Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[underscore]

Super lazy searching but $1.3 to be half a block from a lake might be preferable to Calgary.

https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/2...lake-shawnigan

[Harvey Specter]

Calgary sure looks tempting but I personally couldn't handle the cold weather and snow. Yes, you get more sun than Vancouver but the thought of snow on the ground for at least 8 months out of the year would drive me nuts.

[yray]

for that you'll buy a john deere LOL

[noclue]

I lived in Calgary for a couple of years.
Demographics are NW quadrant = asian, NE quadrant = brown, SW = rich white people
SE = middle-class white people. Not as much east asians, lots of filipinos.

PRO:
Close to rockies
No PST
Cheaper gas
Cheaper housing
Learners license at 15, drinking age is 18.
Shawarma is better

CON:
High utility bills
Higher income tax until $150K
Restaurants and groceries are more expensive
High property taxes
High property & auto insurance, when ICBC went no-fault it narrowed the gap
Sunny but Cold AF, when they try to argue that the chinook warms things up, sure but it's also super windy so you can't even enjoy it.
Water is hard, you need water softeners
There is like no spring or fall, if it's not covered in snow it's brown landscape and it turns green for like 2 months.
Freak snowstorms from may-july
Air is dry, you need body lotion + humidifiers in your house BUT you need a dehumidifer in the winter otherwise you get an unique prairie problem called attic rain and ice damming that can wreck your house.
Can't own a nice car cause winter time the salt and gravel will destroy your windshield + front bumper + rust while in the summer you have to worry about huge hail storms.

The Alberta advantage is if you are in Oil & gas, healthcare or teaching as they pay significantly more than BC. But aside from housing costs, the monthly bills can catch up slowly to the price you saved on a house. The no PST is great and all if you buy a car every year or a ton of gadgets but most people don't and you can always roadtrip/fly to calgary for a shopping trip.

[JDMDreams]

Thoughts on jobs, health care and schools? Wouldn't Calgary be better. Vs the island, at least you're not stuck on the boat and a flight back here is faster than bc ferry

[noclue]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

Thoughts on jobs, health care and schools? Wouldn't Calgary be better. Vs the island, at least you're not stuck on the boat and a flight back here is faster than bc ferry

Surprisingly trades are better in BC, that's why a lot of trades work in the oil sands vs in town. Healthcare is/was better than BC but right now the current political party is beefing with them so nurses/doctors are moving to BC. The Alberta school curriculum is actually more advanced compared to BC public-school wise.

To each their own, I'd rather live on the island (sunniest part of the pacific west) than the prairies.

[68style]

^ Me too, I'd rather live anywhere in the lower mainland or on the island than Calgary to be honest............ but I also can't argue with the home prices. My example is extreme, itw would be kind of stupid to go to Calgary and spend $1.4M on a house, but you can get a HUGE house in the NW for $700k quite easily, which is pretty much what my now paid off condo is worth.

The costs are never going to catch up with an equivalent home here. My best friend lives there and he's like 10x richer than he would have ever been if he stayed here... and he is NOT in oil and gas... not even remotely.

I just can't quite convince myself to do it because of the fuckin weather... I've visited him when it was -50C before and experienced that... the temperature isn't even the part that blows, it's the fact it stays so dead looking for so long that bothers me. Ughhhhh!!!! Tres dificile.

[westopher]

Banff, Canmore, etc is beautiful, but Calgary, edmonton, etc is so horrendous looking most of the year compared to Vancouver. It's so brown and dead looking for so much of the year.

[Badhobz]

I grew up in Edmonton for the first few years in Canada (we first landed in Edmonton as Vancouver was too expensive) and I honestly really liked it as a kid. Minus 30-50 didn’t feel like much but Funny enough we used to go into the hockey rink to warm up.

Played a lot of hockey and I was in the same class as the CFL star JR Larose. I grew up with that guy. Lost touch now but it was fun. He was the only black kid, I was the only Chinese kid, and we beat the shit outta the white kids.

Pretty wholesome place to raise a family. West Edmonton mall was great fun as a kid.

[westopher]

Playing outdoor hockey (besides donairs) is the biggest thing I miss about edmonton. 40s at the outdoor rink with 15-20 buddies is literally one of the most fun things on the planet.

[quasi]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

I grew up in Edmonton for the first few years in Canada (we first landed in Edmonton as Vancouver was too expensive) and I honestly really liked it as a kid. Minus 30-50 didn’t feel like much but Funny enough we used to go into the hockey rink to warm up.

Played a lot of hockey and I was in the same class as the CFL star JR Larose. I grew up with that guy. Lost touch now but it was fun. He was the only black kid, I was the only Chinese kid, and we beat the shit outta the white kids.

Pretty wholesome place to raise a family. West Edmonton mall was great fun as a kid.

My son has been coached on and off by JR the last 8 years through Community Football and the Game Ready Program and his kid also goes to school with mine, they live in South Surrey.

JR does public speaking now as his career.

[Badhobz]

Yeah i saw that he was in Surrey. Just weird to reconnect cuz I haven’t seen that guy since grade 2. Has a lot of fun me and him when we were kids.

[J____]

anyone have experience living in Kelowna? Will be moving back to Vancouver with my fam and looking to upsize from my 4bdrm condo to a detached again as i'd like the kid to have a yard. Don't want to take on a mortgage atm so have about 1.8 to spend. Would like to stay in Richmond for the convenience but cant get anything haha. Other option is fraser heights or south surrey (white rock area). Kelowna has a Reno/Tahoe vibe to it has been super attractive as I kind of like that small town feel, but no real experience from living there, just visited a few times in the past.

[Badhobz]

1.8? You come buy my current house then. It’s 1300sqft on 6000sqft land. It’s older home but inside is nicely done up and it’s livable.

West Richmond too.

[J____]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

1.8? You come buy my current house then. It’s 1300sqft on 6000sqft land. It’s older home but inside is nicely done up and it’s livable.

West Richmond too.

1300 is a bit small for me. My current condo is 1600sqf, would ideally like 2400 ish. Only decent options in richmond i've seen is cambie area with smaller lots.

[Badhobz]

Makes sense. Not much inventory in Richmond.

[underscore]

I've lived in Kelowna basically my entire life, what do you want to know about it?

[J____]

ya, i thought shanghai had crazy gains in the past few years... cant compare with vancouver haha

[J____]

Originally Posted by underscore

I've lived in Kelowna basically my entire life, what do you want to know about it?

My main concern would be safety, schools, and drug problems for the kid. Are people pretty friendly and any racism towards asians? Seemed pretty good when I was visiting, but that was a decade ago. In terms of housing, heard lower mission or Glenmore is good? Thanks！

[JDMDreams]

Racist? Asian? Richmond say no more, probably more China than Shanghai and they don't have to speak English in school

[Badhobz]

Yeah I can Ching Chong ling long all day long.

[J____]

haha it's that bad now?

[JDMDreams]

They can pick on the white kids in school show them who owns the city

[Badhobz]

What white kids ? You mean those Ching Chong mainlanders who have powder like skin ? Or the ones that dye their hair blonde. You mean those white kids ?

[BIC_BAWS]

Originally Posted by J____

haha it's that bad now?

In 2014 at Richmond High Secondary, at lunch you could spot 2 white people in the entire school in the sea of asians.