Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Mr.C]

Originally Posted by Harvey Specter

We're already seeing the condo market heat up and looks like the condo market will rise further...

Hope so. Then maybe I can realize gains on my shitty Surrey condo.

[nah]

Just saw a SOLD sticker on this house...it's a nice neighbourhood, but it's not a 1.7M house type of neighbourhood... #savingmymoneyforthecrash

11287 90 Avenue, Delta - 11 beds, 8 baths - For Sale Vancouver Homes on Sale

[A-Dev]

Originally Posted by nah

Just saw a SOLD sticker on this house...it's a nice neighbourhood, but it's not a 1.7M house type of neighbourhood... #savingmymoneyforthecrash

11287 90 Avenue, Delta - 11 beds, 8 baths - For Sale Vancouver Homes on Sale

11 bed, 8 bath ??? who the fuck lives in these places.

[murd0c]

Originally Posted by A-Dev

11 bed, 8 bath ??? who the fuck lives in these places.

take a wild guess

[superdennis]

I don't know why "assignments/shadow flipping" is a problem.

It's been around forever.
Back in the day, pre-sale condos were flipped before completion
Developers (seller) of course felt cheated so now there are assignment restrictions on their purchase contracts.

So if a seller sees an assignment clause on the contract of purchase and sale,
1. He can cross it out
2. Add a stipulation if it does get flipped for profit, they get x%.

If you or your realtor can read and write English, assignments is not a problem.

[1.7El_guy]

Originally Posted by superdennis

I don't know why "assignments/shadow flipping" is a problem.

It's been around forever.
Back in the day, pre-sale condos were flipped before completion
Developers (seller) of course felt cheated so now there are assignment restrictions on their purchase contracts.

So if a seller sees an assignment clause on the contract of purchase and sale,
1. He can cross it out
2. Add a stipulation if it does get flipped for profit, they get x%.

If you or your realtor can read and write English, assignments is not a problem.

I'm thinking it is because by assigning, you can avoid property transfer tax or even capital gain. Gov't gets a big chunk of revenue from PTT so they need to make sure it is tracked.

Assignments are good in this market because if you are offering a no subject offer, at least you can safely add buyers to the contract in order to get approval / financing.

Leave it to those low % of unethical agent to fuck over the majority of honest ones.

[Gululu]

Originally Posted by A-Dev

Website run by Shanghai-based company lists Vancouver properties | Vancouver Sun

www.vanfun.com

Probably nothing new but interesting how they can list online before they are advertised locally.

yea New Coast Realty owns that website. also pretty sure its sponsored by big developer like westbank's shanghai office. where they have lists of investors lined up to buy vancouver's presale residentials

[4444]

Originally Posted by Gululu

yea New Coast Realty owns that website. also pretty sure its sponsored by big developer like westbank's shanghai office. where they have lists of investors lined up to buy vancouver's presale residentials

Yeah, these kind of investors.


Tycoon slain and dismembered in West Vancouver linked to China bribery scandal

Tycoon slain and dismembered in West Vancouver linked to China bribery scandal

A Chinese tycoon found butchered last year in his West Vancouver mansion has been linked to a government corruption scandal in southwestern China.

The scandal, which led to a 19-year jail term for Yunnan province official Lin Yunye, is also tied to a Chinese couple who at one time owned an abandoned multimillion-dollar Vancouver home.

Yunye was jailed last November for selling $234 million in state mining assets to a number of businessmen from whom he accepted tens of millions in bribes — including gold bars, luxury watches and rhinoceros horns.

Yunnan, where Yunye was deputy director of land and resources, is a province of lush, bamboo-covered mountains. It is also known as China’s gem-trading hub because of its border with Myanmar, a failed state with bounties of ruby and jade stones that are illicitly smuggled into Yunnan.

Gem exchanges, $50,000 gold bars, a $500,000 bribe, and deals benefiting two Vancouver-area tycoons feature in the lengthy record of charges proven against Yunye in Yunnan Provincial Court. The verdict states Yunye abused his power from 2007 until his arrest in 2014.

For 42-year-old Chinese mining millionaire Gang Yuan, the story ends May 2, 2015. His corpse was found chopped allegedly into 100 pieces in his British Properties home. According to a civil lawsuit, Yuan came to Canada in 2007 with permanent resident status and made his money — estimated at up to $50 million — by investing in real estate and Saskatchewan farmland.

But Yunye’s 38-page verdict tells a different story.

In early 2010 Yunye met Yuan, then director of Beijing Datang Investment, in a restaurant in Yunnan’s capital city, Kunming. At stake was a contract for Yuan’s firm. Over dinner he asked Yunye to permit Beijing Datang expanded coal mining rights on a Yunnan mountainside.

As the men dined, Yuan handed Yunye a bag that contained a 1,000-gram gold bar, worth about $50,000. In exchange, Yunye gave Beijing Datang rights to mine in Yunnan until April 2014. And Yuan’s company later provided Yunye with additional gold bullion gifts, the verdict states, for more mining permits. Yuan was named as a witness in the verdict, but not charged.

Meanwhile, back in Vancouver in 2010, Yuan bought a $5-million British Properties home, adding to his numerous B.C. assets including a private island and a vacant $14-million Shaughnessy mansion. The West Vancouver home was purchased in the names of relatives Li Zhao and his wife, Gang Yuan’s cousin, court filings say. Zhao now is charged with Yuan’s slaying, and Yuan’s estate is the subject of a court battle between relatives in China and Vancouver, and his numerous mistresses and illegitimate children.

Zhao’s criminal case continues, and no allegations in the criminal or civil case concerning Yuan’s assets have been proven in court.

In another twist, Yuan’s West Vancouver home, private island and Bentley have been used as set pieces in the Vancouver reality TV show Ultra Rich Asian Girls. The daughter of alleged murderer Li Zhao is a star of the show, in which she claimed to own Yuan’s assets.

Huaican Ren, the other known Vancouver-area tycoon who testified against Yunye, is worth about $400 million, according to Forbes China. Ren reportedly made his fortune in gem trading before founding a number of Yunnan-based real estate and tourism companies, including North Star Enterprise Company Limited.

The Province first reported in early February that Ren and his wife Xuepei Sun possess two Vancouver homes worth about $10 million, including a home in the 4100-block West 8th Avenue bought for $4.6 million in July 2011. Neighbours said the Chinese owners have never been seen in the rotting Point Grey home, which was cited in a City of Vancouver “untidy premises” order in June 2015.



The Yunnan verdict says that in 2013 Ren invited Yunye’s family to a dinner meeting. Yunye asked Ren if he could help Yunye’s wife with her personal business, and Ren immediately agreed, Yunye testified.

Yunye’s wife testified that after the dinner meeting, Ren invited her to North Star’s offices to discuss business. It was proposed that she sell several gems to him. Ren testified that he felt the gems were not worth much, but after negotiations he paid a large sum. He claimed he was afraid that Yunye would be offended if he paid too little, and the official would not permit North Star’s massive state-land tourism development, Ancient Dian Kingdom amusement park.

The final verdict states that Ren’s version of the gem deal could not be confirmed, but that documentary evidence showed that in September 2013 he made a 2.48 million RMB ($500,000 Cdn) cash payment to Yunye’s wife, in exchange for a construction permit. Subsequently, “the state-owned construction land use right transfer contract,” for North Star’s “Ancient Dian Kingdom Investment and Development Co.,” was confirmed for the June 2013 to January 2014 period. Ren was not charged for bribery.

Underlying the disturbing evidence in Yunye’s verdict is a big-picture story about how business is conducted in China as its economic system changes from communism to crony capitalism.

Reporting on Yunye’s November 2015 sentencing verdict, Chinese financial journal Caijing wrote: “The time period during which Lin (Yunye) was in charge of land resources coincides with the period featuring nationwide integration and acquisition of mineral resources. Aside from (Yunye), most corrupt officials in Yunnan have more or less intervened in the restructuring of mining companies, leading to the fire sale of many large state-owned mines and the loss of state-owned assets.”

And an April 2014 report from Yunnan business website GoKunming says that “while China’s economy slows after two decades of explosive growth” Yunnan strongly promoted tourism and real estate development to reignite growth.

“Fuelling investment numbers are several enormous projects aimed at expanding Yunnan’s already thriving travel industry to places that the government has deemed underdeveloped,” GoKunming reported. “Perhaps the largest of these is (North Star’s) sprawling Ancient Dian Kingdom, a $3.5 billion USD amusement park which covers more than 6,000 acres.”

Ren is from Wenshan, a state of Yunnan, and reports from China highlight his connections to Yunnan and Wenshan officials. For example, a Wenshan State website shows a picture of Ren and his wife “Mrs. Xuepei Sun” donating 10 million yuan ($2 million Cdn) for disaster relief to state Governor Huang Wenwu in 2010. In the ceremony a state party committee director declared Huaican Ren a friend of Wenshan’s government.

Chinese investment statements filed for Kunming North Star Enterprise Company Limited say that Ren is chairman, and a Chinese citizen with permanent resident status in Canada. According to the Global Real Estate Institute, Ren is among “the world’s leading real estate players.”

As for Ren’s Point Grey property, it was listed for sale about 10 days after The Province exposed its decrepit conditions.

It appears to have been sold for $6.5 million on March 3 according to MLS documents. But over a month later, a new owner has yet to be registered on title.

B.C. land title documents say that Ren and his wife bought the Point Grey home for $4.6 million in 2011 through a property transfer executed in a Beijing law office. The previous owner, Chinese investor Wei Min Zhang, flipped the home after buying it for $3.35 million in 2010.

According to MLS documents, Wayne Du was the listing agent for seller Wei Min Zhang in 2011, and George Xia was buyer agent for Huaican Ren. MLS records show the same two realtors involved in the March 3 sale. This time, however, George Xia is the listing agent for Huaican Ren, and Wayne Du is listed as the agent for an unidentified buyer. Legally, Huaican Ren is still owner until a notary or lawyer files transfer documents, B.C. land title office staff said.

B.C. Notary Society counsel Ron Usher — who is a member of the B.C. Real Estate Council panel investigating so-called “shadow flipping” — said he can’t determine the status of the Point Grey home sale.

“We can’t really tell anything from the MLS data,” Usher said. “Has any money changed hands? We don’t know.

[roopi]

Originally Posted by A-Dev

11 bed, 8 bath ??? who the fuck lives in these places.

It's Delta (Surrey) and if you look at the pictures it was owned by EI's and most likely purchased by some as well. Parents, Grandparents, kids, etc

[Hondaracer]

One thing I'll give the EI's, at least they're never bitching about unaffordabillity or the "housing crisis"

[jasonturbo]

Originally Posted by superdennis

I don't know why "assignments/shadow flipping"

Shadow flipping is process in which the individual you hired, a realtor, expected to act in good faith and in your best interest, does not in fact act in good faith to you but uses you as an opportunity to further their personal finances. (Because the measly 25000 in commission they were going to make wasn't enough to start with lol)

The realtor is hired to get you the most of money possible for your home, not to have someone on the take buying your home for less than it would truly get on market and then subsequently flipping it for more - or influencing you to sell for less than someone else has basically already offered but you were not provided with the offer etc.

Never mind that this practice violates the ethical code associated with the RE sales license.

Personally RE industry makes me sick, society needs to wake the fuck up and realize the commission fees are outrageous.

[Z3guy]

Originally Posted by nah

Just saw a SOLD sticker on this house...it's a nice neighbourhood, but it's not a 1.7M house type of neighbourhood... #savingmymoneyforthecrash

11287 90 Avenue, Delta - 11 beds, 8 baths - For Sale Vancouver Homes on Sale

that house is massive, but looks pretty sweet. Let me think, I can get a 30yr Vancouver Special in a shitty part of East Van or a mansion in Delta????? haha!

[Sid Vicious]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

One thing I'll give the EI's, at least they're never bitching about unaffordabillity or the "housing crisis"

that's cause in my experience, white north americans are some of the whiniest fucking people on this planet.

[6o4__boi]

unit in my townhouse complex up for sale for $449k now
1600 sq ft, 3 bed/3bath, 2 underground parking stalls

last december another similar sized unit was assessed at $370k, listed for $390k and sold for $380k

hot damn, them gainz are coming fast

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by Sid Vicious

that's cause in my experience, white north americans are some of the whiniest fucking people on this planet.

Well yea, the sense of entitlement in Van is fucking gross as well

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

One thing I'll give the EI's, at least they're never bitching about unaffordabillity or the "housing crisis"

Well yeah, when you have a son, his wife, his parents, and grandparents living under one roof you tend to be able to stretch the money out a bit more

[Hondaracer]

Hey, whatever works works, got a roof over your head and a BMW in your driveway

[MarkyMark]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Hey, whatever works works, got a roof over your head and a BMW in your driveway

It's true, in their culture it's normal so more power to them...definitely not for everyone though

[Devastator]

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/04/a...ram-vancouver/

Build it on part of the 9km CP rail property that the city of Vancouver owns now and I people might actually applaud politicians for once.

[godwin]

honestly Canada should just put a bounty on things like this, on the similar vein to the whistle blowing fees in the States.

but then again when Liberal's own fundraising is powered by type people like that.. what are the chances of it really happening?

Originally Posted by 4444

Yeah, these kind of investors.


Tycoon slain and dismembered in West Vancouver linked to China bribery scandal

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by MarkyMark

Well yeah, when you have a son, his wife, his parents, and grandparents living under one roof you tend to be able to stretch the money out a bit more

Or you have 2 basement suits that are rented.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

Hey, whatever works works, got a roof over your head and a BMW in your driveway

I'll forego the BMW for the privacy and freedom of living alone.

[westopher]

I'll just buy a 20 year old BMW so I can have both.

[Manic!]

Originally Posted by Great68

I'll forego the BMW for the privacy and freedom of living alone.

With a house that big you can pretty much live alone if you want to.

[6thGear.]

I'll be honest...the thought of buying a house with my parents after 5 years on my own has crossed my mind. I went nuts the moment they both retired and was home 90% of the time hence why I bought and moved out. But now I got to think of my gf as she wants to have a family so it might be a good chance to have a big enough of a place. Both of us in our early to mid 30's and we both combined income is low $100k. It's either that or be crammed in a 2-3 bedroom apartment. We are already crammed in my 700SF 1br apartment and we don't have that much stuff. We both already vetoed on buying past Burnaby as we both want to be close to family and friends and are willing to sacrifice a more expensive place for that. Say as some of you will on EI's and a few families under 1 roof. Hell I still make jokes about it but most western society would rather live poor or outskirts than live with parents. I will actually applaud EI's on this.