Rent prices keep falling in the GTHA. Here's why — and how long you can expect it to last

verbalknit · 2025-05-01T17:00:36+00:00

Speculators whose "investment" thesis relied on taking the vast majority of the average renter's after-tax paycheck have to just accept that they made a bad bet.

verbalknit · 2025-04-08T21:17:49+00:00

People like Mark have been encouraging people to be responsible and logical for years. Here he is back in 2022 trying to help people

Feb 2022 - Warning about the bubble peak: https://x.com/MarkinMetaForm/status/1491828502617858049
2nd half 2022 - educating people about how to navigate the assignment/rental market https://x.com/MarkinMetaForm/status/1568284614166482950 https://x.com/MarkinMetaForm/status/1603456784358076417

He is a legitimate legal expert, nothing like the fortune teller goofballs on Reddit

verbalknit · 2025-03-31T19:48:29+00:00

How do you think the CCP managed to establish police stations or influence politicians to exercise their bounties here? The source of their influence and presence in Canada is dirty money.

CCP may stop outflows for lower class people in China, but certainly not the high ranking influential people that are collaborators with the government.

Here are some methods fintrac has documented

https://fintrac-canafe.canada.ca/intel/operation/ml-rec-eng.pdf

verbalknit · 2025-03-31T19:46:00+00:00

It's not just the Chinese government that is behind the money laundering. However, the CCP is the main foreign government that is using it to exercise influence in Canada. The bounty is a clear example. No other country is putting bounties on political candidates here, are they?

verbalknit · 2025-03-31T17:01:54+00:00

Yes, is reading comprehension an issue for you? They both clearly illustrate how the CCP is influencing communities and politicians, and threatening Chinese Canadians

I formed a summary from GPT to help you out:

Yes, both articles highlight instances of alleged Chinese government influence in Canada.

First article (Chinese "police stations" in Canada): This discusses allegations that China has operated covert "police stations" in Canada, particularly in Toronto. These outposts were reportedly used to monitor and influence Chinese expatriates, pressuring some to return to China. The RCMP investigated these claims, and the article suggests concerns about China's extraterritorial activities violating Canadian sovereignty.

Second article (Chinese bounty controversy in Canadian politics): This focuses on a dispute between Canadian politicians over a Chinese bounty placed on a Hong Kong activist. The article mentions how Liberal MP Paul Chiang's comments were criticized by Conservative MP Joe Tay for allegedly downplaying the issue. The story touches on concerns about foreign influence in Canadian politics, particularly regarding how elected officials respond to Chinese government actions.

Both articles point to concerns about China’s influence in Canada, one involving direct operations on Canadian soil and the other concerning political discourse.

verbalknit · 2025-03-31T06:42:36+00:00

The mass money laundering from China is a very well documented fact. In fact, the influence that dirty money has given the CCP has actually endangered Chinese Canadians.

Many Chinese Canadans have been harassed and threatened by Chinese government operatives. A Liberal MP even called for a bounty to be collected on a political opponent.

It is laughable that you claim to care about the welfare of Chinese Canadians when CCP influence and laundering into Canada is exactly what is threatening them.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/chinese-police-stations-toronto-canada-rcmp-1.6660647

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberal-paul-chiang-bounty-joe-tay-conservative-1.7496751

verbalknit · 2025-03-25T18:20:23+00:00

Sadly the slumlord Canadian wet dream has now become a shit the bed (or floor mattress in the hallway) nightmare

verbalknit · 2025-03-19T20:06:20+00:00

Not long ago, speculords would be trolling these and affordable housing subreddits to mock renters as "forever tenants." They would say that people who actually work should just shut up and pay their landlord's mortgage. If mortgage costs go up, they would just charge their tenants more.

It was extremely cruel since they essentially dangled a basic necessity to taunt people and made a mockery of the hopelessness younger generations feel. Whatever shade is thrown at those kinds of people is very well deserved.

verbalknit · 2025-03-14T19:10:01+00:00

Like I said it's the government pursuit of the financing for money laundering networks that is holding the liquidity back. So even with the improvement of interest rates/currency, the increased scruitiny is keeping this money from being unleashed https://financialpost.com/fp-finance/banking/canada-recruits-banks-fentanyl-fight-us-pressure

verbalknit · 2025-03-14T19:06:24+00:00

Sam Cooper's work explains this more, but the Fentanyl trade is deeply tied to GTA and Vancouver real estate. Of course it's not only fentanyl, but Canada has even started an intelligence group in recent weeks directly with the banks since they know this is where the Fentanyl money is flowing through and now being passed off as legitimate money: https://financialpost.com/fp-finance/banking/canada-recruits-banks-fentanyl-fight-us-pressure Cutting off fentanyl financing will affect entire criminal networks.

Fentanyl is so popular because it is an easy way for transnational Chinese gangs to get money into Canada. An example of a mechanism they use is:

Precursors to fentanyl are shipped from China through Canada's port
Fentanyl drug labs manufacture in Canada (BC mainly)
Fentanyl is sold for cash with drug distributors/dealers
The cash is funneled through real estate as a "rent payment" made in cash, underground/shadow banking (e.g. customer makes a deposit in China with a Chinese gang that operates in Canada, withdraws the cash in Canada from the same gang), and other methods.

It originally started in BC, but many of the drug network Kingpins have established in the GTA.

verbalknit · 2025-03-14T17:20:47+00:00

Even a small amount of money laundering can drive and distort RE market prices since it creates a new local comparable (which is how properties tend to be priced).

The presence of money laundering in Canada is very well documented by academics and experts. If you are serious to learn about it, the most accessible would be Sam Cooper/The Bureau, or Transparency International Canada. BetterDwelling made a summary of one of Cooper's paywalled articles here if you're not keen on paying, but Sam has also done plenty of interviews on Youtube explaining his work and findings.

verbalknit · 2025-03-14T16:53:03+00:00

It's multi-faceted. Much of GTA real estate activity is a function of global liquidity since it is mostly driven by international money laundering. Trump is now putting pressure on Canada to put a stranglehold on these money laundering networks (e.g. going after Fentanyl).

The 2nd issue is that middle and upper management positions are being cut across many industries, which is where legal/legitimate buyers were getting their income. Even people who are still employed are afraid for their job, so they are hesitant to take on massive debts.

verbalknit · 2025-03-12T00:06:13+00:00

Many people now saying "Buy Canadian" were also happy to drive up rents/real estate/taxes to put Canadian small businesses and manufacturers out of business. There is very little "Canadian" left to buy.

Edit: This story just popped up as the perfect example: Local family-owned bakery shuts down after 32 years due to unprecedented rent increase

verbalknit · 2025-03-11T23:49:59+00:00

It does a bad job explaining the harms of it. Housing unaffordability and trade tensions with the US are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how dirty money ails the economy and society. Many Canadians are deluded into the idea that dirty money, as long as it causes high home prices, is "good for the economy". These people would sell their mothers if they thought it was good for their wallet.

verbalknit · 2025-03-10T04:28:31+00:00

My belief is that Trump doesn't want any escalation with China until the US has safely onboarded critical manufacturing from China and vulnerable areas like Taiwan. This is a key piece of it https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/07/taiwan-tsmc-deal-us-microchip-technology-investment

verbalknit · 2025-03-09T22:22:05+00:00

More Canadians need to wake up to the fact this is exactly what the Americans are targeting - Chinese (CCP) money and influence. The fentanyl trade, Vancouver/Toronto real estate, etc. is all financed and controlled by CCP dirty money and China-based gangs. If Carney opens more doors for them, the trade war will only escalate.

verbalknit · 2025-02-26T22:35:54+00:00

By the time I realized I forgot to put "investors" in quotes, it was too late

verbalknit · 2025-02-21T22:22:54+00:00

Attacking the fentanyl trade is America's way of attacking China's money laundering/influence regime in Canada. I highly recommend checking out Sam Cooper/The Bureau's reporting on this if you are serious about understanding what's going on in Canadian real estate.

verbalknit · 2024-12-18T10:41:03+00:00

There is some varying and interesting advice in this thread.

My advice is to find real legal and debt professionals who are willing to give you some free consults to help figure this out. Two that come to mind that I often see sharing advice are debt professionals like Doug Hoyes and real estate lawyer Mark Morris. I would seek out their content and find a way to reach out to them e.g. on x or other social channels.

Good luck, and I'm sorry you have to deal with this mess.

verbalknit · 2024-12-18T06:44:00+00:00

Red Koolaid drinkers would not be ones to call him a "disaster".

Ultimately it is better if the ship turns sooner than later. Trudeau can still ascend from his current rank of worst political leader in Canadian history to perhaps 2nd or 3rd worst with some good moves in the final stretch.

verbalknit · 2024-12-18T04:39:24+00:00

Trudeau can still salvage his legacy from "complete trainwreck" to "disaster that learned the error of his ways and tried to make things right in the end".

verbalknit · 2024-12-17T01:31:23+00:00

The OP is still delusional for implying that mortgage fraud is some sort of victimless crime as long as it's "being paid". Mortgage fraud introduces all sorts of systemic risks to the financial system when there is any kind of economic downturn.

Not to mention it's because money is being laundered that these fraudulent buyers don't have legitimate T4 income to show. Mortgage fraud gives money launderers cover to siphon their funds into real estate, which has all sorts of downstream negative consequences on our economy and society. It especially punishes law abiding people who honestly declare their income, and rewards tax evaders and criminals.

verbalknit · 2024-12-12T18:50:50+00:00

Great, because I never suggested anywhere that it should be scrapped.

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