Buy in 1 cubic foot at a time: CUBE!
Vancouver has a problem with affordable housing.
No matter where you place the blame: speculators, easy credit, housing bubble, foreign buyers – the problem remains.
As a first time buyer how do you get into the market?
How about one cubic foot at a time?
It can be tough to afford a 580 sq ft one bedroom apartment for $415,000 but anyone can find an extra $199 to get that first cubic foot and get in now!
It’s Real Estate 3.0!
This was posted as a submission to the reTHINK housing competition from the City of Vancouver and already the rave reviews are pouring in:
Doug Farmer says:
4 stars – Very outside the box thinking about something inside the box. Has 21st century written all over it.
Our friend YVR Housing Analyst says
A thoughtful submission. I like how they can stack; I, for one, would first have tried spheres.
And Flo says
This is the least creative solution I have seen submitted. I feel hopeless about my future just looking at this.
I agree with arch. This is not the kind of architectural experience that sustains a human soul.
So don’t miss out on your opportunity. Get your single square foot in the market today!
July 19th, 2012 at 5:10 am 1
i buy 3… and my husbah buy 3!
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:18 am 2
Or rent for $99.99.
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:35 am 3
LOL
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:15 am 4
Do these ‘cubes’ come with a dose of schizophrenia and a dash of drug addiction?
Sorry, but deluded and living in a box has all ready been done in Vancouver, seemingly ad infinitum.
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:21 am 5
Think sub-atomic, this is a new paradigm: quantum housing.
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July 19th, 2012 at 7:21 am 6
Enough with the higgs bosen, those physicists gotta invent the shrink ray real fast! If only we can shrink ourselves and the kids..
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July 19th, 2012 at 7:52 am 7
I still like the idea of subterranean tunnels inhabited by foreign grad students and other forms of life with names best prefixed with “wear”. Down is the new up.
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:06 am 8
10′ foot ceilings could really put a squeeze on the budget.
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:13 am 9
@Loon: “10′ foot ceilings could really put a squeeze on the budget.”
Or cut them to 6.5 ft and you just reduced housing costs by almost 20%! Who uses that top 1.5 ft anyway?
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:19 am 10
Wednesday’s Sales – 98
Of which were post July 9 – 35
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:32 am 11
The 580 ft^2 condo in the “ad” would cost (assuming 8 ft ceilings) 24*24*8*199 = $916,992. Not a great deal.
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:34 am 12
@jesse, “I still like the idea of subterranean tunnels …. Down is the new up.”
Now that is thinking outside the box.
The tunnels would have to be above waterline, so how about Capitol Hill? The main entrance to SubTerraNea (more boringly, “subterranea”) could be located somewhere along the Trans-Canada Trail apparently found on the northern flank of the hill. This would represent the epitome of a green community. Think of the hill as a giant heat sink, lower heating costs in winter, cool in summer. Giant skylights would deliver the sun from street level.
Does Capitol Hill still have a large Italian population? Or did I get that wrong? Well, just look at Italy and all he tunnels there; there’s a well-established engineering tradition that could be exploited in Canada’s first underground suburb. SubTerraNea? NeoSubTerra? simply NeoTerra?
SFU student housing could be built below Burnaby Mountain … affordable housing at its best. There’s probably enough height above sea level to build UBC student housing with SubTerra tunnels entering onto the slope above Wreck Beach. Those units would sell fast.
@jesse, You’re brilliant!
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:41 am 13
This is sickenly demented. Using this math we’ll start sticking crack adicts and poor people in 100 cubic foot coffins to live. 5x5x5 – thats 125 cubic feet. Plenty of space.
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:43 am 14
@g.t:
#1
Ha ha
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:44 am 15
A somewhat related article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/19/garden/mini-urban-edens-in-the-garden.html
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:01 am 16
Wow…they’ve figured out a way to reach an untapped stock of fools. I see McDonald’s employees sitting with their banker working out a way to make monthly payments work on a single cube. And I’m sure their target market won’t figure out that a typical square foot is really 8 cubic feet, so they’ll think they’re getting a great deal. Now the minimum wage set can act douchie when talking about real estate.
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:10 am 17
Save that picture. When Vancouver becomes the laughing stalk of the world, international media are going to be looking for examples of how delusional Vancouverites were… On second thought, Vancouver isn’t high profile enough to get more than a 30 second clip on CNN.
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:16 am 18
“On second thought, Vancouver isn’t high profile enough to get more than a 30 second clip on CNN.”
Is that your definition of being “defined” in a variety of contexts?
Just curious.
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:45 am 19
@Dan in Calgary: Most of Point Grey — and “the rest” of Vancouver — is well above sea level. There are some earthquake considerations but nothing that can’t be solved.
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:50 am 20
….
What’s next, thinking of one’s wealth by their spe*m count? “Hey congrats, you are a hundred-millionaire!”
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:02 am 21
@g.t: You mean “tree”.
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:15 am 22
“Our friend YVR Housing Analyst says
A thoughtful submission. I like how they can stack; I, for one, would first have tried spheres.”
Holy sh!t did this guy not have legos as a kid?
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:23 am 23
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/07/19/20120719-equifax-consumer-debt.html
Funny how debt is still growing, but because the growth has slowed down, this is supposed to be good news??
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:34 am 24
They look just like dice, ante up suckers.
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:49 am 25
“When the (HPI) index came out in February, cynics alleged that its whole purpose was to cover over the beginning of the end of a massive real estate bubble. Interestingly, the bursting of this bubble may have already begun. The average sales price in Vancouver fell 13% in June from one year ago! What did the MLS’ new HPI index show for Vancouver in June? A year over year rise of 1.7%!”
http://www.barelkarsan.com/2012/07/housing-shills.html
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:53 am 26
Last night I was walking with a friend who is a home owner. She said Vancouver real estate never go down. But I told her, Vancouver RE had dropped 14% already! Boy that felt good.
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:00 am 27
@25 gokou3: Industry HPI skepticism is the day’s subject on Garth’s site:
http://www.greaterfool.ca/2012/07/18/statistics/
with a really excellent comment from Ross Kay, a GTA realtor.
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:13 am 28
I’m still not sure whether or not this was intended as a joke. I guess that in itself says something about Vancouver RE.
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:27 am 29
#11 @silverfish city: “The 580 ft^2 condo in the “ad” would cost (assuming 8 ft ceilings) 24*24*8*199 = $916,992. Not a great deal.”
The idea suddenly just got a lot more real.
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:53 am 30
@fixie guy: ” Industry HPI skepticism is the day’s subject on Garth’s site”
I suppose it would matter for people who are concerned with what other people would pay.
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July 19th, 2012 at 12:25 pm 31
Like a very good April Fools joke, at first I thought these guys were serious.
I kind of like the idea of turning Vancouver real estate into a liquid commodity. It would bring focus on how badly under-performing it is as an asset.
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July 19th, 2012 at 12:35 pm 32
I’m trying to parse the other reTHINK submissions.
No, really, which of these are satire and which are serious?
When you’re trying to discuss Vancouver real estate without considering that it might be a bubble, the baseline level of farcical is extremely high.
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July 19th, 2012 at 12:37 pm 33
ROFL
unable to make a comment..ROFL…OOOooh my tummy hurts!
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July 19th, 2012 at 12:37 pm 34
@granite countertop:
The entire Vancouver real estate market is satire.
It’s about to get serious though.
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July 19th, 2012 at 12:45 pm 35
“Science tells us that physical space is infinitely divisible. This means that real estate density is theoretically unlimited, resulting in the potential for infinite equity gain!”
Brilliant. We’ll just keep stuffing more people in smaller cubes while charging them more for it, ad infinitum with no limits. Oh and while we’re at it, we’re increasing your work hours and cutting your pay in half.
Oh and do these cubes mean I can day trade real estate now? I’d like to short 100 cubes please.
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July 19th, 2012 at 12:49 pm 36
30 jesse Says: “…for people who are concerned with what other people would pay.”
Yep: buyers, sellers and market spectators.
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July 19th, 2012 at 1:05 pm 37
http://en.mercopress.com/2012/04/24/london-property-boom-asians-bought-51-of-new-luxury-homes
Foreigners account for > 50% of high-end sales in London.
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July 19th, 2012 at 1:15 pm 38
@rksleung: We saw similar stories for Vancouver last year or two. What’s happening now? Saw the stats on van west / west van sales?
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July 19th, 2012 at 1:35 pm 39
@rksleung:
So that’s where HAM went!
They finally realized Vancouver is a backwater.
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July 19th, 2012 at 1:52 pm 40
This has to be sarcastic.
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July 19th, 2012 at 2:01 pm 41
@rksleung:
In case you missed this:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-15/london-house-prices-plunge-as-supply-surge-adds-to-summer-lull.html
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July 19th, 2012 at 2:02 pm 42
not sure what the issue is with the cube 3.0. I don’t see this as having anything to do with housing. It is essentially commoditization of space, and creating a homogenesous good that can be traded in capital markets.
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July 19th, 2012 at 2:14 pm 43
I would really like to purchase “quantum spaces” around the surface area of the home of this idea’s creators. Then fill those cubes with black paint. Then I will ask whether they still think spaces should still be freely tradable and infinitely divisible.
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July 19th, 2012 at 2:14 pm 44
@rksleung:
“Foreigners account for > 50% of high-end sales in London.”
No, they account for > 50% of sales of new properties in a few central neighbourhoods that amount to perhaps 5% of Greater London.
But I think your interpretation is the one the RE agents want people to have.
“The neighbourhoods used to compile the report were Kensington and Chelsea, City of Westminster, City of London, St. John’s Wood and the Canary Wharf financial district in east London.”
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July 19th, 2012 at 2:43 pm 45
Speaking of the UK:
Yet another place that doesn’t get it. A market that can be entered only with capital transfers from family must eventually crash.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jul/19/housing-ladder-partner-degree-relatives
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July 19th, 2012 at 3:02 pm 46
@fixie guy: “buyers, sellers and market spectators.”
It’s fun to talk about industry-generated HPIs but I pay little attention to them anymore, other than to eyeball relative movements bewtween areas within a metro reigion. If the overall index is being manipulated I could care less; it’s another signpost pointing towards inherent dishonesty in an industry geared towards punting overpriced crap to greedy people. The Teranet HPI, while lagging, is a decent enough measure run by people ostensibly independent of FIRE. That’s good enough, and it dropping 25% from current levels will be enough to make me pay attention to specific buying opportunities. Until then, manipulate away. I would expect nothing less.
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July 19th, 2012 at 3:02 pm 47
Thinking through the Vancouver spring selling season, it does look eerily like the national picture in the US in H1 2007. Although the US market peaked in price terms in Q3 2006, sales only gradually tailed off through the first half of 2007, but then dropped like a stone in September 2007. (look at the chart in the link below).
My thinking is that we only have this summer to be quietly in the know. By the end of September the C-word (as in crash) may be upon us.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/07/existing-home-sales-5/
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July 19th, 2012 at 3:34 pm 48
Buddy, the crash has already arrived in Vancouver. We are in the midst of it right now. Market down 14% in just a few months, massive inventories, completely illiquid market, we have passed the point of no return – this will be spectacular and ugly with large job losses to come in all businesses related to real estate. Condo construction workers and Realtors are going the way of the dodo bird.
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July 19th, 2012 at 3:38 pm 49
Jessie, you will find that the Teranet HPI lags the Realtor HPI -
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July 19th, 2012 at 3:41 pm 50
@trash crash alert:
“completely illiquid market”
Don’t confuse “illiquid” with “vendors refuse to price to sell”. It’s not any harder to sell than before.
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July 19th, 2012 at 4:06 pm 51
@trash
Oh, I agree we are beyond the point of no return, but up until now things have been fairly orderly and the realturds have been able to hide behind the HPI to a degree. I’m just thinking that in September we are going to start getting 4 inch headlines in the MSM and ridiculously large price declines.
Also, it is almost possible to dismiss the weak market as summer doldrums etc.
It’s not an official crash until the Premier and Prime Minister are on TV officially denying it.
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July 19th, 2012 at 4:19 pm 52
Here’s another realtor looking out for your best interests as they always do. So many good points, so many compelling arguments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5klf_7kirg&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1
And here’s how she suggests getting around the new mortgage rules (she’s so clever):
A Creative Solution – The Family Equity Plan
A mortgage broker friend of mine, came up with a plan to help some buyers overcome this new reality. I will summarize here, but please – if it interests you, get in touch with me and I will provide more detailed information.
They key is to come up with a 20% down payment. If you have that, these government changes are meaningless as they only apply to what are known as high ratio mortgages – those with a down payment of less than this magic number.
Even a modest 2 bedroom condo in one of the more affordable central Vancouver neighbourhoods sells for between $300,000 and $400,000, 20% of which is $60,000 – $80,000. For many people, especially a first time buyer with no home equity, those numbers are daunting to say the least.
So, what can you do?
If you have a close family member, parents and grandparents most likely, who would be willing to help get you to 20%, their contribution can be registered as a second mortgage on the title, behind the bank’s first mortgage. This conditional gift which is registered does not bear any interest and must be paid back to the donor upon sale of the property.
Why?
The registration of the gifted money clearly identifies these funds as part of the reconciliation of the donor’s estate for future re-distribution
The registration protects the funds from any claim by a third party against the property
Benefits:
With 20% down, the loan will be a conventional mortgage which will save thousands in CMHC insurance fees
Buyer can qualify for a 30 year amortization which allows the applicant to qualify for a larger loan amount and lower monthly payments
Gift funds can be registered on the title, protecting them from a third party claim and clearly identifying those funds as being owed back to the donor upon sale of the property
Having the gift registered on title and owed back to the donor upon sale of the property allows parents or grandparents with equity in their own homes to help their young family members realize the dream of home ownership for themselves, while securing and accounting for their gift.
If you would like more information about the rule changes, the Family Equity Plan or anything else related to Vancouver real estate, please call me at 604 317 2289 or visit me online at http://www.marycleaver.com.
Thanks for reading!
Mary
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July 19th, 2012 at 4:37 pm 53
@Best place on meth: From Mary’s web page:
Another (relatively) newbie agent who hasn’t experienced a real estate correction.
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July 19th, 2012 at 4:54 pm 54
@Best place on meth: “A Creative Solution – The Family Equity Plan”
Wow. I mean, holy crap. I hope nobody actually does this. It’s all about asset stripping now.
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:04 pm 55
@Best place on meth:
In my circles, this is pretty standard and the reason why I believe the bubble has gone on longer than expected. Normally grandparents pass on their inheritance to parents but I’m seeing a lot of grandchildren getting their parent’s inheritance instead. When the grandparents’ house sells, each of the grandchildren is given their down payment from it. Everyone thinks they’re being responsible but really they just keep the pyramid scheme going… Until now that is.
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:10 pm 56
Overheard this conversation today at a random bus stop in the Lower Mainland:
A: I haven’t seen you very much lately
B: Yeah, we just bought a house and it is constantly in need of repairs. Every time we touch something it breaks. We opened a window and the glass fell out so we had to fix that. We had to get a new furnace. We had to replace this. We had to replace. We keep finding deficiencies that need to be replaced.
A: Oh that sounds stressful.
B: Yes it is stressful. And to add to our stress, the condo we were living in before we purchased this house isn’t selling. Our realtor told us the reason our condo isn’t selling is because the carpets smell bad and that we should replace them. We can’t afford to install new carpetting so we are thinking about just getting them cleaned to save money. He is telling us that these carpets are such a big problem but we don’t understand because the same realtor sold us that condo with the same smelly carpets in it. I don’t understand what has changed.
…It was all I could do to bite my tongue and not tell this person that they have a much bigger problem than smelly carpets. Maybe you should try lowering your asking price. And yes, do replace these old stinky carpets.
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:18 pm 57
@46 jesse: “It’s fun to talk about industry-generated HPIs but I pay little attention to them anymore…”
Garth’s column, of course, was of high interest for those who don’t understand that, market participants unfamiliar with the deep concerns about the industry HPI. For those already in the know Kay’s third generation insider perspective was the gold. Don’t really see a reason for downplaying either.
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:23 pm 58
Sales look dead today, not a single SFH moved on the east side.
Maybe the MLS is broken.
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July 19th, 2012 at 5:59 pm 59
You will be assimilated….
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:02 pm 60
@joe_blown_away_by_high_housing_costs: Wtf dude, I don’t even like to buy a new (used) car unless I’ve sold the old one first.
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:11 pm 61
New Listings 193
Price Changes 90
Sold Listings 87
TI:19208
http://www.laurenandpaul.ca
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:15 pm 62
@Best place on meth:
Fish says no sales of SFH in West Vancouver either. This could be a trend starting.
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:23 pm 63
Congratulations to mortgage poor Vancouverites:
Starting today you may bring your own bottle of wine to restaurants.
Please leave the Peller Estates at home to avoid embarrassing yourselves any further.
Cranteeny’s are not applicable to this offer.
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:26 pm 64
@joe_blown_away_by_high_housing_costs: “the same realtor sold us that condo with the same smelly carpets in it. I don’t understand what has changed“
1. You are now the seller, not the buyer.
2. Markets can turn illiquid. Didn’t they explain that to you?
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:26 pm 65
Who needs Luongo anymore, when RE market provides 2 shutouts in one day?
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July 19th, 2012 at 6:48 pm 66
Here are the norms from the monthly REBGV reports
If we have <=85 average sales per day for the 8 days remaining in July, we will come in under 2008 sales. If the post July 9th sales continue to fizzle, we'll hit that, I think.
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July 19th, 2012 at 7:24 pm 67
@joe_blown_away_by_high_housing_costs:
That is a wonderful story. Thanks for posting
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July 19th, 2012 at 7:34 pm 68
WHAT I MEANT was…
Never mind.
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:04 pm 69
#63 @Best place on meth: “Starting today you may bring your own bottle of wine to restaurants.”
I like it. If other cheapskates and/or snobs bring their own bottles of wine, I expect to pay a lower markup.
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:21 pm 70
#58 @Best place on meth: “Sales look dead today, not a single SFH moved on the east side.”
It’s the weather!!!
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July 19th, 2012 at 8:29 pm 71
@VHB:
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:31 pm 72
@Best place on meth:
I am not sure recent Vancouver home owners can even afford wine anymore.
Vodka kool aid is better suited for them. You can even make fake cranteeny with red kool aid.
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:51 pm 73
@patriotz “Don’t confuse “illiquid” with “vendors refuse to price to sell”. It’s not any harder to sell than before.”
Ah, thank you. My day is not complete without your daily nugget of condescension.
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July 19th, 2012 at 9:53 pm 74
There’s always WonderWine! http://www.wonderwine.com/About.page
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:25 pm 75
@frank: Did Fish say there were no SFH sales in West Van or the West Side of Vancouver?
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July 19th, 2012 at 10:28 pm 76
@frank: Ahh… never mind. Got my answer, thanks
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:50 pm 77
@joe_blown_away_by_high_housing_costs:
They could afford to buy anew house but they can’t afford new carpets? I guess End of the Roll won’t sell carpets for 5% down, 25 year amortizations.
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:50 pm 78
@patriotz: “Don’t confuse “illiquid” with “vendors refuse to price to sell”
Same thing. Anything is liquid at the right price.
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July 19th, 2012 at 11:55 pm 79
This is not to be missed:
http://www.mises.ca/posts/articles/a-portrait-of-the-2011-cmhc/
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July 24th, 2012 at 6:19 am 80
[...] joe_blown_away_by_high_housing_costs at VCI 19 Jul 2012 5:10pm [...]
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