About VREAA

Okay, so we all know that anecdotes are just stories we tell each other, and we won’t pretend that they necessarily reflect broad experience. Sometimes, however, stories can say a lot, particularly if they are first-hand accounts. And anecdotes do serve to put a human face on group experiences. By nature we enjoy gathering around the town well (or the office water-fountain, or the coffee shop, or the kitchen table, or ‘down the pub’). And, once gathered, we enjoy sharing our own ‘war stories’ and swapping gossip.
This site aims to serve as a repository for accounts of what people are experiencing and observing regarding Vancouver’s remarkable RE boom. As of the start of this blog (February 2008), the boom was still ongoing. It has affected our city profoundly, and touched everyone who lives here one way or another. Some really remarkable stories have appeared on Vancouver RE blogs over the last few years, but they are scattered in such a way that makes them difficult to retrieve and review. VREAA is an attempt to collect these stories in one place.
Anecdotes found on various blogs or in mainstream media will be posted by vreaa as a string of front-page threads. Post your own anecdotes in the comments section of any recent posts. Some of those comment anecdotes will then also be ‘frontpaged’.
The best anecdotes are of the ‘This happened to me’ or ‘I’ve done this’ or ‘I’m going to do that’ sort. Equally good are the ‘I personally know somebody who did this’ sort. Beyond that, stories become less reliable as an indicator of what’s actually happening out there (‘I’ve heard that some people may be doing this’). VREAA will be loosely moderated. ‘Logging-on’ is currently not a requirement, but please at least leave a ‘handle’ when you post.
There are already a number of very useful Vancouver RE blogs that are linked in the side bar, and this site will not attempt to replicate or replace any of them. Our focus here will be on accumulating an archive of stories about the human effects of this RE market.
If you come across good Vancouver RE relevant anecdotes at other sites, please post them here (always with source noted, and, if possible, linked).
Let vreaa know if there are any feasible changes to this blog that could improve it.
Owners, Renters; Flippers, Realtors; Bulls, Bears; Neighbours, Brothers-in-law; Immigrants, Emigrants; Winners, Losers; Boasters, Sulkers; Believers, Skeptics.
All stories are welcome. Return to the front page. Post an anecdote.