Sunday, August 28, 2011

George Washington was in a cult

And the cult was into aliens man*

This is your open real estate thread until we post the near month-end stats tomorrow.

* I bet you don't know what movie that was from... 

18 comments:

Leo S said...

No points if you needed to use Google to find the movie either...

<---- Back to real estate

The sharp drop in price/assessment was indeed temporary. The under 550s are back to selling at about 96% of assessment. Will be interesting to see what happens next, and what assessments will do this year. You'd think they should stay flat.

Waiting said...

I've been absent from this blog for a while but after reading the discussion on smart meters and radiation emmisions I wanted to make a quick post. People can argue both ways on this topic but the reality is that no one knows for sure exactly what dangers exist. This one hit home for me. The reason for my absence is because in early July my husband (36 yrs and father of two little ones) was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer. It came out of nowhere, it was a complete shock to us. There is no history of cancer in our family. I've learned more about brain cancer, potential causes, increasing rates, etc in the last 6 weeks than anyone should ever have to know. The oncologists say that they are seeing a VERY noticable increase in rates of brain cancer - particularly in men. It is nasty and it is deadly. They say that most of the studies around cell phones and wifi are inconclusive, but primarily because there are so many new changes there hasn't been adequate time to do the long term studies.
So for us - no wifi, very limited cell phones and you'd better believe there will be no smart meter. I may have to smash the thing off myself with a sledge hammer but so be it. I'm not prepared to take any chances with my children. I understand it is all around us, but it isn't in our home anymore. I used to be all for technology. Wait until this sort of thing hits your family. Your thoughts will change. We should be standing up and saying 'no' to things that are unknown if there is even a possibility that it could be harmful.
@Frannie If you are looking for someone to lead the charge against smart meters you've found your girl! Just let me know.

jesse said...

Real estate please. But above all else, this blog has been a great source of data and analysis of Victoria's RE market. Do not turn discussion towards theories why Victoria is different based on suspect data and logic, even if you are frustrated as all hell at the situation.

a simple man said...

@ Waiting. I am so sorry for you and your family. I give you strength and courage to make it through this together.

Mindset said...

Yet another renting vs owning story. Check out the rental vs owning spread in Vancouver now. Wow. Talk about a good time to cash out if you are at the point where retirement cashflow is important.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/33638

Mindset said...

People can argue both ways on this topic but the reality is that no one knows for sure exactly what dangers exist... my husband (36 yrs and father of two little ones) was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer

I'm very sorry to hear about your husband and was not making the point that wifi is safe, just that it is everywhere already, which people seemed to be ignoring in their BC Hyrdo arguments. As a father myself, I wish your family the best in your difficult time.

Just Janice said...

@waiting - terribly sorry to hear of the sad news and the challenges your family are currently navigating...its not fair. I wish you strength and courage and hope in the most difficult time ahead.

RE: RE It looks like the CMHC rules have dropped refinancing activity by 40% according to an article in the Globe and Mail...that seems to me that there are a whole lot of people who have their credit life line cut short...

Unknown said...

I don't discount that WiFi may affect us somehow, but really, if it did, it would be a tiny fraction of 1% of all the frequencies us urbanites get bombarded with each day. Have you ever looked a frequency/spectrum allocation chart? This one is for the USA, but the Canadian one looks nearly identical. Also look at 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz section... see how tiny WiFi actually is compared to everything else? Not only that but the legal WiFi power transmission is something like 1/100th of the power of a light-bulb, hence why signals do not go much beyond 150-300 feet; where as AM/FM go on for dozens or even hundreds of kilometers, and we've been bombarded with those since we were born! You'll note the spectrum allocation chart doesn't have a whole lot of blank space there for unused frequencies; hence why they are sold for billions by the CRTC's of Western Nations.

"Ottawa plans to auction off the vacated frequencies for mobile phone, wi-fi and other broadband use for an estimated $4 billion."

Best wishes for your husband and your family. I've recently also had a family member go through a less severe cancer diagnosis and it was very stressful and emotional. All the best!

Marko said...

Monday, August 29, 2011 8:20am:

MTD August
2011 2010
Net Unconditional Sales: 469 425
New Listings: 1,056 956
Active Listings: 4,811 4,356

Please Note

•Left Column: stats so far this month
•Right Column: stats for the entire month from last year

Marko said...

Waiting, best wishes.

Unfortunately it is all around - I am trying to cut down my blackberry use but it is difficult given the nature of my business. One thing I will be doing shortly is making my office wireless free unfortunately when I click on networks it picks up 6 of my neighbours....

One of my peers from VIHA told as of earlier this year they are using a Vocera communication system which runs off the hospital Wi-Fi system. You basically have to wear it for every 12 hour shift - mandatory....

SFH average is down to 651k for earlier in the month.

Condo average is up to 345k thanks to someone from Calgary dropping 3.3 mill on a unit at the Oak Bay Hotel.

Marko said...

Must be nice finishing - 3.3 million for 1,834 sq/ft?

DavidL said...

@Waiting

My sympathy and condolences to you, your husband and little ones. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for all of you ...

@JustJanice

More from CBC ...
CMHC results show changing housing market

New mortgage rules implemented this past spring have stemmed the flow of new buyers and put a chill on refinancing activity, the agency that insures Canada's housing market says

DavidL said...

@Marko wrote: Must be nice finishing - 3.3 million for 1,834 sq/ft?

It is probably just an investment property ... after all, the resale price will always goes up! ;-)

http://www.oakbaybeachhotel.com/realestate.php

jesse said...

And yes, Waiting, best wishes to your family.

Taigaa said...

Cell phone use that can't be avoided is best done on speakerphone or using a wired or Bluetooth headset, it cuts down on the exposure immensely since the antenna is farther from your head.

jesse said...

Waiting, I had a family member who died of stomach cancer about 4 years ago. At the time it was very difficult for the family, especially my family member's spouse. To help the family deal with cancer, the oncologist spent time with us helping us to understand the pathology of cancer in general and its causes, as we were all concerned that we may be doing something that would lead us to have a higher chance of developing cancer. The takeaway we received was that the five best things we can do are: eat properly including lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly, stop smoking and overindulging in alcohol, maintain a positive attitude in life, and avoid prolonged exposure to already-identified carcinogens with verifiable links to increased cancer risk such as bleach, asbestos, etc. Other environmental factors often mentioned such as low-level radiation from power lines and consumer devices are statistically unlikely to produce any increased rate of cancer, and although we should keep an open mind on the possibilities of other yet-undetected carcinogens in our environment, the five things he mentioned by far are the best means to reduce risk of cancer and where my efforts lie to this day.

Again, I'm sorry about your situation. I thought I'd share what I found helpful dealing with my family's loss.

Johnny-Dollar said...

Wishing the best for you and your family.

Sweetrealtor said...

@ Waiting, best wishes for a full recovery for you husband.

I was worried about the dramatic increase in cell phone use when I chose to pursue real estate. There are so many aspects of our lives that increase our risks of cancer beyond the big ones (smoking, drinking, bad eating, no exercise, etc.) and we may never really know what all of them are. But cell phone use seems like an obvious trigger to me.

I'm not sure about smart meter radiation being benign or harmful but I certainly wouldn't just accept the explanations we are being fed from BC Hydro. They don't really care about us and this is very obvious by them ignoring consumers please to opt out.

I met a lady at an open house who was choosing to move outside of the grid to be free of all wifi radiation, etc., as she was sensitive to it. Why can't they opt out for medical reasons? Obviously, every grow op in town would try to opt out too but there must be a way to prevent abuse.

HHV, you gotta love how the commentary/rants change direction here. From HST to politics to health care to smart meters... Good stuff and, for the most part, friendly discourse.