Whatever your religion happens to be.
Be you a bear, bull or agnostic.
Whether you’re an internet millionaire or a carrying a debt load of 165%.
You might be a real estate salesperson, a bearish economist or a somebody just trying to get by.
The most important things in life don’t tend to end up on a financial statement or notice of assessment.
Whatever your situation is, thanks for visiting VCI and taking part in the conversation.
You deserve a holiday, and we hope you have a good one!
Looks like more problems over at the Olympic Village.
You’d think that all the hot air over this project would mean there’d be no lack of heat, but I guess you’d be wrong.
A problem with the much-lauded heating and cooling system in the buildings constructed for the 2010 Winter Games has left some residents without heat since the beginning of Vancouver’s cold snap, condo owner and resident Tomasz Rutkowski said Monday.
It’s nearly freezing at 6 C in Rutkowski’s two-bedroom apartment in the Kayak building at 77 Walter Hardwick Avenue, where his five-year-old son has been walking around and sleeping in a winter jacket.
Rutkowski reported the problem a few times to the property manager and strata council, but said he was told that the system is “just a weak system.”
“They just told us, buy portable heaters,” he said, adding that’s a poor solution for his condo with floor-to-ceiling windows. “This is supposed to be environmentally friendly, now they’re telling us to get those heaters.”
(The city and the mayor have applauded the heating system, a neighbourhood energy utility that recaptures heat from sewage and redistributes it throughout the community, as a green initiative.)
Read the full article here at Metro News.
The good news? The strata is responsible for the costs of maintaining the system, so this is one part of the Olympic Village that tax payers won’t have to cover.
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…
Spain is the latest real estate bubble country to consider giving extra residency privileges to foreigners who buy property.
If they go ahead with this plan they would join Portugal, Hungary and Ireland.
Greece is also considering a similar measure.
The Spanish proposal is the cheapest so far, requiring only a $200k real estate purchase:
The Spanish government is considering offering residency to foreigners who buy property worth about $200,000 or more. With discounts as deep as 50% along the Mediterranean, a 1,100-square-foot three-bedroom beachfront apartment in Alicante goes for $130,000. Or how about a 1,200-square-foot four-bedroom with a view of Barcelona’s skyline for $175,000? A few miles inland, a two-bedroom house goes for $90,000.
The idea is to attract buyers for an estimated 700,000 empty homes scattered across Spain’s landscape, the remnants of the nation’s dramatic housing boom-and-bust. The offer is aimed at Chinese, Russians and Americans, who are usually limited to a three-month tourist visa in most parts of Europe.
Full article in the LA Times.