@SteveSaretsky Apparently this is one way that local drug cash is laundered. Wealthy Chinese buy a house. They then use that house as collateral to borrow money from the drug dealers (at apparently crazy interest rates, sometimes upwards of 100%) which they then take to the casinos to gamble.
@SteveSaretsky 2/ The loan payments are made back in China which are then funnelled back into the production of the fentanyl. I think it's almost expected that the owner walks from the property, then the "mortgage holders" (drug dealers) have the house sold and get their money out "washed".
2/ $1B per year COMPLETELY controls the West Side mkt.
Last week I tweeted about ONE woman from China 10 years ago looking to buy 4 to 5 homes on the West Side. If she's looking to spend $20M, all you would need would be 49 more of her to completely buy up every
3/ property that hits the mkt on the West Side.
Is that so inconceivable?
50 wealthy Chinese investors could come in a corner the West Side #Vanre mkt.
Now throw in the local money launderers as in the #VancouverSun article and you need even less than 50 Chinese buyers.
(Warning: This will be a long thread, grab a cuppa coffee)
Most people are familiar with Warren Buffet's saying "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked."
I believe it may be EXACTLY what lies beneath the
2/ level of the tide that could be the final nail in the #Vanre mkt once the full effect of foreign owners (FLIPPERS) selling their West Side SFD's kicks in. Considering that we are already 35% off the peak mkt highs, that in itself is an ominous thought.
Now, I've always
3/ suspected (no proof) that MANY #Vanre home owners have dipped into the "equity lottery winnings" that they have realized in the past 10 years to fund who knows what.
So when I saw an article yesterday from @BetterDwelling about Cdn Helocs,
I tweeted yesterday that of the 230 West Side #vanre sales that have taken place since Aug '18, only about 5% of those (that were not either new builds or mega mansions $10MM plus) sold ABOVE their July 1, 2017 assessed value. And yet, of the 17 new West Side listings...
2/ posted today, 11 (65%) are listed ABOVE their July 1 2017 assessed value, and the rest are all listed ABOVE their 2019 Assessment (July 1, 2018) Seems logical 🤦♀️And many of these "new listings" are really re-listings that are still way overpriced. Most of these homes...
3/ (except for a few that are 2-3 years old), are older homes. Older homes on the West Side are selling (if at all) for about 10% BELOW recent assessed values. And many recent assessed values are down 20% from the previous year. That should give you an idea...