Million Dollar Shack couple’s story resonates with Vancouver buyers (Globe & Mail)

Published Friday, Nov. 04, 2016 3:15PM EDT

When a Bay Area couple decided to document their unaffordable housing experience on YouTube, they didn’t expect their mini-documentary to become the lightning rod for the crisis.

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“One of the very common responses to our documentary is: ‘But it’s Silicon Valley! People want to live there! It’s always going to be like that!’

“We point to Vancouver, and say, well, ‘Why is it happening there? And why is it happening in Sydney [Australia]?’ How are we in this situation? We can’t buy a house anywhere. It’s been very frustrating because I know that in previous generations – post-World-War-Two at least – it was expected that if you had a full-time job and you were marginally responsible, you would be able to afford something. I am Gen X, and I look at Millennials and think, ‘Whoa, if you haven’t started your own successful business, and you’re not a millionaire, good luck having an average life, providing school for your kids.’”

In the film, we see Ms. Joyce attending a viewing for a $900,000 (U.S.) townhouse that has asbestos in the ceiling and is located near a freeway. It is packed with potential buyers. In another scene, she walks around a clearly vacant house in her neighbourhood, the curtains drawn and the lawn filled with weeds.

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link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/vancouver/million-dollar-shack-couples-story-resonates-with-vancouver-buyers/article32680676/?ord=1