I've been looking at some townhouses in burnaby.... it's quite a bit better in terms of pricing

Either buy into Surrey now while housing costs are relatively ok or get a condo.

This

Langley isnt even that far or bad. A buddy of mine bought a 2 year old townhouse for about 320k and its huge. A few friends of mine are looking for places and have checked out surrey. They can get a pretty decent townhouse for just a little over 300k here. I told them to move to surrey but they're bitches and want to stay in vancouver because they're used to living there. I told them at the end of the day its not where you live, its how much you can afford and not kill yourself

The problem with Langley is if you work in vancouver/dt the commute would be horrible. Surrey isnt bad since theres the skytrain, but i know people who spend 3-4 hours/day commuting from Langley to downtown.

same.... couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

With the obvious exception of downtown NYC, almost all American cities are cheaper.

Live closer to the border so u can save by shopping down in the states.

Or maybe buy in the states & commute up here everyday

Please don't take this advice unless your timeframe is 10+ years.

We're nearing a peak in housing values (active listings are increasing faster than 2008 when the market dropped). After the last housing peak in Vancouver it took 8 years before housing hit the same level again, > 10 years if you account for inflation.

At the end of the day it is about living.

For the same price I'll take renting a 2bdrm condo 4 blocks from Kits beach and a lovely 10 min commute on my bicycle vs mortgage/taxes on a house in Surrey with a 10'x20' backyard and an hour commute in traffic.

There's a few developments in Surrey where the prices have dropped from the presale prices. Expect to see more of that, there's no hurry to buy.

Was talking about this with the wife the other day.

When I was growing up I always assumed that I would have a place like the one my middle class parents owned, which was a pretty nice three level house, 3000+ sqf in Aldergrove. Now we're thinking about buying a place here in van for the same amount, relatively, that they paid. 700sqf if we're lucky in kits / vgh, marginally bigger then farther away we go from that area. It's fucking crazy.

One one hand, we love living in Van, but is being here worth living in a shoe box? I don't know if I want to spend that much money on a place when I stink up our ENTIRE HOUSE every time i take a shit.

The current housing boom is fueled by offshore money. I know it's just one example, but a colleague of mine rents a house on the west side and guess who bought the big house down the block? Some guy from Mainland China. And Mainlanders seem to frequent the open houses in my building.

Compared to other cities in Canada, yes. Toronto is a good place if you work in finance, but Ontario generally is in a heap of trouble. Calgary is also intriguing, but they have a different outlook there. Montreal may have nice women and a "joie de vivre" that can't be described, but decaying infrustructure and seemingly endless debates about Quebec's place within Canada leave a lot to be desired. Ottawa is a recession-proof city and has relatively cheap property, but you need to be able to tolerate +40C summers and -40C winters.

I live in Langley my wife works in Burnaby and it's 50 minutes in the morning and 60-70 minutes on the way home. Your friends commute sounds brutal, but I had a friend that lived in Chilliwack and worked at UBC for a year now that was a commute.

i always told myself that i would buy my own house once i was married but after seeing how the market is now, i think im just more comfortable inheriting my parents house.

I'd move to Portland. <3 Portland.

assuming I could find some Geotech work there.

Langley to Burnaby is not bad because its all highway, but from Burnaby to downtown could add on another 30-40 mins.

Chilliwack to ubc? why even bother commuting, just move for the year, not only would you save 4-5 hours of your day, you would save a ton of gas money

They should build a skytrain that goes along hwy 1 from abby or chiliwack and connects to the expo line in burnaby somewhere. Can have stops near each hwy exit. It would help out people in the valley who worked downtown every day and there wouldn't be nearly as many cars on the hwy during rush hour. Too bad translink is broke lol

there already is a train that goes from mission to downtown

a skytrain along HWY 1 from chilliwack? lol.. and you thought the Canada Line to richmond brought in crime? :haha:

for me, and in my eyes people who grow up in the lower mainland and choose to move to a place like kamloops etc. and try to insist that Kamloops is better than the lower mainland basically just failed early on and gave up at any attempt at being successfull enough to live in the lower mainland

for me, i'd consider myself a failure if i cannot make a decent enough living to at least buy a condo etc. here, Vancouver is the best city there is and there's no way i'm moving away because it's "easier"

I would move out of the lower mainland for a while. And since that is the only place I would ever want to live in Canada, that means leaving the country. Hey that's what I did 4 years ago! :thumbsup:

She doesn't take the HWY our daycare is in Cloverdale. She goes Alex Fraser and Queens Burrow. Taking the Port Mann in the morning when she leaves is 45 minutes just to get from 200th to the bridge.

Oh ok well eitther way driving in the suburbs isn't usually as bad as driving in Vancouver...
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No, it is not. I'll correct the rest of your inaccuracies now.

Unemployment in Ontario is 9.2% compared to 7.9% in BC. Not a huge difference, and Ontario has the benefit of several company headquarters. Vancouver has only one major company headquartered here.

Real estate still has not recovered to peak values in Calgary and Edmonton, despite equities recovering and new investment in the oil sands.

No it is not. Ottawa property values dipped 12% during the 2008 downturn.

Ottawa just got a hiring and salary free at all 3 levels of government. That affects 1 of 3 people who work in Ottawa.

Please try to post correct information, not inaccurate assumptions.

out of all places, how'd you end up in HK?

only place where he's considered large.