In this blog I’m going to share an article by Morgan Housel on why pessimists still get people's attention when simply staying the course is how successful people go thru life. https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-seduction-of-pessimism/

My quarterly market update on the current status of the market. Sales volume continues to be well below average but overall the market is still quite healthy with many segments in balanced territory and inventory continuing to be limited especially in the downtown Vancouver 1 bedroom condo market.

In this blog I’m going to share with you a few takeaways from an interview on the Tim Ferriss show with money manager Peter Mallouk. Peter co-authored the New York Times best-selling book with Tony Robbins called Unshakable. In the interview he shares his views on trying to time markets using leverage with Real Estate and investing for the long term. Here is a link to the full interview: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/tim-ferriss-show/the-tim-ferriss-show/e/58244073

Sales on Vancouver RE continue to be well below our historic average. Prices on Detached homes and luxury condos continue to fall but the prices on Downtown 1 bedroom condos continues to stay quite resilient. Most of this slowdown is a direct result of the Government trying to curb demand with various taxes and restrictions. The biggest one being the the mortgage stress test where buyers need to qualify at the posted rates plus 2%. In this blog I will talk about the repercussions of these government initiatives and how we may be creating a coiled spring effect that will eventually propel the next leg up.

In this blog I’m going to discuss the pros and cons of the downtown condo lifestyle vs the investment potential of buying an older detached home on the East Side. Detached homes are in a buyers market and the price gap between condos and detached has narrowed a great deal over the past 2.5 years. I also discuss the current situation with Airbnb and the pros and cons of managing your own rental properties vs hiring a property manager.

Time for my annual market forecast. Where I see the market trending for 2019 and beyond for condos and detached homes in Vancouver and the surrounding cities. I also discuss the current situation with Airbnb and the pros and cons of managing your own rental properties vs hiring a property manager.

The average rental rates for condos in Vancouver and surrounding areas are in for 2018 and just like last year and the year before that they are increasing. That’s good news if you're an investor/ landlord as vacancy rates continue to be around 1% and rates keep rising. It’s not good news if you're a renter in Vancouver. Nothing wrong with renting in the short term but becoming a long term renter in an expensive city like Vancouver places you at a huge financial disadvantage compared to an owner.

It’s that time of year again. All BC homeowners have now received their 2019 tax assessment notices in the mail. For my portfolio (1 bedroom condos) the assessments are up anywhere from 4-18%, whereas luxury condos and detached homes are down 5 to 10%. I have also been following in the media a campaign to dramatically raise property taxes to put more money into the general coffers and create more affordable housing. Now I’m happy to pay more in property tax if the province drastically reduces or eliminates the provincial income tax like they do in many other cities in the US. I agree that are property taxes are low compared to many other cities in the world but we more than make up for it with very high income tax rates in this count ...

In this blog I talk about the 3 types of buyers: #1. Speculators or Flippers who I do very little work with but there are still some flippers out there (makes up a very very small portion of the buyers in Vancouver) less that 2-3%. #2. Principal residence buyer who are going to live in the home. #3. Investors.. these are buyers who are going to buy and rent out the unit to a tenant. Major capital gains can be realized by buyers 2 and 3 by simply holding the property for long periods of time and ignore all the short term noise that’s out there.. enjoy the home as shelter first if it’s your principal residence and keep good tenants in there if it’s an investment unit.

In this blog I will explain how I review my year from a number of areas. What I focus on like rental income from my tenants and dividend income from my stock portfolio. And what I don’t pay too much attention to like the price or value of my Real Estate and stock holdings.