What exactly do you think a net worth is? It's an estimate at a given time of what would be in your bank account at the end of the day if you sold everything and repaid all debt. I agree that people let it go to their head sometimes that they think of themselves as this savvy investor who has made their way with real estate when the reality is any idiot who bought just about any house is looking very smart right now despite no effort or expertise on their part.

But with that said, there is nothing "false" about their net worth by including their house in it. A $1.6MM house is not guaranteed to be worth that in one year or ten years, but if there is a reasonable expectation it could be resold today for $1.6MM, then its value is $1.6MM, regardless of whether you or I think the real estate market is overhyped.

"It's only physical when you cash out at a profit, otherwise the value remains in thin air."

Uhh... a house is physical all the time. You know, it's a thing, you live in. On the other hand, your stock portfolio is very much a hypothetical thing... it's only real when you cash out at a profit. And statistically the volatility of the equity market dwarfs the housing market, so that's not really a great case to make for why your friends are idiots for including their house values in their estimate of their net worth...

Mark

Not really at least from some ppl I know. One of my aunts takes vacation every summer to Japan, Korea, Thailand etc etc but only her husband works and her kid is studying at SFU. Her and her husband lives in HK in those affordable housing built by the gov (I think their rent is like $500 CAN if you convert it back). Not rich at all since they have no assets and always complain about money issue to my mom. We on the other hand haven't gone to family vacation in years and years. My parents basically never went ton trips at all, doesn't spend much or eat out but is sitting on a nice house and renting the basement unit.

Lot's of people just want to enjoy life now and worry about retirement later or better yet let the gov pay for their retirement. That's the worse a person can do, just look at how Greece turn out.

Well I have a lot more respect for your parents than I would your relatives living on social assistance and using the remainder for vacations as opposed to bettering their situation.

It's becoming a race to the bottom.

One last point re: kids/family: times have changed so much in the last 30 years and financially, even in the last 3-5 that it's night and day from when us 30 somethings grew up.

I know plenty of people who grew up in north/west van with parents of completely modest incomes. Paying off a west Van mortgage before you were 40/50 with dual incomes as a mechanic and receptionist were completely Normal 25-30 years ago. Back then being a mechanic or a trade was a respectable job, earned an honest living that you could provide for a family on.

Fast forward to today, and you could have two university educated people earning close to 6 figures a peice, and you can't afford a townhouse in east Van.

The topic of family is completely relevant to RE discussion imo.

I think he's getting at the people who think because they live in a 1.6 million dollar home that the bank owns 1.2 million of consider themselves as "owning" that home. People with these massive mortgages need to stop considering themselves homeowners.
All I did was pay a down payment to get a landlord (the bank) that couldn't tell me what to do quite as much and wouldn't wake me up with her 4am coke binges in the suite below me.

• 177 West Pender Street: Empty lot

• 3510 Fraser Street: Enterprise Rent a Car

• 2221 Main Street: Easy Park lot on Main and 7th

• 55-79 and 87-115 Southwest Marine Drive: Houses that sit across the st from McDonalds/Best Buy on Marine Drive

The game has definitely changed and there's no going back, no matter how many people want it to. I compare buying housing today to buying a modern car: you look at the costs in terms of a monthly payment. Most new houses and apartments are built poorly anyway, just like modern cars. The difference between the two is that housing, particularly if it includes land, tends to appreciate unlike most cars. And housing allows for leverage, which allows people to accumulate more assets.

People can still afford to have kids and have a condo or townhouse, or even house (like in Maple Ridge or Abbotsford), but it all comes down to priorities. Social media and easy credit has changed perceptions around what people think they need. It's good for people in sales and marketing, but not so much for people's pocketbooks.

As I said before, the dirty secret among a lot of child-rearing millennials is at least one source of income coming from the public sector. Job security, steady salaries, parental leave top-ups, and defined benefit pensions. These are things that allow couples to secure mortgages and take more risks with respect to taking on more debt and getting a larger house than they would normally be able to afford.

Brilliant statement, and so very true.
My wife is starting her job at a school board next month, while I'm self employed. Some years I make mad cash, other years, not so much...

That's where the gov't job comes in. Unless you're in a serious social situation, you're going to get paid in your gov't job.

This is not entirely true. Just because your job is at public sector, it doesn't give you a full job security.

It all depends. A lot of public sector employers would rather NOT hire "permanent full time" employee. They will still try to cut the budget and not create permanent position when they make union contract.

Auxiliary/Seasonal/Casual employees are in most danger of getting fired/laid off. They can easily word it in a way that's legitimate and let you go. Often unfair or unreasonable but what can you do.


Permanent Full Time: 35hrs-40hrs a week, good benefit and everything
Permanent Part Time: 15-17.5hrs a week, you're still entitled for all the benefits but lesser amount
Temporary Full Time: You will have to get re-hired after 6-12 month or never come back.
Temporary Part Time: Same as above, these "temporary" jobs are usually for covering someone's maternity leave
Auxiliary: No job security, union won't care about you much, however you will get % of lieu in benefit
Seasonal/Casual: Usually very seasonal, summer job, winter job, etc.

The examples you're using are not what tapioca was talking about id think.

He's talking about strictly the full-time permanent positions where, if you show up every day, you'll have a job for life. Or at the very least get a great severance on your way out.

I doubt anyone is planning their life out for the next 20 on temp part time-summer public sector work.

I was a "casual" public sector employee for 3 years and I worked well over 2000 hours each year. It's actually extremely common for "casual" employees at my work place to work as much as or more hours than the permanent full-time employees.

Definitely not seasonal.

On the topic of real estate, heres a couple photos of the new place we moved into July 29th.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7509/2...9dc4082a_b.jpgUntitled by Chris West, on Flickr
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7628/2...e50a5e8a_b.jpgUntitled by Chris West, on Flickr
640 sq foot 1BR and den + 130 sq foot patio. Backs onto protected land, stream, forest. North Van. Paid 340k 1 year ago. Similar units are selling for a shade over 400k now, but it seems its dropping off a little bit. Need to use my HELOC to buy e30 m3 or 911 before it drops back down.
Also, we will be adjusting/purchasing furniture that fits the shape better (reversing the sectional, etc) but for now just enjoying a place of our own (banks)
I'm SO happy living in north van. Its the exact shift in lifestyle I needed to calm down a bit. The stress of how busy kits is was taking its toll a bit.

nice...don`t forget to upgrade to a bigger tv :fullofwin:

Ductless split AC in an apartment that small must be nice. Does it heat, too?

Nice! Now where to find a similiar place like that to rent..

@westopher How is the traffic so far?

Back when I left in 2013 it was like North Van was a well kept secret... Now it's like there is a massive push to develop it and the traffic seems fucked.

Traffic is bad, but not as bad as just regular van traffic. Its honestly a fucking nightmare in the whole GVRD. The infrastructure of this city is a fucking catastrophe, and all they plan on doing is removing roads to build condos. My steering wheel is so fucked from punching it I need to order a new airbag because of the fist marks in the BMW logo. That said I bus to work in 15-20 minutes, and the same on the way home to/from downtown vancouver. Its as fast as kits because the bus gets to skip the traffic lineup onto the bridge.
The A/C heats as well and I've been sleeping like a baby in our nice cool place the last couple weeks.
As for the TV, it stays. Last thing I need is a bigger black square that gets used for the occasional live comedy show haha.

Very nice place! A Classic Joe on the deck tops it all off too!

My gofundme senses are tingling...

HELP WESTOPHER GET A BIGGER TELEVISION - Click to donate...

If I cash it in do I need to get the bigger TV? I want BMW motorsport seatbelts.

more than you can afford pal... :troll:

fixed Kappa

only if it was on indiegogo LUL

Now I understand the hate for charcoal BBQ rules.

I don't have any issues here, thank fuck after I just spent a billion dollars on this BBQ. Just used an example of crusty old idiots with nothing but time to yell at clouds while normal people work.

fucking love places that back onto forest like that. Whether it be a condo, townhouse, detached home, etc.

growing up my grandparents had an amazing property that backed onto a huge forest which the fraser perimeter road now runs parallel with, places like this always remind me of it.

Does it have balcony sprinkler? Kappa

No, but its got a giant ceramic fireproof container to surround the charcoal.
Just sitting outside and actually it does! Full of exciting surprises.