“We just spent a frustrating week trying to buy one of these expensive houses. Agent would not put in our offer. Said we should offer something “reasonable” when we wanted to go in at the assessed value of the place (tear downer, asbestos, needed repairs).Told us what the seller’s bottom line was. Didn’t like that we had the condition of selling of our condo (suggested we move into a rental so we had “more money”). Then, discussed what we were going to offer when viewing the home with other realtors & buyers present. Welcome to Vancouver. You can’t even put an offer on these overpriced homes as the agents don’t want to see purchase prices come down. Now, we are without an agent, and the house is still for sale. This was almost as bad as being told previously, “don’t even bother putting in a low offer on this place – we just had a busload of Chinese come through and they are extremely interested” (actual quote from realtor). Obviously, to show that home values in Vancouver are not coming down, no sale is better than low sale. Are agents acting in solidarity together? Sure seems like it.”
- For Sale But Not To You at VREAA 14 Mar 2012 12:27pm
Most Recent Comments:
- Real Estate Tsunami on Chat Thread
- forex conquest review on Gord Goble in Local Newspapers – Vancouver RE ‘House Of Cards’ Will “Implode”
- rod_jonsson on Chat Thread
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
- Leona on MSM Continue To Pump RE – “What’s next? “Cigarettes found to extend lifetime: Marlboro?”
- rod_jonsson on Chat Thread
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
- rp1 on Chat Thread
- Farmer on Chat Thread
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
- Nemesis on Chat Thread
Type of Anecdote
- 01. He Said, She Said (247)
- 02. Profiting from the Boom (441)
- 03. Changed my Life (103)
- 04. Changed my Career (38)
- 05. Where do Buyers get the money? (958)
- 06. Held my Nose and Leapt (96)
- 07. Avoiding Vancouver (375)
- 08. Overextended Buyers (1182)
- 09. Delaying Buying (315)
- 10. Demoralized Renters? (362)
- 11. Regrets about Investing in RE (417)
- 12. Effects of Development (274)
- 13. 2010 Olympics Related (74)
- 14. Social Effects of the Boom (1255)
- 15. Misallocation of Resources (958)
- 16. Missed The Boat? (236)
- 17. The Froogle Scott Chronicles (27)
- 18. Spot The Speculator (171)
- 19. BlastRadiusPostCards (17)
- 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)
- 24. Policies On Housing (10)
- 25. Epigrams For The Bubble (1)
- 26. Premature Calls Of "Bottom" (3)
- 27. Seller Panic (3)
- 28. Erroneous Causation Theories For Falling Prices (7)
- 29. Bubblespeak (1)
- Uncategorized (176)
Blogroll
- 01 Vancouver Condo Info
- 02 AmericaCanada [retired, no archive]
- 03 Housing Analysis
- 04 RealEstateTalks BC
- 05 Vancouver RE and then some
- 06 Whispers from the Village on the Edge of the Rainforest
- 07 Greater Fool
- 08 Canada Bubble
- 09 Rob Chipman's blog
- 10 YatterMatters
- 11 condohype [retired; archives available]
- 12 vancouver (un)real estate
- 13 Agent Will's Stats [retired]
- 14 Landlord Rescue
- 15 The Economic Analyst
- 16 Canadian Housing Price Charts
- 17 Hoodsurf [retired Jun 2011]
- 18 World Housing Bubble
- 19 Vancouver Price Drop
- 20 North American Economics
-
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.”
Follow vreaa on twitter
- Chat Thread wp.me/pcq1o-5vD 3 weeks ago
VREAArchives
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- October 2008
- September 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
Tags
Anecdotes Banks Bears blogs British Columbia Bubble Bulls buyers Canada Capitulation China CMHC Construction Debt Economy Employment Fear Foreign buyers Fundamentals Government Housing Interest Rates Landlords Life Media Mortgage brokers Okanagan Olympics Ownership Prediction Real Estate Realtors Relationships Rent Retirement RE_ATM sellers Sentiment Speculators Toronto US Vancouver Victoria Visual Anecdote Whistler
Isn’t not forwarding an offer unlawful or unethical at least?
Oh wait nevermind. Ethics and realtors.
Is it unlawful though?
I have always thought that the Realtor was obligated to “put in” any offer that was made? However, since I have always sold my houses (3) myself, I am unsure of the specifics.
They might technically have to put your offer in but I think politely denying ths request must be one of the first brainwashing items at realturd school. Every one of them I’ve ever dealt with made it very clear that an “insulting” offer wouldn’t be a good idea.
How does a market function if buyer and seller cannot meet? The choice to reject belongs to the vendor alone in every case and being blocked where an offer is concerned deprives the property owner of the opportunity to give consideration to what may be true market prices.
Whenever a realtor rejects an offer he has acted as agent to the vendor and should therefore be fully liable if the property owner later discovers that rejection was unreasonable, biased or unfair to his interests.
This is material in a market of falling prices. I would add that if realtors are willing to entertain multiple offers exceeding asking price during a bidding war (often done under a few brief short hours) that they are equally obligated to accept low offers in a falling market.
Refusal of an offer can therefore be defined as negligence in my opinion.
By law, yes a realtor has to present any and all offers to the vendor. I had my condo listed at 409k, got an offer at 370k. My realtor called me and said that we got an offer. When he arrived, he told me this is a hurting offer and he apologized and told me its low before showing me the offer sheet. I declined, and 1 week later, I got what I listed for. In glad I got out in 2010, because the same units, are asking the same or slightly less. But sitting on the market longer.
Thanks Van Guy. Is it actually written somewhere that we can all access though? I mean if there is a law then it must be written, right? Or is it just part of the Realtor “code of ethics” (which we all know is not worth the God-Damned paper it is printed on)
Realtor code of ethics:
http://www.rebgv.org/sites/default/files/2011REALTORCode.pdf
Searching under “offer” I didn’t find anything on this.
“3.1 A REALTOR® shall fully disclose to his or her Client at the earliest opportunity any information that relates to the transaction”
If you write an offer, that relates to the transaction. As I mentioned this is NBD in this market because offers are still streaming through. In a dead market not presenting offers is a BFD.
Jesse, doesn’t that apply to the seller’s agent not presenting offers to the seller. Or did I misunderstand. I thought this was buyer’s agent not presenting offers to seller/seller’s agent?
The only way Realtors are kept in check on this is if the eventual sale price is below the offer that wasn’t presented. Otherwise, if the eventual sale price exceeds yours, nobody cares. No harm no foul.
Nonetheless don’t believe that BS they’re spouting. It’s either them trying to get you to overbid by playing off your inferiority or them maintaining appearances. Either way it’s a mug’s game.
Did anybody just see BC CTV website on the Marine Gate condo project?
“Hundreds of home buyers lined up to buy new condo units in the Marine Gateway project on Saturday morning. Within just four hours, all 415 units were sold.
More than 11,000 people registered to buy. On Saturday, some people were at Marine Gateway to purchase a new home, others were looking for investment opportunities.
The units on Marine Drive and Cambie Street were opened for sale at 9 a.m., but many buyers had set up camp as early as Thursday night, hoping to be the first in line so they can get the exact unit they want.
Tracie McTavish, president of Rennie Marketing Systems, said such a high number of potential buyers has not been seen in Vancouver since 2006, when people lined up to buy in the Woodwards Building in Gastown. ”
I thought the condo market was taking a nose dive but this makes me wonder. A stampede rush, kind of like getting concert tickets. None of these condos are for families either, they are all one and two bedrooms shoeboxes in the sky. I guess the buyers will just try and flip them.
And right next to the city’s garbage transfer station…
Ratsapalooza!
July and August will be just amazing!
Lemmings! Here is a segment to the video “White Wilderness” 1958.
Yes, it is all about Lemmings.
And like Rennie’s productions, this one is staged:
http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lemmings.asp
Good catch RP1. That old movie was indeed staged and the myth of Lemmings jumping off cliffs is mostly nonsense. Glad to see you are paying attention.
I think it’s almost more telling that humanity needed the metaphor badly enough to make this up in the first place. We are really good at projection…
If you view the first few minutes of this clip from the 2008 CBC Marketplace program ‘Condo Crunch’, you’ll see that Rennie had probably been lining up buyers for months;
These aren’t really sales as no real estate exists yet. These are ‘assignments’; contracts to buy with a deposit. Mortgage payments don’t kick in until possession. Developers need to assign some 80% of units before they can get financing to build, so every project has to have the vast majority of units ‘sold’ before construction can begin. So it’s no surprise that it ‘sold out’. Some developers ‘sell’ blocks of assignments to realtors, who then market them while the building is being built.
The only stampede rush on concert tickets is by resale agencies, scalpers and ticket touts. The real fans usually end up getting left out in the cheap seats or priced out entirely by greed….
OH WAIT A SECOND!….
First project on the Canada Line and the project will have shopping and a theatre. It will be a busy area when completed. Stinky location, but anytime there is shopping and theatre along a skytrain route, many kids will come.
Realtor works for you[/bs]
Saw that Gateway piece on Global.
Unbelievable!! How do people get talked into behaving that way!!
Tulips.
“How do people get talked into behaving that way”
Because they want to. In my old age I’m becoming more and more a believer in free will and monetary Darwinism.
Welcome.
liberal values, fiscal conservative – that’s hot. shiva!
further transcendence -> the simple life, tim kiladze not paris hilton.
she’s so hot ->
Funny you should say that, Chubster… Helmut Newton always thought so… and she did blow me a kiss at the ’87 commonwealth conference (there is an obscure reference to the IronLady’s ‘in camera’ reputation in, “Love Actually” – spoken by HughGrant while passing her portrait @ 10Downing)…
Historically we got where we are through collective action in favor or sewer systems. It’s all about balance.
…”free will”, Jesse?
TeeHee…
Never underestimate the power of a great story*…
* …and the DemonstrationEffect…
ho-ho-ho
Must say, that was a persuasive story.
You two dodged a bullet! Happy St. Patrick’s day.
why don’t you just go knocking the door and tell the owner that you want to buy his place for XXX dollars.
The first thing i did before hiring a buyers agent in florida during the market crash was ask them if they had the balls to present a half price offer, and it worked as i ended up getting a nice investment property for 40 percent off an already low asking.
Some points to ponder from Bob Rennie on the Bill Good show Friday 9:00 a.m. (Google CKNW audio vault, select date and time to listen). Sixty nine percent of home purchases in Metro Vancouver are by someone who already owns a home. First time homebuyers are thirty one percent. Purchasers of high end condos in the Olympic Village (1.5 – 4.5 million) are expected to be downsizers from the West side selling SFH to foreign buyers. Part of the equity from downsizers goes to helping the children with the down payment on the first step on the housing ladder. Many posters to this blog having rightly been asking where the money is coming from. It seems that HAM has a multiplier effect, and it’s Rennie’s livelihood to know these things. Marine Gateway today, Mandarin in Richmond tomorrow – keep watching.
Oh. Good one Keith. I think I get it now. It is not just HAM anymore because now it has a multiplier. New version is Ham and Eggs because there are offspring involved…………Can I get Fries and a large Coke with that?
And you believe Bob Rennie because…?
Rennie gave the 69% figure? How does he come to this figure?
A super sexy marketing strategy.
It’s a very, very bearish figure.
About 2/3rds of units to those with existing properties. In other words it’s an investment. Just so we’re clear on whether or not it’s a “home”.
already owns home is also move-up buyer without clause requiring prior sale.
Drove past the lovely park in Dunbar today; at 12.30 pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon the place was empty. Seriously. Not even a swing that looked like it had recently been played on. Kept driving, and this pretty neighborhood, that should be filled with families in the garden, neighbors bantering….dead.
A ghost town….sad sad sad.
Ps. VREAA host; did you see the headline news on Vancouver today? Encouraging headline, but the usual dross.
Oh yeah….and the cultural scene is dying too. Vancouver sold its soul to the real estate devil.
Farmer
lol..could not stop laughing.
You have to realize that with Van RE, irrationality begets more irrationality, till it corrects (as in market correction).
I have a friend who works for a bank in White Rock. He said one of the realtors he works with told him that there is a problem there with wealthy Chinese setting long closing dates and walking away, leaving the 50k deposit and the seller screwed. If you are bidding against people who have little intention to actually go through with the sale then no wonder you are being disrespected for wanting to make a reasonabl offer. Makes me wonder how this affects reports sales numbers. Are those sales that closed or agreements signed? If the deal ultimately falls through, how is that reflected in the sales numbers we get from the real estate boards?
If someone gave me 50k and walked away, I’d look for another foreign buyer to give me another 50k and walk away. Sounds like a business plan to me.
you can tell a pro by how they take a loss
“Purchasers of high end condos in the Olympic Village (1.5 – 4.5 million) are expected to be downsizers from the West side selling SFH to foreign buyers.”
Rennie has been saying this for a few years, but I don’t know many west side homeowners that would want to live there. Most of those I know who have sold are leaving the City. These condo prices (don’t forget maintenance fees and taxes) are way too high for most people – especially given the reputation the O.V. has with respect to poor building quality and defects. Whoever buys these units will have to have very deep pockets – or end up bankrupt from all the “special assessments” in the years to come.
But, he sold out Marine Gateway, so I suppose anything’s possible! I didn’t realize there were that many fools in this City.