“Sold our condo in noisy Yaletown, bought 5 acres in a small town in Eastern Township of Quebec, built a house. Debt load is a small fraction of what we had and lifestyle is way up. Every day I think to myself, what are all those people clinging too? Running along the Seawall is the only think I can think of.”
- Ultramam at vancouvercondo.info October 4th, 2011 at 8:15 am
Most Recent Comments:
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
- neonatal nurse Jobs on ‘Giant Bubble Bursts Into The Record Books – “Screams of excitement followed gasps of astonishment as a giant bubble rose up and surrounded the participants before bursting in spectacular fashion.”
- What And When To Purchase Langley Real Estate Langley Real Estate Agents Can Be Busy Because Of The Completely New Building Around The City! | Bookworm Room on Author Of ‘Real Estate Investing for Canadians for Dummies’ “jumped into the market 3 years ago with a 2 BR apartment in Mount Pleasant”; Reports Ownership Cheaper Than Renting; Leaves Out Math
- rod_jonsson on Chat Thread
- Annie on British Columbians Selling & Moving To The US – “It was just too good of an opportunity to turn down.”
- bad credit fast cash loans on British Columbians Selling & Moving To The US – “It was just too good of an opportunity to turn down.”
- Real Estate Tsunami on Chat Thread
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
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Type of Anecdote
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- 20. The Limitless Demand Argument For Ongoing Market Strength (70)
- 21. Vancouver RE-Verse [Found Poems] (8)
- 22. RE References In Popular Culture (41)
- 23. Jumping The Shark (1)
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- 02 AmericaCanada [retired, no archive]
- 03 Housing Analysis
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- 05 Vancouver RE and then some
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Latest Anecdotes:
- Chat Thread
- Taking A Break
- “My best guess: this property is now an ‘investment hold’ and will be built ‘when prices recover’. Good luck on that!”
- Man Loses $745,000 Vancouver Condo Deposit
- Graphic – Degrees of Housing Overvaluation in Canada
- The Rare Individual With A Negative Ownership Premium
- Advice Regarding Renting In Vancouver, Please – “Unfortunately, the Vancouver rental stock is absolutely atrocious. It just seems like every landlord is looking for someone to pay 100% of their mortgage on a crappy place through rental income.”
- “I just visited Manhattan for a week, and happened to snap some real estate ads on both the Upper West and Upper East sides of the island. Compare to Vancouver. It simply doesn’t compute.”
- Ben Rabidoux In Vancouver Next Week
- “The mortgage company told me they were calling in my 40-year, 0-down mortgage. I have paid nearly sixty thousand dollars towards it, but, nearly five years in, I have yet to touch the principal.”
- ‘Vancouver City Hall: Housing Report Card 2012′; Plus Revised Version
- “My folks find themselves at 65 still owing half the value of their home and recreation property to the bank. After almost 30 years of ownership in the BPOE and a number of boom markets, they have very little to show for it.”
- “Rent for $2,200 a month or buy and have a mortgage of $4,310 per month. Why would anyone buy?”
- “They were talking about two couples they knew who had recently bought a lot and planned to each build a house on it and live as neighbours.”
- Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association Annual First-Time Buyer Seminar Attendance Plummets
- Mom and Pop Get It Wrong In All Markets, Time And Again
- The average British Columbian homeowner is not going to pay off their mortgage by the time they retire.
- “He’s sold all his properties except his current one, which is now for sale. He explained that the market’s currently in crash mode, worst that he’s ever seen.”
- “One of my old high school buddies finally got her mother to sell the family home in Kitsilano – sold for over $1M, monies realized after debt paid off $185K.”
- “I know someone who just declared bankruptcy because her condo was assessed at $150k and she bought it presale north of $250k in 2005 or 2006.”
- Sturdy, With Views – “Calling Froogle Scott!… Is Dr. Scott ‘In The House’?” [Not In This One, Certainly]
- “She said the market was dead in Victoria and that it would remain so for a very long time. I asked how she knew. Her answer was fascinating and should scare the pants off the real estate crowd.”
- Kits Notes – “I’m pretty sure that this is the first 3+ bedroom property of any type that I’ve seen in the 5 years I’ve lived here that is priced below $700K.”
- “A beautiful Belfast home, in the equivalent of 1st Shaughnessy, bought at their RE peak in 2007 for £3.5 million, has now sold for £800K, almost 80%-off. The market didn’t suffer any significant economic shocks. Rates & unemployment didn’t skyrocket. They didn’t build more land. Sentiment just changed and the prices fell and fell.”
- “Two family members of hers are trapped, underwater, in condos on the East Side.”
- “Interprovincial migration is not saying good things about BC’s economy.”
- Vancouver RE: Not As Expensive Provided You Don’t Think – “It’s clear that our perception of affordability has been coloured by living on a continent where housing is unusually inexpensive.”
- More Undisclosed RE Industry Insiders Publicized As Clients – “In 1995, Allan and Karin Hoegg were mortgage-free. But no more. Today their Vancouver home is a valuable source of income as they plan for full retirement.”
- Rumor that some OV units will be reduced by 20%.
- Downside Weights On The Vancouver RE Market – “One of the older guys (over 60) mention to the guy beside him that he and his wife were thinking about selling their family home, and renting, in order to get some of the money that was locked up in the house.”
- “My buddy was looking to upgrade to a house in the Coquitlam area. With 200k extra for a home, that’s half of lifetime saving between him and his wife.”
- “I was walking in the Fraser neighborhood yesterday, I noticed that the population, on average, seem to be composed of workers. I belong to the top 5 percent in terms of income. Nevertheless, I cannot afford any of the houses for sale in that neighbourhood.”
- “Vancouver is an urban resort whose value mostly resides in its real estate and not much else.”
- “Rogers Communications is expanding into RE; aiming to relaunch website; providing critical data that can help potential buyers assess the value of a property from the comfort of their home computer.”
- I’m only 50 and I can just about retire if I want to, all because of a single simple decision – “When prices rebounded to their former highs, then rocketed another 30% higher to what I considered to be totally unsustainable levels, I decided that only a fool would pass up a second opportunity to harvest such a massive non-taxable capital gain, and in 2011 I sold my place.”
- The Vacant Lot of Versailles, Richmond.
- “I don’t think that most people think things are going to crash, just that there is going to be a slight correction, but it was amazing to me how sentiment has changed, and the fact Vancouver RE is too high was just understood.”
- “The ‘investor’ who purchased our house put it up for sale two months later, in January 1981, but the bubble had burst.”
- For A City To Have That Kind Of Vacancy, It’s Like Cancer – “Downtown, the vacant unit rate is so high that it’s as though there were 35 towers at 20 storeys apiece – all empty.”
- “What’s the worst that can happen? You can’t pay your mortgage, so sell your house! No fear.”
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yeah, why eat keg’s steak when you can buy a ton of quaker’s oatmeal!
hmm, a steroid raised piece of beef or a natural meal from the earth. You’ve made your own apt analogy there Fred.
yeah, live the life you’re entitled to today and don’t worry about your financial future . . . and keep renting from me so i can continue to live off you!
I met two people in Vancouver that both owned no less than 10 houses on the westside and I still remember all their constant preaching about why you have to live in Vancouver at all costs and get your foot into the RE market regardless of price. Funny, that when talking to other Vancouver RE longs, they’d admit that prices were way over done and that it was a bad time to start in the market.
and that was 7 years ago!
location location location
The Eastern Townships are an absolutely gorgeous part of the country. Beautiful small towns, rolling hills, lakes, farms. Interesting mix of newcomers and old-stock families, both English and French. Quite close to Montreal (a couple hours’ drive) and the ski resorts of northern Vermont. It’s really a lovely area.
Heck, that entire area… plus the Maritimes… is heaven-on-earth. Although it can be hard to find a job in your field. Or a job period. But if you’re enterprising and willing to try new things, you can do it.
And, besides, you don’t need $80,000 a year just to scrape by out there.
I’m frankly amazed that more British Columbians don’t just sell off and move out east. But, then again, just like BC ends at Hope and Whistler for Vancouverites, Canada ends at the Rockies… right?
Value trap.
“Running along the Seawall is the only think I can think of.”
And truly, that’s about all that the average Vancouverite can think of as well.
Of course, there’s the much vaunted “well, you can sail and ski in the same day!”
And, when was the last time you did that?
Oh yeah, I forgot. You don’t have the time for that, because you commute for 2.5 hours a day. Nor the money for even a lift pass on Grouse, because you’re paying monster mortgage payments that barely cover the interest on that abysmal little shack that you “own.”
Rollie, your ‘location, location, location’ comment is typical example of the unvarnished arrogance of Vancouverites that infuriates the rest of the country. You guys are going down in flames with your million dollar mortgages. Sail & Ski!, what tosh.
the Vancouver lifestyle – all work and no play because the average person can’t afford to do anything but work. Just like so many other Asian mega-cities. The rat race at its finest. Now that’s a great location!
have you been to the eastern townships in winter. Freezing cold and tons of snow. I know why everyone is hanging onto their Yaletown condo
Have you ever heard of a jacket and snow tires? WTF?