Monday, April 1, 2013

Sold



Sometimes life presents offers you just can’t refuse. So it’s with mixed emotions that I write HHV’s obituary today. All good things must come to an end. The fat lady does sing; it’s true.

With the real estate market in BC moving slower than molasses uphill and outside in winter, vested interests are working behind the scenes to protect their potential future real estate lottery wins.

A while back I got an email promising cash if I responded. You’ve had a few of them show up in your spam box I’m sure. Typically these emails come from Nigeria. Mine came from Victoria, so it’s legit.

It offered boatloads of cash. And it told me the cash was coming electronically via Western Union.

The only hook was this blog had to cease to exist. No archives. No new posts. No platform for real estate vendors in Victoria, Australia. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. HHV has to be no more.

Being an individual of curiosity, I read to the bottom of the email to see what I was being offered to shut the blog down.

Astronomical! Hailey’s Comet sized cash. Almost enough to buy an Oak Bay blue hair’s 1987 Toyota Corolla with 24,239 kilometers on it from her middle-aged son (still living at home but itching to get his own Oak Bay basement suite, eventually).

I took it. Money’s due in my account by 11:59 PM tonight. The blog will shut down at exactly midnight tomorrow as a result.

If this makes you angry, I understand. This blog has never been about its creator, it’s always been about the authors and commentators and their ongoing contributions. You’re right to feel like someone made off like a bandit on the backs of your collective efforts. I feel an enormous weight of guilt myself, but the visual of my three hairs blowing in the sunroof wind while cruising in my new-to-me Corolla is easing my pain.I trust MS Excel will help you with yours.

Besides, the real culprit in this caper is the organization behind the largesse, I’m just the messenger. Please direct your anger, or maybe your donations, at the Victoria Residential Real Estate Aspiring Flippers Association.

28 comments:

S-J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
S-J said...

Please tell me this is an April Fool's!

Leo S said...

Damnit I wanted that Corolla! Was it this one?

fishonhook said...

Great one! The best of the blogosphere.

koozdra said...

I tried the new MLS beta but the prices were still too high.

Johnny-Dollar said...

And we just bought the house next door to Introvert.

None said...


Just in case:

wget --recursive --no-clobber --page-requisites --html-extension --convert-links --restrict-file-names=windows --domains website.org --no-parent http://househuntvictoria.blogspot.ca/

Doug N said...

So long and thanks for all the fish!

(HHGTTG)

freedom_2008 said...

Don't trust anyone sending cash electronically via Western Union, especially on April 1st.

But if the shut-down is true, then farewell to the blog and the bloggers; If there is any real payment coming from place far-away, then good for you, HHV, on April fools day.

koozdra said...

First we had micro lofts, now we have the micro detached.

koozdra said...

I hate the third dimension also!

Unknown said...

Doesn't prevent you or starting up an identical website with a different name. I'm sure your RE benefactor isn't smart enought to get you to sign a contract to that effect. Then again, he can't stop anyone else from doing the same thing.

dasmo said...

he he ;-)

Leo S said...

And featured on the greater fool twice in as many days. Nice

a simple man said...

So, what were march sales?

DavidL said...

LOL... This reminds me of the news release that: Scope has introduced a bacon-flavoured mouthwash "for breath that sizzles."
CBC News - April Fools Day Pranks

HouseHuntVictoria said...

Not sure how I feel about GT's characterization of this post "final, pathetic."

Guess I'll have to turn down the offer, stick around and up the game around here until this blog has earned his validation.

Introvert said...

If this blog really did shut down, my life would probably be the better for it: I waste so much goddamn time on this thing. But it is a lot of fun.

Introvert said...

And we just bought the house next door to Introvert.

Just Jack buying a house? He's far too clever for that.

not yet said...

sales?

S-J said...

@ HHV

Remember, Garth always refers his own site as "this pathetic blog".

Personally, I think he's impressed with HHV!



a simple man said...

All the same, I am glad HHV lives on.

So, the sales for March?

koozdra said...

Court ordered sale

"Higher land value creates a “brutal” situation for families who want to pass farms on to the next generation. That’s because of the difficulty in raising enough money to buy the other out, he said. When that can’t happen, family farms can be lost."

No, higher land values are better for everyone.

Marko said...

Tuesday April 2, 2013 7:55am:

March March
2013 2012
Net Unconditional Sales: 483 570
New Listings: 1,231 1,385
Active Listings: 4,333 4,274

Please Note
Left Column: stats for the entire month from this year
Right Column: stats for the entire month from last year

Jack and Cate said...

Every dog has his day, every person has their price, a fool and their money are soon parted, don't believe everything you read, the sunrise will bring another day, don't stop believin'..... What am I missing in this list--- Humm?!?

DavidL said...

The latest VREB spin:
Greater Victoria's real estate market is following tradition with a spring upswing in activities with month-over-month increases in showings, new listings and total sales.

The Victoria Real Estate Board reports a total of 483 sales processed through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) in March 2013, an increase of 23% over the previous month. Sales figures are 15% lower than March 2012's 570 sales.

"The market continues to unfold as predicted," says Shelley Mann, President of the Board. "March resulted in the highest number of sales since July 2012 when the lending rules changed. With sales below the historical norm, there is potential pent-up consumer demand developing in the market. We expect quarterly activity to increase over the next two quarters.

"The real estate market peaked in 2008, and then the market adjusted during the global economic crisis. The first six months of 2012 were reasonably strong, and then mortgage amortization rules changed in July. The revised lending rules affected buyers' abilities to qualify for mortgages and we are still feeling those effects on the market," Mann explains.

"With different lending rules in effect, it is challenging to compare the first six months of 2013 with 2012," she adds.

The median price of a single-family home is $510,777 compared to $555,000 in March 2012, a decrease of 8%. The six-month average shows a decrease of less than one percent month-over-month. Annual differences are skewed by four single-family home sales over $2 million in March 2012.

There were 121 condominium sales in March, with a median price of $265,000 - down 3.3% year-over-year and 2% over last month. Townhouses saw increased sales in the past month with a median price of $384,450, an increase of 2.86% year-over-year and 13.91% since February 2013. Current active listings at the end of March were 4,333.

Total Waterfront Single Family Dwellings sold: 13, down 1 over March 2012
Total Non-waterfront Single Family Dwellings sold: 264, down 47 sales from March 2012
Single Family Dwellings sold over $1 million: 15 (1 over $2 million)

Brian said...

hahaha very good!

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