It’s the end of another week and that means its time for another friday free for all, our regular news round up and open topic discussion thread for the weekend.
Here’s a few recent links to kick off the chat:
–protests cancel Eby town hall
–stress test based on fixed rates
–stop talking about property tax
–
So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes in the comments below and have an excellent weekend!
[…] Did you know that Richmond BC matches the downtown Eastside for one of the poorest neighborhoods in Canada? Shared by hyper-mega-bull: […]
Vancouver real estate: Why multi-million dollar home owners are crying poor
A B.C. surtax on properties worth more than $3 million has owners hopping mad, and tinkering with it won’t appease them
“Owners of multi-million dollar homes are probably not going to endear themselves to the public by pleading financial hardship. Nevertheless, more than 100 Vancouver residents gathered in a park last week to protest a surtax introduced by the provincial NDP government on homes worth more than $3 million. They wielded signs claiming the government “wants to confiscate your hard-earned home savings!” The tax, they said, is “unfair,” “exorbitant” and “predatory.”
It’s called stealing money from the people, in case you have not learned anything yet.
It is called paying your taxes. Like everyone else.
Taxes are the price we pay for services and civility.
The homeowner freeloaders don’t want to pay anything.
“ But the reality is Canada has taken a light touch when it comes to taxing homeownership. Unlike in the U.S., there is no capital gains tax on the sale of a principal residence, nor is there an estate or inheritance tax. Kesselman says real estate may be the most favourably treated form of wealth in Canada. The returns for long-time Vancouver homeowners—and their children, should the wealth be transferred—are better than that of most investment portfolios, even with the surtax.”
“B.C. Attorney General David Eby was scheduled to host a town hall last week to discuss the tax, and some real estate players encouraged residents to attend the event if they didn’t have tickets. The event was cancelled due to security concerns. Sutton Group West Coast Realty took out a newspaper ad that amped up the outrage, calling the tax “an attack on on Canadians who have planned and worked hard for their homes.”
“Kesselman floated the idea in a 2016 op-ed column, and saw it as a way to target foreign investors and speculators, and address house price inflation. He also had concerns that high-net-worth individuals, local or otherwise, can employ methods to avoid income taxes. “A family can pay very little property tax on a two, three, four million home and escape most or all of the income tax,” Kesselman says, “whereas they are benefiting from local schools, the health-care system, peace and law enforcement, and all the good things that make Metro Vancouver very attractive to live in.”
“The academic who first raised the proposal is not swayed by the blowback. “A lot of these claims just stretch credulity,” says Rhys Kesselman, a professor in the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University.”
“The latest contentious measure is a change to the school tax, which helps fund the education system and is based on property values. Homes worth more than $3 million will be taxed 0.2 per cent on the amount that exceeds that threshold. The owner of a $3.5-million property, for example, would pay an additional $1,000. A 0.4 per cent levy will be applied to the amount by which a home’s value exceeds $4-million.
Hudson’s Bay, RioCan agree to sell flagship Vancouver store for around $675 million: source
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Innis_and_the_fur_trade
I was reading Harold Innis today, “Communication Theory” and Canada as a marginal country in the empire…He had some interesting things to say about the fur trade and HBC.. He was born and died opposite to where the Sun is cruising at the moment… so probably not a coincidence he landed on my radar.
Mandarin scam calls making the rounds:
http://www.news1130.com/2018/05/07/mandarin-scam-calls/
their scamming never stops …
I’ve been lucky enough to get those calls in English too. Taxthreatscammer Inc.™ must be sharing their phone # list…
I got a few of those calls in the last couple weeks.
New
389
Price Change
91
Sold
131
TI:10697
Ouch, those are some bearish numbers for May after some nice weather.
Perhaps we’ll finally see some big growth in TI after months of stagnant inventory numbers.
TI is the highest it has been in years, not months. And trending up, strongly.
10 terms to make sense of Vancouver’s wild real estate market
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/10-terms-vancouver-s-real-estate-market-1.4652440
Surrey day spa chain facing 7 new allegations of client sex assault
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/surrey-day-spa-chain-facing-7-new-allegations-of-client-sex-assault-1.4652344
Police believe at least four men perpetrated the alleged assaults which date back to 2014. In April, one of the four men, Rongxian Li, was arrested.
such perverts they are …
Just Me supports your racism.
As I said many times, this is about money, not race.
Behind your accusations of racism lies your desire to absolve one particular group of all sins.
Shame on you.
No denial then? That was expected.
As far as I can tell you are the most racist poster on the blog. You think along racial lines.
Most people here have figured out a long time ago this is about money. Including many honest ethnic Chinese. But you still play the race card (then again, I bet you do that also at work or in whatever you do for a living).
The French are racists?
City of Fernie is struggling with housing and labor too. Quick, the NDP should extend the speculation tax, school tax, and empty home tax to this city too. Let blame it to foreign investment and speculation.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fernie-worker-shortage-spring-job-fair-1.4652011
Most of these places only get by because the rental yields are garbage and you can rent a place for much cheaper than buying one. If rents caught up to prices everyone would leave.
Fake Combat Roach sounds like space and KickThemOut, lame…
Space is just your average, run of the mill china man.
Not an original thought in his head, he’s only capable of copying others.
You are the fake fucker
Bring on the credit collapse in China already. All these fake millionaires living high on cheap credit need to get financially slapped.
The borders are OPEN!!!!
People pouring across borders. Media blackout. Immigration department gone to nigeria.
Wow. 500 a day coming. That’s 182,000 per get rate. If we get a million, no way you can kick hem out. Amnesty!!
They will be called irregular arrivals. Hahaha
Germany starting to get tough with deportations now. There is some hope but we can’t take this lying down! Concrete actions needed! Politicians need to feel threatened for their lives for us to get some actions on this! Also, we need to revoke citizenship of all the fakers and their tourist babies. No automatically citizenship just cuz your mom managed to cheat the system and squeeze you out here.
Rat out empty homes.
The news 1130 article actually disproves what you are saying:
As many as 90 people a day are crossing the border into Canada in Lacolle, Que. and 90 per cent are not expected to qualify for refugee status.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale reassures Canadians that all illegal border crossers are arrested and processed.
Hussen echoes Goodale’s comments and they say there is no free ticket into Canada.
Dumbass, that’s at one location. People are crossing at other places. People like yourself shoot themselves in the foot throughout life. Loser.
And you think anyone leaves?? Pathetic.
Well you posted that link and it goes against your arguments so idk why you’d post it in the first place. You are actually arguing against yourself.
BTW…FYI
Resident VCI dumbass/ fucking clown SIDA’s ancestors’ Head Tax cheque bounced….
Hence, all Phoq Yiew Too’s descendants will be rounded up and deported.
You should probably stay off the booze for a while.
Vancouver Airbnb hosts earned $1.2 million during marathon weekend
“Airbnb hosts raked in about $1.2 million while hosting more than 9,000 guests this past weekend, during which guests flocked to town for the Vancouver Marathon.
Both totals are new records set for the home sharing platform here in Vancouver.”
http://bmovanmarathon.ca/volunteer
4000 ‘volunteers. Do they realise they are being used?
I’ve said it before. Sporting events are reliant on FREE labour by the fascist sneaks that have the masses brainwashed by their pals in mainstream media…. meanwhile a relatively small group laughs all the way to the Bank.
“The city of Vancouver approved short-term rental regulations last fall and launched the permitting process last month. Pre-existing hosts have until Aug. 31 to apply for and receive a business license from the city.”
“Airbnb is providing important supplemental income for families in Vancouver to help them make ends meet,” said Airbnb’s Canadian public policy director Alex Dagg.
“We are also pleased that our work with the City of Vancouver on the implementation of new short-term rental regulations is helping provide the clarity needed for new hosts to join our community. We encourage other platforms to stand up and work with the city as well.”
and these same airbnb hosts are driving up living costs for the rest of us by keeping their units out of the long term rental pool. There is no “making ends meet” it is pure greed and speculation.
The big Airbnb hosts have bought several SFHs and effectively run hotels.
So far Gregor Robertson has done nothing about them.
The far west of housing is truly Vancouver.
Canadian department store owner Hudson’s Bay Co and joint venture partner RioCan REIT have signed a conditional agreement to sell HBC’s flagship store in downtown Vancouver for about C$675 million ($524.4 million) to an unidentified Asian buyer
https://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCAKBN1I81HM-OCABS
This is bad news. HBC has owned this site for 100 years and now sells it to the chineeze. Another part of Vancouver sold off to the azians. They are buying us brick by brick.
Don’t you mean chimpanzees?
For HBC this is the equivalent of burning the furniture to heat the house.
“The housing market is tearing us apart, new poll suggests”, CBC
“West Side Vancouver residents rallied against a school tax for people who own homes valued at more than $3 million, one possible sign of a growing division along economic lines in this province.”
That sentence should read:
“Shameful entitled millionaire homeowners refuse to pay taxes like everyone else.
We cannot allow them to win this one. It would be an insult.
Emerging market Flapdoodle
http://www.dlacalle.com/en/behold-the-sudden-stop-risk-of-emerging-markets-collapse/
It’s common knowledge and favorite tactic in EM Family values(cough), to send the Monetary Reserves back to perceived Safe Countries and put into Safe Assets, perhaps with the intention one day of a full out Invasion? One can only dream.
… but as interest rates in these countries are telling us, it was a trap designed to flush the deer out of the flanking mountains and herd them into the valley.
Putting lipstick and make up a pig doesn’t change the fact it is still a pig. EM countries are let’s be honest – shitholes as Donald Trump says. You can’t change them, even after centuries of Western helping in modernizing them and teaching them about morals and values.
Race and real estate: Chinese Canadians sound off about stereotypes and prejudice
‘A lot of times you’re being misjudged,’ says Weymi Cho, former cast member of Ultra Rich Asian Girls
“Zhao and her business partner Weymi Cho were former cast members of the online reality web series Ultra Rich Asian Girls.
She feels that because her family came to Canada under the immigrant investor program and has money, she is treated differently and viewed as the part of the reason why there’s a housing affordability problem. ”
You are fucking part of the problem locust! You may not like the “new” locust, but you are just the same as them – a locust deep down.
Fake Combat Roach. Get a life.
Every time Henry Yu opens his mouth, you are guaranteed to hear some nonsense about racism.
All while crime is committed with no consequences.
Let me suggest a solution….perhaps we should forbid the press to report on the truth. After all the truth might be construed as racist.
The press doesn’t use racial slurs, dumbass.
I am sure that you or Henry Th would be happy to make some convoluted argument about why press coverage is tantamount to racism.
After all you have done just that about the brilliant commentary of Douglas Todd.
Again, the press don’t use racial slurs, dumbass.
What would you expect from an asocial jerk who seriously fantasizes about being in “exalted mission of fighting racism” and insulting everyone around? A depleted, lonely clown expired a long time ago.
And, of course, the article had to feature China apologist and all-out race baiter, UBC professor Henry Yu.
“Blaming foreigners — blaming the Chinese is actually a red herring,” said historian Henry Yu.
“In other words it misleads us to think that if we just stopped Chinese from coming, if we stop them from buying or we made it more expensive for them to buy, we’d be all okay.”
Well, he’s right. We know that foreign buyers are a tiny fraction of three overall market and its people like your idiot friends that are rushing to buy at the peak out of fear and greed.
All you have is opinions. The facts are not on your side.
Sure. And earth is flat.
You’re quite pathetic.
The 2.5% was only for April. The 13.2% was for all June to August 2016 and which the article states was actually FAR BELOW when compared to previous periods. Too bad you don’t like the actual facts.
You clearly can’t even fucking read.
“from June 10 to Aug. 1, 2016, 13.2 per cent of all property transfer transactions in Metro Vancouver involved foreign buyers.”
“That remains far below the percentage of foreign nationals buying homes before the former Liberal government implemented a 15 per cent foreign buyers tax in August 2016 in an effort to cool the hot housing market.”
Dumbass, you missed a fucking paragraph:
“The data shows five per cent of the 6,105 property transfers in September involved foreign nationals, up from 2.5 per cent in April”
““from June 10 to Aug. 1, 2016, 13.2 per cent of all property transfer transactions in Metro Vancouver involved foreign buyers.””
This time period includes the window in which foreign buyers stampeded to close transactions to beat the FBT, which was announced Jul 25 and came into effect Aug 2.
SIDA denies the truth even when the truth is easy to find.
Race and real estate: Chinese Canadians sound off about stereotypes and prejudice
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/race-and-real-estate-chinese-canadians-sound-off-about-stereotypes-and-prejudice-1.4634893
The chineeze create their own stereotypes with their own lemming-like behaviours such as all driving expensive cars and cramming into open houses.
Cry me a river garbage. Pathetic journalism.
We need an article
Fascism and Currency: the Proletariat muses over the Changes occuring during Our age, and how the Bourgeois leverages stereotypes and biases.
Doomcouver
Populism is a long way off for Canada unfortunately. A “Canada First” mindset is needed in federal politics and we’re nowhere near there yet. Scheer, Trudeau, and Jagmeet Singh are all globalist scumbags and dogmatic idiots. Too bad cancer killed off Jack Layton. He’s the closest thing to a populist we’ve had within striking distance of becoming prime minister.
—-
It’s not a long way off. The media has hijacked and concentrated information dissemination in this country. Break that and the people can take their country back.
Go back and revisit the dozens of links to Chinese empty cities. The question is asked over and over again: Why were they built only to remain empty?
And the answer is clear. Housing has become currency itself.
Using the Lycurgus technique of revealing wealth thru decree: that it should be large, hard to transact, and bulky unit of measure…. And through the principles of Greshams law, where good money is Hoarded, while less desirable money carries on in circulation
(Insert money laundering missives here)
You find that the Housing Flapdoodle is truly global in scale and implimentation
I, xhistory, reserve the right to this insight. The discoverer of ‘Housing As Currency’. And the analysis therein, hoarding, low inventory, ie, Greshams law
China Steps Up Crackdown, Imposes More Fines on Financial Firms
Loved Kathy Tomlinson reply to Terence Corcoran. Gotta love Kate Tomlinson!
“Fair points. What @terencecorcoran fails to mention is much “demand” for VanRE post 2010 was created by speculators/investors who entered market with foreign capital. Many then flipped for profit. It was houses first then condos”
The majority of demand BY FAR was greedy locals gorging on mortgages.
Perhaps. But they were leveraging foreign income…..
Oh, and you have data to support this?!
Were you on a different planet when Sam Cooper wrote the dozen of articles or so documenting the continuous inflow of money from Mainland China and the money laundering in Vancouver RE?
Andy Yan has produced papers on this, as well.
A large share of new condo completed in the past few years have been bought by foreigners (we are talking about 25% or 30%, depending on the period).
But don’t let facts get in the way of your race-baiting. Why do I even bother answering race baiters like you…
Condo completions would be part of the data we already have, dumbass. This is just you trying to cherrypick a subset of the data.
Locals leveraging foreign income? You have a big imagination.
Many Permanent residents in Vancouver have significant links to Mainland China.
But why spending time and effort writing about the truth, if you can make up stories, right?
You think saying that some PRs are Chinese is proof of anything at all? It’s just innuendo.
This is correct.
There’s nothing wrong with it in a free market. It’s demand and supply; the money parks where profit is.
OK, I see. We should probably ask the government to allow the free trading of Vancouver RE on international markets, just like we trade shares. Perhaps we should create an app on WeChat so that you can buy shares in Vancouver real estate while you are at the hairdresser’s.
Nothing wrong with it.
Nada! You have a problem with it, run for office, make changes. But sitting on McDonald’ butts and salivating would change nothing. To start, come out to the meeting in point Grey on May 27.
Sorry. Cannot attend. I am reluctant to,share the same space with a bunch of greedy mipultimillionaires who complain about paying 1000/year more in taxes.
They should be ashamed of themselvess.
I have not time to run for office as I have a ful time, demanding job. But I will certainly vote for people who commit to stop the disgusting spectacle that is the Vancouver RE market.
Of course, You cannot attend…like Eby cancelling the town hall meeting…
Vancouver real estate board threatens ThinkPol with lawsuit to protect foreign buyer privacy
https://thinkpol.ca/2017/11/15/vancouver-real-estate-board-threatens-thinkpol-with-lawsuit-to-protect-foreign-buyer-privacy/comment-page-1/#comment-98852
Real Estate board is trying to silence the media with bulling tactics. Shame on them and for selling out our city for profits.
Like ThinkPol is the media. LOL. About as relevant as Just me.
So irrelevant that the REBGV is paying a lawyer to try to intimidate it.
They would send Just me a letter too if they knew his address. Thinkpol is a guy in a basement with a PO box.
Thinkpol’s address:
https://www.thenetworkhub.ca/about/vancouver
The Network Hub – Vancouver
We specialize in virtual office/mailbox rental
LOL some people are so dumb.
@YVR: You should read up on his lawyer, Doroshenko.
In all sincerity, I’m wondering: would you call him an NDP shill?
https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/05/05/Paul-Doroshenko-Suing-BC-Liberals/
Looks like an NDP shill to me and the Tyee is an NDP rag. Doroshenko is a criminal lawyer not a civil lawyer who is obviously doing it pro bono. Maybe the Thinkpol guy rents his basement suite?
Paul Doroshenko, Q.C. is an experienced Vancouver Criminal lawyer who devotes his practice exclusively to criminal defence and drunk driving law. He ensures first and foremost that his clients avoid a criminal record.
http://vancouvercriminallaw.com/criminal-lawyers-vancouver-richmond-surrey-victoria/paul-doroshenko/
Doroshenko specializes defending drunk drivers. The BC Liberals changed drunk driving laws so it takes lawyers out if it with the instant road side prohibitions. It is no longer a criminal prosecution in 99% of drunk driving cases. This has been very effecting is saving lives due to drunk drivers because there is no court process and it makes it easier for police to take them off the road. . Doroshenko on the other hand has lost most of his practice because of this. He even sued the BC government for this. They guy is a scum bag.
“Paul Doroshenko has been the leading opponent of the British Columbia DUI legislation concerning IRP Immediate Roadside Prohibitions.”
http://vancouvercriminallaw.com/criminal-lawyers-vancouver-richmond-surrey-victoria/paul-doroshenko/
YVR can’t stand it that the NDP are running the show now.
YVR, SIDA and company have lost any decency.
They defend the indefensible, with gusto. Good thing is that the scam is up, and the city at large recognizes that we have a serious problem with foreign money and politicians (like the BC Libs) covering up for them.
It has become a matter of survival, unless we want Vancouver to become a suburb of Shenzhen.
Drama queenery is about all you’re good at.
So why is the cartel so angry?
The cartel makes you agree to a 10 page legal document just to view MLS listings online. They angry people.
They’ll have lawyers on retainer. So this costs them nothing extra.
They’re paying a lawyer. They applied his/her services in the context of this issue. Ergo, they’re paying a lawyer to do this. If they had to actually follow through on legal proceedings related to this, additional costs would probably accrue.
On top of that, given how their attempt at intimidation went sideways because it looks amateurish (“can you tell us exactly which rules were broken?”), I wonder if they might end up paying a better (read: pricier) lawyer as a result of all this.
They’d have been paying the lawyer anyway, ergo you were wrong and ThinkPol is irrelevant.
Curious. Seems like you’re splitting hairs bringing up “extra”, wrong-ness, etc.. Where was I wrong? Was a lawyer paid by REGBV? Did that lawyer not approach ThinkPol on REGBV’s behalf with a cease and desist-type request? They’re paying a guy and directing him/ her to do this.
Ah well, never mind. I hope next week is looking good for you.
If they’d /not/written the letter would they have saved money? Answer: No.
Awesome. You should totally keep focusing on the specific terms of compensation this lawyer may receive to do the REGBV’s bidding (which evidently includes attempting to intimidate smaller time journalists).
Somebody with class would have admitted their error.
I have zero problem conceding points and have done so here previously. Your fixation on the error you believe I have made here is interesting.
Anyhow, I’ll take a pass on advice about “class” from someone who thought it best to say all of the following on on this thread alone:
“I doubt the two people who upvoted you could even interpret what the fuck you meant.”
“…you fucking clown.”
“…unemployable racist twat.”
“I’d say you’re full of shit as usual.”
“…dumbass” (multiple times)
“You’re pathetic.” (multiple times)
“Drama queenery is about all you’re good at.”
“…people like your idiot friends”
Thanks for graciously conceding the point, dumbass.
Evil bastards.
Joyce Murray tweets: Did you know that 80% of money laundering is now done through the real estate because it is not covered by Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act? Thanks, @CdnTaxFairness for alerting me to that fact yesterday. Great meeting!
Now you know, what are you , JT ad Jody Wilson going to do about it? You have been asleep for too long.
Except it is covered:
Except that real estate lawyers get an exemption. Nice try.
“Real estate developers, brokers and sales representatives must fulfill specific obligations under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and associated Regulations to help combat money laundering and terrorist financing in Canada.”
No mention of lawyers.
The other aspect, as you are well aware, is the enforcement. Fintrac reports to the RCMP. But it has no power to prosecute after that. As in the car of the recent casino scandals, many cases are not pursued.
We need to change the system.
Great. You just made my case. No external enforcement for lawyers.
Apparently their right to secrecy is guaranteed by the Supreme Court.
The only discipline is dictated within their industry association. Scary……
Why do you keep making a fool of yourself?
Dumbass, the original claim was that real estate isn’t covered. Now you’ve narrowed it down to real estate lawyers can’t receive over $7500 in cash and are talking a victory lap?
Ooh, the “dumbass” argument again.
You’d make a great lawyer.
“Your honour, I object to what this dumbass just said”.
LOL the original SIDA gets owned and he still makes himself look even more stupid.
Dumbass, he wasn’t able to support his original claim, and the only facts put forward were from me Perhaps that counts as a win for you?
It’s amazing that the studiously ineducable become educable, when the facts become undeniable. I guess that that nice, grandmotherly MP, Joyce Murray, has never noticed a darn thing amiss as she’s pounded on doors in Point Grey for the past decade. She is one of the better walking advertisements to replace representative democracy with more direct democracy.
I agree she is a joke. Let’s see how her conversion on the way to Damascus develops: is she going to propose any action from the federal government? Or just a Twitter post to show concern and then forget about it?
Unless we force politicians to take action they are perfectly happy with the status quo in the real estate market.
and the evidence keeps piling up.
Ian Young: Who is Lil Tay? Behind the illusion of nine-year-old Asian rapper and internet sensation
http://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2144729/who-lil-tay-behind-illusion-nine-year-old-asian-rapper-and-internet
Truly bizarre story…..
😉
Typical azians who do anything for easy money but its all fake.