Mon Post #1: A Festivus for the Restivus

Ahh the rush of the holidays.  A couple of posts for you today, but we start with a whimsical one. Did you know today is Festivus?

Festivus is a well-celebrated Seinfeld parody that has become a secular holiday celebrated on December 23. It serves as an alternative to participating in the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas holiday season.

Originally a family tradition of scriptwriter Dan O'Keefe working on the American sitcom Seinfeld, the holiday entered popular culture after it was made the focus of a 1997 episode of the program.

The holiday's celebration, as it was shown on Seinfeld, includes a Festivus dinner, an unadorned aluminum "Festivus pole," practices such as the "Airing of Grievances" and "Feats of Strength," and the labeling of easily explainable events as "Festivus miracles."

The episode refers to it as "a Festivus for the rest of us", referencing its non-commercial aspect. It has also been described as a "parody holiday festival" and as a form of playful consumer resistance.

Some atheists advocate Festivus because of its lack of religious significance, and have joined other people in erecting "festivus poles" alongside public diys of the crèche of Christmas and the menorah of Hanukkah.

Let the airing of grievances begin.

Happy Festivus everyone!

(Don't forget to check out: MAC Marketing's version of Where's Waldo")

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A Festivus for the Restuvus

Happy Festivus everyone!

Wanted to take a moment an hilight a post made yesterday over on VREAA.

This is 5575 Elm Street on Vancouver's west side:

This 5 bedroom, 6 full bathroom, 1 half bathroom, 5,101 sq ft single family home sits on an 8,114 sq ft lot and is described as such:

The perfect "10" Kerrisdale custom-built home by Loukas Designs with over 5000 sq ft luxury home. Large 50' x 162' lot. East-facing front to greet the morning sun. 10' to 11' ceiling all over, gourmet kitchen with carrera marble countertops, Sub-Zero fridges, Miele D/W, Thermador stainless steel stove, French doors open to huge west-facing gas-heated covered patio w/ built-in BBQ overlooks the blue swimming pool & hot tub. Total of 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, a media room & exercise room. Bsmt offers suite potential for nanny or the in-laws. H/W floors throughout, radiant heat, built-in surround music system and 3 car garage. The fenced backyard is a kid's heaven. Priced to sell.

On July 27th, 2012 it was listed for $4,880,000.

On December 9th, 2012 it's asking price was reduced to $3,990,000 and advertised as 'priced to sell.'

Priced to sell?  Hardly. It's assessed value is $3,545,000.

As VREAA notes, at 20% off it's original asking price it is still overpriced - particularly in a market where single family homes are now selling at below assessed value.

But it gives you an example of how much further our market has to go.

The first signpost along the path of reckoning in 2013 will be Chinese New Year.  This has sort-of become the orgy period of excessive property over-bidding in our market - until last year.

There will be many holding out with expectations that HAM (Hot Asian Money) will be returning in 2013 (we will discuss this more in a future post).

It it doesn't, the sellers will seriously re-evaluate things.

According to a contributor at VREAA (hat tip Canadian Watchdog), this home sold on May 31, 2010 for $3,079,000.  It is an example of our speculative frenzy that this purchaser could turn around and ask for $4,880,000 a mere 2.5 years later (an increase of 58%).

I would love to know what this home sold for in 2006 when it was originally built (if anyone knows, please advise and this post will be updated).

I sincerely believe even those with a bearish view of the market will be shocked to see how far values fall to eyes accustomed to 2011/2012 prices.

2013 will be the year many begin to accept that the values established over the past year are not coming back and that to sell, homes will have to be listed below assessed value.  As Global TV noted, the price increases of the last decade are long gone.

We will keep our eyes on this property as the New Year moves along.

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A Festivus for the Rest of Us

Ahh the rush of the holidays.

Had planned to do an indepth post today on the silver issue but after spending the morning at the beach with my dog, I got bogged down all afternoon with several lengthy emails. Before I knew it... I had to get ready for tonight's Festivus party.

And in the spirit of Festivus, I have to say that the plethora of news articles generated by our Central Banks debt warnings are nothing short of a 'Festivus Miracle'.

It's no longer a case of 'bitter bloggers' who are crying 'chicken little' that the sky is falling... rather the whole issue now has an aura of legitimacy.

Of course, until a collapse happens... the idea that we are in a bubble simply will not be accepted, even with Mark Carney sounding the alarm about the dangers that lie ahead.

Look for an intense counter-offensive by the Real Estate Industry.

The first shot has already been fired by the likes of Helmut Pastrick, chief economist of Central 1 Credit Union, who said:

• “I don’t see a price bubble and I don’t see that we need the mortgage criteria tightened as is suggested in some quarters”

Somehow the winter doldrums of January/February aren't going to be as boring as in past years.

Let the airing of grievances begin.

Happy Festivus everyone!

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Email: village_whisperer@live.ca

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