journal features

housing in a bubble

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Toronto, 2014.08.21

When your kids are too big an noisy for your apartment, but the housing market's gone bubbly, you must ride it out. Or so it's looking. Some friends live in a house up the street that they bought for $150,000 in the 90's. Across the street, a house just sold for $2,000,000. Also on our street, a dilapidated two-unit rental building was listed for $640,000 (who knows what it sold for). Knowing what the rental income is for the units, I can't figure out how the buyer expects it to pay!

Something tells me this isn't the time to buy.

rand()m quote

The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continual lying to other men and to himself.

—Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov