Buyer’s market improves opportunities at bottom of ladder; HST threshold unlikely to create stumbling block for real estate newbies
Peter Simpson
Sun
Real estate pundits are starting to announce -albeit somewhat apologetically, in some cases -that the Metro Vancouver real estate market is now leaning away from sellers in favour of buyers.
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a buyer’s market. If market balance and sharper pricing allow more folks to climb on to the property ladder, bring it on. And history teaches us market conditions in Lotus Land-by-the-Sea can shift quickly. The buyer’s market might be short-lived, a summer fling.
I have also noticed that real estate organizations believe the HST has caused some confusion among homebuyers, perhaps stalling their purchase decisions. These organizations want consumers to know there is no HST on resale homes. Hmm, I wonder if this messaging, given the increase in listings, is aimed at steering buyers to resale homes. That tactic would be way too obvious, wouldn’t it?
That would be like me promoting, say, the many benefits of a brand new home: superior design and leading-edge technology, enhanced building and fire codes, energy-efficiency upgrades, health-related features, competitive pricing and the strongest warranty in North America. I would never do that.
And, besides, if the new home is priced lower than $525,000, the HST doesn’t have a sizable impact. Higher than that, well, that’s an entirely different story, one I have written many times in this space.
On Tuesday, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. announced its latest housing-starts statistics for Metro Vancouver. Not surprisingly, starts for the first seven months of the year are more than double from the same period in 2009, which was a horrid year for home construction.
During the January-to-July period, 8,005 housing starts were recorded. Surrey was responsible for a quarter of all Metro Vancouver starts. In fact, Surrey was such a runaway leader, it came very close to recording more detached starts than all other Metro Vancouver municipalities combined.
The Real Estate Investment Network has just released a list of the top 10 Canadian cities in which to invest. Surrey, ranked fourth, was cited for its two border crossings, links to five major highways, deep sea docks and four railways. Vancouver, by the way, did not make the list. You know Surrey has turned a significant corner when residents there are starting to tell Vancouver jokes.
The surge in housing starts this year has generated nearly 12,000 additional full-time jobs -both direct and indirect -providing a much-needed boost to the Metro Vancouver economy. With five months remaining in 2010, all fingers are crossed.
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I want to switch gears and comment on an issue I find quite worrisome -scams against consumers, particularly senior citizens who might not be as aware or guarded as they were in earlier years.
The Internet, its enormous popularity and inestimable value notwithstanding, is also rife with scumbags –both foreign and domestic -looking to prey on vulnerable and unsuspecting victims.
Every day, my mailbox contains at least a couple of messages informing me I have won something.
Recently, I learned I had won sizable lottery jackpots in Holland, Spain and Hong Kong.
All I had to do to claim the cash was provide some personal information. Hook, line and sinker, they thought.
A Nigerian notified me via e-mail that due to the tragic circumstances of his once-influential, now-deceased relative, I was presented with a glorious opportunity to help him move a large sum of cash through the system and, for my trouble, I would be given a generous share of the loot. All he required from me, his new “dear friend,” were my personal particulars and banking details.
I have also received fraudulent notices from people posing as officials from major Canadian financial institutions, complete with corporate logos, telling me, for example, that my bank account access has been disabled and that my security can be reset simply by logging on and answering a few questions.
Another e-mail alerted me to the fact the bank was performing regular maintenance of its security measures and I would be taken through an online security-verification process. Yet another bank asked me if I tried to access online banking on a certain date and time. If I responded that I didn’t, I would be provided with an opportunity to safeguard my account. All these steps, of course, are designed to squeeze as much personal and banking information as possible from unwary individuals.
I received an e-mail saying my PayPal account had been limited because the system detected unusual charges to a credit card linked to my Pay-Pal account, which I didn’t have. To activate my account, I needed to provide confidential information. The e-mail even included hints on fraud protection.
Another e-mail I received included a bold heading, “Tax Refund Canada Revenue Agency.” An amount of $386.00 was going to be credited to my credit card. All I had to do was, you guessed it, verify the card number and type in my name, address and social insurance number.
All the e-mails appeared quite official and convincing, but no banks, Canada Revenue Agency or credit card companies operate in this manner. Sadly, however, I can see how a trusting soul or confused senior citizen could perhaps fall victim to these despicable consumer scams.
Finally, be wary of so-called tradespeople who knock on your door, trying to push their services or offer a time-limited sweet deal. They will then try to convince you to pay for the job right away.
A few years ago, a sweet, elderly lady called to tell me she had paid for a roof repair she likely didn’t need.
The scammer told the lady he was driving by her house and noticed some roof shingles were in danger of falling off, which would cause her roof to leak badly.
He said he could come back later to repair the roof, but he needed $3,000 to buy materials. Feeling pressured, she wrote a cheque. About 20 minutes later, she realized she acted in haste, called her son for advice, then called her bank to cancel the cheque. Too late, the guy had already raced to her bank to grab the cash.
If you have aging parents or other relatives, please have a frank chat with them.
Ask them to call you if they are uncertain about anything e-mailed or mailed to them, or if aggressive salespeople harass them over the phone or at the door. Getting through the day can be confusing enough for some of these gentle people.
Call me old school, but preying on seniors should be punishable by public flogging, or at least a heavy, well-placed kick to the groin by 56-year-old Lui Passaglia.
Peter Simpson is the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association. E-mail [email protected].
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