BC, debt, economy, foreclosure

Sunshine coasts largest developer files for Bankruptcy

84
84 Comments

Last week over at VancouverPeak Skook posted about the bankruptcy filing of Wakefield Construction.

We missed that posting here at VancouverCondo.info, but it’s got some interesting details about the impact to the economy and a number of subcontractors on the sunshine coast, Vancouver, Whistler and Bowen Island.

There are no winners in this situation – not the employees, not the subcontractors, not the local businesses nor suppliers, not the community and not Lance Sparling. As the list of “Unsecured” creditors shows, he borrowed from himself, too, to keep the ball rolling. His waterfront home was put on the market a year ago and remains unsold despite a -25% drop in the list price; but, as we know those million dollar plus properties have been slow to move on the Sunshine Coast – only 17 sold in 2014 out of a total of 123 listed – that’s barely 14%.

Skook also relates a personal memory:

Like so many others living in and north of Sechelt I wondered what would replace the old “Wake-in-the-Field” Inn and then was fascinated by those uniquely curved roofs of that replacement – the Wakefield Beach development. When I moved down to Sechelt, I had the opportunity to walk through the project and it is a very special and attractive development. The company, Wakefield Construction, was born from that development and at least in this instance the company name lives on.

While Skooks posting is almost nostalgic in tone, the first major media to pick up this story is Business in Vancouver. In their story the Realtor is surprised:

“They ruled the world up here,” said Sechelt realtor Susanne Jorgenson,” “I don’t know how they could have failed.”

..The chamber of commerce is shocked:

“I was shocked,” said Kim Darwin, president of the Sechelt and District Chamber of Commerce. “[The Coast] has a number of new construction projects coming up, so I hope our smaller contractors can step up.”

And the customer is angry:

“They screwed a lot of people,” said Brad Copping, general manager of South Coast Ford Sales Ltd., which had hired Wakefield Construction to complete a 9,000-square-foot addition to its Sechelt dealership. Copping is now paying three of the former Wakefield employees to continue work that is now half complete.

“This will cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars,” said Copping, whose company is not on the creditor list. “They [Wakefield Construction] over billed us and then didn’t pay their sub-contractors. So we are paying twice for the same work.”

Read the full article over at Business In Vancouver.

 

84 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
space889

– RBC direct investing allows you to hold US securities or dual listed securites in either CAD or USD version of the accounts. So you can get your div in USD and keep it in USD. All other brokerage companies should offer something similar, might have extra paper work involved in opening new accounts.

0
0
space889

@Daisy Mae – maybe emigrat to China….

hot young single guys with modest assets (eg. ~500K USD) are still very popular and in demand in tier 3 cities and rural China. Hot young single ladies, well, your potential can be unlimited in the big cities if you know the right people and right moves…

0
0
space889

@Whistler or bust? – good advice but unfortunately most people can’t follow it…

0
0
space889

– so your relatives took the free education and medicare while they were young and went to US for personal gain and didn’t give anything back to the country that raised them. Aside from the scale of things, how is this that different from what the rich Chinese immigrants do? They took advantage in China to make money and come here for personal security and leisure. The only difference I see is they got way more money and looted more, but in terms of principle, not that much different. Both took advantage of what the country give and didn’t give anything back.

0
0
space889

– hmmm….so basically you are using one incident that you found on wikipedia to prove a general point that China shoots people crossing border….

kinda like saying RCMP likes to taser all passengers at YVR who are drunk because you know, they did it to that one unfortunate Polish tourist.

0
0
vangrl

I should clarify, I don’t get U.S dollars, they convert the divvy from U.S to C and put the adjusted amount in my Canadian account.

0
0
Oracle

And also, Vancouver just got the second confirmed case of avian flu. Couple just returned from China.

0
0
Oracle

Point is they aren’t building any more hospitals and they aren’t training more doctors than before.

0
0
vangrl

#69 – good points!

Also, you can own Canadian stocks in your Canadian portfolio that pay dividends in U.S dollars. A few of my holdings do that. So on top of their regular dividend increases, I’ve also gotten a 20% dividend increase in just the currency exchange over the last few years. bril!

0
0
Whistler or bust?

I even know of a co-workers parents who came here on the temporary Supervisa. They had to get their own insurance for $2400 and had to declare prior existing conditions to which they said no. Since there are no medical records overseas, no way to check. In the last 9 months that they have been here, they have got knee replacements and a heart surgery.

Well in this case they are ripping off the insurance company and not the Canadian taxpayer. I know insurance companies and they will fly a person to look at records personally if they are going to save $100K for a major procedure.

What exactly is the point?

0
0
@Oracle 67

“The actions of Poloz the last few days clearly favours home owners and/or those with at least mid 6 figure portfolios in US Dollars. Renters and those with portfolios in Canadian dollars have been the losers.”

Isn’t Canadian RE valued in Canadian dollars? And so is the rent.

With the CAD down and falling the people who own the RE and collect the the rent in CAD are the losers. Those who rent have the capital to have a mid 6 figure portfolio in US Dollars and they are the winners. In addition the renters with US portfolios are collecting dividends in USD and any capital gains in USD and paying rent in CAD. Nice. If you own Canadian RE you are locked into the CAD and the trend is not good. Sorry Oracle those are the facts.

0
0
Daisy Mae

I plan to go to the USA to work and will return if I need the healthcare sooner or for my pensions later.

Why have allegiance to Canada anymore? We live in a globalized world. Many recent immigrants earn millions overseas and use services here.

I even know of a co-workers parents who came here on the temporary Supervisa. They had to get their own insurance for $2400 and had to declare prior existing conditions to which they said no. Since there are no medical records overseas, no way to check. In the last 9 months that they have been here, they have got knee replacements and a heart surgery.

Many immigrants sponsor for supervisa when parents need medical procedures done.

0
0
Daisy Mae

The actions of Poloz the last few days clearly favours home owners and/or those with at least mid 6 figure portfolios in US Dollars. Renters and those with portfolios in Canadian dollars have been the losers.

That is not difficult to understand.

Going forward, if rates head lower and immigration stays at current levels, the only choice might be to emigrate.

0
0
Whistler or bust?

Space 889 -@bullwhip29 – I own 0 shares in BABA. The point was that bears keep talking about how great stocks are and that you can sell in 3 seconds and get out before the big plunge hit. I’m merely pointing out that isn’t always the case and frankly not everyone can get out at the same time. Just doesn’t work that way, someone has to buy your shares on the way down. Yes stocks can be volatile, 10% movements are not uncommon. That said, diversification and position sizing are keys to reducing risk. I have two rules that have saved me untold thousands. If you gain nothing else from this blog and you buy stocks, follow these religiously you will be glad you did. 1. No more than 5% in any single stock – I don’t care if its… Read more »

0
0
history

We interrupt your precarious personal debt situation to give you tonights shopping update: I was in Future Shop just now, and there was nobody shopping ~ it was empty.

0
0
paulb

New Listings 185
Price Changes 32
Sold Listings 125
TI:11685

http://www.paulboenisch.com

0
0
patriotz

@61: “Lots of native born Canadians after getting free/subsidized K-12 and univ education go work in USA, never repaying back any of the cost of their upbringing via income tax, but have no issues with coming back for free healthcare or social benefits after they retire.”

Several members of my family have emigrated to the US, are now retired and have no plans to return to Canada. That also goes for the vast majority of emigres to the US, not just people like Wayne Gretzky or Jim Carrey.

If you can’t figure out why I suggest you google “Social Security” or “Medicare”. You might also note that US housing is 1/2 the price, which might have an influence. And it’s warmer there.

0
0
patriotz

@60: “Tell that to the hundreds of thousands Chinese ex-pats everywhere since 2000 or even as far back as 1990. No one was shooting at them to get out.”

Right, these days it’s only the minorities trying to get out who get a bullet in the back.

0
0
space889

@crabman – OP said greater % of Chinese people want to get out relative to Canada. I refuted his point. You are getting so worked up over this. Lots of native born Canadians after getting free/subsidized K-12 and univ education go work in USA, never repaying back any of the cost of their upbringing via income tax, but have no issues with coming back for free healthcare or social benefits after they retire. They are simply looking out for their best interest. Not that different from what the rich Chinese are doing. I don’t see you accusing them of getting out of the Canadian job market hell hole for the sunny USA and being scums. Well, maybe teaside does. Lastly, what’s your definition of Canadian? Obviously having Canadian citizenship doesn’t make you Canadian in your mind. So we have different… Read more »

0
0
space889

– Hmm…really? Tell that to the hundreds of thousands Chinese ex-pats everywhere since 2000 or even as far back as 1990. No one was shooting at them to get out.

As for pre-sale buyers, I distinctly remember someone or someones on this blog saying how pre-sale buyers are simply screwed for failing to complete the pre-sale, regardless of whether they can get financing or not and even bankruptcy might not save them. They will have to pay up for any losses.

Wow, that’s not the case anymore? Like how renting is always better than buying in a housing bubble and getting kicked out by landlord is not a problem, and should cause you to buy??

0
0
history

Tim Horton medium coffee $2
No refill

Burger King medium coffee $1.35, free refill.

Similar situation exists on Canada’s west coast. By way of analogy, Vancouver is Tim Hortons and Burger King is Vancouver Island.

0
0
crabman

strawman889 – It is well known that people from some countries come to Canada, put in their time, get their citizenship and go home. That way, they can come back when the SHTF in their home country, or they are ready to retire and want free healthcare. That’s why many wealthy Chinese “never sever their ties to China and moves back once they get their citizenship + passport.” Until the SHTF, they will continue to pillage back home. Their passport is their ticket out “just in case”. Pretending that Canadians do the same thing is either ignorant or disingenuous. P.S. In case you think I’m being racist (you love to throw that label around) the same thing is going on in Russia. The difference is those scum bags are parking their money in London not Vancouver. P.P.S. google “birth tourism”… Read more »

0
0
patriotz

@55: “pre-sale buyers are on the hook for the full amount on completion, then why are developers returning the deposits and tell the pre-sale buyers to get lost? ”

Because the pre-sale buyers probably don’t have the means to make the purchase if they can’t get financing, which is the likely outcome if prices fall.

Duh.

0
0
patriotz

@53: “the OP said there is a greater % of Chinese looking to move out of the country and I’m simply pointing out simple stats to refute that.” Of course you didn’t refute that at all. You simply pointed out, correctly, that a much smaller % of Chinese citizens have actually moved out of the country. Now why might that be? 1) In contrast to China, which accepts no immigrants to speak of, Canada accepts more immigrants than any other country in per capita terms and is 2nd only to the US in absolute terms. It allows them and their children to keep their original citizenship, which lets them move back to the home country at will. 2) Canada has long had an open border with the US, resulting in a lot of intermarriage and resulting immigration. Canadians can also… Read more »

0
0
space889

– so if a building must be 50% pre-sold to break ground, normally 75%+ pre-sold to get full construction funding, and pre-sale buyers are on the hook for the full amount on completion, then why are developers returning the deposits and tell the pre-sale buyers to get lost? While still continue to build? Such an action would normally be a breach of lending convenents and resulting in loans being due/repayable immediately.

Care to explain that? Especially since they aren’t going to be selling it again in the immediate future.

0
0