mortgage rate going down is mainly due to the benign inflation which is basically saying our economy is shit right now and can't generate any growth. Although Poloz tried talk our way out of this LOL.

Or work for yourself. Even in a shit economy, if you have the finances and have a skill that's useful, you can make money.

Working for yourself can be rewarding but there is a lot to be said for not having the stress that comes with being self employed. I watched it almost kill my father, he had his company for 25 years, had over 100 employees and although there were some really good years, there were also a lot of bad stressful ones which beat him down and almost took him out.

I have the skills to open my own business, I know the ins and out and have the contacts to where I'm fairly confident I can make it work. I even have some good people who are great at there job who keep asking me to do it and they'll come for the ride but after watching what it did to my dad I'm quite content working my 8-10 hours a day Monday to Friday, having my weekends off and never worrying about making payroll or picking up more work down the road.

Don't get me wrong, working for yourself can be great but it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

It is a LOT easier to just show up to a 9-5 job, put in your bullshit hours and get paid in 2 weeks than it is to run the whole show!

Agreed 100% my cousin have his own pizza place and the hours he put into is not something I think I can manage. Not to mention the stress levels. Constantly trying to see where you can save money working till 3am every night and on weekends. Have very little time with family even on holidays......

Sure he makes more money but the stress and not seeing his family might not be worth it (not to mention his wife is pregant so he might not evne see his son very much......)

Way easier said than done.

And for me, i make an amount that would make it quite prohibitive to start something on my own as it would take years to get where I am.

Also, I don't have a 'job' I am in a career path that provides great opportunities around the world, and large pay raises each year

If ur a 40k per year clock stamper, well, you're likely not the kind of person who would be successful in starting something urself... Going on ur own is never an easy decision, especially as things get more and more competitive and expensive

I wish I could thank you some more.
I run my own business and a lot people think its super easy and glamorous.
They don't realize that you have to compete to find work while being able to make payroll for the people who trust you for their pay cheques

As an entrepreneurial artist wannabe my life is complete fucking chaos stumbling from one project to the next while hustling up the money to keep going and having fun!

Where will I be in a year? Who knows! :woot2:

It is a wild fucking ride and you need a certain risk-seeking mentality to live it, that's for sure. Kind of like how some people are content with the Grouse Grind and other people spend 100k on Everest and take 6 months to do it. The business mentality is like the climber mentality. You COULD get a regular job and live a nice relaxed life, put in your 9-5 and generally love life if you have a good family and your health. The Canadian dream! This is the person who likes doing the grind.

Or, you could be some guy who seeks out climbing into thin air where you can die doing something recreational that costs like 50k+ to do, and all for what? "Because it's there." Why did Steve Jobs pour his soul into Apple? I think it is the same, "because it's there." His company existed and he wanted to be the best tech company in the world. So much of it was for ego stroking, I'm sure of it, just proving to yourself that you're capable of doing something is a huge reward all unto its own.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/...33_634x422.jpg

I suspect having a dangerous job provides a similar thrill to being a business owner, you're constantly on guard at work because one mistake can fuck you for life!

^ If one mistake is all it takes to fuck your business, you're a pretty bad businessman.

I think you are taking it way out of context. One massive mistake doesn't equal just any mistake.

To give an example, an acquaintance of mine made a mistake buying a property without doing enough due diligence, later found out that it had one of those old oil heating tanks underground... which leaked. Couldnt sell the property without disclosing it now, otherwise faced a lawsuit so he fixed and re mediated the soil = $60,000. Luckily the business had enough cashflow to cover the hit, but that one mistake could sink many businesses.

In other news, hows everyone's assessment this year? mine went up despite the doom & gloom. I don't know if I should be happy or sad.

Steve Jobs left Apple and look what happened...


I should clarify, the guy who fired Steve Jobs from Apple in 1985 actually said in 2011 that he was the "world's greatest CEO."


So think about that for a second. Steve Jobs had been fired by Apple in 1985. He had been fired by Apple, then eventually re-joined Apple and created a fucking juggernaut that will outlive anyone who reads this post!

Would Apple be where they are if Microsoft didn't invest $150 million in the company? People often don't remember that part.

Your car can become a down payment on a new Vancouver condo

:lawl: $5400 beater?
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Sure.

At the other side of the coin, my dad worked for 25 years for one of the world's largest oil companies (not in Canada), and by the time he quit to move to Canada he was done with it. 16-hour days, horrible bosses and insane pressure. He was always very stressed out, could barely enjoy life.

The point is, it's not rosy, but ask your dad if he would have rather taken a paycheck for 20 years, then be thrown out on the street in a layoff because he's too old or expensive for the company to maintain.

It hasn't been easy. I still have a part-time job as a 'fall-back', but my industry is always in high-demand. At this point, you couldn't pay me enough to take a 9-5 job. Sure, I probably work more hours, and I'm certainly not travelling around the world, but it gives me a certain liberty that I enjoy and wouldn't get in a 9-5.

I think that life is too short to be a paycheck zombie for 30 years.

I don't know what he'd say but when he recovered he got a job at the age of 60 that pays him a better salary then he ever paid himself with no expectations for him to work anywhere near the hours he was before. I don't know if that opportunity would have been there had he not had his own business. He still work stupid hours, not because he has to but because he doesn't know any other way. My father is a workaholic, he always has been and he always will be. He's not that guy working to retire, if he retired he'd die. I'm not like my father, I don't love working I work to live not live to work.

Anyway we've kind of gotten off topic, time to let the real estate go front and center in this thread again.

Happy if you're selling, but sad if you're staying and have to pay the increase in property taxes...

Went up a bit. Looking for a bigger home in the future so I guess its a good thing

Who equates having a career with being a pay check zombie?

Having a bs go nowhere job, yes, but many people have amazing careers doing things they love, and get paid a lot of money whilst having loads if security

Different strokes for different folks

The insanity continues:

Vancouver Mansion Listed at $11.38 M, Re-listed at $16.8 M

does anybody care to share their predictions for the remainder of this year?

I know it's as good as a monkey throwing random darts, but I say market will decline -3% the remainder of this year.

with no rate rise on the horizon sales and prices will probably go side way to a little bit of decline. the real stress test will be in 2016/2017 when rates go back up.

I predict prices will go up this year. With the new property assessment out and being "stable" as the assessment board puts it people will come back into the market. The pent up demand from the slowdown in late 2012 and early 2013 is already making a comeback in the last quarter of 2013 going to spring of 2014. With the government announcement that they will not change the prime lending rate for at least another year rates will remain low and FI's have already started dropping their mortgage rates in competition for the mortgage business for the busiest time of the year coming up. I have been watching the housing market closely in Vancouver and Burnaby and prices have slowly been creeping up. House horniness is back :hotbaby:

Disclaimer: I am not a realtor or work for the RE board :alone:

Lol! You probably know more than 80% of the realtors out there. The market has slightly slowed down in January since December. December was one crazy month. I was still getting phone calls during Christmas and New Years (I had a realtor text/call me on New Years eve at 9:00 pm). The market is slowly picking up again.

I think price will stable? Everytime when I call to arrange a time to see an apartment it is either sold already or have an offer. Yes I am buying for myself to live in, so I figure since interest rate keeps is pretty and will contiune to be low mind as well get a place call "home".