The Burrard Street Blog

If you live in Greater Vancouver I don’t need to describe the rapid increases in housing prices seen over the past 5 years. All that one really needs to know is that:

1. Homeowners not planning to sell in the near future have seen the property taxes follow the increase in their property’s value without seeing any relative gains.
2. First time buyers making anything less than 6 figures are being pushed further and further away from Downtown Vancouver, The North Shore and Vancouver, often those making even 150,000+ a year aren’t able to afford to live in central areas once they factor in car payments and family expenses.
3. Vancouver’s younger generations are desperate to get into the market although many have lost hope they will ever be able to afford to live where they grew up.

Now of course there have been a lot of benefits derived from the housing boom. Increased jobs, more money flowing into the city, a lot of prosperity for intelligent investors and those in the real estate industry, and an increased net-worth of all homeowners.

Like it or hate it, the price of real estate in Vancouver is not going to fall significantly and I do not take issue with that fact. Vancouver is a gorgeous, relatively safe city situated to continue as a major international trade centre due to its proximity to the Pacific Rim. As a long time Vancouver resident what I do take issue with is the large proportion of unoccupied condos and properties held as investments by non residents. RBC’s affordability index ranks Vancouver as the #1 least affordable place to live in Canada. RBC’s index is based on 2 values, people’s mortgage payments and their incomes. The higher the mortgage payment relative to income the less affordable an area is. Pretty simple stuff.

Vancouver is so ridiculously unaffordable for a many reasons. The main reasons I will point out are:

1. Vancouver is not a business hub in the same way Toronto is. We don’t have many corporate head offices or a large financial centre. This means there are not as many high paying jobs here. People look at New York and say “Well Vancouver could see those prices one day New York has” but this simply isn’t the case. New York sees an incredible amount of fund managers and investment bankers making 7 figures, we just don’t have that in Vancouver.
2. Speculation. As happens far too often in markets around the world speculation is running rampant in the Vancouver real estate market. Huge marketing teams push condo development presales and buyers hope to flip them for a quick buck. This means the market prices don’t reflect true resident demand for housing. Speculation drives market prices up beyond what resident’s incomes support.
3. Foreign buyers play a role in market prices as well and their transactions are completely unrelated to incomes within the city. This isn’t as large of segment as people want to believe (it is far too easy to take out ones frustration on a vaguely defined outside group) but still plays a significant role in driving up affordability.

The other issue I feel is worth of discussion is intentionally unoccupied properties. By unoccupied I am referring to properties bought but not rented or owner occupied. The reason this really upsets me is that it drives up rents and hurts those who already can’t afford to buy. There is a huge amount of new condos being built in this city, many bought by investors yet rents are rising and occupancy rates are below 1%. Try finding an apartment for rent on craigslist, I’m told it is chaos as a place will be listed and taken in the same day. My opinion is that intentionally unoccupied properties play a huge role in maintaining high rents despite an increase in the amount of available housing.

In Part 2 of this article I will discuss at least one out of left field idea for evening things out and making Vancouver a little more affordable for its citizens.

Sorry about the lack of updates, things have been busy and I just haven’t had the time to write anything of sufficient quality to be worth my wonderful reader’s time. I’m currently reading an excellent book by

Peter Legge whom I recently saw speak at The Vancouver Club. The book is “Make Your Life A Masterpiece.” I thought I would share a great story he found and put in his book that emphasises the importance of simple effective communication. Reading it I actually brought myself to tears laughing. Enjoy

Dear Maid,

Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way.

Thank you,
S. Berman

Dear Room 635,

I am not your regular maid. She will be back tomorrow, Thursday, from her day off. I took the 3 hotel soaps out of the shower soap dish as you requested. The 6 bars on your shelf I took out of your way and put on top of your Kleenex dispenser in case you should change your mind. This leaves only the 3 bars I left today which my instructions from the management is to leave 3 soaps daily. I hope this is satisfactory.

Kathy, Relief Maid

Dear Maid - I hope you are my regular maid.

Apparently Kathy did not tell you about my note to her concerning the little bars of soap. When I got back to my room this evening I found you had added 3 little Camays to the shelf under my medicine cabinet. I am going to be here in the hotel for two weeks and have brought my own bath-size Dial so I won’t need those 6 little Camays which are on the shelf. They are in my way when shaving, brushing teeth, etc. Please remove them.

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

My day off was last Wed. so the relief maid left 3 hotel soaps which we are instructed by the management. I took the 6 soaps which were in your way on the shelf and put them in the soap dish where your Dial was. I put the Dial in the medicine cabinet for your convenience. I didn’t remove the 3 complimentary soaps which are always placed inside the medicine cabinet for all new check-ins and which you did not object to when you checked in last Monday. Please let me know if I can of further assistance.

Your regular maid,
Dotty

Dear Mr. Berman,

The assistant manager, Mr. Kensedder, informed me this morning that you called him last evening and said you were unhappy with your maid service. I have assigned a new girl to your room. I hope you will accept my apologies for any past inconvenience. If you have any future complaints please contact me so I can give it my personal attention. Call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM.Thank you.

Elaine Carmen
Housekeeper

Dear Miss Carmen,

It is impossible to contact you by phone since I leave the hotel for business at 7:45 AM and don’t get back before 5:30 or 6PM. That’s the reason I called Mr. Kensedder last night. You were already off duty. I only asked Mr. Kensedder if he could do anything about those little bars of soap. The new maid you assigned me must have thought I was a new check-in today, since she left another 3 bars of hotel soap in my medicine cabinet along with her regular delivery of 3 bars on the bath-room shelf. In just 5 days here I have accumulated 24 little bars of soap. Why are you doing this to me?

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

Your maid, Kathy, has been instructed to stop delivering soap to your room and remove the extra soaps. If I can be of further assistance, please call extension 1108 between 8AM and 5PM.Thank you,

Elaine Carmen,
Housekeeper

Dear Mr. Kensedder,

My bath-size Dial is missing. Every bar of soap was taken from my room including my own bath-size Dial. I came in late last night and had to call the bellhop to bring me 4 little Cashmere Bouquets.

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

I have informed our housekeeper, Elaine Carmen, of your soap problem. I cannot understand why there was no soap in your room since our maids are instructed to leave 3 bars of soap each time they service a room. The situation will be rectified immediately. Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience.

Martin L. Kensedder
Assistant Manager

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Who the hell left 54 little bars of Camay in my room? I came in last night and found 54 little bars of soap. I don’t want 54 little bars of Camay. I want my one damn bar of bath-size Dial. Do you realize I have 54 bars of soap in here. All I want is my bath size Dial. Please give me back my bath-size Dial.

S. Berman

Dear Mr. Berman,

You complained of too much soap in your room so I had them removed. Then you complained to Mr. Kensedder that all your soap was missing so I personally returned them. The 24 Camays which had been taken and the 3 Camays you are supposed to receive daily. I don’t know anything about the 4 Cashmere Bouquets. Obviously your maid, Kathy, did not know I had returned your soaps so she also brought 24 Camays plus the 3 daily Camays. I don’t know where you got the idea this hotel issues bath-size Dial. I was able to locate some bath-size Ivory which I left in your room.

Elaine Carmen
Housekeeper

Dear Mrs. Carmen,

Just a short note to bring you up-to-date on my latest soap inventory. As of today I possess:
On the shelf under medicine cabinet - 18 Camay in four stacks of 4 and one stack of 2.
On the Kleenex dispenser - 11 Camay in two stacks of 4 and one stack of 3.
On the bedroom dresser - one stack of 3 Cashmere Bouquet,
One stack of 4 hotel-size Ivory, and 8 Camay in two stacks of 4.
Inside the medicine cabinet - 14 Camay in three stacks of 4 and one stack of 2.
In the shower soap dish - 6 Camay, very moist.
On the northeast corner of tub - 1 Cashmere Bouquet, slightly used.
On the northwest corner of tub - 6 Camays in two stacks of 3.

Please ask Kathy when she services my room to make sure the stacks are neatly piled and dusted. Also, please advise her that stacks of more than 4 have a tendency to tip. May I suggest that my bedroom window sill is not in use and will make an excellent spot for future soap deliveries. One more item, I have purchased another bar of bath-sized Dial which I am keeping in the hotel vault in order to avoid further misunderstandings.

S. Berman

Dan Johnston.