Friday, October 10, 2008

the more things change...



The Vancouver real estate market does not seem to be pricing in the new realities yet. This place on E. 39TH AV, Fraser, is one of the 24 places in all of East Vancouver that is priced under $500K It's for sale at $499,000.00. Are they freaking serious? The blurb says;
This existing 3 level home offers more square footage than can be re-built on this 2947 sq. ft. lot. House is in need of structural work & updating. However, character features such as original staircase, doors, window casings, & floor mouldings could be highlighted after renovation.
Character features? Floor mouldings can be highlighted? Wow. Hold me back. I still have a few days to get a 0%/40. Building codes won't even let you build something of this modest size. And, can it really be called "three level" with a straight face?

Somebody ought to tell the vendor that the TSX is down over 40% since July, and that it lost 16% in the last week alone. People have lost 30% of their retirement funds. Cut the price on this disaster to $250K, and get the bleeding over with. The MSM described today as a "bloodbath". The pigs are being slaughtered. Don't be a pig.

Then there is this beauty for $508K. note: it's a 3 level, 3 bedroom palazzio too.

Good starter, renovate or build your home. CD1 Zoning. This 3 level 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath solid home is situated in desirable Renfrew Height Area, South facing with view potential. Quiet neighbourhood, central location.
You will get an 800 sq' bigger lot than the one above, and this one in is the desirable Renfrew Height Area (sic).

This is no sport at all. Van. RE is frozen in time like so much ABCP. Somebody complained about my pictures, and posts the other day, and suggested that I was becoming deranged. If all of this madness seems "normal" to everyone else, then I am truly unhinged. I must be suffering some kind of Joan of Arc, or Nostradamus delusion. Is this some kind of reality TV show? Like that Jim Carrey film where he lives in a TV set?

It was weird switching channels. Somehow, looking at RE right now seems more of a madness than looking at national, and world events.

...the more they stay the same.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

good post. I was not the one that complained about your pics.

ted

Unknown said...

It dosn't matter Chinese will buy them up. Van RE will supported by Chinese.

jesse said...

"South facing with view potential."

WTF does that mean? It's already 3 stories.

BTW, when do you think your blog name will change, or will we be "unreal" forever?

Justice~! said...

The more cynical part of me sees what is happening here, as I saw this with some other "Vancouver real estate blog" not long ago.

Several posts are made for quite a while about how "the market will correct itself" and "it's only a matter of time before we see a giant drop". However, the drop never happens. Meanwhile, the author of the blog starts to "get bored" with posting about R.E., finds some other topics, and stops posting about the RE market as he has discovered it is unlikely to change despite all of the posting to the contrary

Sure, I might be wrong but hey I'm happy to be proven so...

solipsist said...

No, it was not ted.

jesse - I wondered abot that view potential too. Maybe raze the houses around it, and cut down all the trees...or sky lights?

Thinks I shoulds changes blog name?

justice - If you want people to visit your blog, why not just say so?

Anonymous said...

> Justice, if you want people to visit your blog, why not just say so?

Honestly, man, I wasn't trolling for hits here (and I'd note I don't and will likely never post about Vancouver real estate). Google just defaulted, if you feel so inclined just delete my earlier comment so you know I'm sincere about not needing the linkage.

Why not just address my potential complaint instead of deflecting it? If you want to kill the blog because the RE market isn't actually dropping in the way you're predicting, why not just come out and say that rather than obliquely hinting at it every 2nd post?

Am I wrong?

solipsist said...

justice - you are wrong.

Several posts are made for quite a while about how "the market will correct itself" and "it's only a matter of time before we see a giant drop".

Show me either of these phrases written by me, here.

Yes, RE has become somewhat of a bore. I hijacked to election stuff during the writ period because I have a lot to say about it. Big deal.

Further, I don't understand your "potential complaint". Maybe you are just projecting how you feel about your own writing. I dunno.

If I did decide to kill this blog, it would be to free up more time to spend with my young progeny, or to paint more, not because the crash is not on time. And, although I did mutter about killing it a few times, it has certainly not been every second post.

I don't see how I could confirm your sincerity by deleting your comment. On the other hand, you have the option of deleting it yourself.

Are you just bored?

Anonymous said...

i thoroughly enjoy your blog and love looking at the crazy houses you highlight on your site...makes my day. Keep going.

Will said...

No need to fight boys. The title of the blog is Vancouver Unrealestate. Just cause Sol started with a focus on real estate does not mean the subject matter must stay there. It is "Unreal" estate which lends itself to nearly any local absurdity the blogger wishes to shed light on. Rotten homes at a half million bucks seems like a good place to go. Politics, too (especially local). Maybe a focus on some local public mining companies with more money invested in PR than core samples and their recent performance would be interesting, too.

Anonymous said...

You are a very sensitive man, and I can appreciate sensitivity! However, I am not your enemy.

Several posts are made for quite a while about how "the market will correct itself" and "it's only a matter of time before we see a giant drop".

Show me either of these phrases written by me, here.


Sorry, I didn't mean to seem like I was quoting you literally. I took those implications from the following series of posts you wrote.

Sept 11:
"I wonder if Somerville has bought, he must have, because we have peaked, and are heading down into a dark hole, perhaps even a Black Hole."

Sept 07:
"
The media hyped the RE market up, and will now hype it down, and it is going down fast already, down 4-something% since May. "

August 24:
"She's come off the rails, and it doesn't look like it's going to be a slow-motion train wreck. Everything is looking down from here."
"Yee-haw! I'm looking forward to the autumn apocalypse."

What meaning should I have taken from these posts?

Did I misinterpret the implication behind "Somehow, looking at RE right now seems more of a madness than looking at national, and world events"?

Seriously, I don't understand why you seemingly felt the need to attack me about it. My question was just, if you're not interested in posting about RE anymore and this is becoming a political blog, why not just say that openly and make it a political blog rather than dramatic hand-waving?

Can't we just all be friends?

solipsist said...

Aw, shucks. Yer all my friends.

But...justice - don't, for a minute, pretend that you are/were not calling me out. If someone disagrees with me, in any way, I am open to their criticisms, and will rebutt to the best of my mentality. Quoting me - Sept. 7th, 11th, and 24th does nothing to bolster your argument. Nowhere in those comments is there anything approximating the "quotes" that you attributed to me. (direct quotes are indicated by " -". Paraphrases are indicated by '-')

Yes, the boom is over. Who foresaw the events of these last two weeks? (I did, but my timing was not solid)

Furthermore, I have no need to "attack" you, but if you are going to come on here, and make accusations, you better be ready to back them up.

At no time in the last couple of weeks, did I insinuate that I was shutting this blog down, or that I was not going to post on RE any more. It does seem strange to me to look at RE when there are much larger things afoot... but...never mind.

Thanks will, for your newsletter of today. I thought that it was very balanced. Who will I turn to when it is time to buy? You? Rob Chipman? Sean Holden? Thanks for 'getting it' too.

solipsist said...

Erp.

will - it was not you that sent the newsletter, but David Reimers. Excusez-moi.

Anonymous said...

Relax! =)

Of *course* I was calling you out! If you feel that the statements aren't connected and I misread the implications, then great! That's what I asked for three comments worth.

Peace,
-J

solipsist said...

will - could you expand on the mining companies allusion? That sounds interesting.

investah said...

Am I missing something here?

If justice can't see prices dropping, he must be focused on some other planet or reading the charts upsidedown.

Vancouver has not only dropped about 10% already, but according to Mohican's work, the rate of decline is faster than most, if not all other North American cities.

Anyway, that's just the beginnig, and all hell is about to break loose when all this recession stuff starts to sink in.

Anonymous said...

unbelievable...the expectation that anybody would spend $499,000 on a rundown old shack like this

I live in the interior of the province where prices surged...(and are coming down!) But the pricing of this old house is just so crazy.

We will all be amazed in a few years time that things ever got this crazy...

Anonymous said...

Don't mind Justice he's just everyone's favourite metrosexual FB specuvestor.