3483 replies to this topic

[LJ]

^Not if you are one of the 6% tho I guess.

[Victoria Watcher]

^Not if you are one of the 6% tho I guess.

 

self-employed also have a knack for reducing their income tax or other payroll tax burden.  so often they make more take-home money.  to show better take-home income or save up for down payment.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 July 2019 - 07:59 PM.

[LJ]

I'll let MikeK take a swing at that, I guess you're going along with Trudeau when he said small private business are just doing it as a tax dodge.

[Victoria Watcher]

I just think that self employed have ways to manipulate reported income more so than a woman at a government union job.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 July 2019 - 08:15 PM.

[Mike K.]

Many business owners take the corporate income tax hit and leave funds in the company while withdrawing a salary to cover their expenses (and paying income tax on that salary). So theoretically you could, say, earn $50k per year, but you choose to only earn $25k because you’ve already paid corporate tax on that money, and since you don’t need more you choose when to withdraw it and when to pay tax on it.

There’s no magic there. You pay whatever taxes come your way, but you do get to control the flow of earnings from already taxed corporate income.

[Matt R.]

T5 income isn’t as good as it used to be.

I see the province coughed up some dough for affordable housing on salt spring. Nice neighbourhood! It’s confirmed they have water rights.

https://www.victoria...-spring-island/

Matt.

[Sparky]

^ When CTV aired a story about this development they stated that 2 bedroom units started at $570 and 3 bedrooms at $1,475. That didn’t seem right but I see that article you linked has the same figures.

[Matt R.]

One of the proponents has said that the articles have been poorly worded. Some units will have a higher subsidy and lower rent, hence the range mentioned in the articles.

Matt.

[Mike K.]

Right, I was going to say that the lower end prices have subsidies. The rents for non-subsidized one-beds will be much, much higher. Just for reference, affordable housing is not always subsidized. Subsidies and affordability are most often mutually exclusive. What makes the units affordable is government involvement in one or more aspects of the project, hence there are lower operating costs, lower interest rates on the construction financing, etc etc, and the actual rents reflect those inputs but they’re not actively being subsidized once rented.

[Matt R.]

From the Driftwood newspaper article

"Eight triplex buildings will be constructed on the site, which will include two- and three-bedroom units. Thirty per cent of the homes will be for middle-income families, with annual incomes of up to $107,000. Half of the units will be available to lower income residents, and the remaining 20 per cent will be for low-income families and residents. According to a news release from the ministry, rental rates are projected to be between $570 per month for two-bedroom units and $1,475 for three-bedroom units."

Matt.

[Mike K.]

At some point as a journalist you need to stop and ask, does what I’m writing make sense?

[Matt R.]

Not sure who wrote the first article but you can see sites like Victoria Buzz are just regurgitating someone else’s words.

Matt.

[AllseeingEye]

Sheesh - after plowing through the last 3-4 pages I realize more than ever I took the lucky-ass short cut route to initial home ownership; in 1999 I cashed in my ridiculously valued tech stocks from my employer of the day, fortuitously one of the largest most valuable tech firms in the world at the time, whose stocks traded on the NYSE and which paid out stock options to staff in US dollars (yippie!), and walked away with about $100K. Not a bad gig for just 2.5 years of service. IOW I was damn lucky.

 

A couple of years percolating that $ in an investment account and a down payment on my CSV condo is required say you mister mortgage holding institution? Sure no problem says I - here's $75K cash, where do I sign? Thank you. On top of that like many/most boomers both my wife and I stand to inherit significant estates, ultimate proof positive that its far better to be lucky than good. "Luck" and not any sort of plan played a huge role for me, thankfully.

 

I do feel for many of the younger folks coming up behind us though especially those without the horseshoes falling out of their a**es like me; the cost of living in this town - SW BC generally - has snowballed well beyond the ability of even higher than average wage earners to realistically gain an ownership foothold. And I have no idea how a single person making that $18/hour gets by here......

 

Most of us likely know people bailing on Vancouver - I'm thinking of DINK couples with damn good household incomes - in order just to keep their heads above water and their financial affairs in somewhat decent shape. I know ex-Vancouverites now living respectively in Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and naturally all are light years ahead financially - although they were all forced to invest in snow shovels. We boomers for the most part are due to inherit sums of $ of historic proportions that will see us well into retirement. Not certain that good fortune will translate to the folks coming in behind us, which behooves them more than most to map out and really plan their financial affairs more than we/I ever did.

 

That all said - and I know very well this isn't always possible depending on individual and family circumstances, I do get that - but if you can't afford to live in a certain market then bottom line is that you need to seriously consider moving somewhere you can afford. Just because you don't like the fact that a 1 bedroom Victoria apartment is currently pushing ~ $1800 or whatever the number is - won't change that market reality: it is whatever the market dictates that it is. You may very well have to accept a move to Nanaimo (I did once, for 18 months), Quesnel, Prince George, Red Deer or points even further east. That's called life.

 

I for example would dearly love to own the 1967 GT500 Ford Shelby Super Snake that sold for $1.3+ million a few years ago however I seem to be about a million dollars liquid cash short - so I drive a Ford Explorer instead, and my wife drives a Ford Truck. That is the other part of life - you make do and live within your means, unless you happen to enjoy drowning in debt.

 

When work in Victoria in the tech sector was scarce in the 90's I moved back to Vancouver in 1997 (when that market was still sane, thankfully - my last apartment on West 12th and Hemlock, a large spacious 1 BDRM unit in a great neighborhood cost the princely monthly sum of $750/mo....). You do what you need to do. And "no" none of us - even those of us born here - have any special God Given "right" to live on the south island. You can either afford Victoria, or you can't. I can't afford the Shelby so I drive an SUV. And if you can't afford the cost of living here then unless you want to live on someone's couch in perpetuity you do what every previous generation has done - you move elsewhere, get established, carefully manage and build your finances and maybe - maybe - you might be able to come back one day. Or not, which is a distinct possibility and hardly the end of the world.

 

Accept the fact however that there are no guarantees. That may not sound 'fair' - but what is fair? Victoria owes you nothing and the broader market owes you nothing. You have only yourself to depend on. So get on it. Besides the fishing in Quesnel is pretty good - and you can still purchase a home there and in Nanaimo or Prince George or Red Deer without imploding and committing financial seppuku......

[Mike K.]

You have a way with words, ASE.

[VIResident]

What AE said.  Employers are moving on as well - packing up and taking their business to communities that have potential employees and homes for employees to affordably live on a wage that the employer can affordably pay.  This past year no less than 4 of my friends, 2 with corps. have moved - Sask. Man. Ontario & Alberta.  The employers did the math, added in all current taxes, future taxes & levies (sewage etc.) reviewed housing stats, wages and just couldn't see a future here.  Enjoying life is what it is all about, you can have fun in the snow!

[A Girl is No one]

“In a letter to council, Deanna Bhandar, Cool Aid director of real estate development, said the proposal will affect the livability of the rooming house as well as the future development potential of the Cool Aid property.
“While this market rental housing will be an asset to the community, it will not alleviate the needs of our very low-income residents, nor does it fully realize the community’s potential for more diverse and equitable housing stock,” Bhandar says”

From the TC today (https://www.timescol...erns-1.23891483)

So I’m really noticing that Coolaid, Our Place, Pacifica, PHS and company are owning more and more of the downtown area buildings, all paid for by our tax money. At what point does the “no income” housing proliferation start hindering on the worker housing and draw more people in the non working pool? This cannot keep going at this rate or else people will refuse to work and we will have a worker shortage... oh wait...

[Victoria Watcher]

livability of the rooming house as well as the future development potential of the Cool Aid property

 

so it sounds like cool aid is in the land speculation business too.

[VIResident]

livability of the rooming house as well as the future development potential of the Cool Aid property

 

so it sounds like cool aid is in the land speculation business too.

Can't beat 'em join 'em! Wait-a-sec that would mean......

[Torrontes]

Kanye West to the rescue. Does this mean Star Wars fans get first priority, assuming they meet the income test of course?

 

https://www.bisnow.c...tm_medium=email

[Matt R.]

Stress test rate came down last week I hear. Won’t make much of a difference, but it all helps.

Matt.