FFFA! Deception! Marketing! Affordable! Snakes!

FFFA is the acronym for Friday Free-for-all, but it’s also the sound that some condo marketers may be making right now.

But not you, you’re happy because it’s Friday!

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:

–Year of the Snake nets condo sales
–Ooops! Don’t know how that happened!
–Do your due diligence
–Whispers get loud
–Why you have to fake buyers
–Second least affordable in the world?
–Falling market keeps falling
–15K Party Party Party
–Elbowing back at the media
–

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

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Alexis

7 years ago

I wanted to show this specific blog post, “FFFA!
Deception! Marketing! Affordable! Snakes! – Vancouver Condo Info” together with my personal close friends on twitter.
I actuallysimply wanted to disperse your terrific posting!

Many thanks, Deb

Browser

7 years ago

Too bad about the homophobic slurs on this board – e.g. from anonymous @10:13pm and @chilled. Wish people would keep their bigotry to themselves and keep the discussions on topic.

Old School

7 years ago

@216 Indeed, You can buy or rent just about any big ticket consumer item. But you need to consider both when setting monetary policy.

In the US the Fed only looks at rents in assessing prices and look where that has got them 😉

patriotz

7 years ago

“As for her net worth, did you include property taxes, closing costs, insurance, transaction costs, and the opportunity cost associated with the down payment?”

Sorry to nitpick, but you’re talking about total return. Net worth is simply one’s assets minus one’s liabilities at any given time.

patriotz

7 years ago

“The Singapore story. They realize immigration inflow drives property prices higher.”

It’s Singapore government polices that are responsible for the high RE prices. If government policy were to keep prices low rather than high immigration wouldn’t matter.

That said, the immigration issue in Singapore is a sign that the middle class is feeling under attack – justifiably IMHO – and that the country’s social and economic success of the last few decades is starting to unravel.

chilled

7 years ago

oneangryslav2 Says:
February 17th, 2013 at 10:17 pm

@211: There’s enough to criticize about Rennie’s role in this bubble without resorting to ad hominem attacks based on his sexuality. Grow up!

++++++++++++++

Try to remember the “basement dweller” “looser renter” “financial fool” ad hominem attacks from the Rennies and look a likes occurred long before some of us used the term ‘fudge packer’ to describe rennie.

Anonymous

7 years ago

The Singapore story. They realize immigration inflow drives property prices higher. Canadians don’t.

When was the last time there was a mass protest in vancouver where the message was to lower immigration levels because of strains on housing affordability?

Canadians are naive!

Bo Xilai

7 years ago

Do you know how hard it is to make Singaporeans protest? You know it’s something bad when repressed Singaporeans take to the streets:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-16/singaporeans-protest-plan-to-increase-population-by-immigration.html

“The rally increases pressure on the government to slow an influx of immigrants that has been blamed for infrastructure strains, record-high housing and transport costs and competition for jobs.”

Don't make eye contact

7 years ago

“But in the real world, a house is the biggest consumer purchase in one’s life time. A child can understand that.”

Yeah, but you never have to buy. You can rent. And rents have not gone up (at least not where I rent).

Wheres Waldo

7 years ago

Forget about Waldo, wheres all the buyers, the ham the CNY fireworks, sales centers empty, i even heard Amanda got laid off due to no sales.

oneangryslav2

7 years ago

@211: There’s enough to criticize about Rennie’s role in this bubble without resorting to ad hominem attacks based on his sexuality. Grow up!

Anonymous

7 years ago

……Just noticed the Rennie facebook page is now locked from all comments:
I wonder why…….

Cauth Bobth is buthy marketing properties in the Eath Van, the new Thaughnethy

Old School

7 years ago

Carney had ample opportunity to consider the impact of housing prices on “real” consumer prices; instead he kept rates low, even before the financial crisis.

He went with the western central banker flow and decided to focus on the prices of computer hard drives and toys made offshore (i.e. the official core CPI).

But in the real world, a house is the biggest consumer purchase in one’s life time. A child can understand that. Unfortunately, G7 central bankers are still getting their heads around the concept.

vangrl

7 years ago

oh woops that’s from 2012

vangrl

7 years ago

http://www.rew.ca/news/chinese-buyers-still-driving-condo-market#comment-21811

not sure if this has been posted

Short'em High

7 years ago

@Gen Y Follow-up Says:

…people that don’t care, don’t want to listen, and move forward with their own desires….
And these are the types of people that get ahead…

These and @vangrl’s friends – these are the ones that apparently never lose until they finally bet it all.

Without the lesson that induces caution and limits losses, they always get wiped out and then some on one bad trade.

This phenomenon is a significant source of profit in all markets. Thus, there is always an incentive to find new naive prospects for whatever game who don’t really understand how things ultimately work.

oneangryslav2

7 years ago

@204

“Did some quick calculations, and it looked like she paid down 23k of her mortgage in 2 years….(had initial 387k mortgage in January 2011, 285k now in January 2013)…
Not bad especially for all the posters who claim you pay nothing down on the principle within the 1st five years…
Looks like she spilt the mortgage on a 800k house and had a increase in value over those two years..

Admittedly, I don’t possess “bull” math skills, but I don’t understand your numbers here. As for her net worth, did you include property taxes, closing costs, insurance, transaction costs, and the opportunity cost associated with the down payment?

Gen Y Follow-up

7 years ago

Don’t know why you are laughing…

This girl made some money and managed to increase her net worth while owning a 800k house in Vancouver in her mid-20s….

Looks like her networth went up 50k between the time she bough and sold the house – all within 2 years…

How many years did it take you bears to make 50k?

Anonymous

7 years ago

Gen Y Follow-up

Ha ha ah ha ha ah hah aha hahah haha hah ah

I think that covers it.

vangrl

7 years ago

ummm omg poor “new guy”

http://youngandthrifty.ca/they-say-hell-always-come-back/#more-10483

Gen Y Follow-up

7 years ago

Speaking of telling people whether or not to buy…. Anybody remember that useless 20 something blog “Young and Thrifty” where the girl wanted to buy a house a few posters here took a strip out of her…. People pointed out the dangers of buying at the time, especially the one of buying it with a boyfriend and especially when she could not finance it by herself…. Well I guess she bought one, broke up with the boyfriend, and had to sell… Did some quick calculations, and it looked like she paid down 23k of her mortgage in 2 years….(had initial 387k mortgage in January 2011, 285k now in January 2013)… Not bad especially for all the posters who claim you pay nothing down on the principle within the 1st five years… Looks like she spilt the mortgage on a 800k… Read more »

vangrl

7 years ago

it is about the money, they’ve done well in real estate, and they and their realtor both think it’s a “great time to buy”.

If they were selling one place to buy in a more desirable location that’s one thing, but for the first time in their lives they are wanting to own 2 places, and are willing to take on the responsibilities of being a landlord, because they believe it will pay off handsomely in 3-4 years.

Anyway, I said my piece, that’s all I’ll do, they said they’d keep me posted as things transpire, you’ll be sure to hear:)

I wonder if they are going to forward the links I sent them on to their realtor…..:)

patriotz

7 years ago

“whether they make or lose money has nothing to do with me and shouldn’t be the main motivation to buy anyways.”

It’s certainly mine.

I have found that people like to pretend that it’s not about the money when they buy, but when they sell that pretence is dropped. Well if it’s about the money on the sale it was also about the money on the buy.

Short'em High

7 years ago

@vangrl Says:
…They own a place worth (according to their assessment) $700,000 in West Van. They don’t want to sell that right now because they believe that prices are low right now, and that they will likely get closer to $850,000 in 3-4 year…

Wow. In up to the eyeballs on one property and buying the dip on a second property!

This is the most remarkable report in the whole thread. “never lost money on RE” Your friends are out of their f..king minds! But hey, the money from the other side of the trade comes from somewhere. Now we know where!

phiscal.

7 years ago

Regarding advice to friends – I never tell someone they should or shouldn’t buy. I’m interested in why they want to buy and I may remark on the history of big ups and downs that the Vancouver market has seen in the last 30 years (the rollercoaster is a fun way to see that: http://vancouvercondo.info/coaster )

But I wouldn’t recommend for or against buying because everyone has different priorities, whether they make or lose money has nothing to do with me and shouldn’t be the main motivation to buy anyways.

Bubble? What Bubble?