“For our family it’s been about enjoying life. My wife and I could never buy into a life of servitude to a bank. It’s not in our DNA. We just aren’t built to borrow money and don’t consider life as a one track job in order to buy a building. We travel and explore BC and paid the university education for two kids. When we first moved to the LM from the Okanagan, we stopped at Haro and Jervis for several years (when a one bedroom was $400/m) and watched the tone of the city change from a cultural oasis to a financial oasis. I almost bought a suite for $90k, but the spirit changed. We wanted out. Now we live on a five acre farm near Golden Ears for $900 a month. We do lots of care taking and the owner keeps the rent low. Fresh eggs, beautiful scenery, and slow paced neighbors who are more interested in gardening than real estate. We’ve saved enough to buy a house for cash near Merritt and have our RRSP’s topped up.
I can appreciate that some folk want to acquire, however that need is at the jeopardy of a full rounded community with contributions from all walks of life. There’s some wonderful people in Vancouver, friendly, but there is a shift in attitude. It’s more about ‘stuff’ now. I don’t know, it might become a haven for the world’s rich, but at what expense to the people who were raised here? It’s like the pipeline up north—we pay carbon tax while the government and corporations pump our fossil fuels to Asia. There’s an underlying hypocrisy in many aspects of Vancouver and British Columbia’s growth. I don’t think the government made good decisions about sustainable living for the citizens of BC. I do believe their priority has been a tax base and many other aspects of culture and affordable living have been secondary. I know some real estate agents and I hold them personally responsible for jacking up prices at every turn. They were born to sell anything for a profit, and I am afraid they are now influencing public policy.
Can Vancouver survive an era of personal gain and self gratification? The same attitude didn’t prepare another glamor town very well, Las Vegas was hit very hard and it still hasn’t recovered from 2008. Two more years and our family is out. We are taking our design and manufacturing business as well. Freight on board out of Merritt is cheaper than expanding into a commercial site here.
Will be back to visit.”
- debtless in poco at VREAA 7 Feb 2012 9:25am
Talk of life without debt, fresh eggs, beautiful scenery, slow pace, neighbours, community.
Freaks!
- vreaa
Beware of these people, they are secular in their ideas and may want to lead you into some sort of “cult” where fresh air, communication with others, the sharing of ideas and a lack of financial tethers are more important than home ownership. The next thing you know “speaking to neighbours” will run rampant and ruin all of your self focused infantilization time, BEWARE. The risk of happiness is also rife here and smiling will age you, stay young Vancouverites.
I don’t trust anyone who refuses to take on large amounts of debt. It shows a lack of both character and unbridled optimism. Their views on things will be tainted by their free cash flow, which to be frank don’t align well with persons such as myself.
That’s how it starts. First you get friendly with your neighbours. Then you start bumping into the same neighbours at the local diner. Then you’re trading recipes and gardening tips. Before you know it, you’ve been sucked into the merciless vacuum of some rural cult where people still butcher their own chickens and grow their own cucumbers. People who can identify the song bird species that feed in their back yards, but who are so morally deficient they couldn’t care less about the current rates for mortgages or HELOCs or even about the real estate prices in nearby cities. When you talk about the program you watched on HGTV last night, the fools stare back at you with blank disinterest, and turn the conversation to the weather. It’s like they have no conscience at all! These people are sick.
I can relate. I bought a 960 sq ft bungalo in rural MB in 2006 for $74,500. It was wonderfully maintained and it also has a huge 24 X 50 garage on a very big lot. Property taxes last year were a net $328. When I accepted a work transfer to Winnipeg, I originally had my place up for sale. Thankfully I took it off the market and chose to rent a small apartment in Winnipeg within walking distance to work. I go out to my country house every weekend and I love it. It’s close to awesome fishing and I just love the slower pace.
Had I sold my rural place in 2008, I’d have probably had to take out a 35 year mortgage in a bedroom community near Winnipeg with a 1 hr rush hour commute. By now the commute and traffic would have driven me nuts. I did the math and it is actually cheaper for me to have kept my rural house and rent a small Wpg apartment than to have bought a McMansion.
I’m so glad I didn’t join the debt-slavery cult of buying a city McMansion. I’m happy with my rural house and I plan to retire there eventually. Being able to walk to work (indoors too through Wpg’s walkways) is so much better than being a prisoner in rush hour traffic.
NICE.
I think part of the problem is that most people don’t know what makes them happy, so they keep chasing the next potential thing, and often that chase is expressed on the other side of the books as debt or a heloc for remodeling.
…”and smiling will age you, stay young Vancouverites[!]“…
I’d always wondered why there were so many walk-in BOTOX clinics in YVR… Mystery solved.
In related news… recent converts to BubbleApostacy within the editorial suites of our regional corporate media have acquired some strange new politico [and WannaBe politicos] bedfellows… CivicPolicyElites’ fear of impending ‘backlash’ grows more palpable by the day…
[VancouverSun] – Vancouver appoints ‘housing affordability task force’ – The 14 members will help mayor and co-chair find new ways to soften the effects of the city’s affordability crisis
http://tinyurl.com/7yr9l92
As the saying goes, “write what you know”
No doubt they’ll get it all figured out. Like the Saskatoon city council offering “grants” (free money from other taxpayers) to first time homebuyers to help alleviate the costs of homeownership. Who says government can’t solve problems?
[""grants" (free money from other taxpayers)" - hahahahaha -ed.]
The back to the land movement that was so prevailent in the seventies could start being appealing again. Living in high rise concrete caves and being dependant upon others to supply your needs is very risky if things keep turning nasty with the Iran/ Israel situation. Our oil dependancy could be our ruin. It’s fine to take on mountains of dept when there are no interruptions to service that dept; but throw in an Iran/ Israel conflict and the whole Middle East could take a turn for the worst and create some waves that would really effect us here in Canada. Stay out of dept and you will weather the potental storms a lot better. Five acres in the country is not such a bad idea.
Interesting report on new housing starts. Some of the numbers are fairly startling:
http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/23150/1/no+new+housing+starts+in+pg+in+january
And… while we’re on the topic of “lives of servitude” – something FarTooGood not to share here/now – an utterly AbFab, “Quote ‘O TheDay!” in the category of HinterlandTales ‘O ‘Accelerated’ Urban Renewal…
“I’m very, very disappointed and sad,” [Penticton] Mayor Dan Ashton said. “It’s sad what happened, especially for the 20-plus jobs that were there. Take it or leave it, it was an institution.”… [in earlier remarks to 'TheMedia' and apparently unawares [!?] of the ‘landmark’ provenance of what was formerly the Okanagan’s, “Best Little Wh…”]
[PWN] – Blaze consumes piece of Penticton’s history
“The top floor of the hotel used to be a bordello, which meant that the ranch hands and miners on the way to camps would venture to the B.C. Hotel as one of the sole places where women could be found. “It really talks about how Penticton grew up,” Penticton Museum curator Peter Ord said.”…
http://tinyurl.com/6lvzucm
Off topic: http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/5-reasons-why-housing-market-175127676.html
5 reasons why the housing market won’t crash (the stuff they didn’t say – TCG edition)
1. Because we said so.
2. Because we barely squeaked through high school and don’t have the skills to actually conduct a useful analysis.
3. Because our paycheques depend on us saying it won’t.
4. Because a crash would result in people asking serious questions about our industry practice and (lack of) ethics and that would be very problematic.
5. Because that guy we sold our souls to promised it won’t.
what a piece of crap. Some people have no shame trying to convince people that investing right now in RE is without risks…
Sentiment is a big component of the bubble and myth-telling is a big part of sentiment. The battle over myth seems to be engaged this month. (I don’t think bulls do this consciously, by the way. Meaning, I don’t think they sit down and say, how do I pump this market another month? I think it’s more like old tyme revivalism mentality. Repeat it because you like hearing it said… (Not that bears are the same, mind you.))
love these posts.
What would I ever do without the entertainment of these ‘rent and rant’ sites?
Something useful perhaps? Oh wait, you’re a realtor.
Metro Vancouver’s population growth has gone up in 2011.
http://i.imgur.com/VFkm6.jpg
Mingpao’s breakdown (27 Jan 2012) as follows:
- Surrey, an increase of 11,027 or 2.4%
- Vancouver city, 8,391 or 1.3%
- Burnaby, 2,141 or 0.9%
- Coquitlam, 1,227 or 1%
- New West, 1,007 or 1.5%
- Richmond, 830 or 0.4%
Total Lower Mainland = 30,970 or 1.3%
source: BCstats, 2010 July 01 – 2011 June 30
National Post’s article today.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/08/canada-census-2011-see-which-cities-and-towns-have-grown-the-most/
“California Housing Market Braces for Facebook Millionaires”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/us/california-housing-market-braces-for-facebook-millionaires.html
“Potential buyers are seen through the back window of an open house, which is for sale at over $1.75 million in Palo Alto, Calif.”
I laughed out loud at the paltry $1.75m for that gorgeous house in Palo Alto.
Palo Alto is insanely expensive. But I love that place. You can dress down in ragged jeans and get great service anyway, because these uber-wealthy geek types also have this habit of dressing like that and the store clerks can’t sort everyone out and just treat everyone well, just in case.
“From developers and builders to academics, housing finance groups and operators of not-for-profit housing, the 14 members will assist the mayor and co-chair Olga Ilich to try to find new ways to soften the effects of the city’s systemic housing affordability crisis.”
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Vancouver+appoints+housing+affordability+task+force/6109527/story.html#ixzz1lqKAqv7c
Really? Can anyone find the academic?
Alan Boniface — Principal, DIALOG & Urban Land Institute B.C. Chairman
Nathan Edelson — Senior Partner, 42 Street Consulting
Leonard George — Director, Economic Development, Tsleil-Waututh Nation
Marg Gordon — CEO, B.C. Apartment Owners & Managers Association
Mark Guslits — architect, principal, Mark Guslits & Associates Inc.
Colleen Hardwick — founder and CEO, New City Ventures
Howard Johnson — CEO, Baptist Housing
Kenneth Kwan — Chairman, Building Committee, SUCCESS
Michael Lewis — Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Community Renewal
Eric Martin — VP, Bosa Development Corp.
Karen O’Shannacery — Executive Director, Lookout Society
Al Poettcker — President & CEO, UBC Properties Trust
Peter Simpson — President & CEO, Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association
Bradford Tone — President, Tone Management
Really? Can anyone find the academic? …
Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling – jailed
The City needs permits permits permits. From developers developers developers.
What Steve Balmer said.
This is why I won’t vote for Vision Vancouver. At least with the NPA I know I’m voting for the developers’ lackeys.
There’s an underlying hypocrisy in many aspects of … this posting. You do realize that if noone purchased property you would have no place to rent. Stop acting so smug, you love to rent, great…but dont bite the hand that feeds you. Karma’s a bitch stupid.