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Amid Global Housing Crisis, Adam Gant, BC based Author and Real Estate Executive, Imagines a Future of Shared Equity

Published

1 year ago

August 3, 2023

Today’s housing crisis is a worldwide phenomenon. It’s not limited to the estimated 50,000 or more who live on the streets of Los Angeles. It’s not simply a problem for young families seeking their first house in Falls Church, Virginia or Hamilton, Ontario. It’s not just a problem for tenants whose rent soars with each annual lease renewal.

And it’s not an issue that’s going away, any time soon.

Canadian real estate innovator Adam Gant understands the scope of the challenge and has been working to create outside-the-box solutions to match people with affordable housing. A key piece of any solution, he believes, is a concept he calls “shared equity.”

He outlined the fundamentals of the idea in a book he co-authored in 2020, A House Shared. Although Gant’s solutions are steeped in research, the book is actually a fictional tale of a family caught in the housing crisis. The story takes place during a time when families across North America have lost houses, homelessness is out of control, starter homes are out of reach, and a small number of affluent buyers compete for the best properties.

Is it the financial crisis of 2009? Is it now? Or is it the bleak future that awaits us in the absence of broad, practical solutions? Adam Gant invites us to imagine, as well as to explore new ways of thinking about housing affordability and availability.

Readers follow the struggle of a professional couple working in the security software industry. When economic misfortune strikes, they suddenly find themselves fighting for shelter and simple survival, against market forces that seem to make eviction inevitable.

In the end, the way out is a solution Adam Gant and co-author Patricia Nicholson believe could be the answer for people and populations across the globe: shared equity.

Back in the world of nonfiction, Adam Gant arrived at this idea after years devoted to studying housing markets in countries around the world. He didn’t simply read about trends in these places — he visted and explored them, in cities from Asia to Eastern Europe. He learned what works and what doesn’t in disparate communities and cultures.

In a recent interview, Adam Gant described the main pillars of shared equity:

“There are several factors that make shared equity housing a financially and socially attractive concept. The home buyer starts with a small deposit or down payment, ideally one percent. The home buyer does not need to qualify for a mortgage upfront. The buyer is matched with a home where the monthly payment is comfortable for their family’s income level. The buyer shares in the equity growth in the home from the price appreciation.

“The exact share of the home equity growth is dependent on the deposit size. The home buyer keeps their share of the equity even if they don’t end up buying the home.”

In Canada, Adam Gant has built his experience base as a real estate investor with an inventive mind, and a passion for improving housing opportunities where gaps in current market financing get in the way of families growing equity in comfortable, secure, affordable shelter.

This passion extends to his philanthropic work with charities that seek to shelter people in need throughout the hemisphere. He has been an active supporter of Live Different, an organization focused on providing adequate housing for families in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Mexico. He donates time and resources to The Silhouette Foundation, a human rights focused organization which originally helped coordinate relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters in Haiti.

In his own community, he has volunteered at a Vancouver Island-area community center, and previously worked with a housing nonprofit in its acquisition of an apartment building that now provides shelter to the poor, the disabled and the impoverished elderly.

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

8 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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AP MLB:

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

9 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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