Last summer, a realtor talked about how some words have the magic of creating a lot of wealth.

These powerful words are “land assembly” and “rezoning”.

“You write the magical words ‘land assembly potential’ in the listing description, crank the Vibrance filter on you iPhone 11 to max, and wait for the buyers to arrive,” said Adam Major of Holywell Properties and real-estate site Zealty.ca.

If sellers get as much as three times the assessed value of their homes, especially those in Vancouver, then good for them.

“That’s ambition, baby!” Major told the Straight in a report on June 27, 2021 about East Vancouver listings.

Around that time, two properties on the West Side of Vancouver came on the market.

The detached homes on 241 and 225 West King Edward Avenue were listed on June 21, 2021.

Each had an asking price of $8,695,000.

That’s a total of $17,390,000.

What’s notable is that the sum is 3.7 times the combined assessment of the two properties.

The home at 241 West King Edward Avenue has a 2021 assessment of $2,291,100.

The one at 225 West King Edward Avenue has an assessed value of $2,380,000.

Combined, that’s a total assessment of $4,671,100.

So what justifies the asking price that is 3.72 times the assessed value?

The answer lies in the listings.

“Investors/Developers Alert,” the listings began.

“Cambie corridor project. 2 lot assembly in prestigous westside. 1 1/2 blocks from skytrain station,” the listings continued.

This simply means that the two properties are located near the King Edward Station of Canada Line.

More important, an investor or developer can potentially have a new multi-storey building at the site based on the City of Vancouver’s Cambie Corridor Plan.

To do this, a buyer should purchase the two lots together.

The properties are still waiting for “investors/developers”.

Details of the nearly six-month-old listings can be found on the realtor.ca site.