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

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

El Scotch posted:

Try anything good lately?

Estrella Galicia, bitches! :v:

# ? May 14, 2016 17:43

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 3, 2024 17:14

Professor Shark: May 22, 2012

El Scotch posted:

Try anything good lately?

I mowed the lawn yesterday and drank two Moose Light Radlers and it felt amazing, simple can be good

# ? May 14, 2016 18:41

MickeyFinn: May 8, 2007; Biggie Smalls and Junior Mafia some mark ass bitches

El Scotch posted:

Try anything good lately?

Firestone-Walker Nitro Merlin. So velvety, smooth and rich.

# ? May 14, 2016 19:46

McGavin: Sep 18, 2012

If anyone in Vancouver is going to the Canadian Brewing Awards next weekend I might be there with my company giving out free samples of some beer we made with Big Rock. The trial batches turned out so well that they also might be putting them on tap at their brewery downtown. If you head down there, keep an eye out for the Earl Grey Aromatic Ale and the Saiseweisen. We got to sample a few growlers of each at work on Thursday and they both turned out amazing.

# ? May 14, 2016 20:22

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

remember 3 years ago when you motherfuckers were charging up to 16 bucks for a growler fill

lol eat poo poo ripoff artists

# ? May 14, 2016 20:34

McGavin: Sep 18, 2012

Rage against Big Rock all you want, IDGAF. I don't work there, they're just making some beer for us and it turned out great. We have loads of other local breweries doing trials for us as well, Big Rock was just the first with product ready.

# ? May 14, 2016 20:39

Professor Shark: May 22, 2012

McGavin posted:

Earl Grey Aromatic Ale

I want in on this, however I live in Nova-Scotia and will be unable to attend.

# ? May 14, 2016 21:42

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

McGavin posted:

Rage against Big Rock all you want, IDGAF. I don't work there, they're just making some beer for us and it turned out great.

They have it in them to brew good beer, they just usually... don't. God only loving knows why. I suspect it's the same reason restaurants in Calgary will start off with interesting good food and then slowly whittle themselves down into utter, disgraceful mediocrity, time after time: because Albertans have no taste whatsoever.

# ? May 14, 2016 21:59

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

Professor Shark posted:

I want in on this, however I live in Nova-Scotia and will be unable to attend.

Dieu du Ciel! one time made a fantastic green tea ale, and they only ever sold it at the pub, and when I went back to have more it was all gone. It was so wonderfully delicious and refreshing... :unsmith:

Tea and beer go together really well under the watchful eye of someone who has a good idea what they're doing. Not so much at e.g. Mill Street.

# ? May 14, 2016 22:01

Professor Shark: May 22, 2012

PT6A posted:

Tea and beer go together really well under the watchful eye of someone who has a good idea what they're doing. Not so much at e.g. Mill Street.

After trying a couple 6-packs of Boxing Rocks "Hunky Dory Ale" (Green Tea and Lemon) Mill Streets Lemon Earl Grey/ Orange Pekoe tastes amazing

I've tried it once a year since it was released hoping that I was wrong/ my tastes had changed, but it's absolutely terrible

But yeah, well done tea+beer is a real treat

# ? May 14, 2016 22:07

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

Professor Shark posted:

After trying a couple 6-packs of Boxing Rocks "Hunky Dory Ale" (Green Tea and Lemon) Mill Streets Lemon Earl Grey/ Orange Pekoe tastes amazing

I've tried it once a year since it was released hoping that I was wrong/ my tastes had changed, but it's absolutely terrible

But yeah, well done tea+beer is a real treat

I think the mistake is that many brewers use a base that's too heavy and/or sweet -- or at least that's the problem I've had with most tea-beers. I don't know much about beer-brewing but I'd say you want to use a light-bodied, slightly bitter beer with a combination of hops and yeasts that give a slightly fruity flavour without having much sugar. That way, you should end up with a pleasantly bitter beverage that isn't like an alcoholic version of Nestea.

# ? May 14, 2016 22:15

flashman: Dec 16, 2003

is this beer bought with cheap credit or something?

# ? May 14, 2016 22:18

McGavin: Sep 18, 2012

PT6A posted:

They have it in them to brew good beer, they just usually... don't. God only loving knows why. I suspect it's the same reason restaurants in Calgary will start off with interesting good food and then slowly whittle themselves down into utter, disgraceful mediocrity, time after time: because Albertans have no taste whatsoever.

They have gone a different route entirely in Vancouver and have invested a lot of money into building a state-of-the-art brewery. Our QA scientist was particularly impressed with their facilities and it's one of the reasons why they were one of our first choices for trials. They have some resistance to overcome because they're larger, not local, and their Alberta products are uninspiring, but in Vancouver they're doing craft brewing right as far as I can tell.

# ? May 14, 2016 22:18

Professor Shark: May 22, 2012

PT6A posted:

I think the mistake is that many brewers use a base that's too heavy and/or sweet -- or at least that's the problem I've had with most tea-beers. I don't know much about beer-brewing but I'd say you want to use a light-bodied, slightly bitter beer with a combination of hops and yeasts that give a slightly fruity flavour without having much sugar. That way, you should end up with a pleasantly bitter beverage that isn't like an alcoholic version of Nestea.

In the case of Boxing Rock, they over-hopped the beer and under utilized the lemon, making a beer that tastes like a boring Session Ale

The packaging also claims it's for women and "confident men", I think that ultimately neither sex drink it

# ? May 14, 2016 22:23

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

McGavin posted:

They have gone a different route entirely in Vancouver and have invested a lot of money into building a state-of-the-art brewery. Our QA scientist was particularly impressed with their facilities and it's one of the reasons why they were one of our first choices for trials. They have some resistance to overcome because they're larger, not local, and their Alberta products are uninspiring, but in Vancouver they're doing craft brewing right as far as I can tell.

I feel like they have a tough road ahead. I live near their Vancouver brewhouse and I still haven't visited in part due to me having no interest in their forgettable bottled product and also the fact that there's so much very high quality local indie stuff nearby (ie. 33 Acres, Brassneck). I did see that they have some new product out in stores. Your posts have encouraged me to check out this new Big Rock operation at some point soon.

Linking this to the local economy, I continue to feel like breweries is one of the few things that is going well in BC and creating real new jobs. I visited Port Moody the other weekend and noticed that the dumpy light industrial district along their very nice waterfront park seemed to be getting a lot of new investment and interest as breweries such as Yellow Dog open up all along it. Maybe there is some point in the future where there will be a "brewery bubble" but I don't think demand is satisfied yet.

I'll throw in something more on topic with this zero hedge article about absurd Vancouver real estate deals.

quote:

Canaccord Founder Sells $31 Million Vancouver Mansion To Chinese Student

Everybody loves a good Vancouver real estate horror story. Here is a great one.

In the endless series of reports about wealthy Chinese oligarchs, billionaires, money launderers, or mere criminals, never have we encountered anything quite like this yet, because according to The Province, the majority owner of this Point Grey mansion located at 4833 Belmont Avenue and which was recently ranked 16th among the most expensive homes in Vancouver, was sold earlier this year by Canaccord founder Peter Brown for a record $31.1 million is a "student," property records show. A Chinese "student"... of course.

Land title documents list Tian Yu Zhou as having a 99-per-cent interest in the five-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 14,600 square-foot mansion on a 1.7-acre lot at 4833 Belmont Ave. Zhou�s occupation is listed as a �student.�

The other owner of the property, which boasts sweeping views of the North Shore mountains and Vancouver, is listed as Cuie Feng, a �businesswoman.� Feng has a one-per-cent interest in the property, which was assessed this year as having a total value of about $25.6 million, records show.

Efforts to reach Zhou and Feng through the lawyer listed on the land title documents were not successful, and realtor Cherry Xu, who reportedly served as the buyer�s agent, did not want to comment on the sale, citing privacy considerations.

As the Province amusingly puts it, NDP housing critic David Eby said the fact that a student was able to buy one of the most expensive homes in the city contradicts the government�s messaging that �everything is under control in the Vancouver real estate market.�

Eby said it also links to a theme uncovered in a 2015 study by Andy Yan, an adjunct professor at the University of B.C., which found homemakers and, to a lesser extent, students, are often the listed occupations of the owners of many newly purchased multi-million dollar Vancouver properties.

�It�s incredibly strange that a student would be able to afford such a luxurious and multi-million-dollar property,� said Eby. �This is part of a trend of homemakers and students mass-buying property. I don�t know how that can be possible with the income of homemakers and students typically have, which is close to zero.�

We can only hope he was being serious: that would make his statement all the more fun.

Mortgage documents attached to the land title papers show that a mortgage of $9.9 million was taken out by Zhou and Feng from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on April 28. The bi-weekly payments are listed as $17,079.41.

Now this may be a first: traditionally Chinese kleptocrats pay all cash - what is the point of taking out a mortgage when the whole purpose of buying ridiculously overpriced real estate is to park hot or stolen cash. We will have to mull this one over. [Femtosecond Note: Andy Yam's West Side homes study found that ~80% of homes in his study had mortgages]

Where The Province article gets interesting is where Eby suggests that the government�s messaging and slow response to the housing crisis in Metro Vancouver could be because party donors, like Brown, are directly benefiting from the red-hot market.

According to financial records, Brown has donated $62,500 to the B.C. Liberal Party in the past two years, and Eby further noted that Brown is a longtime Liberal fundraiser.

�I think we shouldn�t underestimate the connection between the government saying there is no issue with the real estate market in Vancouver at the same time one of their major fundraisers is selling his home to a student for $31 million and significantly over the assessed value,� said Eby. �The government�s donors are directly profiting from this crazy real estate market while a lot of hard-working families are suffering.�

While the government has been cautious in its approach to tackling the housing issue in Metro Vancouver, saying more data needs to be compiled, some action has been taken.

�I always think more information is better in helping us understand that nature of what�s happening out there, rather than less,� Premier Christy Clark said Wednesday.

�Let�s find out how many homes are being purchased in the market by people who aren�t residents of Canada, whoever they may be in the world. I think that information will help us come up with the right solutions.�

Earlier this week, the government introduced regulations to clamp down on unethical real estate practices, including the legal use of assignment clauses to crank up the final sale price of a property, a practice known as shadow flipping.

The government also said it will introduce amendments to the property transfer tax forms that will require, as of June 10, buyers of B.C. real estate to include their principal address and whether they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

We are confident absolutely nothing will change and as more Chinese are desperate to park their cash in Canada, soon stories such as this one will become an (even more) everyday occurence.

Femtosecond fucked around with this message at 23:57 on May 14, 2016

# ? May 14, 2016 23:55

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-realtor-accused-of-making-threats/article30024457/

quote:

He reported the May 2 incident to the real estate industry regulator and Vancouver police, which are both investigating. He gave The Globe and Mail a recording of a threatening call – from a number connected to Layla Yang, a licensed realtor from Re/Max.

In the recording, a woman he said had identified herself as Ms. Yang warns him in Mandarin: “I’m telling you – people above me are from Harbin [China] gangs. Gangsters, right? You don’t loving want to be alive.” That call was followed immediately by another, also in Mandarin, from an unidentified man, also recorded. That caller repeatedly demanded to know the businessman’s address and told him, “You have lived for too long.” The Globe had the recordings translated.

The Globe agreed not to name the alleged victim because of his fears. Ms. Yang declined to talk about any of this.

The incident reveals a dark side of the palpable tension in Vancouver over out-of-control house prices. In this case, the businessman says he believes shady practices and speculation in the real estate industry are hurting the Chinese community.

The man said the episode began when Ms. Yang’s assistant, Mo Tao, phoned him to promote a west-side house in which he had expressed an interest. Ms. Yang had just listed it for $4.28-million, however, he said Ms. Tao told him that price was just a low-ball enticement to start a bidding war. He claims she told him he must offer at least $1-million more to be competitive, which he found offensive.

“I had no interest in playing this game, with multiple offers. I told her, you are crazy. You can’t play a house like stocks. A house is to live in,” said the man, who claims he simply wanted a new home for his family.

“I called her back and told her, I don’t like your style … you are making Vancouver unlivable and unacceptable.”

Ms. Tao said she recalls the businessman lost his temper and began yelling at her, and she did not understand why.

“He is just saying some bad words back to me – and I got really upset and I hung up the phone. Then a couple of minutes later, he called me back again,” said Ms. Tao, who is also a licensed realtor. “I said … how can I help you? And he just kept saying some bad words to me.”

Ms. Tao said she felt threatened and reported the incident to Ms. Yang. The businessman said Ms. Yang called him two hours later, and he recorded part of that exchange.

The multimillion-dollar house is near Point Grey, one of Vancouver’s most popular areas for foreign investors and speculators. Records show Ms. Yang sold it once already this year – for $4.42-million. The new MLS listing classifies the home as owner-occupied. However, the buyer relisted it for sale with Ms. Yang just five days after taking possession. Sales records show the same investor flipped at least one other home last year, making a quarter-million-dollar profit in three months.

The businessman reporting the threats said he is concerned the owner will flip the newly listed property too, then claim it as a principal residence to avoid paying capital-gains taxes.

He said he told the realtors he expected them to apologize for trying to get him to “play their rigged game.” He said he warned that if they did not, he would report their activities to the Canada Revenue Agency.

His phone records indicate the first threatening call came after 10 p.m., from a number used by Ms. Yang’s sister. Ms. Tao confirms Ms. Yang was with her sister that night. The alleged victim says the caller identified herself as Layla Yang, but he did not record that part, because her call was unexpected. Before warning him about her gangster connections, the woman in the recording says, “I’m telling you – don’t … cause me troubles,” possibly a reference to reporting her to the tax authorities.

“To threaten my family and my safety is unacceptable,” said the man, who adds he was in shock. He again compared the activity to trading on the stock market. “I was just telling them my true feelings … if you play stock games, you should pay taxes.”

Ms. Yang’s office sent several text messages to The Globe explaining why she would not comment. “We suggest you contact police not Layla Yang office for this matter. Layla Yang is fully engaged in business day and night and thank you for contacting and trusting our team! We have to dealing with our other business now.”

“Let’s make a Hollywood movie out of this! Pls contact police as needed.”

The alleged victim said he called 911 soon after the calls on the Monday night.

“I was awake the whole night … but they [police] didn’t come,” he said, adding that a Vancouver police constable came by the next night. “I told them, when you don’t come for 24 hours, I could be killed already.”

He says the officer advised him to move to a hotel. Vancouver police refused to comment, because no charges have been laid. After The Globe contacted the police, the alleged victim said, two detectives called him in to give a video statement.

The businessman also complained to the Real Estate Council of B.C., the industry self-regulator. A lawyer from the council contacted him on Wednesday, asking for a copy of the phone recording.

“You complaint will now be assigned to a compliance officer here who will be in touch with you regarding the next steps to be taken,” reads the e-mail from the regulator.

The businessman said that, as a Canadian citizen, he thinks the authorities should take his complaint – and the manipulation and speculation in Vancouver real estate – more seriously.

“I am a residential buyer. I am not a stock buyer. I buy to live,” he said. “Even in China, the government it would control this. I am not sure why they don’t here.”

Lmao

Real estate is life or death

# ? May 14, 2016 23:58

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

quote:

Foreign property investors turn lying into an art, lenders say

Foreign real estate buyers have paid about $200 each for forged bank income and spending statements used in mortgage applications, mortgage industry sources said.

AFR Weekend has obtained a copy of a recent loan application in Chinese and English that bilingual lending experts said was a "ludicrously obvious forgery" for a $960,000 loan to purchase a $1.06 million Sydney apartment.

Nervous lenders are stopping lending to overseas' borrowers because of growing evidence that thousands of similar loan applications are being processed, or could have been approved and processed.

"This is huge," said Ken Sayer, chief executive of Mortgage House, a non-bank lender, about the potential size of real estate fraud. "It is much bigger than everyone is making it out to be. The numbers could be astronomical."

INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS

The top-five banks, which includes Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, dozens of mortgage managers and thousands of mortgage brokers have banned, or stopped processing loans to overseas borrowers pending the outcome of internal investigations.

Other banks and lenders say they are being inundated with applications from overseas borrowers, triggering fears about the authenticity of the loans and raising concerns about fraud and possible money laundering.

The 25-page loan application seen by AFR Weekend is from a couple from the north-west mainland China province of Hebei. The application has been approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Accompanying the application are photocopies of their passports and visitor visas for Australia, New Zealand and China.

TELL-TALE SIGNS

There are three pages of Bank of China income and spending statements and employment and income testimonies. Lenders were advised not to touch the deal because of several tell-tale signs that it could be fraudulent. They included:

▪ Banking transactions are highly repetitive, which suggests income and spending patterns might not be authentic;

▪ Income on pay slips does not match salary credits on bank statements;

▪ Accompanying documents, such as passport pages, have been faxed several times, making it difficult to identify watermarks and other authenticating symbols.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corp are investigating possible fraud and money laundering by overseas borrowers.

ANZ's probe was launched after analysis of applications discovered pages were missing from documents, including passports, and that companies purported to employ the applicant could not be traced, despite the bank's extensive Asian networks.

CONFIDENTIAL BLACKLIST

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has told mortgage managers and brokers to immediately stop lending to foreign borrowers and exclude foreign-sourced income from local real estate deals.

Citigroup, which accounts for less than 1 per cent of the Australian property market but is a big player in wealthy communities across Asia, has issued a confidential blacklist of foreign currencies it will no longer accept as payment for Australian real estate, including the Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and Taiwan dollar.

National Australia Bank has imposed some of the toughest terms and conditions on overseas borrowers. Its income verification for a foreign salary earner now includes consecutive pay slips covering 60 days and the most recent pay slip has to be no older than 60 days. Contemporary credit payments and internet transactions are needed, too.

Foreign income from self-employed occupations is no longer accepted.

The danger to lenders is they have little chance of tracing fraudulent borrowers if the there is a default, particularly if there was a sharp downturn in prices.

THREAT TO INDUSTRY

Other overseas housing loans are being repaid in months, rather than decades, creating suspicions they are being used to launder money. It also results in much lower fees and charges for the lender.

"All of this is threatening to wreck the industry," Mr Sayer said. "We want it stopped," he said.

The total amount of foreign investment in Australian local property is unclear because much is purchased using foreign-sourced funds, savings, or money borrowed from friends and family, say bankers.

ANZ said the number of loan applications sourcing a high percentage of offshore repayments is less than 1 per cent of its total loan book but is increasing quickly enough to attract the attention of bankers at its Melbourne headquarters.

Less than 1 per cent of its residential mortgage book is to offshore borrowers. Other major banks, such as Westpac, said it was about 3 per cent.

The Foreign Investment Review Board, which enforces the nation's foreign investment rules, said foreigners generally need to apply for approval before purchasing residential property in Australia.

Non-resident foreigners are generally prohibited from purchasing established dwellings.

http://www.afr.com/real-estate/residential/foreign-property-investors-turn-lying-into-an-art-lenders-say-20160512-gou1am#ixzz48b1Kp964

# ? May 15, 2016 01:01

McGavin: Sep 18, 2012

Canadian Debt Bubble Megathread: Let�s make a Hollywood movie out of this! Pls contact police as needed.

# ? May 15, 2016 01:14

Furnaceface: Oct 21, 2004

Rime posted:

What's missing is the wage brackets for part time employment. I want to know how much of that is above minimum wage.

Zero. The answer is zero.

Doesnt StatsCan also consider anyone listed as Self Employed to be a full time worker ? Between that and the percentage of people employed in FIRE, BC is going to be a magical spectacle to behold when poo poo eventually hits the fan.

# ? May 15, 2016 01:59

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

# ? May 15, 2016 02:25

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

The joke here is you're ethnic Han and don't use an iPhone got it

# ? May 15, 2016 06:19

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Anecdote time. My partner was chatting with the receptionist at work who bought a Kia soul 2 years ago because she needed a car to transport her dogs. This woman was driving a10 year f150.
A bit of background, she has carried a 5k balance on a credit card for several years and can't pay it off because she's retarded.
Last Friday she tells my partner that she traded her soul (lol) in for a jeep compass "and the monthly payments are lower”.
The soul had a trade in value of 15k while the compass had a new value of 35k. She "paid" 25k for the soul.

Anyway this is all kind of a joke because this woman's bf is a labourer who trades in a new pickup truck every year and makes like 60k a year.

namaste friends fucked around with this message at 14:50 on May 15, 2016

# ? May 15, 2016 14:45

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

^ Completely par for the course. Virtually everyone in Canada, or at least everyone over 40 operates like this.

# ? May 15, 2016 15:14

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

She and her bf are like 32. But lol

# ? May 15, 2016 15:18

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/business-leaders-warn-housing-crunch-will-threaten-business-tech-industry

quote:

Business leaders warn housing crunch will threaten business, tech industry

Before Luis Aguiar accepted a job at Vancouver Shipyards last fall, he was given a stark picture of what Metro Vancouver had to offer, including its scorching hot housing market.

His prospective bosses at Seaspan flew Aguiar and his family here from Edinburgh for four days, hired a relocation specialist who took him around the region to highlight the different cities� rents and house prices, and lined up lunches with Seaspan colleagues who had already made the leap to Vancouver from other parts of Canada or around the world.

�You have to painfully make sure they know what they�re getting into,� says Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth. �Livability is huge. The last thing you want is to lose a great employee after six months.�

Recruiting and retaining employees has become a huge challenge in Metro Vancouver, where skyrocketing housing prices have made it impossible for many to buy a home, while a near-zero vacancy rate makes rentals expensive and hard to find. Headlines about blistering house prices and potential hours-long commutes are top of mind among prospective workers interviewing for a job, and some businesses worry the situation tarnishes the region�s brand overseas.

The issue has led the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade to investigate the correlation of affordable housing and business competitiveness as part of its annual economic scorecard, which will compare 32 economic and social livability indicators in Metro Vancouver with that of 19 cities in the U.S., Europe and Asia, particularly for those aged 25 to 34. The results of the study are expected to be released May 16. The average price of a single-family home in Metro Vancouver � an area that embraces not just downtown but cities an hour or more away � is now more than $1.8 million, while median condo prices are pushing $500,000.

�It�s obviously a huge component of everything we�re talking about these days,� says Board of Trade spokesman Rob Mackay-Dunn.

The board study comes as business officials in cities like London, England, worry the affordable housing crisis could threaten business competitiveness, and are calling on the new mayor to build 50,000 homes annually to help address the crunch. As Vancouver also takes measures to address the housing constraints, companies meanwhile hope prospective employees will be willing to trade off the high cost of living here for the region�s benefits, from its natural beauty and recreational opportunities to its education and health care systems.

�People, right, wrong or indifferent, are willing to make sacrifices to live here,� Whitworth says.

Antoinette Ridout, a relocation specialist, acknowledges it takes a lot of people �time to warm up to the prices� in Metro Vancouver. She initially Skypes with prospective employees, who immediately want to know about the cost of living here. �We try to be as practical as possible when talking to them about what things cost and what�s not included,� she says, referring to services such as hydro. �In Vancouver, the cost of living is the biggest concern and housing is the priciest (part) of any budget.�

She notes that despite the high costs, many people are won over by other trade-offs. One man, for instance, was thrilled to see so many public golf courses, while another was pleased with the recreation centres and access to dragon-boating courses.

Aguiar, meanwhile, says that while his $2,200 a month rent for a house on the North Shore is comparable to Edinburgh (although significantly more than in his home country of Spain), he is happy he doesn�t have to travel as much as he did in Edinburgh, which means he can ride his bike to work, while his wife can walk to the shops or SeaBus and to take his daughter to preschool.

�I value a professional and personal life balance,� says Aguiar, 47, who is Seaspan�s new manager of naval architecture. �There are plenty of opportunities here, not only for me but for my family.�

But Christine Duhaime, executive director of Digital Finance Institute, warns Metro Vancouver�s beauty may not be enough to counter-balance everyone�s frustrations with the overheated housing market. Tech companies are looking to move out of Vancouver, she said, and are leaping at offers from Ontario, Quebec, and even international locales like Hong Kong and London, which have balanced their housing costs with strong transportation systems. A fast train to the city could make a huge difference to those who don�t mind living in the suburbs if they can do some work on the way in rather than sitting in traffic.

�Tech companies are looking to get out altogether because their staff are just saying they are fed up. They can never get a home in Vancouver and that�s a real deterrent,� Duhaime says. �It�s demotivating. We want these people to stay, they could be the next Google. We need to look at Vancouver as a whole over the next 20 years and how we can have affordable housing.�

Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite, argues the city�s housing crisis is now so acute it threatens to damage the city�s �world-beating� technology and creative industries, as well as other key sectors. It could turn the city, he warns, into �an economic ghost town with no viable economy, other than a service industry catering to wealthy residents and tourists.�

Duhaime suggests Vancouver consider taking over a block of Granville Street and West 10th Avenue and turn some of the empty commercial buildings into co-shared tech offices with housing above, similar to what�s being in done in Europe with workspaces plus hotel-like accommodations, to alleviate some of the pressure.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson acknowledged the city�s housing situation is a problem, but says the city needs the support of the provincial government to tackle the issue. The city has created an agency to meet a goal of delivering 2,500 low-cost units by 2021, and recently launched a survey to get public support to lobby the B.C. government to make changes to discourage the number of empty homes across the city to get the maximum occupancy of existing homes and buildings.

�Vancouver is booming and many people benefit, but housing is in short supply,� Robertson says. �The market continues to steamroll along without any intervention efforts to support residents and ensure our livability is tied to the local job market. Cities like Hong Kong and Singapore have huge jurisdiction over the housing and real estate market compared to Vancouver. Canada is in the dark ages in empowering cities to address modern challenges of affordable housing.�

Robertson agreed a strong transportation system plays a significant role in housing affordability because it would allow people to live and work anywhere in Metro Vancouver. The region�s mayors are working on a transportation plan, which includes more buses, a subway for Vancouver and light rail for Surrey, but he added it needs the support of both the federal and provincial governments to get funding.

The situation limits people in where they live.

Jake Debonnaire, 25, who moved here from Portsmouth, England, to take a planning job at Seaspan, says his $2,400 a month rent is �ridiculous,� but he wants to live in downtown Vancouver so he doesn�t have to get a vehicle to live in the suburbs. Meanwhile, his colleague Nikolai Ivanovic, a shipbuilder who moved here from Melbourne, Australia, in November, says while housing costs are similar to back home, the transportation options are sorely lacking.

�Probably the thing that surprised us more than the high (house) prices was the Vancouver traffic,� said Ivanovic, 41, who is married with two children. �When we heard about the traffic, it was a no-brainer: we�re staying on the North Shore.�

Ridout says it usually takes new recruits time to figure out whether or not they want to stay here, or invest. One man bought a home within months of moving here, but others, like Aguiar will take more time.

�If the family is happy and things go well, it�s something we�re planning,� Aguiar says. �It�s a big decision. It�s a big jump from Spain but your life is where the work is.�

lol ryan holmes is still being referred to as a leader

# ? May 15, 2016 17:30

Rime: Nov 2, 2011; by Games Forum

Ryan Holmes was a visionary when it came to sucking municipal dick, got his free rent and PR and now he can say / do whatever he wants.

My former boss, who was nearly evicted from her offices by a bailiff because she didn't pay the rent for 6 months, sits on the CoV economic advisory board thanks to a massive cash donation to Visions last campaign by her parents.. That should tell you all you need to know about how things work here.

# ? May 15, 2016 18:08

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnf...o/#9ad6144bb2d6

quote:

When Americans travel abroad, the culture shocks tend to be unpleasant. Robert Locke�s experience was different. In buying a charming if rundown house in the picturesque German town of Goerlitz, he was surprised � very pleasantly � to find city officials second-guessing the deal. The price he had agreed was too high, they said, and in short order they forced the seller to reduce it by nearly one-third. The officials had the seller�s number because he had previously promised to renovate the property and had failed to follow through.

As Locke, a retired historian, points out, the Goerlitz authorities� attitude is a striking illustration of how differently the German economy works. Rather than keep their noses out of the economy, German officials glory in influencing market outcomes. While the Goerlitz authorities are probably exceptional in the degree to which they micromanage house prices, a fundamental principle of German economics is to keep housing costs stable and affordable.

It is hard to quarrel with the results. On figures cited in 2012 by the British housing consultant Colin Wiles, one-bedroom apartments in Berlin were then selling for as little as $55,000, and four-bedroom detached houses in the Rhineland for just $80,000. Broadly equivalent properties in New York City and Silicon Valley were selling for as much as ten times higher.

Goerlitz: picturesque � and tightly controlled.
Photo by: Photo credit: chrisbulle
Although conventional wisdom in the English-speaking world holds that bureaucratic intervention in prices makes for subpar outcomes, the fact is that the German economy is by any standards one of the world�s most successful. Just how successful is apparent in, for instance, international trade. At $238 billion in 2012, Germany�s current account surplus was the world�s largest. On a per-capita basis it was nearly 15 times China�s and was achieved while German workers were paid some of the world�s highest wages. Meanwhile German GDP growth has been among the highest of major economies in the last ten years and unemployment has been among the lowest.

On Wiles�s figures, German house prices in 2012 represented a 10 percent decrease in real terms compared to thirty years ago. That is a particularly astounding performance compared to the UK, where real prices rose by more than 230 percent in the same period. (Wiles�s commentaries can be read here and here.)

A key to the story is that German municipal authorities consistently increase housing supply by releasing land for development on a regular basis. The ultimate driver is a central government policy of providing financial support to municipalities based on an up-to-date and accurate count of the number of residents in each area.

The German system moreover is deliberately structured to encourage renting rather than owning. Tenants enjoy strong rights and, provided they pay their rent, are virtually immune from eviction and even from significant rent increases. Meanwhile demand for owner occupation is curbed by German regulation. German banks, for instance, are rarely permitted to lend more than 80 percent of the value of a property, thus a would-be home buyer first needs to accumulate a deposit of at least 20 percent. To cap it all, ownership of a home is subject to a serious consumption tax, while landlords are encouraged by favorable tax treatment to maximize the availability of rental properties.

How does all this contribute to Germany�s economic growth? Locke, a prominent critic of America�s latter-day enthusiasm for doctrinaire free-market solutions and a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii, notes that a key outcome is that Germany�s managed housing market helps smooth the availability of labor. And by virtually eliminating bubbles, the German system minimizes the sort of misallocation of resources that is more or less unavoidable in the Anglo-American boom-bust cycle. That cycle is exacerbated by tax incentives which encourage citizens to view home ownership as an investment, resulting in much hoarding and underutilization of space.

In the German system moreover, house-builders rarely accumulate the huge large land banks that are such a dangerous distraction for U.S. house-builders like Pulte Homes, D. R. Horton, Lennar, and Toll Brothers. German house-builders just focus on building good-quality homes cheaply, secure in the knowledge that additional land will become available at reasonable cost when needed.

Locke is the co-author, with J.C. Spender, of Confronting Managerialism: How the Business Elite and Their Schools Threw Our Lives Out of Balance, a book I highly recommend.

# ? May 15, 2016 18:19

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

Totally UNSUSTAINABLE and UNWORKABLE in Canada since real estate is the economy imo. tyvm

# ? May 15, 2016 18:22

McGavin: Sep 18, 2012

Cultural Imperial posted:

To cap it all, ownership of a home is subject to a serious consumption tax, while landlords are encouraged by favorable tax treatment to maximize the availability of rental properties.

In Canada we give homeowners tax credits. :canada:

# ? May 15, 2016 18:29

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

If I could tell my hypothetical landlord to go gently caress himself and never bother me, as one basically can in Germany, I'd view renting much more favourably. gently caress having my life micromanaged by some useless prick whose greatest life accomplishment is to accumulate enough money for a down payment.

# ? May 15, 2016 18:52

Brannock: Feb 9, 2006; by exmarx; Fallen Rib

http://www.theprovince.com/business/real-estate/million+point+grey+mansion+owned+student/11912936/story.html

quote:

The majority owner of a Point Grey mansion that was sold earlier this year by Canaccord founder Peter Brown for a record $31.1 million is a �student,� property records show.

Land title documents list Tian Yu Zhou as having a 99-per-cent interest in the five-bedroom, eight-bathroom, 14,600 square-foot mansion on a 1.7-acre lot at 4833 Belmont Ave.

Zhou�s occupation is listed as a �student.� The other owner of the property, which boasts sweeping views of the North Shore mountains and Vancouver, is listed as Cuie Feng, a �businesswoman.�

Feng has a one-per-cent interest in the property, which was assessed this year as having a total value of about $25.6 million, records show.

Efforts to reach Zhou and Feng through the lawyer listed on the land title documents were not successful, and realtor Cherry Xu, who reportedly served as the buyer�s agent, did not want to comment on the sale, citing privacy considerations.

NDP housing critic David Eby said the fact that a student was able to buy one of the most expensive homes in the city contradicts the government�s messaging that �everything is under control in the Vancouver real estate market.�

Eby said it also links to a theme uncovered in a 2015 study by Andy Yan, an adjunct professor at the University of B.C., which found homemakers and, to a lesser extent, students, are often the listed occupations of the owners of many newly purchased multi-million dollar Vancouver properties.

�It�s incredibly strange that a student would be able to afford such a luxurious and multi-million-dollar property,� said Eby. �This is part of a trend of homemakers and students mass-buying property. I don�t know how that can be possible with the income of homemakers and students typically have, which is close to zero.�

Mortgage documents attached to the land title papers show that a mortgage of $9.9 million was taken out by Zhou and Feng from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on April 28. The bi-weekly payments are listed as $17,079.41.

Eby said the government�s messaging and slow response to the housing crisis in Metro Vancouver could be because party donors, like Brown, are directly benefiting from the red-hot market.

According to financial records, Brown has donated $62,500 to the B.C. Liberal Party in the past two years, and Eby further noted that Brown is a longtime Liberal fundraiser.

�I think we shouldn�t underestimate the connection between the government saying there is no issue with the real estate market in Vancouver at the same time one of their major fundraisers is selling his home to a student for $31 million and significantly over the assessed value,� said Eby. �The government�s donors are directly profiting from this crazy real estate market while a lot of hard-working families are suffering.�

While the government has been cautious in its approach to tackling the housing issue in Metro Vancouver, saying more data needs to be compiled, some action has been taken.

Earlier this week, the government introduced regulations to clamp down on unethical real estate practices, including the legal use of assignment clauses to crank up the final sale price of a property, a practice known as shadow flipping.

The government also said it will introduce amendments to the property transfer tax forms that will require, as of June 10, buyers of B.C. real estate to include their principal address and whether they are Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

�I always think more information is better in helping us understand that nature of what�s happening out there, rather than less,� Premier Christy Clark said Wednesday.

�Let�s find out how many homes are being purchased in the market by people who aren�t residents of Canada, whoever they may be in the world. I think that information will help us come up with the right solutions.�

# ? May 15, 2016 19:10

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

So what are you saying? We should ban fuerdai from buying houses?

# ? May 15, 2016 19:30

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

Cultural Imperial posted:

Business leaders warn housing crunch will threaten business, tech industry

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/business-leaders-warn-housing-crunch-will-threaten-business-tech-industry

lol ryan holmes is still being referred to as a leader

It is a bit remarkable that this is the first of the many, many "housing issues will drive away talent" articles that I've read that actually had anecdotes from persons and businesses outside the tech industry.

When this concept was first raised I was a believer, but after a few of the same articles I noticed that it was really only tech industries that were whining about the issue, and I was coming around to the idea that it may only be a tech only issue, more related to the high compensation and overall appeal of Silicon Valley increasingly Seattle than Vancouver.

So maybe it is a real problem for a significant amount of companies in many industries.

# ? May 15, 2016 19:30

Femtosecond: Aug 2, 2003

Rime posted:

Ryan Holmes was a visionary when it came to sucking municipal dick, got his free rent and PR and now he can say / do whatever he wants.

My former boss, who was nearly evicted from her offices by a bailiff because she didn't pay the rent for 6 months, sits on the CoV economic advisory board thanks to a massive cash donation to Visions last campaign by her parents.. That should tell you all you need to know about how things work here.

I don't know it might go the other way around. It gets a bit lost in the noise of bike lanes and recently affordable housing, but Vision is a strongly environmentalist party and talks a lot about "green jobs" and moving Vancouver away from a resource based economy (they oppose twinning TransMountain for example). The existence of Hootsuite seems pretty important to Vision as they can continually point to the presence of the company as proof that there is this viable* "green jobs" tech alternative and that what they're doing is working.

If you want to go with the take that Vision wants to help their developer buddies, then that works too. Hootsuite employs like 400+ people in Mount Pleasant and this has got to be supercharging the gentrification of the area. Basically the entirety of Main St North of Broadway to 2nd is turning over into condos. Since Hootsuite moved to the area, lots of other not traditionally industrial companies are moving to that Mount Pleasant Industrial Area and those old industrial buildings are being redeveloped and jobs in the area is intensifying. If you're at city hall with a plan to revitalize and densify Mount Pleasant and you're wondering how to get that process started, getting a big "anchor tenant" like Hootsuite would really help.

I think Holmes knows how valuable he is and that's why he's been able to negotiate favourable conditions from the city.

* Feel free to laugh here

# ? May 15, 2016 20:02

quaint bucket: Nov 29, 2007

PT6A posted:

If I could tell my hypothetical landlord to go gently caress himself and never bother me, as one basically can in Germany, I'd view renting much more favourably. gently caress having my life micromanaged by some useless prick whose greatest life accomplishment is to accumulate enough money for a down payment.

I would be perfectly fine with renting if it didn't have to depend on my landlord's marital status.

# ? May 15, 2016 21:01

namaste friends: Sep 18, 2004; by Smythe

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/toronto/why-urbancorp-flopped-in-torontos-red-hot-housing-market/article30023000/

quote:

More than three years after buying into Urbancorp�s planned new townhouse project in Toronto�s Leslieville neighbourhood, Elaine and Howard Quinn sold their home last January, expecting to get the keys to their new place in April.

Two weeks later, they got a notice that pushed their closing into July.

Ms. Quinn put the family�s belongings in storage and searched for a short-term furnished rental. Another delay notice arrived pushing their closing to August.

Just before the owners of the Quinns� rental were due to return home, the couple got yet another delay notice, this time until October.

Ms. Quinn found another short-term rental, but the home wouldn�t be ready until a day after the family needed to move. So the couple and their three-year-old son spent a night in yet another rental they found on Airbnb.

�We were living like nomads because all of our stuff was in storage,� Ms. Quinn said.

In the past year, the Quinns have moved four times. They have received 13 delay notices from Urbancorp since November, 2012. The family has since signed a year-long lease, finally allowing them to take their furniture out of storage.

In the meantime, the couple�s townhouse, which is almost finished, continues to sit empty. They have spent tens of thousands on storage fees and rent and are unsure what will happen when their son is set to start kindergarten nearby this fall, since they don�t yet live in the neighbourhood.

�We really just want to close and move into our homes,� said Ms. Quinn, who is among a group of 35 homeowners that have hired a lawyer and gone to court to appoint an investigative receiver to examine the project�s finances.

The Quinns are among potentially hundreds of home buyers left in limbo after Urbancorp�s chief executive officer, Alan Saskin, and eight Urbancorp subsidiaries filed for court protection from creditors last month, owing nearly $150-million.

Since March, Tarion Warranty Corp., the agency that backstops Ontario�s new home warranty program, has taken the unprecedented step of threatening to revoke the registration of 17 Urbancorp projects. Without Tarion�s support, the company would not be able to develop new projects. Tarion has also launched a separate lawsuit against the developer and Mr. Saskin over Urbancorp�s alleged failure to honour its financial commitments.

Tarion's lawsuit against Urbancorp

Click here to read the court filing.

The case is one of dozens of lawsuits and liens the company now faces from contractors, employees, home buyers, the City of Toronto and fellow developer Brad Lamb, who is suing Urbancorp for $750,000 over allegations of unpaid commissions and referral fees. (Filing for bankruptcy protection generally causes lawsuits to be frozen.)

The financial problems have forced Urbancorp to lay off employees, scale back development plans and potentially sell off some of its lucrative development sites.

They have also harmed the developer�s relationships with the community groups it has long supported. In April, Mr. Saskin resigned from the chairmanship of the Artscape Foundation, the fundraising arm of the non-profit urban development organization. Toronto�s Theatre Centre removed Urbancorp from its list of corporate sponsors after the developer failed to pay $100,000 it had pledged to the arts group in 2012. Urbancorp has touted itself as the lead fundraiser on the organization�s $6.2-million renovation project. On May 6, David Mandell, a Theatre Centre board member, resigned as vice-president of Urbancorp.

Yet at the heart of the brewing battles over Urbancorp�s sudden fall from grace is a looming question: How could a developer with dozens of housing projects in some of Toronto�s most desirable neighbourhoods stumble so badly in the city�s red-hot housing market?

�I�ve been through four or five recessions in my life and this is the weirdest one,� says Gary Caplan, a lawyer hired by a group of Urbancorp buyers to help them get title to their homes after years of delays. �This is the first time where interest rates are so low and money is so cheap and the real estate market is rising. It�s just hard to understand how this could come about.�

Urbancorp developments throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Click the upper-left icon for more information on the status of each project.

Juggling multiple projects
Within a decade of muscling its way into Toronto�s burgeoning condo scene in the early 1990s, Urbancorp had grown into one of the city�s largest developers.

The company is headed by Mr. Saskin, a 62-year-old Harvard-educated architect and seasoned real estate executive. Since launching Urbancorp in Toronto in 1991, Mr. Saskin has built more than 5,000 housing units, most of them in the city.

Urbancorp projects stretch from the waterfront to midtown. The company was once heralded as a pioneer of affordable housing, a supporter of the arts and an early visionary in the movement to transform derelict industrial lands into trendy residential neighbourhoods. The geothermal technology Urbancorp was installing in several of its developments won support among environmentalists.

But its success also masked a growing array of problems. Interviews with more than a dozen buyers, realtors, lawyers, developers, city officials and Urbancorp itself paint a picture of a company whose aggressive development plans and fast-moving deals saddled it with a steadily worsening reputation for long delays, significant construction problems and poor customer service. Such issues, however, did little to hamper demand for the company�s projects in the frenzy of Toronto�s housing market.

In recent years, Urbancorp has won bids to purchase at least eight former public and Catholic school sites at a cost of more than $80-million. It was negotiating with the federal government for a $52-million deal to build more than 1,000 homes on a 16-acre parcel in Downsview Park, although it has since partnered with Mattamy Homes. By the start of this year, it had more than 1,000 homes under construction in Toronto.

�Find a developer that has that many properties under construction or under rezoning at the same time,� says Toronto city councillor Paula Fletcher. �You won�t.�

Urbancorp itself admits it was the victim of its own ambitions. Enticed by what it called the �buoyant market� for Toronto real estate, the company said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail that it had aggressively started buying up development locations around the city and quickly became stretched by the requirements of juggling multiple projects.

�We likely acquired too many building sites and initiated more projects [than] in hindsight we were able to hold and cost-effectively develop,� wrote Urbancorp spokesman Riyaz Lalani. �The number of projects we had under development exceeded the bandwidth required to manage them carefully, which led to cost overruns, eating into profits, in some cases creating net losses. We gradually began to owe money to a broad group of business partners and creditors.�

A planned Urbancorp development at 2425 and 2427 Bayview Ave. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)
As it scrambled to stay on top of its expanding list of projects in Toronto, the company turned to the Israeli capital markets in December to raise fresh cash to cover its debts.

Mr. Lalani said the developer was �advised by business partners about opportunities to raise debt capital from investors in Israel who were interested in exposure to Canadian real estate development.�

The firm was following on the heels of more than a dozen U.S. property developers that have raised money in the debt markets Israel, where they can get access to lower interest rates than at home.

Its $60-million bond issuance on the Tel Aviv stock market last fall attracted the interest of several large Israeli mutual funds. All proceeds went to pay off existing Urbancorp debts, through what the firm described in bankruptcy documents as an �unsecured intercompany loan.� In filings in Israel, Urbancorp said the money was used partly to pay off a high-interest $50-million loan to a mezzanine lender.

But within five months, its Israeli adventure had unravelled. When news of Tarion�s concerns reached Israel, the company�s bonds plunged more than 40 per cent in one day. Its Israeli legal advisers resigned, citing a series of unresolved disputes, as did three board members who had been appointed only weeks earlier.

The company�s bonds have since ceased trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, sparking court proceedings and an examination by the Israel Securities Authority.

Urbancorp acknowledged that it had quickly found itself �overwhelmed� by the reporting requirements of securities regulators in Israel.

�Ultimately, we did not appreciate the extent of the burdens of being a reporting issuer, borrowing money in a foreign jurisdiction, working in a foreign language and public issuer reporting requirements,� Mr. Lalani wrote. �We also did not appreciate how the need to segment and separately report income from various projects would affect our cash flow.�

However, while the company appears to have run into major cash flow problems only within the past year, sources in the development industry and with the City of Toronto who have dealt with Urbancorp and Mr. Saskin say the firm has long had a reputation in the industry as an aggressive deal maker that tries to squeeze as much as it can out of every transaction.

�The word in the industry is, that if you�re going to do business with him � you�d better go in with your eyes wide open,� one senior development industry source said on condition of anonymity.

Such concerns flew under the radar of Urbancorp�s buyers, many of whom say they were attracted to the company�s designer showrooms, unique features and coveted locations.

Realtor David Fleming has received dozens of calls from prospective Urbancorp buyers in the 11 years since he bought into one of the developer�s west-side projects that turned out to be rife with construction problems, which he chronicled on his popular Toronto Realty Blog.

Many callers thanked him for his opinion, but made it clear they still planned to buy.

�The unfortunate part of the real estate boom of the last 10 years is that a lot of people are willfully ignorant when it comes to developers,� Mr. Fleming said. �There is only so much you can do to protect the consumer from themselves.�

An Urbancorp development sits idle on Curzon Street in Toronto's east end. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)
Two buyers� tales
Carlo Ang was among those who had concerns about Urbancorp�s reputation from reading Mr. Fleming�s blog and from a cousin who lived near the developer�s King West headquarters.

But he and his wife liked the style of Urbancorp�s Riverdale townhouse project and Mr. Ang was particularly interested in the project�s geothermal heating and cooling system. Plus, he reasoned, the company�s problems appeared to stem from its large-scale condo developments and the Angs were looking to purchase a townhouse. �We said how hard can it be? I�m sure any builder can do it.�

After purchasing his unit in the summer of 2011, Mr. Ang said the company pressured him and other neighbours to continuously update their mortgage preapproval for the full purchase price of their homes throughout years of construction delays, even if they were intending to pay cash or take on only a small mortgage.

Only hours before Urbancorp�s subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy restructuring in April, Mr. Ang and other Riverdale buyers succeeded in getting the developer and its lenders to give them legal title to their homes � more than two years after they had moved in.

Other buyers say they had to battle to prevent the developer from cancelling their contracts to purchase their homes.

Nearly three years after paying a 10-per-cent deposit and spending $30,000 on upgrades on their $690,000 townhouse in Urbancorp�s Leslieville development, Jelena and Norman Leung got a notice from the developer saying their home couldn�t be built because of an issue with the city and offering the couple a refund on their deposit. �They wouldn�t give me an exact reason why,� Ms. Leung says.

Ms. Leung went to City Hall and pored over the plans that Urbancorp had filed with the municipality for approval. Her townhouse was nowhere, not even in initial drafts of the company�s site plans. �Our unit was never part of the plans with the city,� she says. �It was just a sketch someone put together.�

After Ms. Leung threatened to hire a lawyer and go public with her story, the company contacted her to say another unit had become available after a purchaser backed out of a deal.

Since buying their unit, which was supposed to be completed in February, 2013, the Leungs have gotten engaged, married and had two children. They�re now renting a cramped two-bedroom townhouse in the neighbourhood while they wait for the home to be completed.

Another view of the stalled Curzon Street development. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)
Problems with lenders
In an e-mail to The Globe in late April, Mr. Saskin defended his company�s customer service reputation and said that despite its financial issues, Urbancorp expects to complete many of the projects it has under development.

�We have always cared about customer service,� he wrote. �We have built homes and provided service to our customers for as long as we have been in business.�

One reason for the delays plaguing Urbancorp�s east-side townhouse projects appears to be its agreements with lenders. The company owes more than $83.5-million to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Terra Firma Capital Corp. as part of mortgages that were secured by three separate developments: the Leung and Quinn families� Leslieville project, Mr. Ang�s Riverdale townhome complex and a development in the Beaches. Lawyers for some purchasers say they believe that the lenders� reluctance to discharge mortgages on the properties amid mounting bills and construction liens may be among the reasons why the company has struggled to finish construction and transfer title to buyers.

In its quarterly filings last week, Terra Firma said it is owed $13.9-million by the insolvent Urbancorp subsidiaries and has started power of sale proceedings to recoup its investment.

In total, the publicly traded lender, which was started by members of the Reichmann family and former executives of the family�s real estate companies, gave $23-million to Urbancorp � more than 20 per cent of its total mortgage portfolio. �We believe investors will be surprised to learn of Terra Firma�s concentration to one developer,� Laurentian Bank of Canada analyst Marc Charbin wrote last week.

Neither CIBC nor Terra Firma responded to requests by The Globe to comment.

Beyond negotiations with lenders, the company was also facing a litany of lawsuits at the time it filed for court protection.

In a suit filed last September, the City of Toronto demanded Urbancorp reimburse it for nearly $370,000 worth of sewer repairs � including the installation of nearly 100 metres of new sewer pipe � after crews working on Urbancorp�s Leslieville project allegedly allowed so much concrete to go down the drain in 2013 that the sewer was completely blocked. The company has said it would defend the action.

By October, work on several projects had ground to a halt �as a result of disputes with various trades and third parties,� Urbancorp wrote in a statement of defence from January as part of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit launched by a 73-year-old construction foreman. �Construction was not expected to resume for a considerable period of time and/or at all.�

In yet another lawsuit filed against Urbancorp, Brampton, Ont.-based engineering firm Exp Services Inc. alleges the developer had offered the contractor a series of post-dated cheques and then urged Exp Services to hold off on cashing them. In November, Exp Services claimed it tried to cash nearly $270,000 worth of cheques anyway, but they bounced. (In a statement of defence, Urbancorp and Mr. Saskin deny the allegations and say the firm was paid what it was owed.)

At the same time, the company was engaged in a dispute with Tarion, the home warranty backer, over mounting claims that it had paid out to buyers in several Urbancorp projects. In a lawsuit filed earlier this year, Tarion demanded the company reimburse nearly $147,000, plus 18 per cent interest, for claims it had paid since the start of last year. It alleged that the claims had been personally guaranteed by Mr. Saskin.

�The unfortunate part of the real estate boom of the last 10 years is that a lot of people are willfully ignorant when it comes to developers.�
David Fleming, realtor
Tarion also alleges that Mr. Saskin �negligently misrepresented� his personal net worth to the warranty agency by claiming he jointly owned a multimillion-dollar Yorkville condo, when his wife is the only person registered on the title. (Mr. Saskin is not on the title of any property in Toronto, although according to lien searches, he does drive two high-end cars: a James Bond-style Aston Martin DB9 and a Tesla Model S.)

Urbancorp said the Tarion allegations �are being vigorously defended.� It has also appealed Tarion�s proposal to revoke its warranty registration.

Despite its bankruptcy filing, the company is still working to complete construction on more than 1,000 homes and said it expect �to either deliver completed homes to purchasers, or to return their deposits.�

Buyers say they have little choice but to wait it out and hope their homes will eventually be built, given that they have already lost ground in the city�s real estate market.

In the year since the Leungs paid a deposit on their townhouse, home prices in the Toronto region have surged nearly 60 per cent. �We could no longer afford to stay in the neighbourhood if we don�t get these homes,� Ms. Leung says.

For the broader real estate industry, however, Urbancorp�s troubles will likely prove to be a cautionary tale to those who thought it impossible that anyone could go wrong in Toronto�s seemingly unstoppable housing boom.

�Eventually time caught up with them,� says realtor Mr. Fleming. �You can only leave a trail of poor product and dissatisfied consumers for so long.�

won't someone think of the potential equity holders

# ? May 15, 2016 22:13

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Cultural Imperial posted:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/toronto/why-urbancorp-flopped-in-torontos-red-hot-housing-market/article30023000/

won't someone think of the potential equity holders

Another reason why it's pretty lol for people to put big money into the pre-sale trap.

Yes sir, I would like to buy something that doesn't even exist

# ? May 15, 2016 22:45

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

Or you could just not sell your current house until the next one is ready, which seems like common sense.

Like, that's only a problem with pre-sales if you do things in the most retarded possible way.

# ? May 15, 2016 23:47

leftist heap: Feb 28, 2013; Fun Shoe

It's a really, really bad idea no matter how you slice it because there is a very good chance the developer is going to under-deliver by a significant amount.

# ? May 16, 2016 00:21

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 17:14

Professor Shark: May 22, 2012

Which can be a bedroom in some cases

# ? May 16, 2016 00:26

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

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