real estate market picking up?

But could your friend do his job somewhere in smaller town BC? Some of us don't have that luxury, unfortunately. If so, i'd be the fuck outta here.

No, but he could rent the same condo for a fraction and pocket the difference and his standard of living would significantly improve. Less stress, move savings, more employment mobility. Those are all things that are invaluable in my books and people tend to overlook them.

I know these rent vs. ownership calculations had been discussed numerous times and I don't think it's worthwhile to rehash the same arguments but I do believe that renting always has the edge in a bubble RE environment.

Also, I am not saying Vancouver really sucks, but it does for 300K a suburban shoebox.

Pedro

I don't give a shit, I love Vancouver and want to live only here. I will pay the price and deal with it.

Renting means dealing with owners or managers and I don't want that either. Sucks.
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I don't give a shit, I love Vancouver and want to live only here. I will pay the price and deal with it.

Renting means dealing with owners or managers and I don't want that either. Sucks.
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Each to their own.

I guess I also have to add that I am a foreigner in Vancouver therefore my priorities and preferences might be quite different from others, especially to those who grep up there.

I have felt like I never fit in in Vancouver, and I probably never will.

Pedro

cities suck.

In the last month in Vancouver Ive

Skied with my kids 3 times
Skied before work 10 times (with some epic pow)
Went snow shoeing 3 times
Went Tobogganing then had a bbq in the parking lot
went to science world with the kids once
took the kids down Robson street ate a hot dog at the art gallery then we made some t-shirts at Bang on.
went 4X4ing in some cool mountains once
Went on two mountain bike rides
Had a couple good road rides
Went to the Canucks once
Had some fantastic meals at restaurants
Skipped out of work one day to slay big powder at baker

all while working at job I like that dosn't exist in Nelson, Rossland, Smithers ext. plus my wife wouldn't like those places anyway.

too me Vancouver is Mecca.

Pedro - your buddy bought a 300K condo?

Mortgage on that is what - 1500/month? What would rent be on that (1K / month)? Serious question - I don't follow rental prices at all.

So you think that 500/month would make for some footloose and fancy free lifestyle? Sounds to me more like he stretched himself past his affordability price point.

Pedro - your buddy bought a 300K condo?

Mortgage on that is what - 1500/month? What would rent be on that (1K / month)? Serious question - I don't follow rental prices at all.

So you think that 500/month would make for some footloose and fancy free lifestyle? Sounds to me more like he stretched himself past his affordability price point.

Taxes, Strata, Upkeep = 500 - 600 bucks.

if you were making 80K your take home would be somthing like 4 grand a month (im guessing here)

so if you add in a crap like a car, food, utilities, and the other crap of life saving a 1000 bucks might just double or triple your disposable income

Couch,

I am not sure about the specifics but as Rat pointed out there are additional costs involved. On the other hand, what I do know is that his quality of life is shit given how much he makes and I find it infuriating that people would settle for so little by sacrificing so much. Oh well, that's their choice, maybe when sanity returns to this city so will its appeal to me.

Rat, I am happy to see that you take full advantage of what Vancouver has to offer with your family, though I am pretty sure you didn't buy at bubble prices and your income is significantly above what the average Vancouverite has to contend.

Though, this shouldn't really matter with respect to me because my income is also significantly above average yet I feel that I can get much more out of life for the same amount of money somewhere else (given that I can have a similar job). Skiing and mountain biking are great but I feel that there is much more to life than just recreation. Then again, as I said, I am a foreigner so my perspective is probably quite different.

Pedro

I live in the burbs, and there are sacrifices like longer drives and the stale culture of suburbia. It seems to me there is always some sacrifices you will have to choose in terms of picking where you want to live.

what is that you dont like about vancouver, whats it missing?

Where the Hell has Gooch gone….?

Paging Gooch!

I live in the burbs, and there are sacrifices like longer drives and the stale culture of suburbia. It seems to me there is always some sacrifices you will have to choose in terms of picking where you want to live.

what is that you dont like about vancouver, whats it missing?

What is this stale culture of suburbia? what does downtown offer you?

what is that you dont like about vancouver, whats it missing?

I think it's missing life.

Not only the suburbs are dead but downtown itself is actually quite lame and really expensive for what you get. I guess if you have a family things change but basically there is nothing interesting about Vancouver.

Vancouver is like a beautiful young woman. Very nice to look at and fun at first, but there is nothing beyond that and becomes quite boring after a while. The people are actually quite similar to this. Everyone tries to be so pc that there is nothing interesting in them.

It's hard to put it into words but for example, European cities are full of life. It's just different. People are different. People can be quite strange and rude, but at the same time they can also be much more honest and genuinely helpful.

Of course, it's possible that Europe itself would become boring after a while and then craving clean pristine nature would become priority again.

Pedro

I make an interesting point in the direction of the last few threads. In my field i would make around $10G's less a year to work and live in the burbs, and about $16G's less a year in the interior, or Kootenays, or Northern BC. The reason is my employer has to pay more to retain employees because of ….you guessed it, higher real estate prices.

If they did not pay, it would make less economic sense to accept a job in Van.

As far as Van or smaller comunites i can compare my experiences. In Metro Van you: pay more to live; make more $$ for a similar job; drive more ; live in less space; have the greatest variety, and longes seasons to mtn bike, snow ride, dirt bike. I think it is real hard to beat the recreational oppourtunites in Van. Cultural and social activites are better too, but i dont consider them as important as others may.

In smaller cities and towns you: pay less; get paid less; drive less; more bang for your real estate $$; have shorter seasons for recreation; have more disposable income. There are more definate times of the year you can ski, or mtn bike, with fewer overlapping types of weather and access to terrain.

Pedro is right on one thing - you can get comfortably numb in Vancouver. If you are not into sports as recreation and are looking for more social life during late hours of the day, then perhaps Vancouver is not for you. On the other hand if MTB (and pretty much any other sport you can think of) is what you want, there is hardly a better place.

BTW, Pedro, have you looked at price of houses in those Euro cities you thought had more life? Check London England ;).