This from Strataman at vancouvercondo.info 8 Nov 2009 at 7:34 pm -

“Looking after a bank repo at King’s Landing. Bankruptcy for two swinging 20 year olds and two aged Mainland Chinese folks (the parents who funded them)! The old folks are dumping their other two condo’s cause they co-signed! All heading back to China it seems. 500K loss after mortgage was paid off.”

This brief yet poignant personal story about the feeling of being left behind by this RE bubble. From ‘Mom in Vancouver’ at greaterfool.ca on Nov 07, 2009 at 1.48 am -

“We dare not dream to buy a home in Vancouver, actually we can not afford anything with a yard for a kid to play in, in Surrey, or Maple Ridge, although I worked for several years as a full time programmer. We feel shame to be poor and working poor.”

vreaa was not the only one to notice the dearth of trick-or-treaters this year. This from TheOrra at thetyee.ca, commenting on an article on reduced projections regarding the economic benefits of the 2010 Olympic Games, by Andrew MacLeod, 3 Nov 2009 -

“On Halloween we got less than 25% of the historical number of children at our door Trick or Treating. Was it H1N1, the economy, or just a change in attitude towards candy, who knows? But the Olympics (as a symbolic Halloween) are likely to experience the same low numbers for the same reasons: fear of the pandemic, not enough money to pay for the trip, or just a pervasive rancor over the spending on junk, rather than on economic meat and potatoes.”

Perhaps this kind of family politics occurs regardless of market conditions. Or perhaps it is indicative of a market in which unusual behaviour of all sorts has become the norm. This dialogue in a series of posts on RE Talks, started by househunting on Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:55 pm -

househunting: “I am house hunting right now and it is not looking good. I am probably going to rent until more listing show up in the spring. Is it worth it to get my license to purchase my my home? What is the process and what is the cost? … I don’t have much faith in realtors, and would rather pay myself the commission.”

Lost Soul: “You do realize that having a Realtor is not a pre-requisite to buying a place, don’t you?”

househunting: “It is in my case. Got a realtor in the family that kinda have to use. Rather get my own license and do it myself.”

islandlandlord: “If he/she can’t do the job then I’d cut him loose and find someone who can. Maybe things are different in your family, but I wouldn’t hesitate to drop him.”

househunting: “I wish it were that easy. When it is your spouses immediate family it’s a little hard. Any info on how long it takes to get a license?”

Multiple Offer: “Since there is a realtor in the family, why not offer to split the commission with him/her and save the trouble?”

househunting: “Thanks for the response. It has nothing to do with the commission. If I could use another realtor I would. I just don’t want to have to deal with my current realtor (MIL [my mother-in-law]) and the only way is to be my own realtor without opening up a can of worms. I have many friends that are realtors that I could use, but that would cause a lot problems.”

This account of RE related spousal discussion from DaMann at vancouvercondo.info Nov 6th, 2009 at 12:01 pm -

“I really don’t get this silliness. My wife says “I don’t care what anyone says, there is no recession in Vancouver”. All she comments about is the wealthy cars, and stupid prices of RE. I keep trying to tell her that Vancouver is a city living on credit and home equity loans, the music will stop soon. She doesn’t buy it anymore. She IS starting to believe it’s different here. Shit, so am I!!!??!?!? EVERYTHING is defying all logic and reason. Sure, I know people are buying places based on variable rates of 2% but even at that, I still can’t fathom how ( or why) people are buying and getting $700k mortgages on $100k household incomes. Man I can’t wait for rates to go up!”

Those selling real estate do not take a neutral position regarding market direction. This from joycer at vancouvercondo.info on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am -

“Went by Maple on 84 in Surrey last weekend…. Someone mentioned that they were considering the D plan, which was the most expensive. The realtor said that would hold the most value and appreciate the fastest with the market. When the parent of that person (first time buyer…) said it would also fall the fastest if the market came down again, the realtor quickly corrected them, and said “Oh, no, the market is not going to go down, these units will be worth more by the time they are finished”. If they are so confident, why the low prices?”

A newly minted Mortgage Broker, Marco911, describes the course and the exam over a series of posts at RE Talks, starting on Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:09 pm -

“I just finished my [Mortgage Broker] course a few days ago. Three weeks of my life I will never get back. … There is only one official mortgage broker course, [in order] to become licensed, offered through UBC. It is very similar to the Real Estate course that Sauder offers. The requirements to write the exam, and the course itself, was beyond easy. This means the mortgage industry is not concerned about saturation, which makes me wonder what duty they serve to the existing mortgage broker community (the answer is inherent). … The course was useless, boring and easy. You need a 65 and I managed to get 98. Seriously, it’s a joke. … I am not going to do anything special with the course for a while. Once my house is finished and I’ve settled a few issues with some investments I’m going to start a business plan so that in 2 years I can run my own brokerage. We’ll see what happens.”

So, who is buying? This from Ginger at greaterfool.ca on Nov 5 at 12:07 pm -

“I think the new-agish health industry is big (in Vancouver), my sister used to be a yoga teacher there, but after being away for a few years, was unable to get back into it because of saturation in the market. Her income from waitressing has gone down too. Her partner seems to be doing well in therapy/personal growth work, but they sure can’t afford a house! And these are 2 people with university degrees. I guess the beauty and climate make it worthwhile.”

These anecdotes from greaterfool.ca post of Nov 3rd 2009, and the ensuing comments -

This from Canucks Fan -

“I’m recently married in Vancouver, income around $85k and wife is looking for work, 29 years old with about $55k in RRSPs ($25k in a money market fund ready to use as a first time homebuyer), $25k in stock, and $65k in cash. No debt, paid for car, and renting for approximately $1200/month with the intent to buy as soon as fundamentals make sense.
… All of my friends have purchased in the past 5 years, many at 5/35, and while I’m happy to rent for as long as necessary (maybe look at a bigger place?) it would be nice to put some of the cash to use. I just feel like I’m spinning my wheels saving every month when the market goes up more than I can save. I’ve been able to keep the new wife satisfied with a honeymoon in Asia, new furniture, and the ability to stay at home while she looks for work. Once she finds something though I know her nesting instinct will kick in…”

This from Jim -

“I’m in a similar situation, 10 years older and have been waiting for over seven years, but property here seems to hold its value. … Even if rates go to 6 percent and the asset value goes down 10-15 % people will likely hang on. I don’t see how the market will correct substantially, except maybe for all of the cheap, small and poorly built condos.”

From Cyrus -

“I am in almost the exact same situation as Canucks Fan (except with about half as much saved). As the days go by, I become more and more comfortable with the idea of renting for the long term. It has been almost two years sans mortgage and with that, reduced stress. As a 26 year old, I believe my generation has grown up with the idea that the place you live in is also an investment. This idea will perhaps come back to bight some in the not so distant future.”

From taylor192 -

“I live in Kits and rent a 2bdrm for $1900. Its valued at ~$550K, which at 35/5 is $2300. Then add $300 condo fee and $300 in tax. I’m saving $1000 or 30% renting. If I was paying the mortgage I’d only be paying down the mortgage $600.”

This from Thompson at RE Talks on Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:42 am -

“I bought several condos in a highrise building in North Burnaby 10 years ago, some were sold but I added more. The market price of 2br was 125k 10 years ago, rent was $780/m; today the price is 260k, rent is $1300/m.”