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So the other day, I was having a Skype chat with a friend back home, and as I was regaling him with the life-changing experience that was the UK Chautauqua, I started to notice that he wasn’t really listening.
“Uh huh. Wow that’s great. Uh huh,” he would say distractedly. So I turned the tables and asked how he was doing.
Hoo boy. Bad move.
“I am SO stressed!”
“Oh no! What happened?” I asked, fearing some kind of medical issue.
As it turns out, people back home are getting financially squeezed within an inch of their lives. And it’s all housing’s fault. Work was heating up, to the point he was getting panic attacks on Sundays knowing he’d have to go back to work the next day. He had an investment property that was about to close, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to actually pay for the damned thing. And on top of that, the housing crash in Canada had taken a dump on everyone with a roof over the heads.
That was when I realized it had been a while since I checked in with what was happening in Canada’s housing market, so I started looking into it. And what I missed was…not pretty.
What’s Been Happening?
Let’s recap a bit.
The Canadian housing market had been rampaging ahead for the last few years with apparently no sign of stopping, fuelling worry from international investors that Canada was barrelling towards it’s own 2008 moment and hubris from Canadians convinced that what happened to the “Stupid Americans” could never happen here.
Never mind that debt-to-income ratios had crossed the point when the American housing market blew up, and that the US Federal Reserve was starting to raise interest rates which would make everyone’s mortgage rates go up. Those concepts are too complicated for the average housing “investor” to understand, so they instead mumble something about “immigrants” and “Toronto’s a world-class city” and “housing always goes up” or whatever nonsense and then they go out and buy.
You know, typical home-boner behaviour.
Well, this year the government has been stepping in and tinkering with rules and regulations in an effort to protect home-boners from themselves. They introduced taxes on vacant homes. They started cracking down on investment properties evading capital gains taxes. They introduced punitive taxes on foreign buyers. They added rent control.
And all that seems to have inadvertently caused the housing crash they were trying to avoid. Whoops.
Sales volume has been sliding since spring, and now prices have plunged as well. In Toronto, for example, the average single family home has dropped from $1.2M in value to just below $1M. That a 20% drop since May! That means that on average, every family owning a single family home in Toronto just saw $200k of their equity disappear.
Now I’m starting to see where the stress is coming from.
And guess what? It’s about to get worse.
Oh Good, More Rules
There’s a new regulation going into effect this year called B-20. And as with most government policies, it is mind-meltingly boring. Here’s a link to the draft legislation in case you have a few hours on your hand and you want to die of boredom.
Basically, the changes coming in go like this:
- Borrowers now have to qualify for their mortgage at +2% above the posted mortgage rate
- This requirement now applies for people renewing their mortgage as well as new borrowers
- Banks will now be required to adhere to strict loan-to-value (LTV) ratios which are recalculated dynamically at each renewal
Now, from what I can tell most of the media is focusing on bullet point #1 and #2. Having to qualify at a higher rate than the posted mortgage rate means borrowers will have less money to work with, which will cause the housing market to drop even more. Banks are estimating the effect will be somewhere between an additional 10% to 20% drop.
But I think the much more sinister motive behind this legislation is bullet point #3.
Why?
Well here’s the thing. Housing crashes manifest in two different ways.
- The Homeowners get fucked. Their housing values fall but their mortgage balances don’t, so they get stressed and miserable working like dogs to pay off their massive mortgage for 25 years, and at the end they end up with a house that’s worth less than what they paid for. This is a “normal” housing crash.
- The banks get fucked. This is much much worse, and is what happened in 2008/2009. The housing crash causes banks to lose so much money that they start collapsing, which then ripples into the stock market. And when it ripples into the stock market, people start losing jobs, which then causes more people to default on their mortgages, which causes more banks to collapse, etc.
So we now have a housing crash in Canada (arguably caused by the government). And the big question is, will this crash be the first type, or the second type?
And that’s where these regulations come in. You see, in Canada we don’t have the 25-30 year mortgage terms that the Americans have. Our mortgages amortize over 25 years (meaning that’s how long it takes to pay it off), but they renew every 5 years, meaning we have to go to a bank and refinance periodically.
And now making the LTV requirement recalculated dynamically means the borrower could be in for a world of hurt come renewal time.
Think about it. If home prices were going up, this rule does nothing. You would automatically qualify for the same loan amount you got your initial loan for, since the value of the home didn’t change (or went up). But if the value of your home went down, something interesting happens.
Let’s pretend someone bought a house for $1M with 20% down. So their house is worth $1M, they paid $200k, and they owe $800k. Now let’s say that the house goes down in value by 20%, like what’s currently happening in Toronto. Now their house is worth $800k instead of $1M. Now let’s see what happens when they try to renew their mortgage.
The dynamic LTV calculation would kick in, and for a normal mortgage, the LTV ratio is 80%. So taking the new, lower value of their home and recalculating the LTV, that means the maximum they qualify for is now $640k. But their mortgage balance is $800k.
So that means in order to stay in that house, the homeowner will be forced to come up with $160k of their own money and hand it over to the bank. If he has to cash out his pension, or go to his in-laws with his hat in his hand, or give his boss daily blow jobs, he has to do it or he loses the house. So not only has the homeowner already lost his entire downpayment in this scenario, they have to pay $160k on top of that. Double screwed.
The alternative is to go into a high-ratio mortgage covered by mortgage insurance, but then they have to pay for additional mortgage insurance premiums which would get added on top of the massive mortgage they already have.
And if they can’t do that, then the bank can foreclose on the house, sell it at a loss, then sue the ex-homeowner for the difference, because we don’t have zero-recourse loans here in the Frozen North.
In all scenarios, you may have noticed, the bank doesn’t lose money, but the homeowner gets screwed.
So while B-20 is being marketed as a way to protect borrowers from borrowing too much, I think it’s far more sinister. It’s a ploy by the banks, who see big housing losses coming, to make sure that the one taking those losses isn’t the banks. It’s the homeowners. Double-screw the homeowners, and save the banks.
Winners/Losers in a Housing Crash
So who are the winners/losers in this new B-20 regulation being introduced?
Loser: The Homeowner
Hoo boy. The Homeowner gets screwed big time. In fact, the typical response when I talk to a homeowner about market corrections is “If it happens, I just won’t sell.” And before, that made sense. Sit on the house for 25 years and hopefully it will recover by then. But now, this no longer works. If your home value crashes, you can’t just sit on it and keep paying the mortgage. Because the next time the homeowner renews, the bank will now demand he pay for those losses now. You can no longer avoid losses via inaction.
Winner: The Banks
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not harping on these regulations and saying it’s a bad thing. I think it’s a brilliant strategic move. In a housing crash, homeowners always lose. You can’t prevent that. But what causes a housing crash to turn into a big rolling fireball of disaster is when the damage spreads out into the financial institutions. Then the stock market crashes and even people who didn’t own a home start getting hurt as job losses spread throughout the economy. The banks saw what happened in 2008 and they’re moving to protect themselves by throwing the homeowners under the bus. That’s what I’d do if I were them.
Winner: Index Investors
Throughout this year while the rest of the world’s stock markets have rallied ahead, Toronto’s market has remained stubbornly flat, despite Canada’s GDP being the fastest growing in the G7 countries, and part of the reason for this is the expectation that our housing market’s about to fall over and the TSX will do with the Dow did in 2008. But we can see here that the banks are moving to make sure the only one who will lose money is the homeowner. So as the housing crash continues and we see banks not fall over, we may see the TSX finally catch up to the rest of the world’s stock markets. By protecting themselves, the banks are protecting the TSX, and by protecting the TSX, they’re protecting the Index investors.
Conclusion
So there you have it. To question of “How’s Canada’s Housing Market Doing?” can be summed up thusly.
- Houses are melting
- Homeowners are losing money and are feeling increasingly stressed out and miserable
- New regulations coming into effect will make this stress much much worse
And on that note, we shall now proceed with this week’s buys.
Canadian Portfolio
We begin, as always, by adding our cash into the portfolio and taking a snapshot of where we stand.
| Asset | Ticker | Unit Price | Units | Market Value | Allocation | Target Allocation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Bonds | VAB | $25.32 | 143 | $3,620.76 | 37.86% | 40% |
| Canadian Index | VCN | $30.68 | 59 | $1,810.12 | 18.93% | 20% |
| US Index | VUN | $43.25 | 42 | $1,816.50 | 18.99% | 20% |
| EAFE Index | XEF | $28.93 | 50 | $1,446.50 | 15.12% | 16% |
| Emerging Markets | XEC | $26.46 | 14 | $370.44 | 3.87% | 4% |
| Cash | – | $1.00 | 500.1 | $500.10 | 5.23% | 0% |
| Total | $9,564.42 |
We then calculate how far off from target we are…
| Asset | Ticker | Target Allocation | Unit Price | Current Market Value | Target Market Value | Current Units | Target Units | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Bonds | VAB | 40% | $25.32 | $3,620.76 | $3,825.77 | 143 | 151.1 | 8.1 |
| Canadian Index | VCN | 20% | $30.68 | $1,810.12 | $1,912.88 | 59 | 62.3 | 3.3 |
| US Index | VUN | 20% | $43.25 | $1,816.50 | $1,912.88 | 42 | 44.2 | 2.2 |
| EAFE Index | XEF | 16% | $28.93 | $1,446.50 | $1,530.31 | 50 | 52.9 | 2.9 |
| Emerging Markets | XEC | 4% | $26.46 | $370.44 | $382.58 | 14 | 14.5 | 0.5 |
| Cash | – | 0% | $1.00 | $500.10 | $0.00 | 500.1 | 0.0 | -500.1 |
And finally we decide on our unit orders being careful not to go into margin…
| Asset | Ticker | Unit Price | Action | Fractional Units | Units | Proceeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Bonds | VAB | $25.32 | BUY | 8.1 | 8 | $202.56 |
| Canadian Index | VCN | $30.68 | BUY | 3.3 | 3 | $92.04 |
| US Index | VUN | $43.25 | BUY | 2.2 | 2 | $86.50 |
| EAFE Index | XEF | $28.93 | BUY | 2.9 | 3 | $86.79 |
| Emerging Markets | XEC | $26.46 | BUY | 0.5 | 1 | $26.46 |
| Total | $494.35 |
American Portfolio
And on the American side, we again start by adding in our cash and taking a snapshot of our current portfolio…
| Asset | Ticker | Unit Price | Units | Market Value | Allocation | Target Allocation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonds | BND | $82.41 | 46 | $3,790.86 | 38.21% | 40% |
| US Index | VTI | $126.22 | 22 | $2,776.84 | 27.99% | 30% |
| International Index | VEU | $51.68 | 55 | $2,842.40 | 28.65% | 30% |
| Cash | – | $1.00 | 510.55 | $510.55 | 5.15% | 0% |
| Total | $9,920.65 |
We calculate how far off from target we are…
| Asset | Ticker | Target Allocation | Unit Price | Current Market Value | Target Market Value | Current Units | Target Units | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonds | BND | 40% | $82.41 | $3,790.86 | $3,968.26 | 46 | 48.2 | 2.2 | |
| US Index | VTI | 30% | $126.22 | $2,776.84 | $2,976.20 | 22 | 23.6 | 1.6 | |
| International Index | VEU | 30% | $51.68 | $2,842.40 | $2,976.20 | 55 | 57.6 | 2.6 | |
| Cash | – | 0% | $1.00 | $510.55 | $0.00 | 510.55 | 0.0 | -510.6 |
And finally, we decide on our purchase orders being careful not to go into margin…
| Asset | Ticker | Unit Price | Action | Fractional Units | Units | Proceeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonds | BND | $82.41 | BUY | 2.2 | 3 | $247.23 |
| US Index | VTI | $126.22 | BUY | 1.6 | 1 | $126.22 |
| International Index | VEU | $51.68 | BUY | 2.6 | 2 | $103.36 |
| Total | $476.81 |
And with that, we’re done. Thanks everyone!
Continue onto the next article!
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Totally with you but it’s a bit misleading to say that home owners lost 200k in equity. The average is probably not a good measure as it is heavily influenced by outliers….. I’d probably use the median in this case.
If you bought a balanced fund around the same time, you’d probably be down the same amount of you take the median.
Long time reader, first time poster. I admire you two and are true sources of inspiration. At this point, we’ll be fully FI by 40 with minimal RE exposure.
Excellent explanation of the B-20 rule that is coming into effect, I never knew the depth of the repercussions to the owner if the housing market collapses with this new rule. That would be pretty unnerving to anybody who has bought recently, knowing that when they renew their mortgage in the next few years that they might actually have to cough up a load of cash just to keep their house.
Here in Vancouver, sadly the government intervention hasn’t achieved a great deal. Prices have stagnated somewhat, but they’re still stupidly high. Somethings got to give though, here’s to hoping rule B-20 is the straw that breaks the camels back.
Sadly, the BC Liberals decided that subprime down payment loans were a good business for gov’t to be in. One can only hope the NDP disagrees…
It’s always weird watching government interventions into the housing market. On the one hand, you want them to work, but on the other hand, if they do work it’s like “OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED EVERYONE LOST MONEY.”
That’s crazy, I didn’t know Canadians have to reinstate every 5 years. It’s certainly going to hurt the home owners during a downturn, even a correction.
I work for a mortgage fund and we even have 40-year loans in the US!
I believe there should be a good balance between government regulations and the market. It’s just unbelievable what happened in 2008, crazy DTI and no equity for the borrowers.
I know, it’s a Canadian paradox. We’re convinced we’re smarter than Americans, yet we behave just as irresponsibly, and our protections in the mortgage industry are actually worse.
Your commentary on the Canadian housing market (at the very least Vancouver and Toronto) is on point. I live in Vancouver and people are delirious to the point of hallucination with house fever here. This might be the bucket of cold water they all needed. Painful, for those who entered the market at the wrong time, but less painful than a type 2 crash.
Also, this reminds me of that scene from The Big Short:
Casey: What am I supposed to do? Write a piece called “We’re all fucked”?
Charlie Geller: Yes! That’s a perfect title!
You’re not afraid to write the “We’re all fucked” articles, and I love that.
My initial title was “We’re all fucked” but then FIRECracker convinced me to make it more PG-13 for SEO purposes.
We’re all fucked is a missed opportunity, IMO. Great title.
I’m just catching up on your Cdn and US portfolio. Am I understanding that each WEEK you are buying $500/Cdn and $500 USD of ETF funds? When did you start these portfolios? Are they non-registered? Do you arrange a direct transfer of funds into these accounts? Do you manage these accounts online with your buys?
Start with the first post in the workshop and work your way up from there. All questions have already been answered.
Wow, this could be really interesting to watch from the U.S. side of things. I think the U.S. housing market is starting to top out. You see that in major markets like NYC and San Francisco. Boston is still frothy, but starting to top out a bit.
I’d love to hear our American reader’s perspective. How much does this sound familiar to you and do you think the stuff our government’s trying is going to prevent a 2008-style collapse?
It sounds like the big picture of what’s happening in Canada is the same as in America, although the details are different. The government regulations being put in seem too little, too late and instead of causing a gentle flattening out in home prices, they may go too far and cause a crash instead.
I also wouldn’t assume your stock market will hold up well if housing crashes. If people have to pay a lot more to the banks to keep their mortgages, that means they’ll have less to spend on other things. Either that, or they lose their homes, which causes home prices to fall futher, which means more people have to pay the banks more, which….you get the picture.
Let’s use facts now – average etf investor in Canada is pretty much flat YoY due to fx. The housing market is still up 5% YoY.
Hey, all I’m saying is that the lenders are scrambling for the lifeboats and making sure they’re not the ones that take losses. So interpret that as you will.
correct.
keep in mind ,at this blog; balanced portfolio good, real estate bad.
I’ve been reading Garth Turner’s blog for a while, and thus have a weird interest in the slow-moving trainwreck that is the Canadian housing market.
I do think that having a truly fixed rate mortgage as an option would protect owners quite a bit. We have variable rate mortgages here that are an option for some (hopefully savvy) owners but having EVERYONE on a variable makes a crash somewhat inevitable, as rates have nowhere to go but up.
Yeah I’m not sure why our mortgage terms max out at 5 years. Must be a regulatory thing.
We have longer terms I have seen 8 and 10 year, but horrible rates. Royal has a 7 year fixed for 3.5, but the norm is a 5 year term.
“So we now have a housing crash in Canada”
Er, no. Toronto is not Canada. Canada has a whole bunch of housing markets influenced by national and local factors.
Many markets haven’t experienced big gains over the past couple of years while TO values skyrocketed. Halifax prices were up 2% yoy. Central Montreal up 9.1%. Saskatoon down 5.7%.
Vancouver reacted to the foreign buyer’s tax last year with a drop and then a recovery. Saskatchewan’s housing market has been falling for a couple of years and is a buyer’s market. Victoria remains a seller’s market.
Also, your interpretation of draft guideline B-20 is incorrect as follows:
“Borrowers now have to qualify for their mortgage at +2% above the posted mortgage rate”
TRUE FOR NEW MORTGAGES AND REFINANCING. NOT TRUE IF YOU RENEW WITH THE SAME LENDER.
This requirement now applies for people renewing their mortgage as well as new borrowers.
NOT TRUE IF YOU RENEW WITH THE SAME LENDER.
Banks will now be required to adhere to strict loan-to-value (LTV) ratios which are recalculated dynamically at each renewal
NOT TRUE IF YOU RENEW WITH THE SAME LENDER.
As announced in a revised version of the draft Guideline B-20, the proposed change with regards to the +2% on contractual mortgage rate would only apply to new mortgage loans (if you want to buy a house), mortgage refinancing or if you decide to renew your mortgage with a different financial institution. It would not apply if you wanted to renew your mortgage with your current financial institution. Your friends are likely going to be fine. There will be fewer transfers of mortgages or refinancing by those with less equity.
You are also incorrect in your analysis of housing market crashes imo. Crashes in the market do not happen one of the two ways you identify. Homeowners in Canada have not been paying a mortgage for 25 years only to find out they have a property worth less than they bought it for. This can happen to new homeowners if the market declines, but those holding seven years or more will not likely be in this position based on the stats. Certainly not after 25 years.
Just like the stock market, housing rises and falls in value but over time statistically it increases at various rates in various markets in Canada. In some smaller towns which lose a major industry values might decline longer term.
You really should spend more time reading the guidelines and stats and less time following Garth. He has been wrong about housing for a lot of years as much as he has been of assistance to you with investing. You are writing about something you, imo, don’t thoroughly understand. Your investing series for stocks is much less open to critique imo because you have real life experience and it shows.
I’m not sure if TO will recover quickly or not – maybe it will go down more – it certainly has had a sharp ride up. I do agree there are some new homeowners who will be negative in equity for a period of time and others who are having their financing impacted. Same in any falling market. If the past is any indicator the market will go up again… and then down… but long-term up. Just like the stock market. The wild card is leverage. If rates rise significantly that would, imo, create greater hardship and the risks of leverage are real if you have to sell.
Hey everyone, Indigo’s back! I was wondering when you’d show up.
it was amazing how poorly written this blog entry was. BLATANT misrepresentation or flat out lack of understanding. Lose credibility real fast that way….awful
Because the next time the homeowner renews, the bank will now demand he pay for those losses now. You can no longer avoid losses via inaction
……….
good grief. This is wrong
Fellow housing blogger Garth Turner had a reader asking a similar question and came to the same conclusion.
http://www.greaterfool.ca/page/4/
A homeowner who’s home value goes down will be forced to pay the difference in order to renew.
Scared yet? You should be.
You should carefully fact check what you write rather than relying on someone who has little credibility on this topic to provide you with answers. Go to the source ie. contact the OSFI – they respond to emails.
A financial institution has a vested interest in renewing a mortgage where payments are being made. Foreclosing on negative equity is not fiscally prudent and under b-20 it is not required for renewals at the same institution.
If b-20 is enacted as drafted, and it is currently a draft for consultation, it may be slightly more difficult for some to transfer their mortgage, but even today a transfer results in a new credit check and qualification screening.
The real changes in b-20 are:
Requiring a qualifying stress test for all uninsured mortgages (ie.more than 20% down);
Requiring that Loan-to-Value (LTV) measurements remain dynamic and adjust for local market conditions where they are used as a risk control, such as for qualifying borrowers;
Expressly prohibiting co-lending arrangements that are designed, or appear to be designed to circumvent regulatory requirements.
The changes are not meant to create a situation where someone who is paying their mortgage cannot renew, and in my opinion they do not change this from the current situation in which mortgage renewals generally happen automatically if you have been making payments and don’t transfer to another institution.
Houses are melting
Homeowners are losing money and are feeling increasingly stressed out and miserable
New regulations coming into effect will make this stress much much worse
…………..
did you take drama as an elective in high school?
-melting? lol. Not at all. certain areas are correcting
-i’m a home owner. Don’t feel stressed or miserable. Quite happy actually.
-regulations will have minimal effect on me. May affect others moreso? sorry to hear about your friend. Overleveraged himself/herself?
Good for you. I was referring to my idiot millennial homeowner brethren who bought at the peak, or overleveraged like crazy into multiple investment properties. They’re all stressed and miserable, and it’s about to get worse.
I live in one of those crazy real estate markets in Canada (i.e. Vancouver). The general sense I get is that first time, local buyers are not actively shelling out $1M to $2M to buy a detached house. Those folks are likely purchasing more modest starter homes in the suburbs or condos, townhouses in the $400k to $800k range, because that is what the income and debt servicing ratios indicate as possible (assuming 20% – 25% down payment).
The folks playing in the $1m – $3m game are either wealthy foreign buyers or existing home owners who have built up significant six digit+ equity from rising real estate over the years, and trading up or laterally (moving further to suburbs).
This is an important distinction to make.
Banks are not going to have renewers cough up hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s preposterous and there is no precedent for it. Banks have zero interest in taking such an action as they will inevitably lose billions in interest dollars.
Garth has been talking out of both sides of his mouth for years. He has banked millions in real estate while preaching about its doom for years.
The Toronto market is correcting yet prices are STILL higher than last year.
Toronto real estate is seasonal meaning it’s ludicrous to compare spring prices to summer prices. Summer is a slow season as is winter – prices drop and inventory rises every year. Spring and fall are where money is made.
Real estate will be worth more in 25 years than it is today, and that’s always been true. In 25 years the GTA will house 2.9 million more people. More demand, more pressure, higher prices.
As others have pointed out, the interpretation of the new legislation is a very bad misreading.
Anyone that has bought a house and holds will be fine.
No, you don’t understand. These regulations have already gone through and will take effect at the end of the year.
Things are going to get painful for homeowners who bought at the top. Hope you’re not one of them.
Bonds are good, I had some money in cash, a T-bill fund actually, and thought, WTF ? it pays nothing, and even if Bonds fluctuate, the distributions are about 1-2% and make up for it. I am close to 50% Bonds 1/2 long (30 yr) and 1/2 short (2-5 yr) both have merits, I just like to diversify.
Housing is toast in Van and Toronto, and the spill off will erode all the other citys. I have a friend selling, but she wants to wait until next spring… OMG… cant get her to list now, but here in Victoria, we are at a peak, next spring could be a drastic different story.
D.
I think wanderer and firecracker are drunk when they start bashing real estate – either for home ownership investment properties.
“…or over leveraged like crazy in multiple investment properties”.
I own multiple leveraged properties and as per usual the tenants are carrying them just fine. Thirty years a landlord and have owned real estate through whatever the economy sends my way. No matter how much real estate declines in value rents stay the same or go up.
The government is predicting 100,000 new immigrants per year in Ontario for decades to come. The population in Ontario is predicted to rise by 50% in the next 25 years, from about 9 million to 13.5 million.
Don’t count on real estate prices to melt in your lifetime. Stop the fear mongering. Real estate prices have totally recovered across the US since the crash in 2007. Real estate prices won’t collapse and if they do I’ll be buying them up and renting them out and when prices rebound….
Back in the 60’s there was another hippy dippy revolutionist. He believed his hippy followers were one day going to overthrow the system and it was going to be peace love and happiness all across the land. Free love and all the pot you could suck up. “Fuck the system” was his motto. His name was Abby Hoffman. When he grew up and the buzz wore off and his 15 minutes of fame ended he became a millionaire real estate investor. He became his parents.
My prediction is that one day you guys will go down the same path. Your 15 minutes of fame will dry up, inflation will erode your million dollars down to $500k in todays money and you will have an epiphany that maybe you should buy some real estate while you still have enough money for a downpayment.
This hippy dippy, west coast bohemian socialist life style will go down the drain and like Abby Hoffman and so many other self proclaimed revolutionaries you guys will grow up and make your parents proud. Sure you’re making enough money to backpack through every last third world country on the planet eating salmonella and drinking e-coli and your life hanging by a thread while fighting disentary but some day you’ll get sick of staying in $1/day youth hostels and want something better. Good luck with your retirement but those of us who have our shit together know that you’re full of shit.
Happy retirement – while it lasts!
Aaaahahaha touched a bit of a nerve have I? Someone sounds defensive. If you need me, I’ll be on a beach somewhere.
I own a beach. It came with the beach house. Stop in for a drink sometime.
I’ll bet ya didn’t see that comin’!! Oh to be a capitalist!!! FUCK YOU!!
I got a new one…beach home bonership. now that you mention it, it kinda does gives me a boner…. Thank You decades of real estate ownership!! Now stop trying to bullshit the people.
I could go on all day…
Hey commie, know what else I got? I refied one of my rental properties that tripled in value over the last 5 years. A 32 foot cabin cruiser! And a Mercedes!! Thank you to all the tenants in rentalville for all my free toys!!
Okay, guilty as charged, I only lease the E. Hey, wait a sec….you don’t suppose those bastards at Mercedes are getting wealthy off us renting their cars, do you?
…and the way my twin engine Sea Ray sucks up the gas. I think I gotta work to raise those rents again…frigg.
One months vacancy and I won’t have gas in the boat for Saturday.
ATTENTION ALL RENTERS: PLEASE KEEP RENTING! TRUST THESE GUYS WITH YOUR LIFE SAVINGS. DON’T WORRY THAT YOU DON’T KNOW THEIR REAL NAMES, SINCE THEY AREN’T CHARGING FOR THEIR ADVICE YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SUE THEM ANYWAYS. BE PREPARED TO FOLLOW THIER PLAN B AND BOOK YOUR ONE WAY TICKETS TO SOUTH EAST ASIA. Or buy real estate and get wealthy. Your choice.
To everyone else reading this:
You can really tell when someone is stupidly over-leveraged on one asset. And if anything goes wrong, their entire lives fall part. This is what they sound like.
What are your real names again? I missed ’em the first time…. Don’t worry, it’s just that if I’m going to be taking advice regarding my life’s savings I’d like to know the names of my advisors. I mean, only a dummy would take financial advice from total strangers on the internet using only an alias.
Also, doesn’t know how to read. Our real names are on the main page of this site, in the news article that’s the most shared story on CBC.
Other readers know that, but you obviously don’t. Thanks for proving that housing market is a ponzi scheme full of idiots and crazies like you.
Firecracker,
You say you want a revolution
well, you know
We all want to change the world.
You tell me that it’s evolution,
well, you know,
We all want to change the world.
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know that you can count me out.
Don’t you know it’s gonna be
alright, alright.
You say you got a real solution,
well, you know,
We’d all love to see the plan.
You say you’ll change the constitution,
well, you know,
We all want to change your head.
You tell me it’s the institution,
well, you know
You better free your mind instead.
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.
It’s gonna be alright, alright, alright now.
Beatles – Revolution, released 1968.
And here we are 50 years later and yaaaaawn…another piss pot revolutionist gonna change the world. STOP SPINNING WORLD! FIRECRACKER IS IN THE HOUSE! hallelujah!
You can’t ignore basic economic laws of supply and demand. You can’t deny them away.
Congrats on being the most shared story on CBC. That and a buck and a half will get you a coffee at Tim Horton’s….if you can afford it.
You would be far more credible if you were a bit less hostile towards real estate. Just saying.
Wow, a person who writes things like “FUCK YOU”, makes fun of “third world countries”, craps on Tim Horton’s coffee and then tries to give advice about “less hostility”. #SelfAwarenessGetSome
And thanks for the congrats! It IS great.
Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung – I just checked out your CBC thingy. I read the comments. Not a lot of believers in the comments section. They think you’re full of shit too. See! I do know how to read!!!
Real estate is a ponzi scheme, now who’s cray cray?
Hooray! You figure out how to use the computer box! Googling is hard, I know. Glad you found someone to help.
And yes, real estate is a ponzi scheme. I’m glad we agree.
I think you would have more credibility if you would just come straight out and tell people your socialists, with a socialist agenda.
Your heritage is from an Asian nation. Look at China, a socialist nation. Maybe you are too young to remember the tanks that crushed the people in Tiananmen Square in the ’89 Democracy Movement. Hundreds of protestors were killed. You can Google it. My parents escaped from Bulgaria after WW II after the socialists took away their farm and they were left to starve. Home and land ownership are outlawed in Socialist States. Home ownership is more than a roof over our heads, it’s part of our Democratic stand to stave off socialism and government control over our every day freedoms. If you believe home ownership is so evil, be my guest and book yourselves a one-way ticket to Stalingrad. I’m sure you will be much happier their.
As a nation, we are better off to call out Socialists and crush them while they are weak and few. Put that in your computer box and smoke it.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some wealth to tend to.
“Put that in your computer box and smoke it.”
That is NOT how computer boxes work. Please step away from the keyboard before you hurt yourself.
…speaking of “few” and “week”, how’s the revolution going? Catching many? Earned the moniker of “little Castro’s” yet?
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Putin, please come for your children before Trump nukes them.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Putin, please come for your children before Trump nukes them.
And to all of our American friends:
We didn’t create them, clearly, they are descendants of Kim Jung Un and came over in a sea can. Do with them what you will.
You clowns are destroying your own credibility. Very disrespectful to Chinese, Eastern Europeans, Cubans… whomever. No one with an ounce of civility would ever assimilate themselves with you.
By the way, it’s not a “computer box”, here in the GTA we call ’em “computitaters”. They’re half computers, and half, uh, potato peelers.
And to the free world, You’re Welcome! Now go out and buy those dang houses! It’s your God given Democratic right to be the boss of your own destiny. It’s the New Canadian church, and it ain’t just open on Sundays boys!
I wonder what those assholes are going to come back with next….
Wow, you are REALLY in love with me. I’m not that special and life’s too short to be writing incoherent comments into the internet. Dude, go eat some space cakes or something and be happy. 🙂
Translation: we got nothing.
Interesting article and insight about real estate in Canada. I would love to hear where this is at today.