Globa Sunday Morning News; Michael Campbell guest apearance

[Boombust]

Hmmm...Horton...YOY sales for June down 41%. You;d better be ready to pick up all those bargains. A little l"everaging action" should be right up your alley, being as savvy as you obviously are.

Ha ha!

[registered]

Goodness knows how much valuable comment has evaporated for fear of such hostility.

Consider the irony of your sentiments being sandwiched between those two posts.

[Johnny Horton]

A little l"everaging action" should be right up your alley, being as savvy as you obviously are.

In time dear boy, in time. There are always good opportunities.

Consider the irony of your sentiments being sandwiched between those two posts.

....yes, I guess being sandwiched between two posts and a 'turd has got to be worse than being sandwiched between a rock and a hard place huh?

[pianoexcellence]

A lot of guys here are saying that Silverman is pumping the market, just to keep his livelihood.

That doesn't make a lot of sense, when you consider that he mostly lists properties on mls for an upfront fee [b]Whether or not it sells[b].

If he wanted to be insincere in his opinions to make money, he would be saying that the market would crash, and thus cash in on those who list with him.

That doesn't make his opinion right, but it does defend his motives.

[Johnny Horton]

If he wanted to be insincere in his opinions to make money, he would be saying that the market would crash, and thus cash in on those who list with him.

good point

[Taipan]

Well ill dip my toe in the water here. Ive been involved in property and property development internationally for 30 years, so ive seen some booms and some busts.

I dont live in BC but have a professional interest in BC. Watching the bickering backwards and forwards on this board is a bit disappointing. Its probably because property prices moving up and down is a bit like watching paint dry. Anybody expecting excitment, can become frustrated and may have a tendency to lash out.

Often we wont know how little or how much a market moves until 12 months after the fact.

Watching from the sidelines it appears that "flicking" property is a national past time, when all it really is, is pass the parcel which is a ticking time bomb.

When or if the market tops, a lot of people are going to get very burned.

However BC is in many respects no different from many countries around the world. USA, UK, Australia, europe.

Currently Australia is one of the few countries with higher interest rates, and it is being felt very hard in the property market already. That is because of inflation.

USA is importing inflation from China. The federal reserve will sooner or later have to deal with that inflation.

Inflation can be mitigated by running lower budget deficits or even surpluses. This year the USA is running a huge budget deficit. No help from that angle.

If inflation takes hold, then the Fed will eventually have to shift interest rates upward. Of course it doesnt want to do this, as they are trying to unwind the loc doc issue. But they will do it.

If you have a boom running out of steam, and then interest rates rising, then there will be some major adjustments.

Unfortunately, with the 800lb US goriila across the border, canada and BC cannot help but getting fleas.

[Greenhorn]

A lot of guys here are saying that Silverman is pumping the market, just to keep his livelihood.

That doesn't make a lot of sense, when you consider that he mostly lists properties on mls for an upfront fee [b]Whether or not it sells[b].

If he wanted to be insincere in his opinions to make money, he would be saying that the market would crash, and thus cash in on those who list with him.

That doesn't make his opinion right, but it does defend his motives.

Silverman may make most of his income from working with buyers, receiving the full buy side commission. In this case, it would be in his best interest to pump the market. When he sells a house on MLS that he lists for a fixed fee, that seller will also become a buyer, if he is convinced that he should buy.

In any event, a realtor's job is to make the deal come together, and do everything on their power to make sure the transaction closes. This may include pumping the market and we can't hold this against Silverman or any other real estate salesman. Purchasers and vendors need to do their own due diligence. Hopefully the little old ladies have children to help them if they are getting biased advice from a realtor.

A friend of mine put in an offer on a home. For round numbers, the deal went something like this. The property was listed at $1,000,000. My friend offered $950,000. The vendor countered at $975,000. The realtor said take the deal at $975,000 because there are 5 back up offers at $975,000. My friend walked. Guess what? There were no back up offers. In fact, there were no offers at all. The realtor then begged my friend to take the property and demanded that he write an offer at $950,000 as the vendor would accept this price and this is what was initially offered. My friend passed as listings were increasing. Guess what? The property is now on the market at a list price of $925,000. This is what happens when you have stupid vendor and unscrupulous realtor.

For the record, some of my friends are realtors and they are all professional and ethical, law abiding people. I like realtors and would always use a realtor to sell and to buy. Some give you kickbacks if you buy or sell through them.

[pianoexcellence]

My statement was based on the fact that I asked to buy under his representation, and he referred me.

He is one of the only discount listing agents who does not appear to make the bulk his money on the other side of the transaction.

[Johnny Horton]

Taipan:

Watching the bickering backwards and forwards on this board is a bit disappointing. Its probably because property prices moving up and down is a bit like watching paint dry.

Hello Taipan....no we are not bickering about prices. I think it's quite obvious to all that the market is in a correction period. We like to bicker for the fun of it. We do not need a reason.

[DAB]

A friend of mine put in an offer on a home. For round numbers, the deal went something like this. The property was listed at $1,000,000. My friend offered $950,000. The vendor countered at $975,000. The realtor said take the deal at $975,000 because there are 5 back up offers at $975,000. My friend walked. Guess what? There were no back up offers. In fact, there were no offers at all. The realtor then begged my friend to take the property and demanded that he write an offer at $950,000 as the vendor would accept this price and this is what was initially offered. My friend passed as listings were increasing. Guess what? The property is now on the market at a list price of $925,000. This is what happens when you have stupid vendor and unscrupulous realtor.

Greedy sellers. they should've take $950k. and it's also the realtors fault.. it's already a buyers market so why need to lie about multiple offers.

maybe your friend can come back and offer $875k and say there are no buyers interested except me.

[jesse1]

The property is now on the market at a list price of $925,000. This is what happens when you have stupid vendor and unscrupulous realtor.

Great story, if true . Personally I think your friend is lucky to have walked away. It's only a buyer's market after prices have bottomed.

[kansai_92]

A friend of mine put in an offer on a home. For round numbers, the deal went something like this. The property was listed at $1,000,000. My friend offered $950,000. The vendor countered at $975,000. The realtor said take the deal at $975,000 because there are 5 back up offers at $975,000. My friend walked. Guess what? There were no back up offers. In fact, there were no offers at all. The realtor then begged my friend to take the property and demanded that he write an offer at $950,000 as the vendor would accept this price and this is what was initially offered. My friend passed as listings were increasing. Guess what? The property is now on the market at a list price of $925,000. This is what happens when you have stupid vendor and unscrupulous realtor.

Greedy sellers. they should've take $950k. and it's also the realtors fault.. it's already a buyers market so why need to lie about multiple offers.

maybe your friend can come back and offer $875k and say there are no buyers interested except me.

That's digusting. Can a realtor lie about the existence of backup offers?
Somebody needs to have their license taken away.

[jesse1]

That's digusting. Can a realtor lie about the existence of backup offers?

In practice it happens all the time so all you can do is ignore any of these tactics. You know the price you want to pay and never go above it. If you do catch them in a lie, as did Greenhorn's friend, there is absolutely nothing wrong with threatening spreading their names to all your friends about what you perceived they tried to pull of, especially if it ends up lopping a few % off the price.

[freako]

USA is importing inflation from China.

Lost you there. I'd say that Chinese imports are what has been keeping a LID on U.S. inflation (related to the Walmart effect), not what has been causing it. Are you thinking about the rise in the Yuan against the dollar will reverse that? Won't a rise in the Yuan reduce demand for Chinese products, and in so doing decrease the trade deficit, which will in turn pressure U.S. long rates upwards?

[Warren12]

I have nothing but respect for the realtors on this forum who brave these waters and continue to contribute. Goodness knows how much valuble comment has evaporated for fear of such hostility. It is a shame.

Well said. There are lots of internet tough guys out there.