JonboyE

Gulp. You've picked four of the most expensive neighborhoods going. The West End is mostly rental apartments. Have you considered renting at first? There is a lot to be said for living downtown. It is very pretty and you are close to most of the entertainment. The biggest advantage is that you may also be within walking distance to work. The Yaletown/False Creek developments are designed so that people can live without (or with only one) car.

There are plenty of empty-nesters who sell up their house in surburbia once their children have gone and buy downtown to enjoy the urban lifestyle.

That's OK. If you go to the bank's website they will allow you to change the amortization terms so you can see what difference it will make to the monthly payment. If you are putting 75% down you should not have too much trouble getting a mortgage at a decent rate.

It really depends on what you are looking for and what skills you bring with you. Generally, the demand for workers of all types is strong and if you are prepared to be flexible finding a "starter" job of some sorts will not be too difficult. I can't give much more advice without knowing more about what you have done and what you are looking for. There is a lot of good advice about job hunting in the wiki section.

EVERYWHERE in Vancouver is near a coffee house. There are lots of neighborhoods in and around Vancouver and its suburbs that I would be happy live in and where a budget of $400,000 would buy a 2/3 bed townhouse. Two considerations are 1) where you are likely to get work and 2) how much (if any) of a commute are you prepared to put up with.

Selling real estate is expensive so there is a lot to be said for renting when you first get here until you have sorted your work out and have a chance to look around for a neighborhood that suits you.

For your information, an average salary in Vancouver is about $50,000 pa. Someone with skills, experience and a successful career behind them could expect more, but there are many jobs that offer less.

acer rose

I am rather puzzled by your choice of Vancouver. There may be very good personal/family/fulfilling a dream reasons for this choice. Otherwise, Vancouver is one of the most expensive places in Canada you could have chosen and whatever your occupation, there is likely to be a less costly alternative elsewhere in Canada, or even BC if it is the mild climate that interests you.

There are many communities with cafe culture and a bit of life that would be considerably cheaper. Sunshine Coast communities are a lot cheaper but not so good if your reason for moving is being close to the ski hills. If you want skiing and are not a very specialised profession, there are other communities in the interior that might suit. If you want mild climate and ocean but are not bothered about catching transit to the ski hills, White Rock could work (also good if you need access to an international airport).

Getting a job...very much depends on your occupation. The economy is reputed to be hot here in Vancouver but in practice that means that minimum wage jobs go unfilled and it is slightly easier to land jobs for which you are overqualified. Fine if you are young and looking for a break or want to want to work two (or more) jobs to make ends meet. If you want to earn decent money, ie work in a profession, it sounds like you need to do a lot more research. Professional jobs are generally considered (by my Vancouver born and raised friends) to be underpaid here for the cost of living.

Good luck.

Edit: I guess JohnboyE beat me to it but I guess a fair few of us are thinking why Vancouver is your choice.

Judy in Calgary

This varies enormously, depending on lifestyle, number of kids, etc.

If you're starting what essentially is a new topic, it really is a good idea to start a new thread. Again, I recommend that you read the Tips on using the forum article.

Also, cost of living is something that has been discussed many times before. You can find previous discussion threads if you use the forum's search feature.

As someone who is in her mid 50s, I believe there is quite a bit of ageism in Canada.

When you're an immigrant, you can be at a slight disadvantage to start with. You're an unknown quantity. If Canadian employers have a choice, many of them are more comfortable hiring someone who has "Canadian experience."

If you're in your 50s, you then have an additional strike against you, so to speak.

But many factors will influence your actual success in securing employment.

Your own level of enthusiasm is enormously important.

In addition to that, you can assist yourself a great deal if you read the BE Wiki articles in the series on Job Hunting in Canada. It would be difficult to over-emphasize the importance of those articles. It's crucial to understand how important networking is.

When they first arrive, many immigrants accept jobs that are more junior than the ones they held down in their home countries. I think there can be merit in doing that, as it helps you to get your foot in the door.

I've been researching Vancouver myself, because I want to move to the BC coast (although I currently am leaning towards Vancouver Island).

My perception is that prices in close-in neighbourhoods tend to be high. Something that quite a few people seem to do is buy a house that has a basement suite (flat) and rent out the suite to help with the mortgage. There seem to be quite a few houses of that sort in Kitsilano, which is a cute neighbourhood close to downtown -- exactly the kind of place you'd like to live, according to the description you provided.

But I don't consider myself to be an expert on Vancouver, so I'd better back off before I demonstrate my ignorance any further.

There are quite a few Vancouver posters on this forum, and they are far better placed to advise you than I am.

If you're interested in property in the Greater Vancouver Area, I recommend Frank and Sue Gerryts of Relocation 2 BC. They are realtors who themselves are British expats. Frank posts here under the name of Frank'n Sense. He has answered some of my questions about Vancouver by private email.

Another forum that is a gold mine of information on Vancouver is Brits 2 Vancouver.

The BE Wiki article on Vancouver will at least give you some ideas.

Before I clicked the "Submit Reply" button, I saw the two great messages that JonboyE and acer rose had posted while I was composing mine. I believe they have made excellent points. I particularly agree that there would be merit in renting before you committed yourself to a real estate purchase.

Hope that helps.

Postscript. In providing opinions about your potential success if finding jobs, it would help to know what you and your other half do.

acer rose

Too true. I can understand that age may be a factor in OP's desire to be settled in their own place, but I am very wary of the housing market here in Vancouver at the moment. There are very many people (the vast majority) who will tell you that the housing market in Vancouver can not possibly tank, that there is no oversupply in small condos, and that leaky condo or similar issues will never rear up again. They may well be right, especially in the downtown areas you are investigating. Lots of people want to live here and land space is limited. But when an opinion becomes accpeted as absolute fact, I become nervous. It could be a very expensive mistake to buy somewhere that doesn't work out. I really hope OP has done their research.

Erinbrooke

Hi everyone,

we are in exactly the same predicament as Trouncer1, in that we were not sure what to ship over there and what to try and sell here first

However since backtracking over some past and present threads have decided to ship as much as we can over there, i.e. furniture, as it sounds like unless you get some hellish bargains in the new year sales(which we have missed) the furniture is as, if not more, expensive as the UK

further to this can anyone confirm what electrical goods we can bring over, that will work in Canada?

we have spent some good money in recent years on items like an American Style fridge freezer and 42" LCD telly - will they work there?

Other than these my wife wonders if things like kettles, toasters, hairdriers, lamps, etc will work?

Any help would be appreciated.

Are you ready for the game tommorrow Novocastrian? 3-1 to the mags I reckon - LOL!!

YYZlover

Another shop to keep an eye on is www.jysk.ca. They're Danish, well known in Scandinavia, branched in to Germany as Dänische Bettlager.

I have the Lucca sliding door wardrobe right next to me. Extremely pleased with it.

And as Judy ssaid - READ THE WIKIS!!!!

YYZlover

Have you read the wiki?

Your question is answered here

Steve_P

Most of your electrical goods will not work in Canada unless you get step-up transformers for them.

UK 240 volt 50 cycle, North America 110-120 volt 60 cycle.

I'm sure others with recent experience will step in later but for the most part forget bringing anything electrical unless it states on it that it can be used with 110 -120 volt 60 cycle.

Erinbrooke

Yes I have read it and there are NO comments on fridge freezers, washers/dryers or smaller items (hairdriers/toasters/etc.) in the WIKI

Jay Bird

With regard to insuring your goods - we were told by our shipping company (and reading the fine print on their quote bore this out), the insurance company does not cover loss or damage for part of a shipment....in other words, the whole ship has to go down. These are not my words, but that of the shipping company. When we asked the company rep if we had interpreted this correctly, he confirmed it. We did not insure our goods.
With regard to packing liquids, gels etc........... I had expensive bathroom goodies, which I wrapped in bubble wrap, then in soft things - tea towels, bathroom towels, even T shirts, whatever, then in a box. We are talking small bottles of perfume or cologne after all, and not gallon flagons of the stuff!

Judy in Calgary

In theory you can use converters and transformers. In the case of large appliances that run constantly, like fridges and freezers, it's risky to operate ones that are not CSA or UL approved. If you were to have a fire, you probably would find out that you'd voided your insurance policy.

(CSA = Canadian Standards Association and UL = Underwriters Laboratory)

You can re-wire lamps.

Kettles and toasters are cheap enough in Canada that I don't think it's worth bringing UK ones and buying converters.

Most British television sets don't work in Canada, but it's useful to bring one so that you can play your British games on it. But check if you have a multi-region TV set. If you do, it will work in Canada (with a voltage converter).

trouncer

Thanks JonBoyE, Acer, Judy and the rest. Really good advice. I have read some of the other threads and links previously. Just to put you more in the picture of our plans :

Rentals : We do plan to rent first and during that period, survey the areas and look for a good place to buy (hopefully) in t he places we mentioned. JonBoyE, I know those areas are hugely expensive but we are willing to live in a 1 or 2 bedroom at approx. 700sq foot. There's only two of us to consider too. Do you think it's still affordable with the money I mentioned ?

Jobs : I'm a Network Analyst here in the UK. I have a UK Hons Degree in Computer Studies (but not a programmer), a HNC in Telecoms and (hopefully in a few weeks) a CCNA (Cisco certificate). I have worked for several years for places like HSBC (Senior Network Analyst at there European IT HQ), British Telecom (Incident Management), The UK Post Office IT Centre and a couple of Telecoms/Cabling companies in Business/Sales Support (but not into sales if I can avoid it). I'm aware I may have to take a step or two down and willing to do so long as I can earn a living wage to enable me to pay the mortgage and bills (thus the reason for my initial question about what sort of salary I need to live on with a 100k mortgage). My partner has no professional qualifications other than school certificates and is in admin at the moment for the local council. Theh question is, what do you think of our chances ? At our age (we're both actually 49yr at the moment). Honest answers appreciated.

I'm aware that networking is possibly the 'best' way to get a job but how does one network when you don't know anyone on arrival. It takes time to be friends and get to know people. So how do you start ?

Why Vancouver ? Well it's always been our choice over Calgary and Toronto which we have also visited. I know it's the most expensive place but willing to compromise to enable us to live where we want to. We alsos enjoy the urban stuff too like you mentioned JonboyE. We don't need a huge place (although >700sq ft may be considered huge ?). It will be tough getting a decent place for about $350k-$400k in those are's but is it possible (emphasis on the word decent and not a rough area).

Electricals : Just quickly. I have been informed my PC should work ok in Canada due to its ability to cope with the variance of voltages. However, I will try and get rid of all other electricals as I've heard they will not work over there (hairdriers, TV's, guitar amp, Hi-Fi's, lamps etc.).

Oldbag - lol I don't have flagons of the bathroom goodies either and would wrap up as you when I do. Don't wanna leave anything behind.

Furniture and electricals in Canada - Is the general consensus that it's much more expensive there than in the UK ? and does that go for clothes because if it does, I may stock up NOW as opposed to buying there.

Lastly, I think it's great that there's people like you all responding to my queries and helping me out. It's very much appreciated. Buy you a drink when I get over ?

YYZlover

Well I think the answer you are looking for is right here (in the introductory text in the wiki):

As none of us here are in your home and know what fridge/freezer/drier/washer/toaster/hairdryer/straightener/iron etc you have and can check if these are dual voltage or not, the only one who can check if your appliances will be dual voltage or not is you.

YYZlover

I don't know about these days but in my PC days (now mac and laptop user) all my PC desktops had a switch in the back of the power supply to switch between 110 and 220.

And if your powersupply does not work on 110 - I believe it would be easy enough to get one when you are there and install that.

Beebop

I use GUMTREE to sell household stuff in the UK and Amazon for books, especially good for textbooks.

There is always freecycle or we also give stuff to our local furniture recycling organisation and Bethany also take household goods....all depends where you live.