A question about some small towns in Alberta.
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I've been told that Cochrane, Chestermere and Airdrie are all small towns with easy access to the city, now does anyone know what an average rental house costs around these areas? For a 3 bed minimum? Tia
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I reckon you could be looking at $1,000 to $1,500 for a bssement suite or 2 bedroom condo in Cochrane, and probably from around the $2,200 (up to as much as you want to pay) for a house.
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i would hardly call Airdrie a small town..has a population of 45,000..i would almost say it is now part of the Calgary conurbation..a bit like St. Albert is to Edmonton.
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Seems like even though our wages would increase the cost of living is so high would it really give us more disposable income.. Thats the biggie
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You could buy a house in Cochrane from the $280,000's up to several million. Something in the $300's to $400's would be more than respectable. I don't know your budget, and whether that sounds horrendous (
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Mortgage might not be an immediate option might only be able to rent.. Seems like we wouldn't be better off to be honest once you try and find cost of living.
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Some friends have just bought in Chestermere, there seems to be a bit of a boom housing wise, with multiple bids on houses. Could be due to the 1% rental availability in and around Calgary.
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What do you consider "easy access to the city"?
What kind of travel time are you happy with?
Will you be commuting every day during the peak?
If commuting downtown, to where?
Just that getting into certain parts of the City might be easier from certain outlying small towns than others. e.g. I probably wouldn't want the faff of getting to the NE or SE of the City peak time commute wise if I lived in Cochrane but downtown would be doable as would anything to the west of the City.
You might find a little more rental inventory in the city suburbs and you could start off there for a few months maybe then check out the small towns for yourself? May be easier to get to work, city centre, etc at the beginning until you find your feet.
To be honest, you could pick a house type and find it in both the suburbs of Calgary and in the small towns - they are pretty homogenous these days!
P.S. Have you looked at rentfaster.ca - gives you an idea of the type of inventory available (you can do a search for the smaller towns you mentioned) but bear in mind they are going pretty fast right now.
What kind of travel time are you happy with?
Will you be commuting every day during the peak?
If commuting downtown, to where?
Just that getting into certain parts of the City might be easier from certain outlying small towns than others. e.g. I probably wouldn't want the faff of getting to the NE or SE of the City peak time commute wise if I lived in Cochrane but downtown would be doable as would anything to the west of the City.
You might find a little more rental inventory in the city suburbs and you could start off there for a few months maybe then check out the small towns for yourself? May be easier to get to work, city centre, etc at the beginning until you find your feet.
To be honest, you could pick a house type and find it in both the suburbs of Calgary and in the small towns - they are pretty homogenous these days!
P.S. Have you looked at rentfaster.ca - gives you an idea of the type of inventory available (you can do a search for the smaller towns you mentioned) but bear in mind they are going pretty fast right now.
Last edited by Flossie and Jim; Feb 4th 2014 at 3:04 pm.
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I lnow on local FB forum someone had posted about requiring a rental (house in Red Deer) for $1100. General (actually every) reply was that you'd find nothing below $1500. So it's not too much better a little further up north.
Obviously 'proper' small town Alberta (ie 5k and less people) are going to be a little cheaper to rent but then you have the whole travelling distance issue.
Obviously 'proper' small town Alberta (ie 5k and less people) are going to be a little cheaper to rent but then you have the whole travelling distance issue.
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Finding an affordable rental within easy commute of Calgary
is becoming more and more of a challenge for many people.
All the best
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What do you consider "easy access to the city"?
What kind of travel time are you happy with?
Will you be commuting every day during the peak?
If commuting downtown, to where?
Just that getting into certain parts of the City might be easier from certain outlying small towns than others. e.g. I probably wouldn't want the faff of getting to the NE or SE of the City peak time commute wise if I lived in Cochrane but downtown would be doable as would anything to the west of the City.
You might find a little more rental inventory in the city suburbs and you could start off there for a few months maybe then check out the small towns for yourself? May be easier to get to work, city centre, etc at the beginning until you find your feet.
To be honest, you could pick a house type and find it in both the suburbs of Calgary and in the small towns - they are pretty homogenous these days!
P.S. Have you looked at rentfaster.ca - gives you an idea of the type of inventory available (you can do a search for the smaller towns you mentioned) but bear in mind they are going pretty fast right now.
What kind of travel time are you happy with?
Will you be commuting every day during the peak?
If commuting downtown, to where?
Just that getting into certain parts of the City might be easier from certain outlying small towns than others. e.g. I probably wouldn't want the faff of getting to the NE or SE of the City peak time commute wise if I lived in Cochrane but downtown would be doable as would anything to the west of the City.
You might find a little more rental inventory in the city suburbs and you could start off there for a few months maybe then check out the small towns for yourself? May be easier to get to work, city centre, etc at the beginning until you find your feet.
To be honest, you could pick a house type and find it in both the suburbs of Calgary and in the small towns - they are pretty homogenous these days!
P.S. Have you looked at rentfaster.ca - gives you an idea of the type of inventory available (you can do a search for the smaller towns you mentioned) but bear in mind they are going pretty fast right now.
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Also, not sure if you are thinking of making the move now or later, but the rental thing seems pretty cyclical over here - when we arrived back in 2007 the rental market was pretty tight and we ended up paying $1500 a month for a 2 bed apartment up in Panorama Hills. Our mortgage these days is a lot less than that! Things eased up for a while and then they seemed to be building condos everywhere and inventory got better and prices slackened off a bit. Just saying if you are maybe waiting until your other half is qualified before moving things may be different on the rental front?
Last edited by Flossie and Jim; Feb 5th 2014 at 1:08 am.
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You could set yourself up anywhere in or around Calgary and get some business! Daycares charge anything from $600 a month per child upwards (usually upwards) round these parts - just check out kijiji for the competition!
Also, not sure if you are thinking of making the move now or later, but the rental thing seems pretty cyclical over here - when we arrived back in 2007 the rental market was pretty tight and we ended up paying $1500 a month for a 2 bed apartment up in Panorama Hills. Our mortgage these days is a lot less than that! Things eased up for a while and then they seemed to be building condos everywhere and inventory got better and prices slackened off a bit. Just saying if you are maybe waiting until your other half is qualified before moving things may be different on the rental front?
Also, not sure if you are thinking of making the move now or later, but the rental thing seems pretty cyclical over here - when we arrived back in 2007 the rental market was pretty tight and we ended up paying $1500 a month for a 2 bed apartment up in Panorama Hills. Our mortgage these days is a lot less than that! Things eased up for a while and then they seemed to be building condos everywhere and inventory got better and prices slackened off a bit. Just saying if you are maybe waiting until your other half is qualified before moving things may be different on the rental front?
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