If you cant afford to buy a house in GVA, would you still settle here FOR GOOD?

[SFUguy]

as the title says.

I'm thinking of maybe settling in Alberta. Seems more laid-back then Vancouver. I checked it out in the summer and I really liked Edmonton. I would visit Vancouver every now and then. Its like What, a 10 hour drive?

What keeps you here in Vancouver? A good job? High quality standard of living? Infrastruture?

[Alatar]

Mountains + Water

I've been in Edmonton and Calgary in both summer and winter. Summers aren't bad, but winters are balls cold.

[SumAznGuy]

Try living in Edmonton in the winter. And what are you planning on doing for money?

[niu99]

multicultural, very beautiful, small, fair weather despite raining half of year

[shenmecar]

the climate is good here.

[JesseBlue]

Root for the oilers and flames... Go ahead... But anyways I've had this thought before and I still enjoy living here..I don't need a big house but something that is just right Size
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[4444]

"If you cant afford to buy a house in GVA, would you still settle here FOR GOOD?"

this has nothing to do with anything - why do you need to live in the house you own?

buying a house is a financing decision, personally i will never own in this kind of market... but guess what, i own multiple properties in other areas where the rental/ownership rentals are much better & future appreciation is attractive.

i happily rent and will live here as long as i'm here.

my moving away will be entirely lifestyle related or perhaps career advancement, but more likely the former

[JD¹³]

I'd rather be in the Southern US (Central California / Arizona), Europe, or Australia. Housing prices and cost of living are lower and the people are better.

So to answer your question, no.

[nns]

Interesting topic. I'm kind of thinking about the same thing now.

The field I'm in, I can find a job that's in demand in smaller cities like Prince George, Kamloops, Kelowna, etc. The property (as i've been told) is a lot cheaper to own than in Vancouver.

A few things that make me hesitant on the idea:
-learning the streets all over again
-knowing nobody
-possibly hotter/colder summers/winters

[gilly]

Staying because of family and friends.

[Tapioca]

The only reason to move to Alberta is to work in the energy industry where there is money to be made. If you can't deal with the lower salaries here in Vancouver, then you should think big: London, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, etc.

[murd0c]

I have a number of buddies in the interior and out of anything I would want to move up their. Ya lots of snow in the winter but at least the people know how to drive and I'm honestly not a city person.

[SFUguy]

Originally Posted by shenmecar

the climate is good here.

what, you mean the rain?

i didn't realize how blue the skies are until I was in Alberta. Even with clouds in the sky, the skies are really blue.

Sky in Vancouver? What the fuck is that? haha.


Calgary is an expensive ass place. Its boring as heck. But the good thing is that there aren't no kids frontin wearing gucci murses or gucci caps or whatever the fuck. i see right through their fronts like the muthafukcin matrix.

its also easier to get laid in calgary than vancouver. at least from my experience. women are mad approachable. the women have a small-town kinda feel to them. more down to earth. from what i've seen they aren't as fashionable as vancouver girls though.


bottom line: calgary has really cool peeps. but boring and expensive place.

[Meowjin]

Kid read this thread when you grow up.

[q0192837465]

I've been thinking about this lately too. If housing price keeps climbing like it did in the past 10 years, chances are that I'll never be able to afford a house even out in the suburbs, given the salary I have. But at the same time, the cleaner environment compared to Asia will probably save me from some terminal disease. It is something you won't notice right away but I'm seeing relatives in HK starting to have cancer and heart diseases due high stress and what not. I dunno, it's a tough call. On one hand, I wanna make more money, but all the money in the world can't save you if u get some terminal illness.

[jasonturbo]

I moved to N.Van from Edmonton 3 years ago, you couldn`t pay me enough money to move back.

I have considered moving to Sylvan Lake or even Calgary but until house prices come down I see no reason to leave Vancouver.

If you`ve lived here your whole life, be ready for a shock, the rest of Canada has terrible winters, Canada has a terrible climate in general.. also most of Canada is very dry, you may or may not miss the humidity here... I know that within two days of leaving the coast my skin is already starting to get dry.

I work in the energy sector in Alberta, I fly in and out to work and to be honest I hate my job, but they pay me so much money I can`t just quit and start a new career path... especially in Vancouver making 40k per year.

My plan for now is to just keep saving money, if and when I`m ready to buy a home and commit to living somewhere I will do so at that time. For now I will continue to enjoy the best climate in our country.. some of the best scenery as well.

If I can give you any advice, skip Alberta, it`s a cultural shit hole of conservative douchebags, the easy money attracts the absolute worst of the worst in Canada. Check out Montreal or Ottawa, it`s rare to find anyone that would describe their time spent their as anything less than enjoyable. There is a lot to be said for French Canadian culture, it might not seem like it... but take a trip to the US and you will understand lol.

For me, my unfortunate career choices have left me little options but to stay on the west coast or in Alberta... but I will make an attempt to spend a few years living in the Eastern portion of the country sooner or later just to see if it`s the right fit for me.

The only downfall is in the meantime.. Im paying a fuckin premium to live here.. between cost of living, HST, and ICBC.. it gets expensive here.. fast.

[optiblue]

I'll never relocate. Friends and family are all here!
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[Culture_Vulture]

Originally Posted by SFUguy

what, you mean the rain?

i didn't realize how blue the skies are until I was in Alberta. Even with clouds in the sky, the skies are really blue.

Sky in Vancouver? What the fuck is that? haha.


Calgary is an expensive ass place. Its boring as heck. But the good thing is that there aren't no kids frontin wearing gucci murses or gucci caps or whatever the fuck. i see right through their fronts like the muthafukcin matrix.

its also easier to get laid in calgary than vancouver. at least from my experience. women are mad approachable. the women have a small-town kinda feel to them. more down to earth. from what i've seen they aren't as fashionable as vancouver girls though.


bottom line: calgary has really cool peeps. but boring and expensive place.

Seems like you've already made up your mind. Please leave.

[tool001]

buying a home has nothing to do with staying in a city. other factors weigh more. ie. job. family, friends, lifestyle etc.

i was reading this article in torontostar.. made somewhat sense.

Why I sold my house and rent instead
Frank Hoffmann was a finalist in the the Moneyville blogging contest.

Frank Hoffmann was a finalist in the the Moneyville blogging contest.
Supplied photo

By Frank Hoffmann | Tue Jun 28 2011

Comment (16)
Recommend (173)

I bought my first home at the age of 27, did my homework and my finances were all in order. It wasn’t until I had lived in the home for three months that I realized I despised the location, my lifestyle had done a complete 180 and worst of all I had buyer’s remorse.

It was a three-storey, three-bedroom house that fronted onto a park in the beautiful escarpment region of Milton. Coming from a bachelor apartment in Etobicoke, I immediately fell in love with the house’s open concept.

But what really made me buy it was the misconception, which had been ingrained in my mind by friends, family and the media, that home ownership is a must in life. So, $276,000 later I was where I was “supposed to be” at this point in my life.

After seven months, I put the house up for sale. Even though I had lived there less than a year, it was a seller’s market and I ended up making a couple of bucks. . . literally, a couple. I’ve been a renter ever since.

Buying a home is the biggest investment most people will make and it can be a life-altering event. It is also an emotional event and when buyers get emotionally attached to a house or condo, here’s what can happen:

• You overpay and stretch yourself beyond your means.

• You end up with an overlay of stress because you didn’t think it through.

• The location may not be what you expected.

• Your lifestyle undergoes a big change.

• You end up regretting the decision.

I needed a new place to live and stumbled upon a recently built condominium, just steps from the entertainment district in downtown Toronto, that still had units for sale and many for rent.

I found a one-bedroom unit I liked and knew the owner had paid $220,000. He wanted $950 per month but I knew he was eager to rent it, so after a little back and forth we drew up a rental agreement for $800 per month — 15 per cent less than he wanted

I figured out whether or not this unit was a good deal by using a price-to-rent ratio, a rule-of-thumb measure that is calculated by taking the value of the house or condo and dividing it by the annual rent.

If this ratio is 15 or less it makes sense to buy a property. In this case, if the condo cost $220,000, a ratio of 15 would mean the annual rent was $14,667 or $1,222 a month. Better to buy something and not pay rent.

But if the ratio is 20 or greater, it is better to rent. Using this same example, anything at $917 a month or less would be a good deal — $220,000 divided by 20 for an annual rent of $11,000, or $917 a month

After our negotiation, the $800 rent was a ratio of 23 — $220,000 divided by $9,600 ($800 x 12). This was a fabulous deal, so I took it. I had my dream condo in a perfect location at an amazing price. After six months I extended the agreement by another year.

I am happy and best of all I remain financially nimble. So, instead of putting another down payment on a house or condo I used that money, coupled with the profits from the sale of my home, to top up my RRSPs, TFSA and my emergency fund and invested the rest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through a broker.

Purchasing a home can be a wise investment and I do plan to do it one day, but for now I’m happy renting.

[6insomnia9]

Originally Posted by SFUguy

what, you mean the rain?

i didn't realize how blue the skies are until I was in Alberta. Even with clouds in the sky, the skies are really blue.

Sky in Vancouver? What the fuck is that? haha.


Calgary is an expensive ass place. Its boring as heck. But the good thing is that there aren't no kids frontin wearing gucci murses or gucci caps or whatever the fuck. i see right through their fronts like the muthafukcin matrix.

its also easier to get laid in calgary than vancouver. at least from my experience. women are mad approachable. the women have a small-town kinda feel to them. more down to earth. from what i've seen they aren't as fashionable as vancouver girls though.


bottom line: calgary has really cool peeps. but boring and expensive place.

Maybe you should stop trying to get Models?
or step your game up or get game
trololoololol

[Great68]

You couldn't pay me to live in Alberta.

I'll take the rain and above zero average winters over sunny freezing cold any day. Mind you, I was just in Red Deer for a wedding in mid june and it absolutely pissed rain the whole fucking time.

Sure cost of living might be less, but you pay for it with a lesser quality of life.

[SFUguy]

jasonturbo:

funny thing about your response. Everyone in Alberta thinks Vancouver is "the big city" but it's too expensive to live there.

I love the city layout of Edmonton from what I've seen. South to Southeast to downtown and West. North or north east looks like Calgary. wouldn't been goin there much

The people are a different story. lots of homeless tweakers on the streets in edmonton (just like vancouver). The people in edmonton and calgary are like night and day. in edmonton the homeless people feel like you owe them something. hella bad drug problem there too. you don't see nuthin of that in calgary.

to me edmonton feels more like a city than calgary but the bums in edmonton ugggh...

6insomnia9: its not just girls. people in van put up fronts and they are on some dumb-dumb shit. go look at thedirty.com and you'll get a feel of the bullshit that many youths of van are into.

[BaoTurbo]

not staying. by the ti,e i graduate, the market for cars, houses, food will be quite high to afford fully. I'm not saying i won't be able to, but things like mortgage, loans, and lease will factor in. Planning to have my career elsewhere like maybe back to Asia countries

[quasi]

I love BC a lot and given the choice I'd prefer to stay here. I've finally got a nice house in a neighborhood I love. The bad thing is I'm out of work and I've had a hard time finding another job. If I don't find something I can live with by December I'm probably going to be forced to go back to Saskatchewan since there is a job there for me.

The real decision I'll have to make is do I bring my wife and son with or do I just go temporary? Do I sell my house and buy one there or do I rent it out and rent there? That option would give me the chance to come back and still be in the market.

BC is pretty awesome compared to the rest of Western Canada, haven't lived back east so I can't compare.

[dlo]

born and raised in east van
this is my home and this is also my deathbed