Yeah I'm sure thats true......
"Buy this 6 million dollar house and I'll blow you"
Come on. Did you believe the story in high school about the girl that had her dog lick the peanut butter off her pussy as well?

I thought she used honey and it was her cat. :badpokerface:

Nothing was being done to stop unscrupulous real estate practices, B.C. finance minister says
Finance minister says ‘Realtor after Realtor’ would say there were problems, but nothing was done about it
By Gavin Fisher, CBC News Posted: Jun 30, 2016 7:33 PM PT Last Updated: Jun 30, 2016 7:33 PM PT

Nothing was being done to stop unscrupulous real estate practices, B.C. finance minister says - British Columbia - CBC News

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3140737.1436229213...c-lng-deal.gif
Finance Minister Mike de Jong says the vast majority of Realtors are ethical, but said some were falling outside of those parameters and yet the Real Estate Council of B.C. was doing nothing to stop them. (CBC)

The provincial government ended self regulation for the B.C. real estate industry because the evidence was pointing to the fact that the industry wasn't regulating itself, says B.C.'s finance minister.

On June 30, the government announced that the right to regulate the industry would be taken away from the Real Estate Council of B.C. and put into the hands of a newly established and dedicated superintendent of real estate.

The announcement came a day after a special advisory group issued a damning report with 28 recommendations for how the council should improve its oversight ability — but the panel was not asked to consider independent regulation.

'No one called them out'

When asked what was the last straw for the province, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said there were several reasons, but the "most troubling" finding of the report was that there was a lack of action on the part of the council when it appeared many knew some Realtors were engaging in unscrupulous practices.

"As [the panel] did their work, as they spoke to Realtors — and this is consistent with what I've found myself — Realtor after Realtor would say, 'Yeah, I knew there was some of this bad stuff going on, but no one did anything about it. No one," de Jong told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff.

"The report also does say the vast majority of Realtors do conduct themselves with integrity, are ethical and provide good service to their clients.

"Regrettably, a growing number fell outside of that category, and I think the real sting here is no one called them on that. And that is the underlying principle of self regulation and why this step has been taken."

Lack of reporting is 'frustrating': REBGV

Don Morrison, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, said it is a "big frustration" that more Realtors have not come forward to report shady practices they may have seen among their peers.

"We count on our members to report misdeeds and people that are doing things incorrectly," Morrison said.

"I don't think it's just our profession. People are reluctant to turn in their comrades or peers or people they're doing business with everyday. But ... we have an obligation to do that in our profession. That's the only way we're going to ever deal with the ... bad apples."

Morrison said that it is hard to deal with misconduct if there is only anecdotal evidence about it. He said that, for example, he hadn't heard much about the practice of 'shadow flipping' until the media reported on it.

"Whether it's the public reporting to the [Real Estate] Council, or the Realtors reporting to us, if nobody's reporting it, it's hard for us to make the changes necessary or to do the investigations necessary for us to respond."

Morrison said the REBGV, which represents more than 12,800 realtors in the region, welcomes the recommendations from the independent advisory panel and is looking forward to working with the new superintendent.

Chinese bought $1.3B of Canadian commercial real estate this year
A handful of big deals pushed investment from China and Hong Kong to 65% of market
CBC News Posted: Jun 30, 2016 12:43 PM ET Last Updated: Jun 30, 2016 3:37 PM ET

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cbre...nese-1.3659847

http://i.cbc.ca/1.3660045.1467305396...-vancouver.jpg
The Bentall Centre in Vancouver sold to China's Anbang Group earlier this year, pushing Chinese investment in Canadian commercial real estate to a new high. (Bentall Centre)

Chinese buyers are now the largest foreign investors in Canadian commercial real estate, having spent $1.3 billion in the first half of this year, according to global real estate firm CBRE Ltd.

The figure is skewed by a single big sale, the purchase of the Bentall Centre in Vancouver by the Anbang Group, the same Chinese company that bought the Waldorf Astoria in New York City in 2014.

The Bentall Centre was reported to have sold for more than $1 billion.

Global capital still looking for a Canadian home: Don Pittis
This year's $1.3 billion in investment in the first six months from China and Hong Kong compares to $309 million last year and is a marked difference from the previous five years, when investment from Hong Kong and China represented just four per cent of the market.

So far this year, Chinese investors represent 65.4 per cent of more than $2 billion in total deals across the country in the first six months of this year.

CBRE Canada, which is based in Toronto, says China's state-owned owned firms have an interest in Canada because they are seeking out a safe haven for capital.

With the Canadian dollar relatively low and Europe looking increasingly uncertain because of Brexit, there could be more interest in commercial real estate here in the year ahead, it predicted.

Shift in buyers

While Canadian commercial real estate has long attracted international interest, there has been a shift in who is investing in recent years.

It used to be American investors who bought Canadian commercial buildings, with 72 per cent of sales in the 2010 to 2015 period. Now it's Asian investors, followed by Europeans, CBRE says.

The real estate firm cautions there is not a direct parallel to what is happening in residential real estate, as commercial real estate is being driven by a handful of deals.

A separate CBRE market report on Canada's commercial real estate market for the first quarter of 2016 notes that domestic capital is also buoying the market.

In Calgary, vacancy rates are high and there have been no trades since the beginning of 2015, but in Toronto and Vancouver, there is a great deal of interest and some investors are looking beyond downtown areas in hopes of getting a better return on capital.

so the bentall center alone sold for 1 billion, yet OMG! the Chinese are buying billions of real estate! lol

fuck the media articles and news are unwatchable when it comes to real estate stories these days, it's catering to the lowest common denominator

So in reality, it's actually less than last year by $9000 if you don't count the Bentall. Probably more since it sold for 'more than 1 billion'

ha you have no idea

You haven't met the right realtor :ifyouknow:

Heck... I have known insurance agents willing to go the extra miles for a fat policy... and it's nowhere near the 70-80k one'd make over a 6M house.

Realistically though, if you have money to blow on whores... you can get laid for much less.

even the real estate market in Seattle is crazy expensive.

But there's a reason why Seattle is expensive. They've got Boeing, Amazon, MS, SB, WaMu...etc with HQ or big presence in the area with a lot of very high-paying and stable jobs.

What does Vancouver have? 1800-Got-Junk? :fuckthatshit:

cheap as fuck relative to vancouver, and given you will earn 25-50% more there, price/earnings are reasonable.

price/earnings in the US are within reason almost everywhere. canada ain't special, canada just has lax rules and turns a blind eye.

I have family in Seattle, working for one of the large tech companies. They make 50-75% more than here, and pay around the same rent for a similar location.

This is the exact argument I say every time. What is up with people in this city not understanding that one basic fact?

People try to compare Vancouver to London, New York, Tokyo, Toronto, Seattle, etc. Yet none of these people take into account that each of these cities carry a MAJOR economy, with large scale corporate HQ's. We don't have that here, our biggest employers here are crown corporations. There is no relation on the cost of living in this city in relation to the actual job market and economy this city carries.

I think you guys forgot about Hootsuite.

and don't forget Washington state has no state income tax

Haha I sure hope this was sarcasm. One of the lowest paying tech jobs in the industry (ok, I'm just making a statement), but wait, they have stock options lol.

OK. On the other hand, what is making Vancouver so appealing to the masses then? Of the city's listed, it's not the only one in Canada. It's not the only one on the west coast. It's not there only one attracting foreign money. It's not they only one with iffy real estate practices going on. Some keep on harping that Vancouver isn't a special place and downplaying what the city has to offer. You can't blame it all on the stupid fools, because they are also located in every other city. Despite this, prices keep going up? So what gives? I don't think it's as simple as you make it out to be.

Also keep in mind, a city doesn't develop a major economy overnight. These changes and permutations take years and decades to develop. Look back at Van 25 years ago, night and day difference from where we are today. Sometimes we become so tunnel visioned in our own lives and livelihoods we become blind to the changes happening around us. Not to say I have the answer, but at least I'm willing to keep an open mind.

which major economy powerhouse do we have now that we didn't have 25 years ago?
yep night and day difference...traffic congestion has gotten worse haha

Seattle is a fucking dump.

Van "tech industry" pay is shit, it's nothing new. Have always been.
- Pay 30% minimum below industry standard. Check.
- Garbage health benefits. Most don't pay full MSP. Check.
- Vacation below standard. What's PTO? Check.
- No RSP matching. What's that? Check.
- No stock options. Unless you are the 1% performer with an influential manager (director & C level) who actually gives a shit about you enough to submit your name to the board for approval, fuhgettaboutit. Also check.

But they've got ping pong tables, bean bag chairs and cheap Costco snacks. It's hip.

The amount of underachievers in this city is staggering, especially visible in the tech industry (not sure about other industry). Dudes with 5-10 years experience fighting with new grads kids for jobs paying 70k and below. It's hard for guys starting out to climb up fast unless they got lucky and found a mentor willing to take them under their wings (speaking from personal experience here). I mean why hire a new grad when you can hire some dude (god forbid with pro education like MBA) who has 5 years experience and willing to take the same money. A few years back when I was at my second year at a local tech company, I had a mind fuck moment when I found out my coworker who has a Master degree, 5 years experience was doing a similar job as I was.

That 5-10 years underachiever will one day wake up with the need to buy a place and found out that their pay can probably afford a 400sqft condo but then got outbidded instantly by some Chinaman. Fucking life is cruel, aint it?

In this city, yes.

All I see is smoke and mirrors...

Wow, haven't heard that term in a long time, LOL.

Hootsuite, the saviour of Vancouver's economy. Remember when these guys were too cheap to even pay their interns until they got caught?

Didn't they also have like 10k people line up for 70 jobs?
That's a pretty good indicator of our "booming" tech industry.
But congrats on the job creation Gregor and crusty!