Wednesday, May 07, 2008

world class



I have been despairing because I don't have the time that I used to have to dream up silly posts and do research. Such is life.

One of my first posts at this blog was a compare and despair, featuring a West Side house, and comparing it to a beautiful French mansion - for the same price.

Today I fed the wee one a half bottle of scotch, and while he slept it off, I tried to find something of interest (just kidding about the scotch - I drank it). Forbes.com has an article entitled In Pictures: What $1 Million Buys In Homes Worldwide (for those who feel entitled to their entitlements).

In Buenos Aires, $1.1 M buys A four-bedroom duplex with a terrace, this 3,800 square-foot apartment in the Recoleta district features four bathrooms, oak floors, fireplaces, a maid's room and a laundry room.

We have "good airs" here, too!

In Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt $982,000 buys;

This four-bedroom, Mediterranean-style villa surrounded by gardens and a swimming pool is on the Red Sea, near Nabq Bay. It boasts views of the Sinai Mountains. A finished basement houses a gym, sauna and steam room. Located within a beachside resort, the home has access to a spa, restaurants, bars, tennis courts, a Roman theater and many other luxurious amenities.


Well, we do have the Coast Mountains, and the Pacific Ocean.

There are others too - In the Big Apple, a 650-odd sq. ft. pied a terre will set you back about a million. Close to the United Nations, and all the other fun that NYC has to offer. Paris proffers 615 sq. ft. in 4th Arrondissement for a million bucks, and in Berlin, $990k will buy a place with seven apartments.

None of those cities will be hosting the 2010 Olympic games (technically, Vancouver won't either - but we are just 2.5 hours from Whistler!)


Yes, it's all apples to oranges, but some pretty cool places in some pretty cool places will cost about the same as the 1023.0 sq ft, 10th floor condo on W 14TH AV, Fairview, Vancouver West, for $998,900.00 (pictured above).

I dunno, if I had a million bucks to dump on a condo, I don't think it would be in South Granville.

10 comments:

Lurks said...

Amen. I can think of at least 100 places I'd rather spend that money

Tony Danza said...

One hundred places? That's a lot of places!

I'd rather blow the MM on some good living for a decade or two and rent the South Granville apartment for $2500 a month!

Anonymous said...

nice summary of the subprime mess:
http://www.businesspundit.com/sub-prime/

s.p.

Ryan said...

I've thought for years that if I had $1 million (or $10 million, or whatever the lottery is up to that week) I still wouldn't buy a house here. I probably wouldn't move either, though.

Anonymous said...

Nice post. You could go to Bulgaria and buy like, 100 shacks.

Or what about this, rather large and well-furnished farm in Saskatchewan?

789 acres, around 1 million dollars, and it produces an income, unlike that apartment on South Granville.

patriotz said...

That 1 mil condo is completely insane. Compare to this rental:

$2180 / 2br - Brand New Fairview Quiet 2 Bed + Office w/ Engineered Wood Floors

Price/rent = 459. Gross yield = 2.2%.

No bubble here!

solipsist said...

http://www.businesspundit.com/sub-prime splink

My favourite line in that is 'Yeah, that was a bad assumption. We farked up. Sorry'

I'd rather blow the MM on some good living for a decade or two and rent the South Granville apartment for $2500 a month!

I'm with you on that, but I'd rather rent the place in Buenos Aires. We might have good airs too (less'n yer in ther valley) but they are too chilly lately. Hmm. Maybe Sharm al-Sheik.

if I had $1 million (or $10 million, or whatever the lottery is up to

I would winter anywhere warm, spring and fall here, and summer in the Muskokas.

To sleep, perchance to dream.

go to Bulgaria and buy like, 100 shacks

Throw in a Borat DVD, and a goat, and you've got a deal.

The farm looks good. Throw in the equipment, and you've got a deal. I'll use the tractor to raze the dump of a house, and then start strip mining for potash, and drilling for oil. Maybe I'll set aside the pond as a preserve for refugee ducks from Fort McMurray.

Price/rent = 459. Gross yield = 2.2%.

Snicker.

Anonymous said...

I live beside that place and it's the same 5 or 6 apartments that have lights on every evening. Most are owned yet sit empty.

Anonymous said...

The report published in forbes is very interesting and very frustrating. There's obviously so many other different places in which I'd invest such amount of money and I see I'm not the only one thinking so.

solipsist said...

That's right james harrow.

Clearly, a lot of Canadians are seeing value in your market (Florida) right now. What was the haircut? 60%, and still falling?

Florida may be a good analog to Vancouver. Same hype and billshut fundamentals, and the same correction is beginning here.

Everything is over-priced anywhere worth living right now. Time changes everything.