I am not sure our age group (36 yrs here) but I still remember very old b/w Balraj Sahni movie "Do Bigha Jamin" directed by Bimal Roy. In last he died in just paying the debt to Zamedaar/lala.


I drive 2000 Accord with 150k miles (US car) and I am not buying new till it working. I spent $2500 on transmission and new tire last year but better than taking 20K debt.

But we bought used luxury AWD car for my wife 2 yrs back. But we made sure we can pay in cash.

Have a good weekend….summer are short.

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Originally posted by febpreet

Either everybody is rich around me, or I am not doing something right in my life (damn! was I depressed for a moment?) - thus still own and driving 1999 Camry (poor chap thy name is me!

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Originally posted by rahul_singh23

I am not sure our age group (36 yrs here) but I still remember very old b/w Balraj Sahni movie "Do Bigha Jamin" directed by Bimal Roy. In last he died in just paying the debt to Zamedaar/lala.


I drive 2000 Accord with 150k miles (US car) and I am not buying new till it working. I spent $2500 on transmission and new tire last year but better than taking 20K debt.

But we bought used luxury AWD car for my wife 2 yrs back. But we made sure we can pay in cash.

Have a good weekend….summer are short.

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Very interesting debate and here I agree with rahul , if you check the countries who have gone under the weather , they went just after constructions and housing boom, latest in this fiasco is Greece and USA where housing price have tumbled by more then 50 % and ONCE UPON A TIME (just 2/3 years back) in these countries housing and constructions were booming , rahul is not saying that not to buy house but price of the house alone should not be the barometer of the economy and when hosing prices are going up then accordingly and proportionally economy, jobs and wages should be going up too and economy means not just housing but the manufacturing, finance, health etc etc

If house prices alone are going up and not the economy or wages then sooner or later it will effect other retail business and which in turn will bring down the economy and housing price :-)

hence for healthy economy and economy to flourish for a long period of time there should be proper balance among all the fundamental parameters of the economy

Charges laid in $12M Calgary mortgage fraud scheme


http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Charges+laid+Calgary+mortgage+fraud+scheme/3363225/story.html#ixzz0vpf39Bwy

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2010/08/05/calgary-fraud-bank-mortgage-police-alert.html


Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) have laid charges in a $12-million mortgage fraud scheme.

During a two-year investigation, authorities determined there were 22 properties involved in the scheme.

The police probe also uncovered 12 witnesses, people who were recruited to obtain a mortgage.

"The nominees, known as straw buyers, were asked to allow their name to be used to obtain a mortgage and were then told that the accused would take it over in their own names after six months," said Insp. Kevin Forsen of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT).

"In exchange for their identities, each straw buyer allegedly received between $3,000 to $5,000. Eventually, the accused walked away from the scheme with a large amount of money, leaving the nominees holding the mortgages."

Alleged ring-leader Ali El-Sayed, 31, surrendered to police on July 29. El-Sayed and his company, Ramses Holdings Inc., have been charged with 23 counts of fraud over $5,000. He also faces one count of extortion.

Christos Fotopoulos, 28, turned himself in August 4, and has been charged with three counts of fraud over $5,000.

An arrest warrant for Russell Kilba, 34, has been issued. Kilba is wanted on 10 counts of fraud over $5,000.

"This investigation was extremely complicated," Forsen said.

Although organized crime groups remain involved in illegal rackets such as drugs and prostitution, Forsen said they're increasingly diversifying into more complex crimes.

"Organized crime entities are looking at all kinds of different avenues to raise funds illegally," he said.

The investigation began in 2008. ALERT had 12 witnesses, all of who were recruited as mortgage nominees and knew or were acquaintances with the accused. The nominees were asked that their names be used to obtain a mortgage and were told the accused would take over the mortgage, in their own name, after six months.

Each nominee was given between $3,000 and $5,000 for use of their name. The accused walked with large amounts of money from the scheme, leaving the victims with the mortgages.

The financial institutions allegedly de-frauded were Scotiabank, TD Bank, ATB Financial, First National Financial, CIBC, Merix Financial, Royal Bank and MCAP Financial.

Intresting article in the financial post


http://www.financialpost.com/news/Getting+real+Bull+coming+Canada+housing/3369611/story.html

Thanks hopesrforever27.. really good link.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/Getting+real+Bull+coming+Canada+housing/3369611/story.html


This is the best part in whole article that RE experts/salesman never want to talk:

"Now they’d be lucky to get the $315,000 they paid for their condo, even though it may have fetched $345,000 in 2008 when they were thinking about selling it to help pay for their new home. Instead, they’re getting $1,100 a month in rent for an investment that costs them $1,800 a month to carry and isn’t going up in value."

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More from Calgary:
July 19 the average price of a single family home in Calgary was $486,194, today it was $443,026, a size-able price crash of $43,000 in only 19 days, I'm not suggesting for a minute that prices wont retrace a touch up between now and months end, however the trend is most definitely down and that trend will prevail for many, many years.

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Originally posted by hopesrforever27

Intresting article in the financial post


http://www.financialpost.com/news/Getting+real+Bull+coming+Canada+housing/3369611/story.html

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Buying house is really not a bad decision at all... if you do some planning and proper research.

The only problem is too many people are attracted to purchasing houses to fulfill their dreams, but they're purchasing houses that cost more than what they make in a month.

Each person should investigate before making such a huge investment. But the problem is most of the time it is really hard to find someone who is on YOUR side and can explain things to you.

You can't make an investment in the hundres of thousands of dollars without doing your homework first.

What people need to understand is: there are a couple of things to consider before buying house.

Cost of owning housing is about 30% higher than the cost of renting it.
Mortgage payments are usually the majority of this cost, but they are not the only factor. Property tax is another and you had better take it into account. That's a large chunk of most folks' after-tax income.

Also, what about maintenance? - That’s a hidden cost of maybe $3K per year (just regular maintenance, but don’t forget there are major maintenance cost which may increase your budget for example, roof, windows replacement etc…). There are dozens, if not hundreds of hidden costs like this, making it hard for the new home-buyer to estimate accurately the cost of owning a home. You could probably find a book to read about this, too.

So make some research and have some sort of backup plan for rainy days. When you buy a house it’s a kind of hidden investment or would say hidden savings. Down the road you will make benefits out of it.

Yes, at current stage house appreciation may be slower, but it's not like we are buying the property outright with cash we could put elsewhere. Risk is everywhere, no stocks or any other investment is safer today, at least with owning house you have something in hand.

I agree it may be a not a good time to buy a house as an investment. But if you intend to live in the place then that's another story.

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'Some goals are so worthy, it's glorious even to fail.' (Param Vir Chakra awardee Lt. Manoj Pandey)