Canada Housing/Debt: Trust me, I'm a landlord.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Canada Housing/Debt: Trust me, I'm a landlord.

EvilJoven: Mar 18, 2005; NOBODY,IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, HAS ASKED OR CARED WHAT CANADA THINKS. YOU ARE NOT A COUNTRY. YOUR MONEY HAS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND ON IT. IF YOU DIG AROUND IN YOUR BACKYARD, NATIVE SKELETONS WOULD EXPLODE OUT OF YOUR LAWN LIKE THE END OF POLTERGEIST. CANADA IS SO POLITE, EH?; Fun Shoe

Canadian urban culture is almost non-existant but Canadian rural culture certainly isn't. There's also distinct differences between French Canadian and English rural living.

# ? May 19, 2015 04:01

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 15, 2024 02:26

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Y'all haven't peak vancouverited until you elbow motherfuckers in the face like claude lemieux getting on and off the 99 at rush hour.

# ? May 19, 2015 04:02

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

New Zealand is going to tax FOREIGNERS on capital gains on their real estate EQUITY.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/686..._medium=twitter

quote:

Tighter rules on residential property investors and overseas buyers

Speculators who buy and sell residential property for profit within two years will be taxed on the capital gains in a move to rein in Auckland's housing market.

Prime Minister John Key also announced Sunday measures targeting overseas buyers who have been able to escape paying any tax on their profits.

Key said the measures would be contained in this week's Budget and the focus would be on ensuring people buying and selling property for profit paid their fair share of tax to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

Still the wrong move. In Toronto and Vancouver, if foreign owners/immigrants were in fact putting price pressure on the housing market, why have rents not increased in some proportion to prices? That's because it's all you pale face white motherfuckers buying houses you can't afford with credit that shouldn't be issued to your moneyless rear end.

# ? May 19, 2015 04:09

Strong Convections: May 8, 2008

Cultural Imperial posted:

New Zealand is going to tax FOREIGNERS on capital gains on their real estate EQUITY.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/686..._medium=twitter

Still the wrong move. In Toronto and Vancouver, if foreign owners/immigrants were in fact putting price pressure on the housing market, why have rents not increased in some proportion to prices? That's because it's all you pale face white motherfuckers buying houses you can't afford with credit that shouldn't be issued to your moneyless rear end.

If they're not having an impact then there's no problem taxing them more.
The bigger picture is that your own country should be run for your (and your fellow countrymen's) benefit. So gently caress foreigners. The only reason you would want them buying housing is if there's a benefit to the locals.

# ? May 19, 2015 05:55

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

I was up visiting the folks in Kelowna this weekend, to get some legwork started as they are down sizing this summer. They are selling the family home they built and lived in for 45 years and moving into a one of the many generic 3 story wood frame condos in the area.

My retired parents had to take out a mortgage for it. My father, whom you could politely describe as doddering, is fairly unlikely to see the end of it.

When my mother told me, I could almost feel my grandparents start to spin in their grave (hell, I was spinning a bit). I had to stop asking questions about it because I wasn't going to be able to add anything helpful to the conversation.

The next ten years as the boomers shuffle off to the lido deck is going to be the mother of all uncovered financial disasters. Warm up your schadenfreude muscles, or you are liable to pull something.

# ? May 19, 2015 07:53

Rime: Nov 2, 2011; by Games Forum

ocrumsprug posted:

I was up visiting the folks in Kelowna this weekend, to get some legwork started as they are down sizing this summer. They are selling the family home they built and lived in for 45 years and moving into a one of the many generic 3 story wood frame condos in the area.

My retired parents had to take out a mortgage for it. My father, whom you could politely describe as doddering, is fairly unlikely to see the end of it.

When my mother told me, I could almost feel my grandparents start to spin in their grave (hell, I was spinning a bit). I had to stop asking questions about it because I wasn't going to be able to add anything helpful to the conversation.

The next ten years as the boomers shuffle off to the lido deck is going to be the mother of all uncovered financial disasters. Warm up your schadenfreude muscles, or you are liable to pull something.

This is probably the dumbest anecdote I've seen all year. Like, :psyboom:

level.

# ? May 19, 2015 08:24

cowofwar: Jul 30, 2002; by Athanatos

When Canada needs culture we just mug some native american person for it.

# ? May 19, 2015 12:32

Bloody Hedgehog: Dec 12, 2003; 💥💥🤯💥💥
Gotta nuke something

cowofwar posted:

When Canada needs culture we just mug some native american person for it.

This always makes me laugh. Anytime some big "cultural" event or prestigious occasion occurs, they drag out the first nations art an imagery. Despite the fact that most canadians have probably never even met a first nations person, and significant chunk of them actively hate first nations people, and any heritage canada has is largely european.

It'd be like the US using russian images, art, and iconography when they need to fabricate some culture.

# ? May 19, 2015 12:39

ocrumsprug: Sep 23, 2010; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Rime posted:

This is probably the dumbest anecdote I've seen all year. Like, level.

Yeah it pretty much has everything.

Quietly HELOCing yourself into a massive hole... Check
Downsizing into a surprisingly expensive place... Check
Take a mortgage on in retirement... Check
Hoping that rates stay at current levels on fixed income... Check
Not really cutting back on spending... Check

At least they aren't currently bankrupt, so I figure they are probably somewhere in the middle of the bell curve.

I am going to need to revisit my plan to push them out on an iceflow.

# ? May 19, 2015 15:01

triplexpac: Mar 24, 2007; Suck it
Two tears in a bucket
And then another thing
I'm not the one they'll try their luck with
Hit hard like brass knuckles
See your face through the turnbuckle dude
I got no love for you

I read this book over the weekend where the author wrote about her parents getting old, their slow decline into their late 90s. She talked about how it ended up being like over 10k a month at one point for just her mother and all the care she needed.

I really hope my parents have money saved :stare:

# ? May 19, 2015 15:14

Freezer: Apr 20, 2001; The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot stay in the cradle forever.

As per Canadian law/insurance practices, is your mortgage automatically settled if you die? If so, it might be a good idea to get long expensive mortgages in your 60s, in order to give that inheritance package a boost.

# ? May 19, 2015 15:51

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

Freezer posted:

As per Canadian law/insurance practices, is your mortgage automatically settled if you die? If so, it might be a good idea to get long expensive mortgages in your 60s, in order to give that inheritance package a boost.

This 'may' work provided housing continues to appreciate at the current pace forever, and the mortgage carriers can handle the debt service cost with their typically limited retirement income. Keep in mind your estate will still need to settle its debts to creditors prior to handing out inheritance.

triplexpac posted:

I read this book over the weekend where the author wrote about her parents getting old, their slow decline into their late 90s. She talked about how it ended up being like over 10k a month at one point for just her mother and all the care she needed.

I really hope my parents have money saved

A full service retirement home is usually in the 4k and up range for very limited care in the GTA. My surviving grand parent is currently in one, and it is bleeding their savings dry (POA).

# ? May 19, 2015 16:12

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Bloody Hedgehog posted:

Despite the fact that most canadians have probably never even met a first nations person

What the gently caress? Really? Where would you have to live to never have met a first nations person?

# ? May 19, 2015 16:14

unlimited shrimp: Aug 30, 2008

PT6A posted:

What the gently caress? Really? Where would you have to live to never have met a first nations person?

I grew up in the GTA. Never met a FN person I was aware was a FN person until third year of university when we went to Caledonia as part of a project.

# ? May 19, 2015 16:20

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

unlimited shrimp posted:

I grew up in the GTA. Never met a FN person I was aware was a FN person until third year of university when we went to Caledonia as part of a project.

The GTA and Quebec's urban centres would have a low % of FN people in comparison to other provinces.

# ? May 19, 2015 16:23

Ming the Merciless: Aug 10, 2005; You're a beard with an idiot hanging off of it.

Winnipeg has a fairly large First Nations population, but most people here probably don't know a single FN person well. Anecdotally, it seems like the only interaction they have with FN people is as panhandlers or drunks. White people tend to stay on their little suburban islands, and unless they grew up or live in the North parts of the city, or I guess meet FN people through work, they never have a chance to actually have a FN friend.

I know a lot of healthcare workers here, and I hear a lot of negative views of FN people because - surprise surprise - poverty correlates with drug addiction and criminal activity. The emergency room is the only eye they have into FN culture.

# ? May 19, 2015 16:48

triplexpac: Mar 24, 2007; Suck it
Two tears in a bucket
And then another thing
I'm not the one they'll try their luck with
Hit hard like brass knuckles
See your face through the turnbuckle dude
I got no love for you

I grew up north of Ottawa and we obviously had a lot of FN around. They had their own clique in school.

It's a bit sad looking back on it because they clearly had it more rough than the rest of us.

# ? May 19, 2015 16:49

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

Bloody Hedgehog posted:

This always makes me laugh. Anytime some big "cultural" event or prestigious occasion occurs, they drag out the first nations art an imagery. Despite the fact that most canadians have probably never even met a first nations person, and significant chunk of them actively hate first nations people, and any heritage canada has is largely european.

It'd be like the US using russian images, art, and iconography when they need to fabricate some culture.

Actually it would be more like Chile using Incan art when they need to "fabricate" (ie showcase different facets of their nation's culture). But I get what you're saying. Some people dislike native culture? Better keep 'em in the closet so as not to offend any white people. Just play U2 really loudly, it's safe and familiar

Juul-Whip fucked around with this message at 18:10 on May 19, 2015

# ? May 19, 2015 17:52

unlimited shrimp: Aug 30, 2008

THC posted:

Actually it would be more like Chile using Incan art when they need to "fabricate" (ie showcase different facets of their nation's culture). But I get what you're saying. Some people dislike native culture? Better keep 'em in the closet so as not to offend any white people. Just play U2 really loudly, it's safe and familiar

I think the bigger issue is that the inclusion of native culture often comes across as tokenism. For example, the Toronto Zoo has a shiny, new multimillion dollar "giant panda experience" that simultaneously celebrates China. Adjacent to that is a giant garden memorializing Dr. Frank Schofield in the Korean complex. First Nations meanwhile get a small art garden near the Americas pavilion and a small "ways of knowing" walk tucked away at the back of the Canada pavilion.

Better than nothing, but to me it perpetuates the paternalistic kid-glove anthropology that treats indigenous cultures as small, inert curiosities.

e.
I guess the $$$ and interest just isn't there to integrate Indigenous cultures into the Americas and Canada pavilions like they integrated Chinese culture into the panda pavilion.

unlimited shrimp fucked around with this message at 19:32 on May 19, 2015

# ? May 19, 2015 19:23

EvilJoven: Mar 18, 2005; NOBODY,IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, HAS ASKED OR CARED WHAT CANADA THINKS. YOU ARE NOT A COUNTRY. YOUR MONEY HAS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND ON IT. IF YOU DIG AROUND IN YOUR BACKYARD, NATIVE SKELETONS WOULD EXPLODE OUT OF YOUR LAWN LIKE THE END OF POLTERGEIST. CANADA IS SO POLITE, EH?; Fun Shoe

FN humor is the best humor. Comes out of left field with a poker face delivery that makes you go :stare:

and wonder if they're serious.

Then they grin.

# ? May 19, 2015 19:39

Rime: Nov 2, 2011; by Games Forum

A large part of that problem is how little of these cultures survived our attempts at genocide, though. The coast salish and associated tribal groups were lucky enough to be so remote that they were the last to be encountered, and they also had a rich art culture which incorporated heavy iconography. So BC has a comparatively deep wellspring of native heritage to draw from as a result. We've even got a few extensive primary source accounts from Europeans who were held captive by the Tlingit, for example.

The first nations back east, that had an extra few hundred years of being hunted to extinction? The plains tribes that relied almost exclusively on oral traditions and had very little crafted art? Those guys were hosed long ago, it's little wonder that they have vastly less influence in the eastern provinces.

While we're on the topic ,this has reminded me of the Metis which is one of the few examples of a cultural emergence that I can think of in Canadian history. Cut short by the rapid changes of the modern era, but fascinating nonetheless in the context of our earlier discussion.

# ? May 19, 2015 19:48

HookShot: Dec 26, 2005

EvilJoven posted:

FN humor is the best humor. Comes out of left field with a poker face delivery that makes you go and wonder if they're serious.

Then they grin.

Ken Hotate from Parks and Recreation is my favourite minor recurring character in the series for this exact reason.

# ? May 19, 2015 19:57

the talent deficit: Dec 20, 2003; self-deprecation is a very british trait, and problems can arise when the british attempt to do so with a foreign culture

PT6A posted:

What the gently caress? Really? Where would you have to live to never have met a first nations person?

I've got a few FN friends who are constantly mistaken for chinese or generic asian. Probably because they are all pretty successful and don't fit the stereotype so people just assume.

# ? May 19, 2015 20:06

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

the talent deficit posted:

I've got a few FN friends who are constantly mistaken for chinese or generic asian. Probably because they are all pretty successful and don't fit the stereotype so people just assume.

I think you've touched on a very, very big and important problem with regards to anti-First Nations racism: many Canadians don't recognize "normal" First Nations people as First Nations people, and to be honest, I'm guilty of that too in some cases. We want to pigeonhole First Nations people either as the long-braids-and-feathers caricature, or as the person on the train who smells strongly of Listerine, and the problem is that, in either case, First Nations people who are living an average lifestyle like any other person in Canada might never actually get recognized as being from the First Nations. We see what we want to see, and ultimately it turns out we don't want to see First Nations people living a mainstream lifestyle.

# ? May 19, 2015 20:28

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

Rime posted:

A large part of that problem is how little of these cultures survived our attempts at genocide, though. The coast salish and associated tribal groups were lucky enough to be so remote that they were the last to be encountered, and they also had a rich art culture which incorporated heavy iconography. So BC has a comparatively deep wellspring of native heritage to draw from as a result. We've even got a few extensive primary source accounts from Europeans who were held captive by the Tlingit, for example.

The first nations back east, that had an extra few hundred years of being hunted to extinction? The plains tribes that relied almost exclusively on oral traditions and had very little crafted art? Those guys were hosed long ago, it's little wonder that they have vastly less influence in the eastern provinces.

While we're on the topic ,this has reminded me of the Metis which is one of the few examples of a cultural emergence that I can think of in Canadian history. Cut short by the rapid changes of the modern era, but fascinating nonetheless in the context of our earlier discussion.

An example that comes to mind of a unique Canadian/US culture that was cut short by modernity would be in the Columbia/Oregon Territory before it split into BC/Washington/Oregon. Early settlers made use of Chinook Jargon, a combination of an existing pre-contact indigenous language with more French and English loan words, but it died out as the area was overwhelmed by new immigrants. There was even a Chinook Jargon paper printed in Kamloops.

# ? May 19, 2015 21:22

EvilJoven: Mar 18, 2005; NOBODY,IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, HAS ASKED OR CARED WHAT CANADA THINKS. YOU ARE NOT A COUNTRY. YOUR MONEY HAS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND ON IT. IF YOU DIG AROUND IN YOUR BACKYARD, NATIVE SKELETONS WOULD EXPLODE OUT OF YOUR LAWN LIKE THE END OF POLTERGEIST. CANADA IS SO POLITE, EH?; Fun Shoe

HookShot posted:

Ken Hotate from Parks and Recreation is my favourite minor recurring character in the series for this exact reason.

Its one thing to watch a FN comedian on the screen or stage.

Its way better when its just you anf the guys chilling out eating dinner and half the table almost chokes to death and then everyone bursts out laughing.

# ? May 19, 2015 21:35

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6d3c5b30-fc38-11e4-ad3f-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl

quote:

Finance chiefs urge action on bubble fear
Sam Fleming in Washington

A group of leading financial executives have urged authorities around the world to bolster their crisis-busting arsenals amid fears that ultra-low interest rates have increased the risks of financial instability.

The heads of companies including HSBC, UBS and BlackRock will on Monday release a joint statement backing the use of macroprudential tools, but warn that rules, if too narrowly applied, could push risks into the more thinly regulated realm of shadow banks.

Macroprudential tools are used to guard against emerging dangers such as overvalued property assets, in theory reducing the need for authorities to raise interest rates to rein in investor exuberance. Among the most developed are counter-cyclical capital requirements on banks and caps on the amount of debt customers can borrow relative to their incomes.
Authorities in countries ranging from the UK and Switzerland to Israel and Hong Kong have been making greater use of these regulatory levers to curb rising asset values, especially in the housing market.

The statement also urges authorities to strengthen their systems of governance over macroprudential rules � even as Senate Republicans seek to impose new fetters on the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the main body in the US responsible for dealing with systemic risks.

Some analysts are warning of exuberance building up in parts of the global markets following the long period of ultra-low rates that resulted from the Great Recession. This month, Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve chairwoman, said that share prices were �quite high� and that there was a risk of a sharp jump in longer-term bond yields, while arguing that overall financial risks were contained.

The statement from finance chiefs including Douglas Flint, HSBC chairman, Anshu Jain, Deutsche Bank co-chief executive, Michel Li�s, head of Swiss Re, and Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, is being co-ordinated by the World Economic Forum. It says the inclusion of macroprudential policies in policy makers� tool kits �helps to address emerging market inefficiencies in the financial system, such as over-exuberance within asset classes, for example in real estate lending�.

In the words of Mr Flint, the policies have the capacity to �lean against something that is making people feel good but is actually going to give them a hangover they will find difficult to cope with�.

The decision by finance chiefs to issue a joint endorsement of regulation is unusual, but it comes with caveats. The statement says that macroprudential policies need to be deployed across the financial system, not just on companies such as commercial banks that fall within the traditional regulatory perimeter.

Applying macroprudential measures only to regulated entities could �limit credit formation and push credit intermediation outside to the shadow banking sector and thus be a source of systemic risk�, the finance chiefs say, adding that the effectiveness of the tools has yet to be proven, especially in countries with complex financial systems.

Shadow banks encompass a broad array of institutions conducting bank-like activities, including money-market funds, finance companies and real estate investment trusts.
The statement also argues that, if macroprudential tools are poorly co-ordinated, they could end up being a source of systemic risk in themselves. The US is among the markets with the most fragmented systems of governance � its regulation is split among multiple agencies, raising questions over the effectiveness of the country�s macroprudential regime.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, the body that co-ordinates the agencies, is facing potential imposition of new restrictions and more complex processes in draft legislation put forward by Senator Richard Shelby, the Alabama Republican who chairs the Senate banking committee. The procedures, if passed, would apply when the FSOC is designating a firm as systemically important.

It's pretty lol when banks are telling people 'hay guys cool it with the money lending ok'

# ? May 20, 2015 05:16

bring back old gbs: Feb 28, 2007; by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6d3c5b30-fc38-11e4-ad3f-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=intl

It's pretty lol when banks are telling people 'hay guys cool it with the money lending ok'

They're double bluffing. The first thing I thought was 'If a bank says not to, it's time to get a Mortgage.' :colbert:

# ? May 20, 2015 05:51

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

quote:

Sex for rent: The seedy underbelly of Australia's housing affordability crisis

As Sydney house prices creep towards a median of $1 million, the seedy underbelly of Australia's housing affordability crisis is emerging online.

Advertisements offering "free rent for services" are springing up across mainstream house-sharing sites.

Some are clear in their nature.

One advertisement on Craigslist read: "Are you a lovely female needing a room for a night or two . . don't want to pay over the top hotel fees?"

The advertisement continued, "My place is clean, close to transport and CBD ... the only catch is there is one bed only."

"A friends with benefits arrangement?"

Another advertisement is more detailed: "You've probably figured out the arrangement already, so let's get down to specifics."

"ME: Handsome, tall, in great shape, generous, self-employed, late 30's,"

"YOU: Young (under 21), gorgeous, adventurous, looking for free rent ... "

However, subtext can be lost on the vulnerable, particularly those with limited English.

*Tom has "a free room available in kings cross area for the right Guest...Obviously looking to make an arrangement. But flexible in what that is".

Another, unnamed person in Cronulla is offering free rent and "help with study" for female Asian students, with no indication of what is expected in return.

Alison Ye, 26, is an international student from China, who was shocked by Sydney's high rent.

"The equivalent in Beijing was around $150 a week, and here is so difficult," she said.

Two days after placing an advertisement on Gumtree for "cheap or free rent in exchange for cleaning and cooking", a young couple asked Ms Ye to share her body instead.

"It was so creepy and kind of scary because it was in person, and there have been lots of emails from older single men, which I find weird.

"I am scared sometimes I will agree to something I don't fully understand in English," she said.

Fortunately, she is not desperate to move immediately, but admits she would be forced to compromise her standards for safety in that instance.

Professor Bill Randolph, of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, says the phenomenon is driven by housing cost, combined with a culture of anonymity.

"Years ago, you couldn't have this kind of access to people and be hidden.

"Now, this is the opportunity for people to exploit the vulnerable, who desperately need housing they can afford," Professor Randolph said.

Terry Bincett has offered space in his queen-sized bed in Matraville for $22 a day, through a Craigslist advertisement for those who "aren't shy". He likens the offer to meeting in a bar and taking them home, but says sex isn't a necessary part of the deal. "It is whatever people are comfortable with, and they can choose to have their own room," Mr Bincett said. In one year, he has attracted eight guests; two women and six men, all but one of whom have been unperturbed by the intimate sleeping arrangements.

"One guy in the US spoke to me at 12.30pm on a Wednesday, and was at my door by 6am that Friday!" he said.

As a co-founder of independent share site Flatmatesfinders.com, Guy Mitchell has made it a policy not to publish posts that allude to exchanging sexual services.

"We read and monitor all submissions and watch for this kind of thing.

"We want our site to be a reliable and safe place for people to find housing," Mr Mitchell said.

On its website, Gumtree Australia outlines its policy of deleting any obscene or indecent material, or that which could be false or misleading.

A more wholesome alternative could be this offer by an unnamed Gumtree poster in Ramsgate, seeking Christians only.

The way tenants make rent is to "cook and clean a little", but Bible study is compulsory.

The landlord, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he had a number of people move in and "profess to be Christians, who have found excuses to not join in Bible studies".

"It's only an hour and a half a fortnight, it's not asking a lot," he said.

Meantime, many share house website users are hoping to take advantage of the high cost of rent, to solve their childcare woes.

Amy Sacco runs a business from her Kogarah Bay home, and her husband's work travel often means she is left alone.

There was scant interest when she posted her offer of free rent online, in exchange for 12 hours of babysitting a week.

"It wasn't successful, but I thought university students would jump at it.

"In the end, we were kind of glad we found an older lady instead, who is reliable and won't be sitting on their iPhone while looking after our kids," Ms Sacco said.

http://news.domain.com.au/domain/re...519-ggwf2r.html

# ? May 20, 2015 09:59

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

"Waah, I chose to move to an extremely popular, expensive city and things are expensive! Who could've predicted this?"

I feel bad for the people who have lived there for a long time and are now dealing with this kind of situation, but people who choose to move and then bitch about it get no sympathy from me. Whether you should be able to exchange sex for money, rent or other consideration, is a separate issue, but provided everything's kept open and honest, I can't say I have a problem with it. It's the fact that a lot of the ads are not being honest about the expectations that disturbs me.

EDIT: And as for getting a room in exchange for babysitting duties part time, there's a word for that: being an au pair. It's not a new concept by any means.

PT6A fucked around with this message at 10:59 on May 20, 2015

# ? May 20, 2015 10:56

cowofwar: Jul 30, 2002; by Athanatos

How is exchanging room and board for sex any different than marriage? :boom:

# ? May 20, 2015 12:27

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

quote:

A study from the Fraser Institute due out Wednesday attacks the “concern” now being generated in some parts of the media about Canadian household debt.

“Headlines that household debt is at record levels, or that debt is higher in Canada than the U.S., create the impression that individual Canadians are being irresponsible in managing their personal finances,” Philip Cross, a former chief economic analyst with Statistics Canada, writes in the report, which was provided to The Financial Post.

Much of the concern has centred around the ratio of household debt to disposable income, a ratio that hit a record 163.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2014. One newspaper headline went so far as to say, “There is no such thing as good debt.”

Even the chief economist of the Bank of Montreal, Doug Porter, has felt compelled to jump into the fray.

Porter, in a rare rebuke, mentioned the headline and coverage of the “debt crisis” in an economic note last week. “Perusing the Canadian press this weekend (one publication in particular), a visitor from Mars would assume that Canada is in the grips of a debt crisis. The Martian would no doubt be terrified by the foreboding graphics, the scare headlines, the rapidly rising debt/income lines,” Porter wrote.

He does believe the sector is vulnerable to shock if interest rates rise or job losses mount, but says the number of borrowers in difficulty is falling, debt-service ratios are in line with long-term trends from 1990 to 2004 and Canada is not some “bizarre outlier” of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

The Fraser Institute said it was releasing its own study “examining whether the chorus of media headlines warning about the potential dire consequences of record household debt levels are warranted.”

Cross clearly feels they are not justified and says households in Canada have demonstrated a prudent attitude toward debt, with the growth of household debt slowing since 2009, especially for consumer credit.

“Together with record low interest rates, this has reduced the burden of servicing household debt to a record low of share of incomes,” he concluded in the report.

The prime rate at most major banks is now three per cent, while long-term mortgage rates have dipped well under three per cent as well. The share of household disposable income being diverted to service debt is now seven per cent compared to more than nine per cent before the recession.

Cross noted debt is often used to create wealth, and household assets and net worth have increased much faster than debt. And, even as interest rates have continued to drop, the rate of growth of debt has slowed by one-third since the recession.

He also maintains that, by international standards, the ratio of Canadian household debt is close to that in the U.S. but well below many European countries.

“The problem with U.S. debt leading up to its financial crisis was not that its ratio to income was high by international standards but that its distribution was flawed, with too much issued by poorly capitalized financial institutions to high-risk borrowers,” wrote Cross. “Lending standards have been tightened in Canada to prevent record low interest rates from tempting people and firms to take on excessive risk.”

So, no problem here. The debt ratios are ok because Canadians are getting wealthier through their real estate holdings.

How the gently caress do these mongs get jobs, never mind feed themselves? gently caress you Doug Porter. gently caress you Philip Cross

# ? May 20, 2015 16:39

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Cultural Imperial posted:

So, no problem here. The debt ratios are ok because Canadians are getting wealthier through their real estate holdings.

How the gently caress do these mongs get jobs, never mind feed themselves? gently caress you Doug Porter. gently caress you Philip Cross

I wonder what the debt to income or debt to assets looks like once you take out the real estate value.

# ? May 20, 2015 16:41

Lexicon: Jul 29, 2003; I had a beer with Stephen Harper once and now I like him.

The Canadian economist echo chamber on Twitter are all triumphantly retweeting this study. They're oddly blind to nuance where Canadian household debt is concerned - probably because their personal situation is one of extreme over-leverage also.

# ? May 20, 2015 16:48

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Lexicon posted:

The Canadian economist echo chamber on Twitter are all triumphantly retweeting this study. They're oddly blind to nuance where Canadian household debt is concerned - probably because their personal situation is one of extreme over-leverage also.

The basis for their argument is interest rates getting lower and lower. Also clever canadians slow down the rate in which they take on new debt.

# ? May 20, 2015 16:50

Count Canuckula: Oct 22, 2014

Cultural Imperial posted:

So, no problem here. The debt ratios are ok because Canadians are getting wealthier through their real estate holdings.

How the gently caress do these mongs get jobs, never mind feed themselves? gently caress you Doug Porter. gently caress you Philip Cross

The Fraser institute is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the conservative Id. Any piece written from them should be regarded as the trash truly is.

# ? May 20, 2015 17:14

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

Count Canuckula posted:

The Fraser institute is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the conservative Id. Any piece written from them should be regarded as the trash truly is.

I know some people sort of involved in education/schools who take their school rankings as gospel truth and the be-all end-all of judging a school system's success or failure.

# ? May 20, 2015 17:19

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Lending standards have been tightened in Canada to prevent record low interest rates from tempting people and firms to take on excessive risk

# ? May 20, 2015 17:23

Risky Bisquick: Jan 18, 2008; PLEASE LET ME WRITE YOUR VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT SO I CAN FURTHER DEMONSTRATE THE CALAMITY THAT IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.; Buglord

When I was renewing my mortgage, the lender mentioned I am a great client because I have no debt. No debt though still renewing a mortgage :downs:

# ? May 20, 2015 17:44

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 15, 2024 02:26

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

A mortgage isn't a debt it's an investment. This is seriously the way many many people think. It doen't matter how big your mortgage is because prices always go up, so in the end you will always make money. it's no different than forcing your self to invest X dollars a month in a retirement plan, in fact it's better because you can't live inside a retirement plan as you pay into it. Renting is like living in the hollowed out husk of your long dead dignity.

# ? May 20, 2015 17:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Canada Housing/Debt: Trust me, I'm a landlord.

«‹›1518 »