“I rent at Park West in Yaletown and was just at the holiday party, met several of the people in this building. I was surprised by how many of them are renting. I was under the impression that yaletown is filled with speculators, but it seems that many of the people who live here are renting.”
– yvrness at VCI 12 Dec 2012 9:15pm
“Meaning of course that most of the condos are owned by speculators and are being rented out while their fortune grows.”
– Eddie, ibid.
“I would say about 50% of downtown condos are rented. That actually confirms the amount of speculation – just not by the people living in them. The owners live in their parent’s Surrey basement suites in order to afford the negative cash flow.”
– Anonymous, ibid.
Vancouver Real Estate Anecdote Archive 
The Landlords are the speculators!
Yes, very much so.
Not if they’re cash flow positive – and aren’t reliant on capital appreciation.
Which excludes all buyers for, what, the last 6 years?
Hardly. It’ll exclude many of them, but by no means all. The SFH market is insane, but there are still condos that generate income and have been for some time.
Show me a condo that cash flows positive in Vancouver. Seriously, it’s an extinct species.
PS Don’t forget to discount those cash flows! http://www.investopedia.com/calculator/netpresentvalue.aspx#axzz2FC9RquT0
The owners do not live in their parents basements.
I know from experience, it’s the offshore German cartel buying these condos in blocs.
Disloyal cadre, sources or you are rumour mongering!
Do not spread disharmony – we all know the krauts are uneasy about renting to Canadians – they’re all drug addicts!
The renters are paying the interest on the massive mortgage by the big shot speculators. Probably 1 rent check away from losing it all
Renters in Yaletown is nothing new. I can think back at least 7 years ago and the running joke was that most of the posers in Yaletown were about one paycheque from being out on the street. Not saying that because they are renters that they are poor. More my point is that there are people living well beyond their means down there. My comment is pure speculation which I guess makes me a bull?
A co-worker of mine would do the nightclub VIP room/recreate the high school “cool kids” table thing. She was hot, charismatic and wanted top shelf drinks bought for her- why not use it while you have it? She would rant on about how many “$32k millionaires” were in Yaletown and Gastown. Apparently many people are very good at putting on the facade of wealth.
I suspect there is a very large chunk of Vancouver that believes that the West Coast Yuppie lifestyle as it is advertised is in fact fulfilling and sustainable. Although this is likely no different than other cities. These people can be readily identified by their glummer than usual-Vancouver attitudes, their designer but not quite custom made clothing, substance use issues, and a nearly exuberant willingness to discuss the apocalypse after a few drinks.
I owned an apartment 10 years ago at The Residences. Seymour and Hastings. 26th floor.
As we had some liability issues with the swimming pool shared with the Hotel, Strata Council called a special meeting.
11 owners showed up for the meeting, barely making quorum.
Out of the 11 owners, 3 offshore Germans had 60 proxies of German owners living offshore.
The building has 120 units.
Conclusion: If 10 years ago, 50% of the condos in Downtown Vancouver were owned by offshore Germans, it can be extrapolated that this number is considerably higher now.
I hope you didn’t mention the war.
What war?
I was afraid I would date myself. Faulty Towers reference.
Eeep! Fawlty Towers
Faulty Towers? Must be a Vancouver condo reference.
Faulty Towers, Defaulty Towers, Leaky Towers.
http://goo.gl/maps/tWMfT
Home for 4 months immediately following my emergency exfiltration and subsequent ‘erasure’ from all things Blighty/ContinentalAction… LateLateLate 2004ish…
I can confirm that one ‘TeutonicInvestor’ in that DezRez wasn’t voting proxies… just his personal ‘book’… and that was in excess of 20 units.
FunnyOldWorld.
[NoteToEd: Fascinating neighbourhood. I wonder what the DalmatianBoyz are doing tonight… That would be the Two CohabitingGentleman With MatchingDalmatians I often saw in the ‘lift’. Must have been FireMen. Right?]
Finance joke, the American model cheats on you, the German model suffocates you in your sleep.
At the risk of sounding sheepish, I have a question. When someone here mentions “Germans”, are they referring to actual Germans?
I’m a relative newbie to the RE blogs, so I don’t know all the vernaculars.
I have only come here Seeking Knowledge.
Things they would not teach me of in College.
GERMANS AKA THE CHINESE
Don’t mention the war!
Lilty, don’t you have an open house to get to?
I don’t have the flow for that.
I mentioned the war, but I think I got away with it!
You started it!
No we didn’t!
Yea you did, you invaded Poland!
“We must hug one another with RevolutionaryZeal!”*
[RT] – Embrace capitalism! Chinese kindergarten charges parents ‘hug fee’
…”One Chinese kindergarten has decided to cash in on the universal gesture of affection, with teachers serving up daily hugs to children for just under $13 a month. Parents of tykes attending a kindergarten in east China’s Yangzhou City were charged a so-called “hug fee” of 80 Yuan, some $12.80, local media report, citing a Chinese blogger.”…
http://tinyurl.com/brnreq3
* “Capitalism is a revolutionary force.” – Marx