Open Topic

FFFA! CMHC! RETIREMENT! LOTTO! RULES!

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167 Comments

It’s that time of the week again!

Let’s do our regular end of the week news round up and open topic discussion thread.

Here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:

–CMHC outlived its mandate
–House retirement plan for boomers
–Lottery retirement plan
–Full mortgage rule effect to come
–Start CMHC privatization now?
–Condo market driven by bad math
–Toronto condo halts on plunge
–ICBC sheds staff

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

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patriotz

@jesse:
“I don’t see a problem either, as long as one understands the buyer agent is NOT always working for his/her client.”

The buyer agent is always working for their client all right. Their client is the party who is paying them – the seller.

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Bo Xilai

@jesse:
Helmut Pastrick locks in a bottom call!

Helmut Pastrick is an economic ‘tard only capable of projecting linear equations…

If I want economic predictions from a Muppet, I’ll listen to his doppelgänger, Telly, from Sesame Street…

http://toughpigs.com/uploaded_images/Tellyponder-769224.jpg

http://vreaa.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/helmut-pastrick.jpg

Separated at birth, or what?

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Rusty's Revenge

@mac:

call up the Realtor for 881 Saddle in Ranch Park (coquitlam) and inquire how much they’re asking – bear in mind (haha, get it?) that the neighbors all bought their homes 30 years ago for 50-100k.

who wants to live in an ‘executive style’ mansion beside a bunch of ranchers and bungalows? one more symptom of delusion – builder/owner – neighbors are not happy with this behemoth.

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jesse

@Vote Down The Facts: I don’t see a problem either, as long as one understands the buyer agent is NOT always working for his/her client.

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mac

@mclovin: I agree with you but in this market where the first open house on a pretty well-priced nice property nets you 2 visitors every 20-30 minutes of your 2-hour open, you get the feeling the agent doesn’t want to let you out of the house without you knowing that your offer will be welcome. Such a difference between now and a few years ago when there were 20 pairs of shoes at the door and 3 inspectors clambering all over the property to get their report in to buyers who were preparing their bid on the spot.

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Vote Down The Facts

@jesse:

I don’t see the problem providing both buyer and seller are willing participants.

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jesse

@Vote Down The Facts: Then the inherent conflict of interest buyers agents possess is no surprise.

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Anonymous

@mclovin: “Anyone have any idea what this house would go for in this market?”

3 to 3.5 million would be my guess. At least that is what they would ask for it. It may only be worth 2.75 today and half that in a few years.

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Vote Down The Facts

@mclovin:

Doing anything for a sale IS working for their client.

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SAD

I wonder if booze can solve SAD. Drink yourself into a coma until the end of the dark rainy season. It will be what? Six months?

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mclovin

But when you insist absolutely there will be a decline they fight back). Before we left she spilled all the beans to encourage us to write… the lady has to sell, she’s bought another place, she did 50K in upgrades but is only asking 40K more than she paid six years ago, she’s motivated, etc., etc…. who knows if that’s true.

That shit pisses me off. Realtards are supposed to work for their client not you. They are scum who will do anything to get a sale. I wonder if that industry will ever change?

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mac

@mac: And let me say one more thing about that BS Olympic Village penthouse unit. You have a choice–either dining room table or couch. That’s how small the living dining room area is. You can see the pics… there’s no dining room table. That’s not a penthouse. That’s a top floor unit looking directly east. There’s no view of the village unless you go out on the balcony and stick your head around the glass divider that separates your unit from your neighbours and look North. We went to look at a few units today. Crickets. Agents seem very nervous when I said we believe in a decline in prices so maybe next Spring is the best time to buy but maybe not. Who knows? (I find it more effective to be positive, yet hesitant about buying… then the agents… Read more »

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N

@Unsettled Worker:

“Who is the condo buyer? ”

Just a guess, but I imagine many are bought by people whose houses have appreciated recently, giving them “equity” that they want to “invest.” (You may wish to use the terms “transient paper gain” and “speculate” instead.)

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WagTheDog

you guys crack me up

all of you, but mostly one dude

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VMD

Battle of Vancouver: Condo Front is also under way.

Areas with Positive Year-over-year HPI are controlled by Bulls.
Areas with Negative Year-over-year HPI are controlled by Bears.

Update from the S.F.H. frontlines:
REBGV: Vancouver West, at 0% YoY, and 0.2% MoM, has both sides evenly matched.
FVREB: Langley will soon be controlled by Bears.
http://vancouverpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/ubpfattach/battle-of-gv-condo-2012-10.jpg

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logic

holy crap.

nearly 40k average non-mortgage debt?

q: does “consumer debt” include student loan? (I would guess no, but am not sure).

wow.

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Makaya

A good read for a sunday evening…

The people’s debt: B.C. has the most heavily indebted population in the country — and the number is growing

Some tidbits:

A growing number of B.C. residents are running this emotional gauntlet. Beset by stagnant incomes and rising prices, B.C. posted a 42 per cent increase in people going bust over the past four years – far higher than the 11-per-cent national increase.

It’s little wonder insolvencies are surging: B.C. has the most heavily indebted population in the country. The average B.C. consumer has $37,879 in consumer (nonmortgage) debt. That’s 40 per cent higher than the national average.

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jesse

@patriotz: “Anyone else remember this?”

Yes, he was online at the Globe and Mail I think, chatting alongside Madani or one of those. That exchange is still on the G&M website, searchable through Google. I find Pastrick’s arguments backwards. I don’t know why he’s so adamantly sticking to arguments so clearly proven inadequate in the US. But who am I to say, he probably earns multiples of my income! 🙂

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mac

@Makaya: I call BS. We went to see that unit a year ago. Asking 850K. Maybe it came down from 900K max. Again, another sleazy move by a real estate agent. 1.1Million was probably the original 2008 asking price before ground was broken in the OV.

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mac

@YLTNboomerang: I’m not sure it’s the mighty are falling on this one because I know someone who knows someone who is selling a street-facing townhouse in the Erikson, priced roughly what this is priced for.

Unfortunately, her husband died just before their moving date last year. The owners offered her a chance to get out of the sale (as per the law) but because it was her husband’s dream home and because she was in mourning and not aware of market conditions (he’s the biz guy/not she)… she went ahead and completed. I hope she is OK and doesn’t get too badly hurt on the sale. It’s just one more sad story when RE markets go through the stratosphere and come back down again.

VREAA don’t reprint this story. Please.

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VMD

the Battle of Vancouver is now underway!

Areas with Positive Year-over-year HPI are controlled by Bulls.
Areas with Negative Year-over-year HPI are controlled by Bears.

Update from the S.F.H. frontlines:
GVREB: New West is about to fall into bears’ hand.. urr.. paws.
FVREB: North Delta is about to become bear territory.

http://vancouverpeak.com/wp-content/uploads/ubpfattach/battle-of-gv-sfh-2012-10-all.jpg

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mclovin

Anyone have any idea what this house would go for in this market?

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/3320822770.html

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jesse

@Colt: ” Hmm, if you could put $400 a side into your savings account @ 1.25% compounded on a monthly basis and be taxed fully vs investing in an asset with potential gains in terms of thousands of dollars and taxed at 50% of capital gains. Pretty hard if not impossible to beat.”

The only thing left after guys like this are beaten down is the “long term”. He’s comparing a 1.25% cash account to a riskier asset class? I don’t think you’re the droid he’s looking for.

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patriotz

@jesse:
Wasn’t it Pastrick who claimed on an on-line chat not too long ago that a housing downturn could not happen without a recession, and then someone came on and said that US house prices started declining well before the recession. He then said that the US downturn was due to a “housing recession” (which seems to be circular causality to me).

Anyone else remember this?

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Anonymous

$13,000 a month and no parking?

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/apa/3334528234.html

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