data, Holiday, hype, supply

Hypey Valentines Day!

148
148 Comments

A few random tidbits today:

First off we’re right up around 15,000 listings for sale and we’re not even half way through the month. According to numbers from inventory we’re at 15,007 but Paulb’s numbers show 14,993.

So today will either be a record breaking sales day or we’ll get nudged over the 15k mark no matter how you count it.

If you’re the sort that just can’t wait, VHB is hosting a 15k party over at the Vancouver Peak now.

In other news earlier this week the question was “hey, isn’t that supposed foreign buyer on the evening news a local condo marketing employee?”

Turns out the answer is yes, according to Village Whisperer.

Over on the MAC Marketing Facebook page a CBC reporter is asking for clarification on this issue.

Matthew Black I was the CBC reporter on this story and feel some clarification is in order:

*Can you confirm that Amanda is the employee you refer to in the post above?
*Is Chris Lee (from the TV pieces) actually Amanda Lee’s sister?
*Is Chris Lee a genuine prospective buyer from China, or, is she also a MAC employee?

I trust you still have my contact information…

Sort by:   newest | oldest | most voted
Aleksey
Guest
Aleksey
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Soon at your local RE agency

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kZg_ALxEz0

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Aleksey
Guest
Aleksey
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

BTW taglines for that movie: “Lie. Cheat. Steal. All In A Day’s Work.”

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Waiting to exhale
Guest
Waiting to exhale
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.
I have been following the MAC marketing solutions story the past couple of days without having a chance to see the actual video “news” reports. When I saw the CTV version I almost fell out of my couch. I know Amanda Lee. More accurately I knew her from about 8 years ago. She is from Taiwan not China!!! The CTV story clearly stated that Chris Lee was waiting for her parents from China and that she came to Canada two years ago. Based on her accent I do believe Chris is from China but not Amanda. The BS in this fiasco is getting better and better. I doubt they are actually sisters. On the other hand, I guess they could be sisters from a different mother/father. But I highly doubt it. But honestly, how hard is it to find a… Read more »
You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
gokou3
Guest
gokou3
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.
Re #3, Yes, based on my observation of Amanda’s FB profile, I would say Amanda is a Taiwanese based on the pages that she “likes” on FB. Also, from her photos (no longer publicly viewable), I learned that she’s recently married. Yet, in her approx. 10 wedding photos I don’t see her sister “Chris Lee” in them at all. Beside, you can all see from the CTV crap that Amanda and Chris don’t look like each other at all and have different accent. Before you guys criticize me for going through her FB profile and that kinda BS, think about what MAC has attempted to do to the gullible public. They perpetuated a grand scheme of tricking people into the urge of quickly committing large amount of debts into purchasing an asset that’s falling in value each and everyday. Not… Read more »
You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
oneangryslav2
Guest
oneangryslav2
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

“I doubt they are actually sisters.”

That’s exactly what I thought from the still photograph in the CTV piece. I then asked my spouse–a self-proclaimed expert in this type of thing–if she thought the two were sisters and she said ‘no way!’

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
oneangryslav2
Guest
oneangryslav2
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

“If the MAC people are stock market participants instead of RE market sales, they would have long been prosecuted for securities fraud.”

Agreed. I think it’s about time for some good-ole political activism and a push to get our elected officials to produce legislation which would make it illegal–large fines and jail time–to do many of the unethical things that are currently being done in the real estate biz. A quick example is the Toronto condo king Lamb (can’t remember his first name) who publishes flyers promising ROIs in the hundreds of percent.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
patriotz
Member
patriotz
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Seniors piling on debt faster than other groups
Top comment:

I’d be interested to see how much of this additional debt is accrued by helping out their children and or grandchildren who may not have had as easy a go as they may have liked.

Like “helping” them buy a house maybe?

Remember that if the average senior household debt is $47K, some households must be much higher.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
vangrl
Member
vangrl
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

ugh, it infuriates me re-watching those videos knowing what I know now.

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/year-of-the-snake-nets-condo-sales-developers-1.1150505

Matthew Black the reporter from CBC better follow up on this.

He should include this scam as well:
http://whispersfromtheedgeoftherainforest.blogspot.ca/2012/04/mon-post-2-more-on-latest-cam.html

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Peter
Guest
Peter
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Is there a link to the CTV footage?

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Many Franks
Guest
Active Member
Many Franks
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Uh oh — just when you thought this couldn’t get any worse, it looks like the Hot African Money may dry up.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
vangrl
Member
vangrl
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

um ya Peter, that would be the post immediately above your post

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
taylor192
Member
taylor192
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

#7 patriotz

Seniors also represent the highest income group in Canada, so it would have been nice if they had broken down why seniors increased their debt load. Was it CCs? LOCs? mortgages? cars? …

The last paragraph paints a bleak picture. 1/3 of seniors have debt, so the average excluding those without debt is 3x$47K.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
JB
Guest
JB
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Well what we need now is a strong influx of immigration to BC, because soon we will all be so poor that we won´t be able to afford a house. I suggest we can invite more Chinese with their money, because in China, it is almost obligatory for a guy to have a place to live before he gets married! Or we should implement this tradition in Canada and force young men to take a mortgage.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Chuckles
Guest
Chuckles
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Is there an official channel we can all email to demand a public story retraction? This story has overstepped the line and is now into pure fiction. There should be a televised apology.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
good-format
Guest
good-format
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Search Amanda Lee on Google. Pay attention to the first search result.

http://www.google.ca/search?q=amanda+lee+linkedin+mac&oq=amanda+lee+linkedin+mac&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

You guys are bordering on chargeable harassment.

Drop it.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
Democrass
Guest
Democrass
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

“You guys are bordering on chargeable harassment”

Not even close. Don’t try to shut down discussion about the RE industry’s fraud with ill-informed intimidation.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
VHB
Member
VHB
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.
Public MLS on realtylink.org shows +43 VW SFH since yesterday. Nice. Now at 843. Last year at this time–785. We didn’t hit 843 until mid-April last year. And last year wasn’t exactly a good year. We have a shot at hitting 1000 by end of March. March. What the heck is that going to look like by July? The only way to clear inventory of that size is for people to start buying. How can that happen? a) people get more income. Not going to happen fast enough. b) HAM helicopters arrive. Anyone got Amanda Lee’s number? She needs to find about 1000 friends. c) interest rates go down and make debt more affordable. No. d) banks loosen credit; OSFI etc. loosen rules. e) prices start dropping faster than anyone though possible. Of these, I think (d) and (e) are… Read more »
You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
truther
Guest
truther
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

lol, it’s HIL-AR-I-OUS listening to all of your consipracy theories and whacked out bizarre ideas. truly this is tin foil hat center.

oohh, the media is all against you! people are deleting their profiles! oooh! the truth is out there! oooh scary stuff! better go all dorner. get real.

no one cares what a bunch of paranoid nerds on blogs think about anything.

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
gokou3
Guest
gokou3
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

“You guys are bordering on chargeable harassment.”

You mean, the MAC marketing guys et al who constantly harass me with mis-information during TV news hours?

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
/dev/null
Member
/dev/null
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Perhaps it’s discourteous to Mr. Black, since he seems to be following up with the new details of the story, but this latest episode of the VanRE drama reminds me of nothing if not this:

Reporters are faced with the daily choice of painstakingly researching stories or writing whatever people tell them. Both approaches pay the same.

-Scott Adams (The Dilbert Principle)

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
4444 4444 4444 4444
Guest
4444 4444 4444 4444
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Realty radio infomercial on now.

The totally unbiased Bill has a guest who is also a Totally unbiased expert.

Bridge for sale.
Buy now before it’s too late

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
good-format
Guest
good-format
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

Google cache about Amanda Lee who showed on the CTV.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:jES8To_vgssJ:ca.linkedin.com/pub/amanda-lee/43/27a/81+%22amanda+lee%22+mac+linkedin&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=caa

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
/dev/null
Member
/dev/null
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.

I just learned something new: Price-to-rent and price-to-income ratios are not relevant to the housing market.

Housing-crash prophets should check their numbers again

Some people are predicting a crash in the Canadian housing market because price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios have gone up a lot. But these ratios omit mortgage rates, a key determinant of prices. A better guide, in my view, is the housing affordability index published by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investor-community/trading-shots/housing-crash-prophets-should-check-their-numbers-again/article8611843/

You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago
ArthurFonzarelli
Guest
ArthurFonzarelli
Click to flag and open «Comment Reporting» form. You can choose reporting category and send message to website administrator. Admins may or may not choose to remove the comment or block the author. And please don't worry, your report will be anonymous.
Chuckles – a lot of people have been talking about using the CRTC to complain but I suspect that’s a lengthy and fruitless avenue. The BPCPA (Consumer Protection BC) – http://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/about-us – is probably a better avenue. If you’re drafting a letter though I’d send to both. I suspect that if a group of individuals who are considering purchasing real estate at some point – i.e. most people on this forum presumably – were to write to the BPCPA about this and various other borderline illegal tactics – such as paying people to stand in condo lines, falsifying statistics, misleading consumers regarding potential financial gains, etc., that they might do an omnibus review/investigation into not just the MAC case but the overall RE marketing system. As a consumer you are afforded rights to factual information about the products and services… Read more »
You Must Be Logged In To Vote00You Must Be Logged In To Vote
6 years 1 month ago