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From T.S.:

Your article points out a number of truisms, which many Vancouverites have known for years. But their voices have been silenced by both the right (real-estate people and developers) and by the left (who say any comment about Chinese investment could be seen as racist).

We will never get out of this mess. And I fully expect that my children will never come to live in Vancouver. All of this to provide a money-laundering service to millionaires.

From G. Wilson:

We downsized a couple of years ago and our house was bought by an off-shore student. The offer included a contingency to get financing for $850,000. What bank gives a student $850,000?

I was suspicious and asked a mortgage broker friend of mine about this. He said it’s very common. The banks feel safe that the house won’t go down by half.

As for the money assembly: The mortgage broker said wealthy residents of Mainland China open several accounts and deposit $50,000 in each. Then, on the date of sale, they put them all in one account for the cash down payment, which in our case was about $700,000.

My real beef is how there has been no real oversight on these transactions and how our principle-owner rules have been abused. Our system is being abused and the realtors are not reporting suspicious activity (your FINTRAC comments ring true). We have been the best tax haven in the world! The realtors must be held to account and report this type of activity.

We walk the dog through the Arbutus Ridge area above 16th and west of Arbutus. At night there are only two or three cars per block and only about a third of the houses ever have any lights on. It’s not a neighborhood. It’s a bank!