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Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
Work hard your whole life, actually exceed your life goals, save up substantial capital to buy a home you would have never thought you’d have 10-15 years ago, and now use that sweat and hardship to buy some 50 year old dump and “settle” for a half ass housing situation you’ll never pay off.
Canadurrrr
So many people here seem to be in the same situation. You’ve actually killed it at life, people who graduated high school in the early 2000’s or later would have never dreamt of having millions of dollars in assets or grinding for a 200-300k per year job, you’ve exceeded all expectations and killed it.
And now you’re living worse than people who made a quarter of what you’re making 25 years ago.
I'll never forget the time I read an article back in 2012 (around the time this thread started) mentioning how established doctors could not afford to buy property here. I remember as a kid, going down the 'street of dreams' on Westwood Plateau, assuming that's where the doctors, lawyers, big business types all lived. Now I'm being told real estate is too high for them here.
Fast forward through the money laundering, shadow flipping, garbage-bags-full-of-money purchases, empty homes, foreign student ownerships, consulting firms that exist overseas to facilitate all of the above ^ and absolutely unethical standards & practices from some realtors and now we're here in 2024 where it's not only structures that are commodified but the people inside as well!
It was weird for me to walk into the AB market with a BC mindset lol. Not only did they tell me I can put a $50 deposit on a house, but even after I took possession of my home, my realtor insisted I go golfing with her and her friends and keep in touch. They really do want to be your friend after the deal closes. The city-boy in me thinks it's nefarious but the now country-boy in me says 'no, they just want to build a strong community'.
^ I experienced the same thing, the realtor I was dealing with I only got him to take me on because my best friend's wife is one of his best clients, he's a big dog player in Calgary but he responds to all my messages within minutes any day of the week and didn't treat me like a nobody... and he is at a level where like he goes to parties that Jacob Markstrom is at and needles him about properties he missed out on / how he needs a new financial advisor... but despite that, he's still like "Hey let's go out with your Supra after you're here, I've got a new GT3 RS and Lambo you can try one of those and I try the Supra"
__________________ Do Not Put Aftershave on Your Balls. -604CEFIRO Looks like I'm gonna have some hot sex again tonight...OOPS i got the 6 pack. that wont last me the night, I better go back and get the 24 pack! -Turbo E kinda off topic but obama is a dilf - miss_crayon Honest to fucking Christ the easiest way to get a married woman in the mood is clean the house and do the laundry.....I've been with the same girl almost 17 years, ask me how I know. - quasi
Just came back from Japan and for anyone who has been you know it's the norm to be doing laundry late at night. I ran into some dude in the same situation one night so we started shooting the shit, dudes from Ohio and moving to Boston, makes decent coin and talks about the struggle and grind of people working hard to save up to buy a home for a couple few hundred K. In my mind I'm like geez you have it good try working hard and struggling to even rent where I'm from let alone buy a shit box.
__________________
"back at the line to Babych.... LONG SHOT....Potvin had trouble with it....ADAM SHOOTS SCORES!!!!
Just came back from Japan and for anyone who has been you know it's the norm to be doing laundry late at night. I ran into some dude in the same situation one night so we started shooting the shit, dudes from Ohio and moving to Boston, makes decent coin and talks about the struggle and grind of people working hard to save up to buy a home for a couple few hundred K. In my mind I'm like geez you have it good try working hard and struggling to even rent where I'm from let alone buy a shit box.
Talking to Americans at work is always fucking hoot. They're now bitching about paying $400K for a detached house. I'm like
Compared to a 25 yrs amortization period, how much more money will the bank lend you with a 30 yrs amortization period though?
Even now, a $100k salary on a 25 yrs mortgage can only get you a ~$400k mortgage. Even if I were to just linearly extrapolate the amount (which is almost certainly NOT how the bank would do), you are still only looking at $480k. Throw a second $100k earner into the picture, and maybe you can qualify for $1M over 30 years, instead of $800k over 25 years?
That $200K gap, you're better off living like bums at home for 1-2 years, saving $200K than taking on a 30-year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JDMDreams
Well you need dp, if you want to buy anything, so you might as well take that gift from parents and throw it into rsp to get that tax discount. You will get laughed out of the bank if you have less than $100k dp in Vancouver anyways.
What are you gonna do? make $150k but put $25000 down on $500k and chmc the rest? Most people have income that can borrow should have more than $60000 in dp.
The last 3 friends who bought in Nov 2023 to 2024 put 20-35% down, so close to $130 - $250K on their first 1/2BR.
Idk a single soul who put down $100K. Even my old place at 2020 prices was closer to $116K. Income won't qualify without a big enough DP lol
i get cost of housing is better in AB and all, but instead of going there, any reason people aren't selecting other areas in BC to still have moderate weather?
like island (i know ppl said nanaimo is a dump ) or interior ?
i dunno i'd think i'd rather choose parksville or nanaimo over AB
mind you i've only travelled thru/to those places and never lived long term.
i get cost of housing is better in AB and all, but instead of going there, any reason people aren't selecting other areas in BC to still have moderate weather?
My thinking too, when I retire, I prob move to a small BC town ... Sydney, Comox, something up the Sunshine Coast like Roberts Creek, Sechelt, etc. There has to be some small quiet places in BC that is affordable. By retirement, I prob need less ... condo, TH, etc.
I considered it, but the island is almost as expensive as the lower mainland and it would actually take me longer to come back to Vancouver by ferry than it does to fly from Calgary lol. Both places I'd have to find a new job anyway, I can't work full remote.
Kelowna like Hondaracer said is the same as lower mainland price wise, and there's way too many wildfires every year in the interior. You saw what happened in Kelowna last year? I have no job or friends there either. Maybe underscore would be my friend if he took pity on me lolol
Calgary was the cheapest and still a "big" city by Canada standards and my best friend and my gf's childhood friends all live there. It was a pretty natural choice.
I'm going to paint my driveway with a rainbow and put tampons in all my bathrooms as soon as I get there, really try to fit in
My thinking too, when I retire, I prob move to a small BC town ... Sydney, Comox, something up the Sunshine Coast like Roberts Creek, Sechelt, etc. There has to be some small quiet places in BC that is affordable. By retirement, I prob need less ... condo, TH, etc.
I browse the stuff in Parksville and Qualicum a lot and if I traded in for a place like this I'd be mortgage free and could likely retire in 3-4 years (I'm 48). I also work remotely and wouldn't have to take a pay cut if I moved to a smaller town either. I try not to think too much about how much extra I'm paying in order to stay near friends and family (not like I can stand my parents or my in-laws anyways).
I'm going to paint my driveway with a rainbow and put tampons in all my bathrooms as soon as I get there, really try to fit in
In that article, they did allude to that ... all the BC Libs, gender affirming education, harm reduction, tree hugging, rainbow crosswalk ... it's something that one has to be willing to 'give up' per se in AB.
That's something I'm afraid of tbh, my gf especially is.
However, I made a point of paying attention to that stuff when I was there in February. Like the article also says, there's an underlying youth movement that's extremely encouraging. A focus on the arts in the downtown core, expression of cultures and ideologies and even, yes, a bunch of rainbow themed things. One of my GF's friends is in a same sex relationship. My best friend and almost everyone he hangs out with are pretty progressive thinkers.
Only the aforementioned real estate agent tried to tell me PP was what the country needs. I just switched topics lol
I'm wondering for people who have/are considering moving outside of BC, what's your rationale behind it in terms of taxation, lifestyle, or whatever?
And more specifically, where are you moving?
I've been thinking about moving, and speaking to a friend who relocated to South America really got me thinking.
BC's cost of living is just shocking to say the least. I'm trying hard to cut unnecessary expenses, but it's hard to go much further without starting to cut into the lifestyle. This plus the fact that much of my investment in commercial RE is deemed as passive income, my tax exposure is huge. I'm currently delaying them by keeping money in the US entity by not issuing any dividends, and it makes sense as I continue to expand the portfolio. But at some point, if I'd like to take it out, the tax would take a big chunk of it.
By moving to a country where they only tax the income from that country and cost of living is lower, I could save an incredible amount of money in taxes alone. But I have kids and they have grown accustomed to the Canadian way of life.
Thus, my question is, for people who looked into moving, what's your thought and where?
I was thinking that maybe even somewhere in Canada. Yes, I'll still get hit by federal taxes, but that's ok. The provincial stuff is something I can play around a bit.
My thinking too, when I retire, I prob move to a small BC town ... Sydney, Comox, something up the Sunshine Coast like Roberts Creek, Sechelt, etc. There has to be some small quiet places in BC that is affordable. By retirement, I prob need less ... condo, TH, etc.
Sunshine Coast is fucked nowadays thanks to COVID.
Yeah you're easily looking at $1M for a decent detached here, if you're flexible maybe a bit under. I'm in a pretty good neighbourhood and the 4 houses nearby that are for sale are $1M, $1M, $1.5M and $2M.
Every time I shop around the province there isn't *that* much of a price drop going somewhere more remote than Kelowna. Especially once you consider the cost of moving + having to drive more to get to what you need it ends up at a wash so moving purely for financial reasons isn't worth it. The only way it works is if you want to live there or have to move already for whatever reason. It sounds like you guys are in the same boat. You sell there for $1.4M, buy here for $1.2M, subract all the realty fees and you're not up by much.
I'd go to the island over Alberta but that's personal preference, better politics, better weather, and I wouldn't have to give up quite as many of my hobbies. And it would cost me money to do it. I also have the limitation of needing to be near a major airport.
If anyone moves here I'll be their friend if they take me for a rip in their Supra lol.
__________________ 1991 Toyota Celica GTFour RC // 2007 Toyota Rav4 V6 // 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee
1992 Toyota Celica GT-S ["sold"] \\ 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD [sold] \\ 2000 Jeep Cherokee [sold] \\ 1997 Honda Prelude [sold] \\ 1992 Jeep YJ [sold/crashed] \\ 1987 Mazda RX-7 [sold] \\ 1987 Toyota Celica GT-S [crushed]
Quote:
Originally Posted by maksimizer
half those dudes are hotter than ,my GF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RevYouUp
reading this thread is like waiting for goku to charge up a spirit bomb in dragon ball z
Quote:
Originally Posted by Good_KarMa
OH thank god. I thought u had sex with my wife. :cry:
I'm wondering for people who have/are considering moving outside of BC, what's your rationale behind it in terms of taxation, lifestyle, or whatever?
And more specifically, where are you moving?
I've been thinking about moving, and speaking to a friend who relocated to South America really got me thinking.
BC's cost of living is just shocking to say the least. I'm trying hard to cut unnecessary expenses, but it's hard to go much further without starting to cut into the lifestyle. This plus the fact that much of my investment in commercial RE is deemed as passive income, my tax exposure is huge. I'm currently delaying them by keeping money in the US entity by not issuing any dividends, and it makes sense as I continue to expand the portfolio. But at some point, if I'd like to take it out, the tax would take a big chunk of it.
By moving to a country where they only tax the income from that country and cost of living is lower, I could save an incredible amount of money in taxes alone. But I have kids and they have grown accustomed to the Canadian way of life.
Thus, my question is, for people who looked into moving, what's your thought and where?
I was thinking that maybe even somewhere in Canada. Yes, I'll still get hit by federal taxes, but that's ok. The provincial stuff is something I can play around a bit.
This is just it I think, everyone can only weight their own ideals and restrictions and things important to them. We can all relate our stories to one another, but a lot of it doesn't apply to anything in our own lives as they are so situationally different despite living in the same general area.
I can see from your line of work, employment wise you don't require much other than to be somewhat near an airport to visit your properties if need be. But you have a wife and you have kids and they have their own wants and desires, so you can't make decisions for yourself really.
Even me, I might be going to Alberta... but that was defintiely a compromise. I don't have kids, but I do have a GF in a committed relationship. If I didn't have her in my life, I would quit my job completely and go to either Japan or England. Full stop. Why there? Japan because I love the country, I'd like to be there just immersed in the place and live out my years. England because I love the history and my family roots are there, bit of a "coming home" party. I'd quit my job and buy property most likely in Japan and figure out something to do. I don't need a lot of $ to survive and homes outside of major cities there are such that I could live off investment income from dissolving my assets in Canada and just come up with a hobby or artisan style business to sustain myself. For me personally, I don't care about accumulating a mass of wealth. I just want to wake up happy most mornings. You likely have different priorities than me adn definitely different responsibilities to your kids, etc.
That said, my GF doesn't want to go to either of those places. And she means more to me than that solitary dream of mine... if she didn't, I would just break up with her and be on my way. She has American citizenship, so we entertained the idea of going to the USA instead, but we'd need to stay in the PNW due to her parents. We also both don't like the politics and social issues down there or want any possible kid we might have to go to public school there.
So we settled on Alberta, she grew up there originally, I have friends there, it's an hour to fly home and we can have a lot of stuff we want there, minus the weather.
If you are with someone who is very inflexible about location, it can be quite a serious detriment to the relationship and cause immense frustration I think. It's tough when you're not just 1 person making a decision.
Kudos to all your guys parents and parents parents that made the tough decisions to move to different countries etc.
Best you can do when you have to have a consensus from so many different individuals is present the facts as you have them and have a conversation. Show options. Show what benefits there could be and make a list of the pros and cons. That's what we both did individually and together as a couple. Maybe you convince them that your idea is great and they warm up to it, maybe they hate it and there's no point in thinking of it anymore or they need to provide an alternative if in fact change is mandatory and just staying put or staying the course is no longer an option. Communication is the most important thing in my mind.
I really hate how COVID fucking over the Coast though.
My family have lived out there since the 70s.
Prices were slowly going up, but they exploded during COVID. All these fuckers took trips out there, realized the ferry was only 40 minutes, and "OMG it's free on the way back?!".
Suddenly people were gobbling up properties and WFH out there.
I really hate how COVID fucking over the Coast though.
My family have lived out there since the 70s.
Prices were slowly going up, but they exploded during COVID. All these fuckers took trips out there, realized the ferry was only 40 minutes, and "OMG it's free on the way back?!".
Suddenly people were gobbling up properties and WFH out there.
That ship has sailed.
ngl, i was one of those said fuckers that went there during covid and loved it... also had the "OMG it's free on the way back?!" moment... that feeling when i got to put my credit card away when lining up to go back
my peasant ass is still too poor to buy a property up there though so i didn't affect housing prices
Alberta cuz close to here, I rather be in Calgary and can drive somewhere rather than rely on bc ferry and our weather. There's TNT and enough Asians. I'm sure we can change the politics once enough libs from everywhere else moves there.
I thought about Asia, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia? I keep seeing those ads for Japanese country side it beach town houses for like $50000 USD. Their dollar is worth garbage right now. And even if I bought a place I'm sure I can sustain myself with cad assets. It seems like it's very easy to be frugal in Japan. Then I can live out my gaijin drifter dreams
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Just as this topic was heating up here, Vancouver Sun did a piece:
) or interior ?
