RESTAURANTS: Want to know which ones to avoid? Two websites give the inside scoop

Peter Clough
Province

Nervous diners in this city can go to the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority’s restaurant inspection website before booking a table (ww.foodinspectionweb.vcha.ca)

And they should. There have been 39 closures so far this year.

Then again it’s much more fun to check out the personal dining horror stories on Discover Vancouver’s message board.

Some appetizers:

– “I saw someone at a restaurant putting an uncovered bucket of soup in the hallway near the washrooms.”

– “My boyfriend saw a waiter go to the washroom and not wash his hands after. He came out and picked up the food to serve the table next to us.”

– “One afternoon a customer ordered a tuna salad sandwich and I saw the cook mixing it with her bare hands and then she licked her fingers and picked up the bread to put it in the toaster.”

– “We sat down and, no joke, there were rat droppings on the table. We got up and got the hell out of there.”

– “A guy came out with a plate of bruschetta for the people who were waiting for a table, sneezed on it, and offered it around to everyone.”

– “I literally saw a bug crawling out of a salad roll.”

– “As I was finishing off my meal the waitress came by and took away my plate of bean sprouts. I watched as she put it behind the counter next to the coffee machine. Five minutes later she picked it back up and gave it to the couple sitting two tables down from us.”

© The Vancouver Province 2005

Sun

Located at Canada Place Way and Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver, the Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver will offer 415 hotel rooms on 18 lower floors and 173 apartments on 26 upper floors. The developer, Westbank and Peterson Group, released muchanticipated details of the project this week. James K.M. Cheng Architects will do the building; Bob Rennie, the marketing of the residences. The release estimates the project will cost more than $350 million to build. Westbank and Peterson are currently developing the Living Shangri-La tower. They are also the developers of the former Woodward’s store site. Westbank and Peterson expect to begin construction of Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouveron next summer. They expect to complete construction in the middle of 2009.

A construction start next summer should generate a construction end three years later, in good time for the 2010 Olympics, the developers of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver announced this week.

A construction start next summer should generate a construction end three years later, in good time for the 2010 Olympics, the developers of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Vancouver announced this week.

The hotel and residential property will be located at Burrard and Canada Place Way.

Its neighbours will include downtown landmarks of the past and future, among them the Marine Building and the expanded convention centre. Details, K23

CMHC LAUDS SALSBURY HEIGHTS REHABILITATION

The latest CMHC housing-research release includes a report on a local rehabilitation — Salsbury Heights.

“Salsbury Heights is a heritage revitalization and infill project that includes six apartments in an existing, municipally designated heritage house, two new single-detached infill houses and eight new infill townhouses, four of which front on to a lane,” the release notes.

“The project was approved by the City of Vancouver through a Heritage Revitalization Agreement that allowed the developer additional density in return for saving the heritage building and features.

“Objections from neighbours caused time delays, and the exacting, heritage retention and restoration work was more time-consuming and expensive than anticipated. However, the project has proved to be a valuable addition to the neighbourhood.”

For the full report visit: cmhc.ca.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Scott Simpson
Sun

REAL ESTATE I B.C.’s residential real estate market cooled slightly in October, but not enough to stop the province from reaching its second consecutive year for record dollar volume sales.

The B.C. Real Estate Association reported that sales dipped under $3 billion for the first time in eight months — but year-to-date performance totalled $30.6 billion and “has already surpassed all of last year’s monthly dollar volume figures combined.”

The association is also predicting by year’s end, B.C. will set a record for number of units sold.

The 2004 mark was $27.8 billion. As with this year, the 2004 total was about $3 billion better than the year previous.

The association reported 8,456 homes were sold in B.C. on the Multiple Listing Service in October, with a value of $2.93 billion.

That’s a cool-off from September but it represents a 36.79 per cent increase in dollar volume compared to 2004 — and is accompanied by an 18.68 per cent boost in the number of units sold versus the same period a year earlier.

Growth was strong in most areas of the province.

“Ten of the 12 real estate boards reported double-digit percentage increases in dollar volume sales over 2004, with nine boards experiencing at least a 25 per cent boost.

“The autumn months tend to be somewhat slower in the real estate market,” said BCREA president Dave Barclay. “However despite the slight decline in sales, October’s figures are still well above what we saw a year ago.

“This is a clear indication of just how strong the market has been in the past few months, which is why we are seeing a new record already in 2005.”

The most homes sold, 96,316, was in 2003. Through October 2005, 92,866 units have been sold and the association predicts the 2003 record will fall when this month’s sales are tallied.

Not surprisingly, Greater Vancouver recorded the greatest dollar volume of residential sales in October, $1.53 billion, representing a 33.86 per cent volume increase and 19.6 per cent growth in the number of units sold.

The Fraser Valley was second, with $563 million representing a 66.25 per cent increase.

2005: Another record buster

B.C. has set another record in residential dollar volume sales, surpassing 2004’s high-water mark.

Asian offshore buyers already own at least two other units in Coal Harbour area, realtor says

Derrick Penner
Sun

The penthouse of the luxe, yet-to-be-built Two Harbour Green project has been sold for $7.75 million to an Asian offshore buyer, a record for high-end condo properties that provides more evidence the top of Vancouver’s market is in a rarefied air all its own.

Realtor George Wong, with Platimum Project Marketing Group, Macdonald Realty, said it tops the $6.02 million paid in a pre-sale for the penthouse of Two Harbour Green’s sister building, One Harbour Green.

The $7.75 million for the new 5,950-square-foot penthouse suite works out to just over $1,300 per square foot, compared to the $1,100 per square foot paid for the penthouse of Yaletown’s Pomaria building.

“Vancouver is definitely attracting the super-wealthy, world-travelling, want-the-best kind of a set,” Wong said.

Grace Sartori, marketing coordinator for Platinum Project Marketing, said the city has been attracting a lot of attention because of surveys, such as the Economist’s magazine’s ranking of Vancouver both as the world’s most livable city and best destination for business travellers.

Wong said the buyers for Two Harbour Green’s penthouse are familiar with the Coal Harbour neighbourhood. They already own property in the area, and took a suite in the One Harbour Green building.

He added the buyers aren’t sure if the penthouse will be their primary home, or an alternate residence, but many of his sales have been made to buyers purchasing second, third or fourth homes.

And the $7.75 million price for the penthouse did not surprise Wong. Pre-sales for Two Harbour Green’s suites opened in June, and virtually sold out in a matter of weeks at an average price over $2.5 million.

“There’s a lot of money pouring in from around the world and the rest of Canada, especially Alberta,” Wong said.

Alberta buyers, he said, are “recreational purchasers.”

The New York Times, in June, linked Vancouver to a world real estate boom fuelled by cheap credit and globalization that has seen prices spike in cities that urban economists call “primate cities” — cosmopolitan places where the very wealthy like to visit and play.

Georges Pahud, president of the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board, said a significant group of influential people are recognizing Vancouver as desirable, so “it’s not surprising that we’re coming up close to what is reasonably close to top-class prices with our world-class real estate.”

Pahud added that the top-end of the world’s market in places such as Manhattan in New York are likely higher, but the above-average New York price is probably in the $1,000 US per square foot range.

“A lot of very wealthy people are choosing Vancouver as a place to live or for their second or third home,” he said.

Bob Rennie, a Vancouver realtor specializing in condominiums and high-end projects, sold the penthouse suite at the as-yet unbuilt Shangri-La for $7.4 million some months ago.

Rennie, who is now marketing the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel project, said a lack of waterfront property is driving up prices.

“We’re an international city and it seems that downtown moves … on world attention,” Rennie said. “The rest of our market moves on wage and job stability.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Michael Kane
Sun

Debbie and Dennis Nisbet built their current real estate wealth of about $2.7 million over 20 years, mostly using other people’s money.

They say you can do it, too, if you are prepared to be frugal, take some calculated risks and ride out periodic down markets.

For example, Dennis Nisbet paid $135,000 for his first investment property in 1982, only to watch its value fall back to about $120,000, before climbing to $200,000 by 1988.

In 1996, the Nisbets paid $625,000 for their waterfront home in Port Moody, and spent “a few tough years” wondering if they would have to sell it to keep their heads above water. Just nine years later, the home is valued at $1.4 million.

They advise clients to shun townhouses and condominiums in favour of pre-owned single-family homes with basements, preferably above-ground, that can be rented out.

The Nisbets say 25 per cent of the value should be in the structure, and 75 per cent should be land. “That’s the perfect formula, because the land always increases and the structure decreases,” Dennis Nisbet said.

When the buyers have built some equity, they can borrow against it to buy a second home, usually within three or four years, and then continue buying indefinitely.

Last week’s Smart Money detailed a strategy to preserve retirement capital and provide income over 10 years, a period covering both a bull market and a bear market in financial securities. Over the same decade, the Lower Mainland saw a bear market in real estate, followed by the current bull market.

Dennis Nisbet says investing the same $100,000 in real estate over the same period — as they did in Maple Ridge in 1994 — would have put you streets ahead of investing in a Canadian balanced mutual fund.

Here’s how it worked. Had you invested $100,000 to buy a $160,000 property, you would have needed a mortgage of $60,000. The rental income of $1,500 monthly would have paid all of your expenses, plus a management fee of $150 monthly, and paid you about $600, similar to the income from the mutual fund.

By 2005, the property was worth $340,000. Assuming the mortgage was still $60,000, your equity had increased to $280,000. Your rental income would have grown to about $1,800 monthly, which would pay you close to $900 monthly after expenses.

If you sold the property, you would receive your initial $100,000, plus a taxable gain of $180,000. During this time, your income, averaging $750 monthly, would have totalled $90,000. The same $100,000 invested in the average Canadian balanced fund would have paid you $7,700 in taxable gain and an income of $69,960.

The real estate advantage, Nisbet says, is $20,040 more income and $172,300 in additional wealth. And that’s assuming you paid $18,000 to have someone else manage the property, something the Nisbets say you could probably do yourself.

So why do most people limit real estate investing to their own personal residence?

“We often find that first-time buyers, younger people, don’t want to start off with tightening their belts,” Debbie Nisbet says.

“They are used to having a new car, whether it is leased or bought new, and they want a brand new apartment or a newer house, and they want it in Vancouver or Burnaby or Coquitlam. When they can’t do it, they don’t do anything. They don’t want to start at the bottom and work their way up.”

Dennis Nisbet says their own children are all self-sufficient and talking about getting their first investment properties. “We are not at all enabling parents,” he said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Michael Kane
Sun

In a continuing series on consumer decisions, Michael Kane looks at what’s involved in declaring bankruptcy

Canada‘s bankruptcy laws are designed to permit an honest but unfortunate debtor to obtain a discharge from his or her debts while treating creditors equally and fairly.

Last year, more than 100,000 individuals in Canada filed for personal bankruptcy or filed a bankruptcy proposal.

Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding that relieves an insolvent person of his or her financial obligations. A bankruptcy proposal lets a debtor restructure his or her financial affairs, often allowing for reduced payments and/or an extension of the time to pay.

Little or no increase is expected in this year’s bankruptcy numbers thanks to low interest rates, low unemployment and soaring real estate values. But with savings rates at record lows, numbers could spike if the economy turns downward.

WHO DOES IT

Filing bankruptcy is usually the last resort for people under siege by creditors. It is a powerful vehicle for a debtor to get a fresh financial start.

In almost all cases it is the result of a catastrophic event or set of circumstances, says Vancouver‘s Earl Sands, a trustee in bankruptcy and author of a newly published Bankruptcy Guide (pictured) from North Vancouver‘s Self-Counsel Press.

It could be a business owner whose company has failed, leaving him or her personally responsible for the business debts. Sometimes it is caused by an illness that prevents a person from working.

It could be because a person has lost his or her job and was forced to live off credit before a new job was found.

In some instances individuals succumb to the lures of gambling or tax evasion, and some students take on too much debt and then are unable to earn enough to pay it off.

Note that student loans cannot be erased by bankruptcy until 10 years after the completion of studies, although Ottawa is reviewing recommendations to reduce the waiting period to seven years as part of a bankruptcy reform package.

HOW IT WORKS

You can only go bankrupt or file a proposal if you use the services of a trustee in bankruptcy. You can locate a trustee by looking in the Yellow Pages or by visiting Sands’ website at www.BankruptcyCanada.com

There is an immediate stay of proceedings once bankruptcy is filed electronically with the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

That means creditors cannot take any action to seize assets, other than those signed over as security in the event of non-payment. Nor can creditors seek a court order to garnishee wages. Collection calls also stop once the debt collector knows the individual has filed for bankruptcy.

In most cases only your creditors will know you have filed. Only in rare circumstances is a legal notice placed in the local newspaper.

In the most common type of personal bankruptcy, a creditors’ meeting is not held unless requested by the Official Receiver (Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy) or by creditors.

First-time bankrupts are entitled to a discharge after nine months, during which time they cannot be a director of a company, must make monthly payments to the trustee, turn in all credit cards, borrow no more than $500 from anyone without divulging they are bankrupt, report monthly income and expenses to the trustee including copies of pay stubs, and attend two counselling sessions on money management.

DISADVANTAGES

For a person facing a financial crisis, Sands says there are really very few disadvantages to bankruptcy. There is the argument that a bankruptcy adversely affects a person’s credit rating, but the reality is that the person going into bankruptcy will have such a bad credit rating that nothing will make it worse. In fact, the person will be a better credit risk after bankruptcy because he or she will have no debt.

WHAT IT COSTS

The payments a debtor makes in the nine months of bankruptcy are set by the government. Trustee fees come out of this amount. In the most common situations, the monthly payments are less than $200 a month for nine months.

Sands says most debtors keep all their assets. In B.C., bankruptcy exemptions include $12,000 in home equity ($9,000 outside Greater Vancouver and Victoria), $4,000 in household items, $5,000 equity in a vehicle (reduced to $2,000 if the debtor is behind on child-care payments), $10,000 in work tools, and essential clothing and medical aids.

Almost all debtors are discharged or out of bankruptcy in nine months, when most debts are erased. Exceptions are fines imposed by a court, money owing for things stolen, things obtained by misrepresentation, alimony or maintenance payments, damages awarded by a court for sexual assault or intentionally inflicting bodily harm, and student loans within 10 years after the completion of studies.

THE TRUSTEE

Some of the duties of the trustee in bankruptcy are to:

– Investigate the financial affairs of the bankrupt.

– Administer the bankruptcy estate to ensure the orderly and fair distribution of property among the creditors.

– Set aside any side deals or fraudulent transactions designed to hide assets from creditors or benefit one ordinary creditor over another.

– Sell any available assets.

– Recommend whether the bankrupt should be discharged. In rare cases, discharge can be withheld if the individual fails to meet his or her obligations outlined above.

REBUILDING CREDIT

Bankruptcy is a black mark on a person’s credit rating that stays on your credit bureau report for six to seven years.

However, Sands says a diligent person can rebuild his or her credit rating in as little as two years by following these tips:

– Talk to your banker and say you want to re-establish your credit rating.

– Open a savings account.

– Be a regular and persistent saver.

– Take out a small loan using the savings account as collateral and then pay it back.

– Apply for a credit card with a low limit, and secure the limit by using your savings account as collateral.

– Pay your credit-card balances on time.

Another little-known tip is that a debtor has the right to place a 50-word message on his credit report to explain why he or she declared bankruptcy.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005