the summer and relist for the fall. Listings don’t get this high unless people are concerned. imho. She’s done. It’ll take a while as we’re only at the beginning. But, I’m very optimistic, especially with all the mainstream media talk of “bubble” “bubble” “bubble”, that the erosion has only just begun.

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    Anonymous Says:
    66

    @an observer:

    PR expires if you’re not present for 3 years out of any 5, and there’s more to the eligibility requirements for investors than just having the cash. It’s all on the CIC website.

    Interestingly, the investor class cap gets reset on July 1st, opening the door to another 700 or so applicants. Could that trigger the return of HAM?

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    Simpatico Says:
    67

    @Navin R. Johnson: I think it’s just sinking in for the top 20% of sellers, but most sellers are still under the illusion that everything is going to work out in Europe, the U.S., China, etc. if they pay attention at all. The realtards just encourage the fantasy that fall will be much better time to sell.

    In a conversation with several colleagues at work last week, one young woman who bought a house last fall, kept repeating…”we don’t have money for anything right now…we don’t go out anymore…this bubble talk…people are scared…we might also rent out one of our upstairs bedrooms (in addition to the suite downstairs).” How crazy is that? Buy a house that’s really a duplex or triplex, then give up your family’s privacy to service debt.

    By fall the realtards will be talking a new line… counseling everyone to sell before prices slide more.

    It’s ALWAYS a good time to sell if you make a living from sales.

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    @Anonymous: “there simply doesn’t seem to be much distress in the market right now”

    Prices are high; it’s possible to exit without insolvency. If prices do drop, that will change.

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    Patiently Waiting Says:
    69

    @Anonymous: “Interestingly, the investor class cap gets reset on July 1st, opening the door to another 700 or so applicants. Could that trigger the return of HAM?”

    According to the article I posted earlier, the 700 from this year might not get processed. The Conservatives are so arbitrary with immigration that you can’t assume anything unless your name is Conrad Black.

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    @jesse:

    That’s right. I have a friend who is on the fence about selling. I sent him an earlier article talking about a 10 to 15% drop. His response was, “10 to 15%, we can handle.” For him, a drop of 15% does not mean a loss, so it’s not much to worry about. Also, if 15% down is the bottom, then all he has to do is wait for prices to go up again.

    I imagine that, at some point, when prices have been going down for a while, people are going look south of the border and it’s going to sink in. Then the fun begins.

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    Anonymous Says:
    71

    @N:
    Then the bears will be dissappointed again and wish next yr or decade to have their forever-wrong prediction on the market again.Bears are so naive and hopeless.

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