This from an article by Kerry Gold in the Globe and Mail, February 19, 2009 –
“Computer programmer Riaz Kassam purchased a two-level penthouse in the trendy Yaletown district of downtown Vancouver last June for $1.5-million, with a down payment of $80,000. Compared to comparable units, the H + H unit should have been priced at $1.6-million, so Mr. Kassam thought he was getting a bargain. By the time the condo was completed earlier this year, Mr. Kassam was shocked to see it appraised at $1.2-million. In order to close the deal, he says his bank requires that he pay a bigger down payment of 25 per cent. However, his current condo has also dropped by more than $170,000 in value, which has made that impossible. Mr. Kassam says the developer is now threatening to sue.
“We even asked our broker to get third-party funding for us, with 10 or 12-per-cent interest – but no one is willing to do that because they need equity,” he says. “The market changed so quickly, no one could anticipate it.”
Vancouver Real Estate Anecdote Archive 
Riaz Kassam is a pretty unique name. Throw it into Google and you can quickly see that this guy is not just an average person but a full fledged specuvestor with no less then 4 high end downtown apartments for short term rentals on various vancouver vacation sites. He even has his own website with all of the listings and photos at http://www.vancityvacations.com including lots of detail for 2010 rentals.
He made his bet, he’s obviously trying to make a significant amount of money from his properties but the market has fooled him. I’m not sorry if he over paid, he owes every cent and deserves to be sued if he walks from the contract.
Thanks for the research, Jordan, very informative.
The ‘specuvestors’ were a major cause of the bubble insanity, and these consequences are not surprising, nor unjust.
Makes my blood boil that people who gambled on the market continuing to climb want me to help pay for their losses. Their irresponsible behavior – paying beyond their means – prevented me from buying over the last few years. But don’t worry I’ll be willing to buy your unit once it goes into foreclosure.
Man oh Man. The same old story. People who have no ambition in life blaming people who do for their misfortunes. People like Riuaz Kassam buying property and making prices go up and now Joe Blow can’t afford to buy property. Give me a break. If you do not like the free market move to somewhere where you are allocated what the government deems fair. The issue with Kassam and the develper is a pure contract issue and will be dealt by the courts. Don’t knock the guy for trying to be successful. Surry Joe and Jordan …. get out of your rebted trailer park trailer and learn a few things from people like Kassam. Bunch of useless whiners!
Riaz Kassam and people of his ilk will get what they deserve in court… and that’s a judgement against them… no more high flying lifestyle and fancy cars for them.
If you consider ambition to be leveraging numbers that you dont really own, then you should shut yer trap, eh? The real losers are the ones who have no skills, no talent, and all they can do is play pimp moneytrader and call it ambition. These losers can cry in their designer cocktails til the end of time for all I care. Get a real job, start a real company, produce a real product and then tell me about ambition. There’s a word for this, criminal shysterhood. But you keep loving the sparkle of ill-gotten money. I’d laugh, if you didnt make me gag with your sanctimonious delusion of the grandeur of cheap gutter moneytrading.