And it has, tenfold.
If opportunity knocks, one has to answer. To not do so is insane. As the Joker said "If you're good at something, never do it for free."
I've noticed that some folks out there want to vilify the real estate agents, and find some way to level blame on them for this crisis. That line of thinking couldn't be further from reality. The agent only responds to the market (I know I'm preaching to the preacher, but I need to say this), and don't actually set any rules or codes of practice. You put in the work to get your licence to practice and the hard work to get to where you are, you deserve to flourish.
The blame needs to be leveled primarily at all three levels of government for being complicit with the laundering and underhanded business, and at foreign investors who have skirted this country's, province's, and city's unbelievably weak and pathetic laws.
Totally.
That's really it, isn't it? Vancouver has become such a superficial husk of it's former self, it's tragic. It has become nothing more than a tourist stop dressed up as a city. Whored out by mayors, premiers, and ministers to the wealthiest johns, meanwhile the people who invested their lives and taxes into the city, and all cities in the Lower Mainland and BC for that matter, are forgotten in the mix.
I'd like to think that some form of justice will be meted out against this vermin, but this is Canada, where cannibals who cut peoples heads off on Greyhound buses go free, so I'm not holding my breath.
Once again Harvey, thank you for the facts and the honesty. These days, they're hard to come by.