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Negatives for real estate

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Yvr2zrh shared this comment:

Wow. Quite a lot of negatives for real estate values.

1.) If you live outside Vancouver and keep an apartment empty there, you now have a very punitive tax. Total will be 3% by 2019 (only 0.5% provincial in 2018 as a bit of a leeway to allow people to sell).

2.) FBT @20% – pretty good. Big tax – starts immediately. Wow . More people will get caught again. Deals will die. Also if property is over $3M – this will make it 25% for a foreigner to buy a Van West house. Then they have to pay 3% per year ($90K?) to leave it empty. Game over.

3.) The 2% spec tax – Strange name – it’s more of an absentee owner / empty home tax. It’s pretty sizeable. It’s going to be strange but somehow I think they are going to force it onto certain “principal residences” i.e. students, 10-Year visa people – who don’t qualify for really being a resident. Then – if they really pay tax in BC there is a tax credit. Good system.

4.) Full reporting of pre-sale transactions for tax purposes. I suppose that may help but you need to require a tax withholding for non-residents because otherwise – they just won’t pay.

5.) Unveiling all the hidden ownership – starting with collecting on new transactions and forcing existing transactions to be unveiled.

So – I would say that “Housing for Housing” has been supported and properties for non-residents etc – – that will be tough. What about all the Okanagan properties owned by Albertans – – It’s going to be interesting to see how many people bail!!!

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Just me

The gorgeous photos of the derelict properties you still can’t afford
Nobody focuses on the housing market crisis in quite the same way real estate photographers do

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/23/the-gorgeous-photos-of-the-derelict-properties-you-still-cant-afford

If you live in a major city and have found yourself sucked into the dispiriting world that is the housing market, it’s likely you’ve seen photos like these: “project homes” with “heaps of potential”, selling for millions as they literally – and artfully – crumble into the ground.

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Just me

“Eight years as a real estate photographer gives you a peculiar wide-angle insight to the property market. “It’s pretty depressing,” Nolan says.
For the generation under me, they pretty much won’t be able to purchase a property unless their parents buy it for them.
When she started, the houses she shot were selling for $200,000 or $250,000. “I remember at the time I was like, ‘Woah, that’s so much money!’ But now in the scheme of things I’m like, ‘Holy crap.’ Imagine if you purchased property at that time. You’d be laughing now. And that’s only eight years ago.”

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Lost,... but not leased

Yeah ..well ..
In late 1990’s early 2000’s one could buy a good 2 storey home built say 1970’s in my neighbourhood for $200,000 +

Now????same house ….around $2+ Million.

People bitch and whine…where were you then ?

Blah blah blah about HAM…which I don’t deny…but the time was ripe back then….

Seems human nature is to put blinders on when the time is ripe, but bitch in hindsight when they missed out and others took advantage of the opportunity.

Can’t have it both ways.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

Nobody wanted Bitcoin until it hit $5000, nobody wanted gold until it passed $1000. Bubble psychology. It’s why all the locals are killing themselves financially to get on the ladder before being priced out forever – after all, you have to live somewhere and real estate always goes up!

I wonder how smart Just Me’s friends are feeling now for “beating” B20?

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Just me

I try not to hang out with people who dabble in RE investments. Don’t enjoy the company of rabid speculators,
Nor the company of liars and race baiters like yourself. You are probably a degree worse than speculators.
Shame on you.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

So now you’re pretending that your fiends didn’t just buy? You told us about it, remember?

You really are a classless pathetic twat.

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Just me

“The case was set for a 14-day trial that would have spotlighted the banking and accounting records of a high-end Chinese restaurant in Richmond and its principal investor, Cheng-Hsiung Huang, and his lawyer, William Lim, and Huang’s wife, Min Jian Chen. The case also would have looked at the business dealings of food suppliers originally sued by Huang.”

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Just me

“Filings indicate that several properties owned by Huang and his wife, including a $10.8-million Vancouver mansion and a $4.7-million Langley mansion, were connected to the restaurant business. Postmedia’s review of B.C. property documents shows that Huang, his wife and a connected company called YSY International Investments own a total of $35.9 million in B.C. properties, including a number of farm plots in Richmond. YSY International Investments is registered to Huang’s mansion on Churchill Street in Vancouver.”

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Just me

“Also, the trial was to test the question of whether NSB’s assets were fraudulently conveyed in a sale to a B.C. numbered company controlled by Huang’s wife, in order to “avoid creditors or for some other illegitimate purpose.””

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Just me

“But now, this evidence will not be heard at trial. A late-night agreement was reached for a settlement, court heard Thursday morning. Court adjourned briefly, as a lawyer called a client in China to confirm final terms of the deal. Later on Thursday, court heard the deal had been approved and that a hearing on costs will follow. The financial terms of the settlement, in which food suppliers were seeking allegedly unpaid invoices, were not disclosed.”

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Just me

“Huang, who is in China, and Lim were not in court on Thursday and could not be immediately reached for comment on the settlemen.”

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Just me

Sam Cooper: Last-minute settlement ends court battle over Chinese bistro proceeds

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/last-minute-settlement-ends-court-battle-over-chinese-bistro-proceeds

A court battle involving a Chinese bistro and allegations of “siphoning” cash proceeds and “systematic tax evasion” against a wealthy offshore investor and a prominent Richmond lawyer was halted with a surprise settlement just before going to trial in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday.

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bullwhip29

BLOOMBERG: China Regulator Seizes Anbang, Chairman Faces Fraud Prosecution
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-23/china-regulators-to-take-control-of-anbang-insurance-for-1-year-jdz9l5fp

>>> the evidence that this wobbly house of cards is about to come tumbling down is certainly piling up. i estimate we are right back to where we were in spring 2008 only this time around nukes will go off instead of sticks of dynamite

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Just me

Reading the article this seems a Chinese-style bailout. The government is trying to buttress the financial system.
If they all default at once, how’ve err, all bets are off.

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Lost,... but not leased

GOOGLE/YOUTUBE Deutsche Bank….seems like China is heavily invested in it..

.Deutsche Bank seems to be a major hub for number of banks and is near bankruptcy, and to such a degree that a bailout is near impossible, given the toxic debts it holds in the billions.

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bestplaceonearth

What happens to moonbeam and his 25000 empty condos? It turns out to be 4000 or 2% empty? People called this guy moonbeam for a reason.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

You have to declare either way or face another penalty. So 4000 undeclared doesn’t mean 4000 empty. It could be 25000 it could be 2000. We’ll have the answer soon enough so it’s pointelss playing guessing games.

But I’m sure somebody is concocting a conspiracy theory as we speak to explain how rich foreigners are able to circumvent the system thus making it possible to ignore the stats if they go against them.

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Just me

No conspiracy. Many are locals. But many others are foreigners.
That is simply the nature of the beast in Vancouver.

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bullwhip29

No place to rent in Richmond, but plenty of scams
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/no-place-to-rent-in-richmond-but-plenty-of-scams-1.23182962

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Spec

Some Grade A whingeing over here https://pressprogress.ca/bc-liberal-mla-complains-bcs-ndp-government-has-declared-war-on-upscale-luxury-real-estate/
“Reacting to measures in the BC NDP government’s 2018 budget tabled earlier this week aimed at making housing in the province more affordable, Ashton took to Twitter to denounce what he’s calling “the NDP war on upper end homes.”

Another “Let them eat cake” moment from your BCLiberals…

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Just me

Wow. Just wow.
This guy has no restraint. You have got to give to him: he probably does not even realize how wrong he his. He probably thinks he is being reasonable.

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Best place on meth

“Ashton tweeted that the reason “many of these homes command premium prices” is because rich people need skilled workers to make them stuff – “they involve significant work from skilled trades people and expansive furnishings,” he noted.”

Oh you hilarious LibCreds, what will you call your new party once this disgusting pile of garbage is burned to the ground by shitbags like Dan Ashton?

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Bag it and tag it

Ashton further erupted later after learning of a proposed tax on caviar and grey poupon.

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Bag it and tag it

Quit pandering to the top .01% ,Ashton…they’re not allowed to donate anymore.

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Bag it and tag it

You know who also generate jobs? …people that live in the home they own and become active members of their community, work and pay taxes.

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bullwhip29

Speculation over speculation taxes, affordability and foreign investment
http://vancouversun.com/business/local-business/speculation-over-speculation-taxes-affordability-and-foreign-investment

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bullwhip29

Last-minute settlement ends court battle over Chinese bistro proceeds
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/last-minute-settlement-ends-court-battle-over-chinese-bistro-proceeds

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bullwhip29

City of Vancouver releases heat map showing clusters of undeclared properties
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/empty-homes-tax-city-of-vancouver-releases-heat-map-showing-clusters-of-undeclared-properties

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Shut It Down Already (original)

No real surprise that the clusters fall exactly on the densest areas. A meaningful representation could have normalized for density.

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bullwhip29

B.C. finance minister not ruling out tweaks to new housing taxes
https://globalnews.ca/news/4042654/bc-budget-tweaks-carole-james/

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Oracle

Already backtracking.

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backwardsevolution

Nope, they’re not backtracking at all.

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YVR

Already rolling back the tax before it is even started?

On Thursday, she said the government was open to amending the policy if needed. “That’s why I said, as I announced the budget, that we’re going to be watching this housing plan closely,” she said. “There may be changes that need to occur as we’re moving along on this tax.”

Good thing we have Weaver.

Weaver said he wanted to see bolder measures like a ban on foreign buyers and immediate action on bare trusts

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bestplaceonearth

From The Province: “Retired economics professor David Tha and his wife Paula Maisonville, also a retired teacher, own a home in Vancouver’s tony Point Grey neighbourhood that they bought 31 years ago for $370,000. Now, the house is worth almost $6.5 million, making them eligible to pay higher school taxes. Under the new measures introduced in Tuesday’s B.C. budget, properties valued at higher than $3 million will be subject to 0.2 per cent tax on the value between $3 million and $4 million, and 0.4 per cent tax on the assessed value over $4 million, beginning next year. Tha calculated that they will have to pay almost $12,000 in additional school taxes each year, which is not in their budget as pensioners.” Thanks to the freeloaders, Mr. Tha now has this to worry about. The freeloaders only want more for… Read more »

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Just me

Me Tha can downsize.

He is a millionaire six times over. He will survive, don’t worry too much about him.
Worry about people who cannot make ends meet.

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bestplaceonearth

So now the freeloader tell people what to do with their lives? Anyone will survive, include the guys in Chinatown. What is your point?

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Just me

My point is simple. This guy is a multimillionaire, his probable net worth is somewhere in the range of 8 million dollars.

Pay your taxes and shut up. You had a long spell of time during which the government effectively gave you welfare and tax cuts. Welfare for millionaires is going to end.

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Best place on meth

As the worthless real cheerleaders like to say:

“If you can’t afford to live here, you can move somewhere else”.

Bye-bye, boomers!

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Bag it and tag it

nice one

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YVR

They can defer the extra $12K per year in taxes. They have $6.5 million in equity. They are good for the next 500 years or so. In the end their kids will probably get a $6.4 million tax free inheritance rather than $6.5 million. Nobody is crying for them.

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Lost,... but not leased

Not sure why VCI posters are coming down hard on these people. They bought around the time HAM from Hong Kong started arriving, hence not part of the problem..more like parties caught up in the middle of the foreign locust $warming.

There are a number of parties caught up in similar circumstances.

The pendulum swings from
(i) no one has a right to live in the city they grew up in
TO
(ii) forced out by means and methods beyond their control.

The gain accrued in the interim is a moot point. If they sell it would have likely been to HAM who would have left it empty..or a tear down..exacerbating the hollowing out of Vancouver.

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YVR

“Not sure why VCI posters are coming down hard on these people.”

Someone has to pay taxes. Why not them? Top 0.1% of net worth in Canada. All accumulated tax free. There are so many options for them to afford this it is silly to even discuss. In then end it will be their kids paying for it who will be gifted enough money tax free to retire off. I feel more sorry for the people paying the luxury tax on Lambos.

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Oracle

Strata hacker wrote this earlier:

So then it’s not a speculation tax at all. The vast majority of multiple property owning speculators are BC based Boomers. This is pure bull$hit shoveled to the desperate renters as hope.

-/-//–//////—-

This is the problem. The NDP changed it from what Horgan presented in 2016. Slime balls.

A recent immigrant can buy 10 homes with illegal foreign money and not be liable for any tax as long as he pays $100 in income tax here. There are not rental offsets and the exemption is upfront. No CrA involved.

Wow. NDP trying to pull a coup on the naive. I knew it was too good to be true.

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Bag it and tag it

If you wonder why I don’t respond to any of your future posts, it’s because this post is the last of yours I will read. Fool me 287 times, shame on me.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

Speaking of slime balls Oracle has resumed his normal personality after a sheepish couple of days following the budget. Oracle, do you think anybody noticed how all your claims of having insider info were total bullshit?

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Just me

Your posts make no sense.

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ostritch

After Trump arms all the math teachers he’s gonna kick some Chinese ass. Maybe things aren’t changing for real estate as much as things are changing for China.

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paulb

New
139
Price Change
41
Sold
92
TI:8298

http://www.clivestevepaul.com

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kabloona

Turner getting called out on his own blog……

😀

“#10 AGuyInVancouver on 02.22.18 at 5:10 pm

I’m confused. You’ve spent years telling us the housing market is overvalued and that locals are mainly to blame (aided by low interest rates). Yet when a government actually acts on your sentiments to take on those local forces you criticize them for it! There is a lot to like in this budget including the speculation tax, the pre-sales registry and finally allowing higher property taxes on high-end properties.

Now your line of thinking seems to jive with that of realtors, that nobody should ever lose equity and real estate should always keep going up.

I know you’re confused. It’s okay. No, really. – Garth”

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Name

and what a lame reply he gave…

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kabloona

A few more comments later, he really jumped the shark….compared the NDP Government in BC to the Soviet takeover of Poland at the end of WWII….

😀

Shut up already, Garth……you’re just embarrassing yourself.

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Best place on meth

This clown used to be finance minister. Fuck.

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Spec

Not to get too nitpicky… He never got the finance portfolio, but he was Minister of National Revenue.

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Best place on meth

Was he in charge of collecting Canadian Tire money to top up the coffers?

I can’t imagine he would have been very good at it.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

And I bet the TFSA he gave you is still empty.

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Oracle

Don’t know why Garth is not in jail. He has deceived old widows into selling their homes years ago saying foreign money wasn’t a factor when he damn knows it was.

If you believe in Karma, it will be a celebration the day he dies. And hell he will go.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

The point is these measures are a drop in the bucket. A policy with real teeth would come at the federal level and might include the requirement for higher downpayments, remove the ability to borrow from RRSP to buy a house, and so on. I doubt many people are significantly impacted by the B.C. budget. It’s all about optics.

That poster really was confused.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

Oh, and they could have extended B20 to credit unions of course.

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Burnabonian

I think that I have hit on the genius of these plans.

It’s that they can never really be rolled back by any future politician.

No future leader will ever be able to say “those who pay no income tax here should get a billion-dollar property tax break”.

Or “speculators who are holding second properties should be written fat cheques by the government at the expense of working families.”

The genius here is that these changes are permanent.

As of now, and forever more, BC is declaring that it is hostile to foreign ownership.

So whether or not it is well done and there is an immediate impact, the net change is that future episodes of mass capital flight to BC are significantly less likely.

That, friends, is fucking brilliant.

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Lost,... but not leased

I think I will keep a devil’s advocate position on the NDP budget.
Yes…something was needed to cool the bubble.

Unfortunately the cancer was allowed to grow for too long, and also infiltrate many nooks and crannies.
The NDP moves will impact peoples lives and equity, something the NDP claimed they would protect.

What the NDP have done is created the dreaded ” UNcertainty” .
Now people will have to consult with lawyers and accountants in addition to realtors and bankers before making moves.

Only good I foresee is pre-sales collapsing…that’s the cancer that created much of this mess.

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Burnabonian

Correct.

This is no different from BC’s (and Canada’s) inability to get legal, needed, wanted, approved, sanctioned, funded infrastructure built.

It’s a pattern of behaviour that sends real investors scurrying for the hills. Third world shit.

Investors are drawn to places where they can be confident that their big, important, long-term project will not get rat-fucked by the first pivoting snivel servant who thinks he can buy votes by destroying someone else’s shareholder value.

It’s done on the African continent and in South and Central America. Which is a big part of why it’s hard to get people to invest there.

Oh and also Canada.

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Just me

You make it sound like a crime perpetrated on the back of well-meaning investors from mainland China. The fact is that these purported investors are taking advantage of every loophole and trick in the book to hoard and speculate on a very scarce resource (land). Our rules and regulations were designed for a different time and, allow me, a different set of local residents. This government simply acknowledged what everybody has known for a while: that the rules were being regularly flaunted and disregarded in the name of a quick profit. In many cases, this profit was coming from laundering of illicit money. Your parallel with the “African continent and South and Central America” is well suited for the BC Libs, who let illegal behavior go unchecked. the NDP simply tried to restore Canada to what it was before:P a… Read more »

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Lost,... but not leased

I recall it has been discussed many times that HAM set the pace…they would set the new benchmarks for RE prices. In 2015 approx. $17 Billion from China was invested in local RE, and prices rose dramatically. IMHO that was all by design, as the ripple effect kept creating higher property prices for other foreign locusts and by default,local property owners. IMHO, HAM will go into hiding, and as a result the catalyst for even maintaining current prices is gone. The bubble has no more air..and locals are handcuffed by OSFI…,B-20 etc..= MAJOR CORRECTION..how could it not ? NDP are historically into politics of envy…the more I skim over the budget, I see a lot of warning signs that even there budget projections are based on shifting sands and will be difficult to meet. The SHTF as we speak…a GONG… Read more »

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Oracle

B20?

Mortgage fraud by brokers, credit unions and 30 yr amortizations.

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Just me

If we finally have a crash, it is long overdue.

Short term pain, long term gain.

Continuing as the last 10 years would be a social disaster. Unsustainable. We have already passed the high pain threshold.

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bestplaceonearth

If you think the new NDP policies will bring in a crash, you wet yourself too many times every single night. Ten years from now, you still sit on your fatter arse envying to the rich.

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Lost,... but not leased

If and when the SHTF, it will be a juggernaut, a lot of collateral damage, people will regret what they wished for. Losers will exceed winner by orders of magnitude.

Watch Zombie movies as heads up.

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Just me

I am not sure that the BC Libs will not try to roll some of it back. They might do it in a non-conspicuous way, but try they will.
Until they change their tack on housing, they will still go on about the importance of foreign money for our “economy”. After all the quality of life of most of their electors is intact, they are almost all homeowners.

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Burnabonian

They most certainly will roll it back through loopholes and exemptions.

But like a face tattoo, the tax and its’ intent will always be there.

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Lost,... but not leased

Green Party deal with NDP was they would vote FOR the NDP budgets….seems like kneejerk…no matter what.

Thus, did the NDP request, or allow Green Party input ?

=======================================================

Re Liberals..I doubt they will chime in much re: the Budget.

Yes, the budget de facto attacks the Liberal legacy, but the Liberals can say ” Here…. NDP…let’s see what you can do with the keys to Gov’t ” aka see if and when SHTF.

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Oracle

Roll What back??

Word is that a foreign student who pays $2000 tax would be exempt and that is on a 2nd property. He is primary residence would be exempt.

This better not be the case. Then the NDP needs to be brought down. We need details now. Not later.

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Oracle

Word is that a local taxpayer (foreigner or not) would be exempt even if he owned 10 houses and didn’t rent them out.

This better not be the case. Need a rental offset and they must tax all 2nd homes.

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Shut It Down Already (original)

Is this the same word you got before the budget? Or a better one?

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patriotz

B.C. NDP ignores elites and tables budget for those who need help

That is why this budget is going to be difficult for the Opposition Liberals to criticize, try as they might. It addresses a fundamental failing of their government to demonstrate even the tiniest bit of compassion and sympathy for the average person and their workaday lives. It was a budget that focused attention away from the elites and the bond-rating agencies and toward people who genuinely need help.

How can the Liberals even open their mouths about the housing measures? They have zero credibility on this file. They helped create the disaster that the NDP is now trying to clean up.

Mason’s views are his own, but it’s worth noting that the G&M asked readers to “hold your nose and vote Liberal”.

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Just me

“No, this is Mr. Wilkinson’s problem. As the now-leader of the Liberals he is faced with the unpleasant task of trying to condemn a budget that addresses the needs of the very people he candidly admitted his party forgot about in the last election. He was right then. He can’t be wrong now.

The Liberals and their proxies will attempt to focus on the tax increases that have helped underwrite the cost of many of the programs announced by the government. And the NDP will likely say: bring it on.”

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Just me

“How much better the New Democrats were at tapping into and understanding the profound frustration and anger many British Columbians were feeling was on full display in this week’s budget. As hackneyed as it may sound, the government designed a fiscal plan that addressed the long-ignored needs of average folks, over the wants and wishes of a corporate and development community beloved and coddled by the former government.”

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Just me

“In a province where income inequality is so pronounced, any moves by the government to ask the wealthy to pay a bit more will be welcomed by the masses, not denounced. If the Liberals take up the fight on behalf of people living in $3-million homes who are upset they are being asked to share a little more of their new-found wealth, I wish them luck.

Sometimes, when your opponent has achieved something commendable, it’s best to just acknowledge it and move on.”

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bullwhip29

With 11 days left, almost 4,000 Vancouver homeowners haven’t made empty home declarations
https://globalnews.ca/news/4041969/vancouver-empty-homes-tax-declarations/

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Doomcouver

I bet a lot of them already have liens on the property for unpaid property tax in previous years as well. I wonder how big the lien can get before the city can force sale of the property. Any lawyers in the forum?

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Lost,... but not leased

Tax sales are rarely successful and very onerous..many delinquent parties cough up at the last minute.

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Just me

I really hope that Robertson does not cave in. although knowing the guy, I don’t put it beyond him to do a 180.
the particular sob story in the Global news report is baffling: simply put your name on the title and the problem is solved. if you refuse to do so, perhaps you have some other tax arrangement you are trying to preserve, which make me very unsympathetic.

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Hyper-mega-Bull

Fire-damaged Vancouver mansion sparks heritage fight

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/vancouver/fire-damaged-vancouver-mansion-sparks-heritage-fight/article38029243/

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kabloona

Vancouver: Lowest wages in Canada, highest percentage of Ultra-Luxury cars…

🙂

’25 per cent is a big number’: B.C. luxury car dealers brace for impact of new surtax”

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/apos-25-per-cent-big-041319954.html

“The mood in B.C.’s auto industry has soured in the wake of the NDP government doubling the surtax on luxury cars in its 2018 budget.

Starting April 1, PST will go up from 10 per cent to 15 per cent on vehicles priced between $125,000 and $149,000.

Buyers shelling out more than $150,000 for a vehicle will pay 20 per cent in PST, also up from 10 per cent.

With the five per cent GST, that makes for a total of 25 per cent tax, meaning a person buying a $300,000 vehicle would pay $75,000 in taxes….”

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Doomcouver

Wealth consolidation at the top is ridiculously high and getting worse, so asking rich people to pay more to support our government makes total sense. I 100% support the NDP’s “tax the rich” bias, it’s well overdue. If rich people don’t like paying the extra tax, they should go buy a more economical car.

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Lost,... but not leased

Again..where is the ICBC issue?

As it stands, one of these expensive cars in an accident costs a fortune to fix…these need their own sets of premiums.

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Best place on meth

ICBC should not insure anything over $60K.

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Lost,... but not leased

If not mistaken ALL BC drivers are obligated to pay the basic ICBC package…Also.. we did have competition a while back.

I say over $50 K….ICBC will not cover…go to alternate insurer.

This is a typical NDP problem..they never question OLD NDP frankensteins…like ICBC or ALR….they never want t o admit it is wrong or at minimum needs to be amended…thus they will likely never ever bring in another insurer to shoulder the risk of expensive vehicles. This is another reason they will likely be a one term Gov’t.

NDP dogma always rolls over Karma..no pun intended.

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bullwhip29

Richmond drivers crashed nearly once an hour during snow dusting
http://www.richmond-news.com/news/richmond-drivers-crashed-nearly-once-an-hour-during-snow-dusting-1.23182085

>>> i don’t get it. snow tires sold out at Costco and Range Rovers to the best of my knowledge were considered fairly robust vehicles. so, what’s the problem….????

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Doomcouver

Allowing Chinese drivers to use their Chinese driver’s licenses instead of forcing them to get a Canadian license is the problem. ICBC is to blame, the RCMP were trying to ticket people for not having a valid license and the ICBC stopped it. ICBC is their own worst enemy.

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bullwhip29

only in richmond would a typical strip of pavement located at No 1 and Tucker be considered one of the most dangerous places for pedestrians who feel it is just too inconvenient to walk to the lit crosswalk located only steps away. now they are considering an absurd 3rd traffic light (within distance of one block) to be installed. if this how things are going to evolve then it will become next to impossible to drive anywhere in Rmd as these lazy j-walker lights will have to be installed on each road, street and avenue in the city and the unintended consequence will undoubtedly be more accidents and fatalities as all these hot shot a-hole drivers may now have to come to a random stop without notice

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Laibach

See below, bringing more retards who don’t give a shit about rules is good for the economy. More lights, more accidents and more fatalities – more work and more businesses for different services, it’s good for the economy.

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Oracle

Problem is thatforeign licenses should not be accepted here after 3 months here. It resets every 6 months when you take a trip out of the country.

Why should I pay for that crap?

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Laibach

“RCMP were trying to ticket people for not having a valid license and the ICBC stopped it”

It came from the “top”. We need more bad drivers – they are good for the economy!

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Best place on meth

I wonder if the body shops were making big donations to the LibCreds.

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Oracle

Came from JP.

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bullwhip29

Former CNOOC Canada CEO banned in Alberta after SEC insider trading settlement
http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/former-cnooc-canada-ceo-banned-in-alberta-after-sec-insider-trading-settlement

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UBC in crisis

UBC new rental program for low income faculty/staff:
http://www.hr.ubc.ca/housing-relocation/housing/rental/rgi/

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DaMann

Haha. I’m already reading a lot of comments about how the Government ( communist government no less) is intervening to lower house prices and it’s an outrage. Hmmm but it wasn’t an outrage when they intervene to pump it up? The hypocrites are lining up en mass to whine. In their eyes it’s only wrong to intervene to lower prices, intervening to raise prices is just “the right thing to do”. It’s going to be funny listening to the whining. You better believe the industry is going to be in full force with the brainwashing about how wrong and evil this is.

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Just me

The ones that really get me are these comments: “How can the government deliberately want lower house prices? What about people who might be underwater with their mortgages?”

people who will go underwater with their mortgages should NOT have bought in the first place. They were not buying housing, they were gambling. And the government was enabling them, to keep this horror show going.

Every additional layer of buyers that was sucked into this bubble frenzy was effectively used to keep the madness going. There was a total disregard for the long-term consequences of ever-higher housing costs for the larger population. Don’t blame the NDP for bringing up some sanity to the market. Blame the BC Libs for encouraging this total housing insanity for too long.

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YVR

To be fair the government was making statements to protect home owners equity a few weeks ago. Now they are saying the opposite. A complete flip flop. Anyone who bought in the past 6 months has a right to be pissed.

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Doomcouver

Anyone who bought a house only because they expected houses to continue to become more expensive is a speculator and deserves the financial pain they get. Housing should be a lifestyle choice not an investment one.

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bestplaceonearth

Now that stupid bears got what they want from the communist government, let see if they are able to move to home ownership. I bet, by the time the NDP is booted out of the office, there is still whining and bitching.
Do you notice that stupid bears also enjoy having their lives run by bureaucrats and policies. They just don’t own anything to themselves.
They cheer to the empty home tax just to learn that there are only 4,000 not yet declared. Now they cheer to the 30 action plans, and some fine prints are not yet developed.

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Oracle

Hope it doesn’t pressure the NDP. Let demand the 2% spec tax is only offset my declared rental tax on income tax of place not a primary residence.

And foreign students declaring primary residence—that one bugs me.

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Joe Roller Coaster

Ah governments.

Intervening on the upside to exacerbate the rising bubble.

Then intervening again at the peak to exacerbate the inevitable bust.

What a ride.

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