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

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Hal_2005: Feb 23, 2007

Femtosecond posted:

Alberta being hosed probably also means that the Okanagan in BC is hosed. Did recreational properties there ever even really recover from the 2008 recession?

http://www.columbiavalleypioneer.com/?p=12474

Flippers made a killing off of 2008. Most of the zoned resorts & golf courses turned into zoned housing.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 08:34

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# ? May 23, 2024 12:46

Hal_2005: Feb 23, 2007

edit: Bad Gateway killed the poast. Eurotrash internet.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 08:35

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

Coherent Hal_2005 posts. Is this real life?

# ? Jun 9, 2015 14:22

Albino Squirrel: Apr 25, 2003; Miosis more like meiosis

Hal_2005 posted:

If you are looking at which city would be the most habitable or least decrepit should we return to 1970's level stagnation then the answer is the cities with the newest infrastructure and capable of adapting to 10 years of population growth (about 1%/y, give or take). So in this regard, Calgary as the city was upsized to support 8 million by 2025. Worst ? St. Johns. The Irving family is a loving mess and I would wager they go the way of Seagram before 2020. This is reflected in the municipal bond spreads. We could also throw Quebec city and Charlotte Town on the list just to enrage the Frenchmen (Quebecois? ).

... what the hell are you talking about? Calgary (and Edmonton) have massive infrastructure debts with their current populations. Each city is short at least a couple of non-crumbling hospitals and a few dozen schools. The roads are in generally poor condition (inevitable, given the degree of freeze-thaw we have here in Alberta) and Calgary still hasn't been able to complete its ring road.

The infrastructure, I grant you, may be the 'least bad' in Canada, but that's like being the smartest kid in the remedial class. And "Calgary was upsized to support 8 million by 2025", while having the same structure as a sentence in English, is a completely batshit loony phrase.

Edit: haaa, I typed the whole thing out without realizing I was responding to Hal_2005. I'm leaving it here as a monument to the time I failed the Turing test.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 14:50

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

what do you think is going to happen to Calgary's population growth in the next 5 years???? Is it going to keep growing???

# ? Jun 9, 2015 15:21

Precambrian Video Games: Aug 19, 2002

What in the gently caress is super nice about KW?

OK, UW has good intramural sports leagues. And the new LRT could make it easier to take the bus back to Toronto, if it's not picking up passengers on campus anymore. Anything else?

# ? Jun 9, 2015 15:36

Math You: Oct 27, 2010; So put your faith
in more than steel

eXXon posted:

What in the gently caress is super nice about KW?

OK, UW has good intramural sports leagues. And the new LRT could make it easier to take the bus back to Toronto, if it's not picking up passengers on campus anymore. Anything else?

World class ski resort Chicopee Ski Club.

Seriously though, I grew up and went to school in KW and it is a nice place. You are all snobs.
Yeah it's boring.. But it has a relatively diverse economy (for Canada) and actual jobs, rather than just being another commuter hub for Toronto.

Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph are a shining beacon for the country when compared to the insanity in our major cities or the complete lack of jobs elsewhere.
Yeah, they are suburban hellscapes with no cultural value.. But who gives a poo poo when it's a 1h drive to any event you want to visit in Toronto?

But of course, they are not London or Seattle so you may as well nuke them. Right CI?

I also live in and enjoy Ottawa so you can get a sense of how pedestrian I am.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 15:47

F1DriverQuidenBerg: Jan 19, 2014

Cultural Imperial posted:

what do you think is going to happen to Calgary's population growth in the next 5 years???? Is it going to keep growing???

Its likely going to stagnate. Its probably going to turn into the GTA where Airdrie, Chestermere and Okotoks become feeder cities. Calgary already suffers from massive urban sprawl and can't support its own infrastructure, its going to take decades for any strategy to increase population density to take effect.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 15:52

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

Math You posted:

World class ski resort Chicopee Ski Club.

Seriously though, I grew up and went to school in KW and it is a nice place. You are all snobs.
Yeah it's boring.. But it has a relatively diverse economy (for Canada) and actual jobs, rather than just being another commuter hub for Toronto.

Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph are a shining beacon for the country when compared to the insanity in our major cities or the complete lack of jobs elsewhere.
Yeah, they are suburban hellscapes with no cultural value.. But who gives a poo poo when it's a 1h drive to any event you want to visit in Toronto?

But of course, they are not London or Seattle so you may as well nuke them. Right CI?

I also live in and enjoy Ottawa so you can get a sense of how pedestrian I am.

Tricities are 1.5 hours to the airport, and 2-2.5 from downtown during peak. It's not a smart commute but there seem to be lots of people who do it. I don't think they understand that commuting should be considering time working when calculating salaries :ohdear:

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:06

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

quote:

CAAMP report in a nutshell: First time buyers are putting lots down. Market is healthy. But DONT tweak downpayment rules or we're screwed

https://twitter.com/BenRabidoux/status/608284651786891264

loving lol. I'm trying to find this report right now.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:11

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://news.caamp.org/acton/rif/8419/s-01d2-1506/-/l-dyn-contact-0001:5fe2/f/archiveMsg

quote:

n responding to a set of “topical questions”, the homebuyers indicated they:  perceive that low interest rates have encouraged too many Canadians to buy homes. But, as we have commented in the past, this opinion is hard to square with their own behaviours and their assessments of their own circumstances: they appear to harshly judge the behaviour of anonymous strangers.  consider themselves well-positioned to handle a housing market downturn.  consider real estate a good long-term investment.  are mildly optimistic about the short-term economic outlook.  don’t regret the size of their mortgage (and first-time buyers have slightly less regret than other buyers).  agree that mortgages are “good debt”.  are on-the-fence about whether their own local housing market is in a bubble.

quote:

CAAMP is concerned that these difficulties should not lead to a “pro-cyclical” tightening of lending conditions on the part of the federal government, mortgage insurers, or lenders. Any such tightening would aggravate the weakness in the housing market, with the further consequence that weakness in the broader economy would also be aggravated

loving lol. Canadians are so loving dumb.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:19

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

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://news.caamp.org/acton/rif/8419/s-01d2-1506/-/l-dyn-contact-0001:5fe2/f/archiveMsg

quote:

18% of first-time buyers relied on gifts and loans from family for their down payment; 10% used funds from their RRSP and 5% from their TFSA

So wait, 67% of first-time buyers had tons of money just sitting around in a savings account then? Or am I misreading this.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:23

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

triplexpac posted:

So wait, 67% of first-time buyers had tons of money just sitting around in a savings account then? Or am I misreading this.

Nope you're reading it right. This report is bullshit.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:32

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-09/obama-musings-aside-emerging-markets-suffering-strong-greenback

quote:

Whether or not President Barack Obama expressed concern about the strength of the dollar in private conversations at the Group of Seven summit, emerging markets are suffering the brunt of its strength in a trend that shows little sign of reversing.

Rising bond yields in the U.S. and Germany are making dollar- and euro-denominated assets more attractive to international investors. A measure of developing-nation currencies fell against both the greenback and Europe’s common currency over the past two weeks for the first time since December.

“In a world of higher yields and increased volatility, we believe that there is plenty more downside in emerging markets,” Calvin Tse and James Lord, strategists at Morgan Stanley, wrote in a June 4 research report. “The dynamic has clearly shifted” as currencies of developing nations break away from moving in tandem with the euro, they wrote.

While a three-year-long drop in their exchange rates has helped reduce trade deficits in some developing countries, further weakness may shake the confidence of foreign investors who hold more than 30 percent of local-currency debt. Emerging-market stocks have fallen in each of the past 12 days in the longest losing streak since 1990.

Bloomberg’s gauge of the most-traded developing nation currencies sank 2.4 percent against the dollar in the two weeks through June 5, while it fell 3.3 percent versus the euro.

Economic Damage

Currencies of commodity exporters led the decline over the past month, with Russia’s ruble and Colombia’s peso falling more than 9 percent against the dollar. Turkey’s lira tumbled as much as 5.3 percent on Monday to a record low of 2.8096 per dollar after voters denied the ruling AK Party a majority government for the first time since 2002.

Concern is rising that renewed currency weakness after two months of respite may hurt emerging economies. The selloffs combined with wider price swings may “put strains” on developing-nation companies that have borrowed “heavily” in foreign currencies, which could trigger or exacerbate capital outflows, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund said in a speech Monday.

A strong dollar poses a problem as volatility in financial markets increases, Obama told fellow G-7 leaders, according to a French official with knowledge of the talks. Obama later denied making such a comment.

Benign Selloff

So far, the currency declines have been benign in most of the developing countries. While the average 30 percent drop in emerging-market currencies since early 2011 has failed to boost exports and growth, it helped cut imports and narrow current-account deficits in the economies of Turkey and India among others.

Except for in places such as Brazil, currency depreciation has showed few signs of boosting inflation because of lower commodity prices.

“The currency depreciation didn’t have real economic implications so far,” Michael Ganske, the head of emerging markets at Rogge Global Partners in London, said by phone. “From that perspective, it’s nothing bad. It’s not something that is really concerning.”

Market Risks

The risk is that the recent global bond rout that wiped out about $1.2 trillion in value may increase volatility in emerging markets. That makes high-yielding assets less attractive.

Emerging-market local-currency bonds have declined 5.8 percent in dollar terms this year through last week, extending their drop since the end of 2012 to 19 percent, according to data compiled by JPMorgan Chase & Co. While their yields are 5.12 percentage points higher than five-year U.S. Treasuries, the premium is only at the average level for the past five years.

As of April, overseas investors held an average 30.5 percent of local-currency bonds in the 10 largest emerging markets, compared with the all-time high of 31.2 percent in January, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. Malaysia has the highest foreign ownership with 47 percent, followed by 39 percent in Poland and 38.5 percent in Indonesia.

Capital outflows have already started. Investors pulled $577.7 million from U.S. exchange-traded funds that invest in emerging markets last week, the first outflow in almost three months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“When the going gets tough, you see people cut their positions,” Simon Quijano-Evans, head of emerging-market research at Commerzbank in London, said by phone. The willingness to hold emerging-market assets “can be very fluid,” he said.

I'm really hoping this snowballs into disaster. :flashfap:

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:33

F1DriverQuidenBerg: Jan 19, 2014

Cultural Imperial posted:

loving lol. Canadians are so loving dumb.

Its even worse when you realize CMHC fees coupled with low down payments make it real easy for people who shouldn't be buying in the first place to end up upside down on their mortgage.

That's fine with interest rates where they are right now, but if interest rates hike up and a downturn happens that's what's really going to burst the bubble. Banks are already starting to notice they can't get any good returns from mortgages too.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:34

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

I asked a Vancouver friend who was still gushing a year after buying a condo about if she's still happy with it. She says it didn't work out quite as much as she thought, she thought she'd be saving vs renting but is in fact paying a tiny bit more but that's ok because she'll get it ALL back when she sells vs none back for renting. She also said she's really really glad interest rates haven't gone up because when she bought she banked on making more money by now but the promotion she assumed she was going to get never came because the dude leaving decided he can't afford to retire yet. This got a sort of "loving baby boomers not getting out of the way so we can get jobs to afford mortgages" circle jerk from people.

House prices are fine and natural, it's just these boomers need to retire so we can take their higher paying jobs.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 16:40

Mr Luxury Yacht: Apr 16, 2012

Yeah, I think I've said it before in this thread but throw me in the pile of folks considering moving to like KW or something to settle down eventually.

I mean, what are my other options? A decent house in Toronto is realistically unaffordable. And gently caress moving to the suburbs. Couldn't wait to get the hell out of there growing up. And in my field there's jack poo poo out west in terms of jobs unless I move to the even worse housing market of Vancouver.

At least in KW there's somewhat of a tech industry so there's decent employment for me there, housing is affordable, transit is pretty good (compared to the burbs), and there's more to do than like Ajax or (lol) Oshawa.

I mean it's no Toronto but I don't see myself winning the lottery any time soon so meh.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 17:21

cowofwar: Jul 30, 2002; by Athanatos

Baronjutter posted:

House prices are fine and natural, it's just these boomers need to retire so we can take their higher paying jobs.

Those higher paying jobs tend to disappear when those holding them retire and are replaced with new positions elsewhere, contract positions or with worse benefits and salary.

It's like banking on an inheritance; when your parents finally die it turns out they actually had no money and you're screwed. Best to plan your life based on what you actually have right now.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 17:34

sbaldrick: Jul 19, 2006; Driven by Hate

jm20 posted:

Tricities are 1.5 hours to the airport, and 2-2.5 from downtown during peak. It's not a smart commute but there seem to be lots of people who do it. I don't think they understand that commuting should be considering time working when calculating salaries

You can consider it time working/travel costs, and most people can't do the math. I take public transportation and my commute time at my hourly rate costs me less then buying a car and cutting my commute time (though it did get close when gas dropped to about 90 cents). However, do to construction my commute time may increase which will cause the balance to shift and me to drive everyday instead.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 18:39

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

cowofwar posted:

Those higher paying jobs tend to disappear when those holding them retire and are replaced with new positions elsewhere, contract positions or with worse benefits and salary.

It's like banking on an inheritance; when your parents finally die it turns out they actually had no money and you're screwed. Best to plan your life based on what you actually have right now.

When the boomers die we will have their exact lifestyles and experiences. Cheap houses, good high paying careers, no consequences for debt. They just selfishly work longer so this natural right has been postponed. But that's ok becuase we can just go into massive debt now banking on that eventual change.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 18:45

tagesschau: Sep 1, 2006; D&D: HASBARA SQUAD
THE SPEECH SUPPRESSOR

Remember: it's "antisemitic" to protest genocide as long as the targets are brown.

Baronjutter posted:

This got a sort of "loving baby boomers not getting out of the way so we can get jobs to afford mortgages" circle jerk from people.

House prices are fine and natural, it's just these boomers need to retire so we can take their higher paying jobs.

There is an element of truth to this, though. Due to the creeping credentialism of the past several decades, huge numbers of baby boomers would be considered unqualified for their current jobs, and even for entry-level jobs in their field. My wife holds two degrees from universities that have a consistently better reputation than any university in Canada, and the opportunities are way worse for her than they would have been thirty years ago for someone with a bachelor's from any random university.

Some of this is why you have the Bank of Mom and Dad thing going on, because they're the only ones with money and they want their kids to move out...y'know, ever.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 19:15

Reince Penis: Nov 15, 2007; by R. Guyovich

tagesschau posted:

Some of this is why you have the Bank of Mom and Dad thing going on, because they're the only ones with money and they want their kids to move out...y'know, ever.

And the rest of us whose parents aren't rich enough to finance our down payment? Well we're just hosed.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 19:42

LemonDrizzle: Mar 28, 2012; neoliberal shithead

PK loving SUBBAN posted:

And the rest of us whose parents aren't rich enough to finance our down payment? Well we're just hosed.

If you can't save up a hundred k or so for a decent downpayment are you even a real person?

# ? Jun 9, 2015 19:44

Reince Penis: Nov 15, 2007; by R. Guyovich

LemonDrizzle posted:

If you can't save up a hundred k or so for a decent downpayment are you even a real person?

My parents used to bug me in university that I should be saving money for a downpayment, even $50 a month.

Meanwhile I was living on $40 a week in groceries.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 19:46

tagesschau: Sep 1, 2006; D&D: HASBARA SQUAD
THE SPEECH SUPPRESSOR

Remember: it's "antisemitic" to protest genocide as long as the targets are brown.

PK loving SUBBAN posted:

And the rest of us whose parents aren't rich enough to finance our down payment? Well we're just hosed.

My in-laws might be willing to help us buy a house, but there's no way in hell I'm going to help them waste their money on an investment with a pretty much guaranteed negative real-dollar return. Better that they invest it in assets that actually perform (or under a mattress), because that approach will buy more house in the future than it does today.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 20:05

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

tagesschau posted:

My in-laws might be willing to help us buy a house, but there's no way in hell I'm going to help them waste their money on an investment with a pretty much guaranteed negative real-dollar return. Better that they invest it in assets that actually perform (or under a mattress), because that approach will buy more house in the future than it does today.

Not saying your logic isn't sound but I'm surprised people think it's "pretty much guaranteed" when things keep on chugging along for decades. One day the shoe will drop but it seems like it's taking forever.

Logical reasoning doesn't work in Canadian real estate. Or at least in Vancouver - not sure why it got so expensive in other areas.

UnfortunateSexFart fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Jun 9, 2015

# ? Jun 9, 2015 20:17

F1DriverQuidenBerg: Jan 19, 2014

Theoretically if I was to borrow $50k for a down payment for a townhouse when the housing market collapsed would I be better keeping my condo and renting it out or just trying to sell it?

I don't have a huge amount of money into it and honestly if the bank will let me hold two mortgages that would be the easiest and quickest way to pay back the money my parents loan me.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 21:24

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

You all just have to let go of your burning existential desire to own real estate. If you're not happy with your life now, buying a house isn't gonna change that.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 21:25

Tipps: Apr 18, 2006; party in the front

business in the back

Baronjutter posted:

I asked a Vancouver friend who was still gushing a year after buying a condo about if she's still happy with it. She says it didn't work out quite as much as she thought, she thought she'd be saving vs renting but is in fact paying a tiny bit more but that's ok because she'll get it ALL back when she sells vs none back for renting. She also said she's really really glad interest rates haven't gone up because when she bought she banked on making more money by now but the promotion she assumed she was going to get never came because the dude leaving decided he can't afford to retire yet. This got a sort of "loving baby boomers not getting out of the way so we can get jobs to afford mortgages" circle jerk from people.

House prices are fine and natural, it's just these boomers need to retire so we can take their higher paying jobs.

I've been living in Vancouver for 7 years now, working at my full time career for 3. I've saved up a sizeable chunk of cash (dual income from being big gay yuppies with my partner, no kids, living frugally) that, by the end of next year or so, would be enough for a 20% downpayment on a condo downtown without having to pay the mandatory mortgage insurance.

... Then the elevators in the building where I've been renting for 3 years both crumbled, requiring a complete removal and new ones put in, shutting off elevator service in the 21-story building for about a year. Then a few weeks ago the ceiling in the lobby collapsed due to accumulated water damage. The repairs were botched, and now no one in the building has hot water, and they have to do repairs all over again. The strata corporation is useless and takes months to get anything done. etc. etc.

I'm so glad I'm renting, and the experience has completely put me off buying a place. I was intending for my savings to go towards a downpayment, but instead I put it in investments and now make the payments on my small student loan from the profits from those investments, and am in line to have those paid off by the end of 2015. When the inevitable sky-high rent increase comes from my landlord to offset the special levy for the elevators and water damage repair, :byewhore:

.

My partner's brother and his girlfriend, by contrast, who are both underemployed and live on a shoestring/in crippling debt, have begged his parents for a lump sum so they can buy a condo together in Richmond with 5% down. Since he is the hetero one and the only hope for the parents to get grandchildren, they gave them the cash. The two of them are now doing open houses every weekend all over Richmond looking at all the newly-built 4-500k "move in now! no money down!' condos on their combined 40-50k/y income. I can't see this ending badly at all.

Tipps fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Jun 9, 2015

# ? Jun 9, 2015 21:53

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

Why do your parents think giving him money will result in grandchildren? Home ownership is not a requirement for babies.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:08

MiddleOne: Feb 17, 2011

THC posted:

Why do your parents think giving him money will result in grandchildren? Home ownership is not a requirement for babies.

Didn't you know that storks only deliver to those with property values above the first million?

# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:13

Helsing: Aug 23, 2003; DON'T POST IN THE ELECTION THREAD UNLESS YOU JOE BIDEN

THC posted:

Why do your parents think giving him money will result in grandchildren? Home ownership is not a requirement for babies.

Everybody knows that home ownership makes you a better human being. I'm honestly surprised we even let renters vote.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:20

Baronjutter: Dec 31, 2007; "Tiny Trains"

THC posted:

Why do your parents think giving him money will result in grandchildren? Home ownership is not a requirement for babies.

One of the main reasons I don't have kids is lack of space (mostly health and finances though). I mean I know you can have kids in a little apartment, seen lots of people do it, but I'm not willing to make the sacrifices to lifestyle/space. If I had a 3br apartment that would be another story, but 3br apartments are basically unicorns.

Like you can have kids if you're poor but your life becomes 100% about your kids and working your rear end off to raise those kids. Also if either of us worked less we couldn't afford food/rent/bills and we certainly can't afford childcare.

We need government supplied childcare and family-sized rental housing.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:22

Tipps: Apr 18, 2006; party in the front

business in the back

THC posted:

Why do your parents think giving him money will result in grandchildren? Home ownership is not a requirement for babies.

To clarify: his parents gave his brother and girlfriend the money. My parents live on the other side of the country and hardly acknowledge their gay son and his non-white "special friend".

As to the meat of your question: They are Filipino, and there's a lot of cultural baggage surrounding families, home ownership, and money.

The simple answer: it's intended as a whip crack for them to stop being sinful, get married, and move in together in their own house. Because the Lord is frowning upon them right now for cohabiting/loving without being married.

The more complex answer: (1) since Filipino Catholicism insists on having as many kids as possible as soon as you're married, the parents are afraid for religious reasons that they will have chilren while not married :eek:

, leading into: (2) it's a power-move to make the girlfriend's family pay for the wedding, and (3) it's a hedge for the parents' retirement, since it lets them sell all their Canadian possessions, move back to Quezon City, and guilt-trip the son to let them stay in his home for 6 months of the year in the condo ~they~ paid for whenever they need to come back and get healthcare.

There's also some sort of ethno-cultural stigma against renting among the Filipino-Canadians I've met, the parents included, where basically renting is seen as something that only the poors do. There is a pervasive obsession with seeming as successful as possible, and owning a home, even if you are swimming in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy to do it, plays a huge role in that.

Tipps fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Jun 9, 2015

# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:29

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

Tipps posted:

There's also some sort of ethno-cultural stigma against renting among the Filipino-Canadians I've met, the parents included, where basically renting is seen as something that only the poors do.

Pretty sure this applies to all races and cultures.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 22:53

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Helsing posted:

Everybody knows that home ownership makes you a better human being. I'm honestly surprised we even let renters vote.

Don't laugh. Read enough Vancouver sun comments and you'll come across this argument about renters.

# ? Jun 9, 2015 23:47

Juul-Whip: Mar 10, 2008

Tipps posted:

To clarify: his parents gave his brother and girlfriend the money. My parents live on the other side of the country and hardly acknowledge their gay son and his non-white "special friend".

I can't read good, apologies. Thought you were talking about your own brother.

Juul-Whip fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jun 10, 2015

# ? Jun 10, 2015 00:02

cowofwar: Jul 30, 2002; by Athanatos

My friend lives in a one bedroom apartment in Toronto with his pregnant wife and daughter. I have no idea how they do it but they must love each other very much.

# ? Jun 10, 2015 01:19

UnfortunateSexFart: May 18, 2008; ð» ððð« ð·ððð·
ð ð ð ð« ð®ð ð¾ð ð ð¡ððð

Tipps posted:

To clarify: his parents gave his brother and girlfriend the money. My parents live on the other side of the country and hardly acknowledge their gay son and his non-white "special friend".

As to the meat of your question: They are Filipino, and there's a lot of cultural baggage surrounding families, home ownership, and money.

The simple answer: it's intended as a whip crack for them to stop being sinful, get married, and move in together in their own house. Because the Lord is frowning upon them right now for cohabiting/loving without being married.

The more complex answer: (1) since Filipino Catholicism insists on having as many kids as possible as soon as you're married, the parents are afraid for religious reasons that they will have chilren while not married , leading into: (2) it's a power-move to make the girlfriend's family pay for the wedding, and (3) it's a hedge for the parents' retirement, since it lets them sell all their Canadian possessions, move back to Quezon City, and guilt-trip the son to let them stay in his home for 6 months of the year in the condo ~they~ paid for whenever they need to come back and get healthcare.

There's also some sort of ethno-cultural stigma against renting among the Filipino-Canadians I've met, the parents included, where basically renting is seen as something that only the poors do. There is a pervasive obsession with seeming as successful as possible, and owning a home, even if you are swimming in debt and on the verge of bankruptcy to do it, plays a huge role in that.

Wanna swap parents, my parents love my gay brother more than me and I even own a condo.

# ? Jun 10, 2015 01:52

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# ? May 23, 2024 12:46

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Lexicon posted:

Coherent Hal_2005 posts. Is this real life?

his meds arrived

# ? Jun 10, 2015 02:42

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

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