advice, BC, prices, supply, west side

Want to buy the mayors house?

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48 Comments

According to real estate reporter extraordinaire village whisperer, the Mayor has put his home in Vancouver up for sale.

Or at least his corporation has put his home up for sale.

As far as we know there has been no announced plan for the Mayor to move away from Vancouver so it’s curious to see this listing.

Perhaps he’s trading in his city farmhouse for a more Vancouverish condo lifestyle, some posters here are saying they’re beginning to find deals in the long stagnant condo market. Or maybe he’s just going to couch surf for a while.

You don’t think we’ll end up with a Mayor who rents do you? My God! What would the neighbours think?!

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patriotz

“Then after all is said and done and rental income comes in, then the corp by itself can carry the mortgage and the person removes their name from title.”

What you’re describing is essentially changing the mortgage to non-recourse and I don’t think either the lender or CMHC is going to let the individual, who is personally responsible for the debt, off the hook like that. Also note that taking one’s name off the title has no effect on the responsibility to repay the debt. You cannot assign your debts to some other party.

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Larry

china stocks soars tonight, all is good for Canada bears.

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JR

Hmm….almost 40% more new prices than sales. Bull – which direction do you think the price changes went?

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WHO IS MAKING MONEY?

#40 – Don’t even bother. No one here thinks it can happen here. They just look at that and say we are different.

We have ______, Everybody wants to live here, not making anymore land, ski and golf on the same day, HAM, No more space, blah blah blah

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No Noise

This one has refused to reduce price after many months listed (so many many more like this) MLS® V1015343 back on for 2 weeks now

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No Noise

Another drop to 669 after 3 months MLS® V1004044 the list goes on and on

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No Noise

After 3 months on market – dropped from 750k to 700k and still no buyers MLS® V996487 – decent size 5/4 w 2 suites still cant sell

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No Noise

82/205 sale to list day

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hardy har

You can clearly see below your great grandpas 1890s house had absolutely ZERO real gain for the next 100 years. However, extend it to 1890-2004 and you get 0.4% return due to the bubble. Note that Case-Shiller index uses a very accurate repeat sale methodology.

http://static4.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=49a02ccc796c7afa009b4708&maxX=620&maxY=474

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hardy har

Stocks (businesses) beat real estate by a country mile. Yale economist Shiller found house prices only rose 0.4% per year in real terms between 1890-2004. While stocks return about 7% per year after inflation. Huge difference! When they’re in RRSPs/TFSAs those gains are tax deferred & tax free too.

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father

I really don’t care neither does my wife nor kids about buying a house. I bought a business instead at least it gives decent returns.

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No Noise

Hmm perhaps the Cornwall bike lane proposal suits the mayors new commute? Anyone know if Luongo’s condo has sold yet?

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Kratos

@Harvey

I bought near peak. Forget about the Italy trips. If I had invested my downpayment in the S&P (just bought pure index funds), I would’ve seen my money more than double. And if you say RE is a long-term investment, RE doesn’t hold a candle to the S&P 500 over long-term. 9.4% vs 6% compounded annually adds up to a lot of money. Investing in a home to live in might be ok, but I would’ve done much better using my 300K downpayment and buying index funds or large dividend paying companies as I’m currently now doing.

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To Barb rennie

To add to the above post,

Once a mortgage is originated by CMHC, the PREMIUM is paid. It only needs to be paid ONCE for the life of the mortgage. The mortgage itself is PORTABLE. So in the eyes of the bank, as long as the new sole owner (Corporation) can show cash flow, then it can own the mortgage. Remember, CMHC rules BEFORE were that you could offset mortgage payment directly 1 for 1 with RENTAL INCOME. Not anymore.

Also, with the run-up in home prices, many Corps were refinancing and taking as much equity as possible out of their homes. That was stopped as well.

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To Barb rennie

Barb Rennie: barb rennie Says: “So the mayor of Vancouver buys his house using a corporation with his wife as the director and him as a shareholder. What the F? What is he trying to hide and why? The only asset of this corporation is the house. My neighbor Bob doesn’t do this, neither does my other neighbor Frank. Why? Many residential homes are owned by corporations, especially those bought in last 10 years or so. They are mostly investor homes. Person and corporation both go on title at first to get CMHC financing. Then after all is said and done and rental income comes in, then the corp by itself can carry the mortgage and the person removes their name from title. The advantage of this is obvious. You got a home with 0 or 5% down. If the… Read more »

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paulb

New Listings 205
Price Changes 112
Sold Listings 82
TI:18069

http://www.paulboenisch.com

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b5baxter

barb rennie Says: “So the mayor of Vancouver buys his house using a corporation with his wife as the director and him as a shareholder. What the F? What is he trying to hide and why? The only asset of this corporation is the house. My neighbor Bob doesn’t do this, neither does my other neighbor Frank. ”

Are Bob and Frank business owners with a good tax accountant?

It seems like some accountants like to have business owners put almost everything into corporations. I have seem even fairly small business owners with a corporation for their business, a separate corporation for a holding company, a separate personal corporation and then a corporation for a family trust on top of that.

There are probably many home in Vancouver that are owned by Corporations. Here is another example:
http://lulumum.blogspot.ca/2012/01/most-expensive-home-in-vancouver-owned.html

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patriotz

“Why does Gregor feel the need to do this?”

Good question, because it raises a host of issues – loss of HOG, taxability of capital gains, and even (I think) taxability of imputed rental income. There must be something peculiar to his own situation that makes it worthwhile.

The fact is, for just about everyone, you get the tax break by putting the house in your own name.

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Village Whisperer

Vancouver Mayor responds to yesterday’s post

http://whispersfromtheedgeoftherainforest.blogspot.ca/2013/07/vancouver-mayor-responds-to-yesterdays.html

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Turkey

@barb rennie,

So the mayor of Vancouver buys his house using a corporation with his wife as the director and him as a shareholder. What the F? What is he trying to hide and why? [blahblahblah]

Huh. Maybe I should invest in Pfizer. (Oh, wait — they’re incorporated too! The conspiracy goes all the way to the top.)

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snake

Has anyone noticed a sale within the last month with Mr. Tung representing a buyer?

———————————–
502-1042 Nelson Street, Vancouver

looks like got sold on Jun 17/2013 for $348,900 Sold above list price.

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barb rennie

So the mayor of Vancouver buys his house using a corporation with his wife as the director and him as a shareholder. What the F? What is he trying to hide and why? The only asset of this corporation is the house. My neighbor Bob doesn’t do this, neither does my other neighbor Frank. Why does Gregor feel the need to do this? If it is so beneficial why doesn’t he share this with other Vancouverites? Why doesn’t he tell everyone to do this? By golly he is the Mayor! Is he only looking out for his own best interest? For shame!

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barb rennie

The listing agent is David Tung of Coldwell Banker. I suspect that the same realtor would be the one who would assist with the buying of the new undisclosed location in Kitsilano. Has anyone noticed a sale within the last month with Mr. Tung representing a buyer?

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Best place on meth

So the mayor wanted to move further west to get away from the shootouts near Douglas Park – sounds like a smart move.

I’m sure the security perimeter at his new undisclosed location will be top notch.

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