British Columbia???s Real-Estate Bubble:

1. British Columbia’s Real-Estate Bubble

2. I had to leave because I couldn’t stand paying more than I should for everything I love British Columbia and I loved living there. Almost every part of it, even out in the middle of nowhere,

3. it’s ‘God’s Country!’ But man oh man has God priced a lot of people out of the market. Everywhere you go, it’s expensive in B.C. B.C. means Bring Cash! I have lived all over the province from Fernie to

4. to Victoria, Whistler to Smithers, sometimes only for months at a time and sometimes for years. I worked in and travelled around B.C. for about 10 years straight.

5. Gas, food, rent, hydro, parking, a hair cut, a labourer, a taxi, a ski pass, a pack of smokes or a case of beer, no matter what you pay for in B.C. it’s going to cost more than

6. it does in many other parts of Canada and the rest of the world. Some places, comparatively more than others. It can’t last. Some places hold up to bubbles better than others and

7. it seems that coastal or exquisitely beautiful places with mountain views climb to ridiculous price levels fastest, crash hardest, and then resume upward price movement the quickest –

8. compared to less-sexy places like Winnipeg or Milwaukee. So, maybe that means that B.C. real-estate will blow off fast and furiously and hurt speculators and over-extended first time owners hardest.

9. I don’t know how to ‘play it,’ but I would love to one day own a killer penthouse condo with ocean and mountain views in downtown Vancouver or a mountain-side palace in Whistler.

10. New York, the financial centre of the earth for a century, has seen its share of wild price fluctuations, so why would Vancouver be immune? Over the long term, every big boom town gets screwed,

11. but this takes generations or longer sometimes. One day New York will be a wasteland like mega cities that were on the silk road…change is the rhythm we dance to whether we like it or not.

12. With the rise of Asia and the boom in mining companies (Vancouver is the mining Exploration capital of the world), Vancouver is becoming a world centre. If you look from the Lion’s Gate Bridge toward

13. the city, you see that it has room to grow and grow as big as the population wants to grow. The land mass is there for millions more, it’s not an island. Long-term, Jim Roger’s said,

14. “Vancouver will be the New York of the 21st Century;” a major western centre. But, right now, it’s still over priced. The average family’s income is $70 000 a year in Vancouver,

15. but the average house is over $700 000. This is a problem. As other living costs, like food, heat, hydro, and gasoline, continue to rise fewer and fewer people in this demographic will enter into the

16. market. Eventually, prices will have to come down for homes to sell. So, hang tight, let the shit hit the fan and prices fall and see what happens. Maybe West Vancouver will become really affordable!

17. In the mean time, be nimble! Mentally prepare yourself to go and do anything you need to make a buck and be able to hit the road in a minute, in search of greener pastures and

18. friendlier neighbourhoods. Learn practical skills, trade you paper dollars in for gold, Gold Mining Stocks and silver bullion coins and be prepared to hit the road with them if you have to.

19. Rent furnished sublet apartments so you only have 1 monthly bill to pay—rent--that includes hydro, phone and internet, this way your land lord shoulders all the risk of price increases.

20. Create an online business in a niche you have knowledge in or start learning how to do this. Be prepared to move to a country where you don’t speak the language. Watch for all the extraordinary opportunities

21. that will emerge from all the chaos that results from government meddling in the markets! Find a place where every time you buy something,

22. you shake you head at how cheap it is, and it makes you smile and feel really, really smart.