|
RBC posted:All of you are missing the important part, it hardly matters what the rent is. At best it covers carrying costs for investors. The important number is the market value of the unit and it's appreciation. The idea of a condo in Waterloo increasing in market value to the tune of 6+% every year like that advertisement is suggesting is hilarious. These people are buying 3 bedroom student rental condos for 360k in a real estate market where the average detached home is less than 300k. It makes no loving sense whatsoever. Students have NO EFFECT on the real estate market in a city. Yeah the whole video had lots of hilarious bad assumptions but the best one was assuming constant appreciation every year in addition to getting overpriced rent for the condo. It ties back into the investment fraud PSA especially the point about shady investments always promising a future return on the investment with no risk! etalian fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jan 23, 2014 |
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 03:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 17:02 |
|
|
There's something I've been wondering for a while, and it's kind of related to this thread. Looking at the S&P TSX index, the sector distribution weighted by market capitalization puts finance as the largest sector, with a huge ~34%. For comparison, the same sector makes up about 16% of the S&P 500. Considering that the US is more or less the financial center of the world, I find it a bit worrying seeing as Canada really isn't what comes to mind when I think "finance powerhouse". How much of that would be due to the housing bubble? I haven't looked for historical numbers, so I don't know if it's a recent thing or not. It's possible that foreign ownership restrictions on banks are skewing the distribution since for just about every other sector a good chunk of companies that operate in Canada are subsidiaries of foreign entities and so not listed on the Toronto stock exchange. It's also not like mortgages and consumer debt are the only thing banks do, although I couldn't find any straight numbers on that when I took a glance at investor material provided by major banks. Anyone knows that else could be responsible for that huge slice of the pie? Whatever the case is, though, I can't imagine this being a good thing for most people invested in Canadian equity when our housing soft landing/bubble deflation occurs.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 04:46
|
|
|
YeOldeButchere posted:There's something I've been wondering for a while, and it's kind of related to this thread. Looking at the S&P TSX index, the sector distribution weighted by market capitalization puts finance as the largest sector, with a huge ~34%. For comparison, the same sector makes up about 16% of the S&P 500. Considering that the US is more or less the financial center of the world, I find it a bit worrying seeing as Canada really isn't what comes to mind when I think "finance powerhouse". It's not that surprising when you think about it. We have a small, poorly-diversified economy - especially relative to the United States. YeOldeButchere posted:Whatever the case is, though, I can't imagine this being a good thing for most people invested in Canadian equity when our housing soft landing/bubble deflation occurs. I'm not so sure that the banks have tremendous exposure to housing risk, to be honest. The taxpayer on the other hand... All of this is moot anyway if you buy into the theory behind index investing. You can't time the market.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 05:03
|
|
|
I think Canadian banks actually are very large and have lots of international exposure.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 06:11
|
|
|
cowofwar posted:I think Canadian banks actually are very large and have lots of international exposure. This is the main reason. Our banks are very internationally diversified, and most of the large banks have up to 50% of their value in international assets, while the US has a much larger contingent of local / regional banking that doesn't have an international component. Same comment on non-bank financials although they're not quite as skewed. The other difference is that the US economy is so much larger that it can handle having a larger portion of businesses on a public market. Since you need a certain critical mass for a public listing to make sense, the size of the market there means that you end up with a larger proportion of total business activity being public. I don't have a stat, but Canada has relatively more private business than the US because of this. Keep in mind also that the S&P 500 includes only the largest companies in the US, while the S&P TSX Index commonly quoted is a composite and essentially includes a weighting of almost every material stock on the TSX. The S&P 500 misses those small to mid-size banks in the US that aren't big enough to crack the 500. Don't forget the TSX is also ~30% materials stocks while a much much lower percentage in the US, so Lexicon's point re: the overall diversification of our economy also holds true. There are whole sectors that don't exist in Canada that do in the US (much of the healthcare industry, for example). To avoid derailing too much, I'm actually considering buying in (North) Vancouver in the relatively near term. There are definitely some crazy prices here, although there are also some more reasonable properties, especially as some of the air has come out of the market the past year or two. You just need to be selective where and when you look. I laughed at the ones referenced in the OP though as those are essentially teardown lots in high-rent neighborhoods, so a bit disingenuous to use those as reference to the goofy pricing here. You can find examples like that scattered all through Shaughnessy and West Van, for example. Similar things exist in some parts of Rosedale or Lawrence Park in Toronto.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 19:59
|
|
|
Kalenn Istarion posted:I laughed at the ones referenced in the OP though as those are essentially teardown lots in high-rent neighborhoods, so a bit disingenuous to use those as reference to the goofy pricing here. You can find examples like that scattered all through Shaughnessy and West Van, for example. Similar things exist in some parts of Rosedale or Lawrence Park in Toronto. East Van, where the second one is located, is a high rent neighborhood comparable to Shaughnessy and West Van? Where are the poorer parts of Vancouver located, or is everything outside the DTES wealthy?
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 20:12
|
|
|
Most of my working class friends all live just south of downtown sort of around city-hall. A lot of normal rentals around there.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 20:28
|
|
|
ocrumsprug posted:East Van, where the second one is located, is a high rent neighborhood comparable to Shaughnessy and West Van? East Van as a district is definitely not comparable to Shaughnessy and West Van, but there are parts of it that have moved beyond "up and coming" and into "affluent". You'll note that both listings spend more time talking about the lot size rather than the house itself, and the second one references construction of a laneway house. Here's a link for the current freehold houses around the first one: link Here's a link for the current freehold houses around the second one: link Here also is a streetview for the second one: http://goo.gl/maps/M3yFw As you can see, both of those are on the low end of the price range for similar lots in the relevant neighborhoods, and for the second one in particular, it's clearly a teardown relative to the neighborhood houses, none of which are for sale currently for a direct comparison. e: Also, "poor" is a very different thing than "reasonable". Poor people aren't going to be buying a house no matter where they live. North Van in particular has lots of options at fairly reasonable rates per square foot. If you don't like the prices in Lower Lonsdale for example just go north and/or east a ways and the prices get much better. I should note that I'm looking for a family home so less interested in condo prices atm. Kalenn Istarion fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Jan 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 20:32
|
|
|
I went to First Tech Credit Union in Seattle today to get pre-approved for a mortgage. The rules that have been created to prevent another housing meltdown are quite remarkable. Some things that stood out in my head: 1) It's more expensive to borrow money to buy a condo than a single family home. 0.5% more in fact. The mortgage officer told me that this is a new rule designed to discourage speculators who are poorly capitalized. 2) Condo Homeowners Associations are required to disclose all finances. 3) In King County, all sale and assessment information is maintained by the county and available online to everyone. 4) Your credit rating has a direct impact on your mortgage interest rate. And it's not trivial, let me loving tell you. Since I have no credit rating in the USA, I was told that I'd be given an assumed FICO of 720 based upon my income. I was preapproved for a 30 year rate of 4.3% IF I bought a house today. For some reason, my company doesn't show up in First Tech's preferred list of members, thus I don't qualify for their tech worker relocation program that would give me a FICO of 760 which would have given me a lower interest rate - something like 4%.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 05:54
|
|
|
Cultural Imperial posted:I went to First Tech Credit Union in Seattle today to get pre-approved for a mortgage. The rules that have been created to prevent another housing meltdown are quite remarkable. Some things that stood out in my head: From my extremely layman's knowledge perspective, weren't there a bunch of online businesses offering to improve your credit score through fairly shady means pre-2008, basically avoiding credit scores being a viable way of determining what you were approved for in terms of financing?
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 06:01
|
|
|
I don't know. I was told that I would need to provide statements proving that I was well capitalized (enough money to cover 4 months of payments) and, if I wanted, a FICO rating from the equifax canada assholes.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 06:14
|
|
|
Oh, I think it's relevant to point out that the mortgage agent I dealt with had changed jobs. Her previous job was with a credit union that dealt primarily with military families. First Tech's customers are primarily Amazon employees. She told me that business was brisk.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 06:16
|
|
|
Cultural Imperial posted:Oh, I think it's relevant to point out that the mortgage agent I dealt with had changed jobs. Her previous job was with a credit union that dealt primarily with military families. First Tech's customers are primarily Amazon employees. She told me that business was brisk. Weren't you going on a while back in the thread about vowing to leave the Potemkin Village? I guess you weren't kidding around - congrats. As a former resident of Seattle, I can confirm its superiority over Vancouver along virtually every dimension.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 06:45
|
|
|
Lexicon posted:Weren't you going on a while back in the thread about vowing to leave the Potemkin Village? I guess you weren't kidding around - congrats. Thanks. This is actually my second sojourn from VAN CITY (God I hate those sweatshirts). What made you leave Seattle?
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 08:07
|
|
|
Welcome to Seattle. I use Firsttech - for banking and insurance - but not for loans. Their rates on auto loans are very bad too. I suggest shopping around. I was very happy with Sterling Bank for my mortgage (trying not to shill here, honest goon recommendation).
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 10:01
|
|
|
Cultural Imperial posted:Thanks. This is actually my second sojourn from VAN CITY (God I hate those sweatshirts). Oh, just a sequence of other career moves, family stuff, etc. I loved Seattle, but was no where near ready to stick around in one place at the time. I've moved around a rather crazy amount in the last decade. I could see myself back there one day, on a longer term basis, if the various parameters made sense. I feel like I'm close to running out of places in Canada that I want to live long-term, but that's neither here nor there.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2014 14:51
|
|
|
Fuzzy Mammal posted:Welcome to Seattle. I use Firsttech - for banking and insurance - but not for loans. Their rates on auto loans are very bad too. I suggest shopping around. I was very happy with Sterling Bank for my mortgage (trying not to shill here, honest goon recommendation). Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2014 00:15
|
|
|
I definitely prefer Vancouver to Seattle - Seattle is hard to get around in without a car and even with a car it's the usual pita with traffic, parking etc. Definitely very jelly of their actual industry and economic activity and having some actual culture to speak of, but I like living in Vancouver more. Also living in the US in general is just a lot more... "intense", I can't quite put my finger on it. But the cost of living being so out of whack with income sort of ruins all that 
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 01:59
|
|
|
I disagree about transit. I haven't used the LRT yet but I took the bus all last week from the U district to downtown and it was fantastic. The buses actually run on schedule. The Seattle transit bus smartphone app works really well. Like the telemetry isn't engineered by a bunch of bcit retards who self taught themselves php. Also, Seattle transit runs on an RFID card system. My new company pays for my Orca card and it's good for travel all over Seattle, without restrictions (I think). I took Uber from downtown Seattle after a heavy drinking session and it only cost me $36. Take a flying gently caress off a cliff Vancouver/Calgary/Montreal/Toronto cabbies. Especially loving Toronto. On top of that, I only paid $26 for 48 hours of parking. gently caress you Calgary. Seattle traffic, while extremely heavy, is arguably better than anything I've seen in Canada. Source: I have driven extensively in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal in the past 3 years. The express lanes going north on the I-5 are loving amazing. namaste friends fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Jan 26, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 06:26
|
|
|
Confirming Toronto cabbies are all assholes. At least in Vancouver they'll take your credit card without making a face. In Toronto there's this culture of making you feel guilty if you dare to make them take out their credit card machine.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 19:13
|
|
|
Kalenn Istarion posted:Confirming Toronto cabbies are all assholes. At least in Vancouver they'll take your credit card without making a face. In Toronto there's this culture of making you feel guilty if you dare to make them take out their credit card machine. I'm pretty sure we're in the dying days of this horrible monopolistic taxi culture anyway. Uber and similar are growing far faster than I think many people realize. In a decade's time, they will likely own the lion's share of the market, and customers and drivers alike will all be better off.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 19:20
|
|
|
I had a Toronto Cabbie kick me out of his cab because I wanted to pay with credit card.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 20:51
|
|
|
EngineerJoe posted:I had a Toronto Cabbie kick me out of his cab because I wanted to pay with credit card. This is a think? I have never seen a Calgary cabbie even hesitate to take my credit card.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 21:04
|
|
|
A toronto cabbie charged me $80 to go from pearson to my office in missisauga, about 10km away.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 21:39
|
|
|
Demon_Corsair posted:This is a think? I have never seen a Calgary cabbie even hesitate to take my credit card. Calgary Cabbies are quite good in my experience. Some cities, like Vancouver have laws where the cab driver is not allowed to turn you down for using a credit card. And for gently caress's sake, what kind of business traveller isn't going to want to pay for a cab with a corporate credit card? Toronto cabbies are loving dumb.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 21:42
|
|
|
Cultural Imperial posted:Calgary Cabbies are quite good in my experience. I was waiting for a taxi in front of a hotel in Toronto. 2 cabs pull up at the same time both into the unloading section. One customer gets out says thanks, the other is taking a bit, I could see some wild hand gestures going on. The customer gets out and says something to the effect of "Call the loving cops then Im trying pay you!" He wouldn't take credit cards only cash. The other driver was from the same company and started chewing the non-credit driver out. I see my co-workers showing up so I stop paying attention for about 2 minutes. Turn my head back and there into a full of fist fight. The valet dude was so pissed off he made the driver of our taxi (same company again) give us a free ride. 3 months later the auditors question us on why we submitted a taxi receipt with just the airport fee (or something like it) The only reason a driver wants cash only is because he wants it off the books.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 21:50
|
|
|
Yeah. When I travel on business I hate having to pay with cash because half the time I get no receipt and the other half I get some bullshit chicken scratch business card receipt thing. Hell for expensing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 21:51
|
|
|
Whiteycar posted:I was waiting for a taxi in front of a hotel in Toronto. 2 cabs pull up at the same time both into the unloading section. One customer gets out says thanks, the other is taking a bit, I could see some wild hand gestures going on. The customer gets out and says something to the effect of "Call the loving cops then Im trying pay you!" He wouldn't take credit cards only cash. The other driver was from the same company and started chewing the non-credit driver out. I see my co-workers showing up so I stop paying attention for about 2 minutes. Turn my head back and there into a full of fist fight.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 21:59
|
|
|
Whiteycar, that's like every chinese restaurant in Vancouver which only accepts cash.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 22:11
|
|
|
Kalenn Istarion posted:East Van as a district is definitely not comparable to Shaughnessy and West Van, but there are parts of it that have moved beyond "up and coming" and into "affluent". You realize that the listing link is for a house that costs $680,000 right? That is completely loving insane. edit: hahaha there's a 2-bedroom, 1200 sqft house in the same area for $630k. Stop buying houses you dumb Canucks. Grand Theft Autobot fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Jan 26, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 22:34
|
|
|
Whiteycar posted:The only reason a driver wants cash only is because he wants it off the books. Mostly, but not entirely true. The credit card processor contracts are normally pretty godawful for the cab driver in just about every city I've heard of because they are negotiated by either the city taxicab commission or by the cab franchise company. The drivers have no say in the process and end up eating a 10% or higher fee on card transactions and wait forever for the pay to be sent to them because the contract was awarded in a less-than-ethical manner to a company which is now happily sitting on a captive customer base who by law cannot boycott.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 23:09
|
|
|
Grand Theft Autobot posted:You realize that the listing link is for a house that costs $680,000 right? That is completely loving insane. I've just managed to talk my parents out of buying a 1700 sq ft 1.3 million house.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 23:35
|
|
|
I had a cab driver in Adelaide, Australia once try and tell me that he didn't have change for a $50 for a $20 fare ($50s are ridiculously common in Australia, it's not like here, they're basically as common as 20s are here, since their ATMs dispense them) and when I told him I was just going to leave then, because I wasn't giving him a $30 tip, he magically withdrew a roll of $5s and $10s for change.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2014 23:58
|
|
|
Yeah I was constantly getting told by cabbies that their credit card machines weren't working so one day when I called one I asked the dispatcher if she could get me one that definitely has working credit or debit machine because I didn't have cash, and she told me that they all had working machines that got checked pretty often, and if the machine's not working you're entitled to a free ride.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 00:04
|
|
|
Demon_Corsair posted:This is a think? I have never seen a Calgary cabbie even hesitate to take my credit card. I would say that about 75% of cabbies that I give my credit card to give me grief about it. It's not a regional thing either...Western Canada, Eastern Canada, the US...I get grief from cabbies everywhere about it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 00:39
|
|
|
Cultural Imperial posted:I've just managed to talk my parents out of buying a 1700 sq ft 1.3 million house. You deserve a peerage, for real Grand Theft Autobot fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Jan 27, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 01:04
|
|
|
A cab is literally the only place I've seen the carbon-copy rolling-wheel credit card things in the last decade. Those things are great.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 02:38
|
|
|
I love the cabs in NYC. You pay using the touch screen in the back and you don't have to deal with the cabbie at all. It's wonderful.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 05:50
|
|
|
HookShot posted:I had a cab driver in Adelaide, Australia once try and tell me that he didn't have change for a $50 for a $20 fare ($50s are ridiculously common in Australia, it's not like here, they're basically as common as 20s are here, since their ATMs dispense them) and when I told him I was just going to leave then, because I wasn't giving him a $30 tip, he magically withdrew a roll of $5s and $10s for change. Reminds me of the time I was in Hawaii and gave a guy $40 for a $25 fare because all I had at that point were US twenties... he started to drive off and then got kind of pissy when I told him that I wanted ten bucks back 
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 06:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 12, 2024 17:02 |
|
|
I was in zurich on business and took a cab to the hotel and the guy didn't even have a reader. Even a manual one. This was not super recent though, about 2009 or so. I didn't have euros or any local currency at all since I had just landed. So he's like, "How much to you have in american?" "Forty bucks." "Okay I'll just take it all." Yeah that was interesting. But the swiss are very backward and traditional in all sorts of ways.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2014 06:54
|
|