is everybody doing this in Canada like they are in the UK? We've done a few developments over here but are getting the heeby-geebies with the market at the moment.
We've been looking at possibly moving to Canada for a while now(haven't quite worked out how visa wise yet) and are thinking about developing over there - either renovating and flipping or buying plots and building new (my husband would be able to PM it).
From pure internet research the areas that have leapt out at us are nova scotia, squamish and kamloops. Does anybody have any thoughts on these areas?
Also, if we were to buy a house or plot and then come over on a tourist visa or student visa and did some work on the house ourselves, would this constitute "work" for immigration purposes??
Any opinions appreciated....

Some one posted on this in the last couple of weeks - have looked for the thread but cant find it - they were apologising for not coming on the site as they had been busy doing this.

Sorry - hope someone else will remember the post

We initially moved here as tourists and renovated a business and property. Immigration told us that it was fine, as long as we weren't deriving income. It was roughly 5 months before we applied for and got work permits that then allowed us to earn a living from what we'd purchased.

Kamloops is very busy from a growth/construction perspective. We've just completed a house build that's taken 10mths. New home builders and contractors need to be booked 6-12mths in advance, and the process is slow as they're juggling so many jobs.

Reckon on a minimum of $150k for a decent city plot and $200 per sq ft for a decent finish. Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fieldst...57602709087458 of what we built - this cost c$225 sq/ft.

There are plenty of reno projects round the city, the main difficulty you'll have is getting hold of tradesmen, but if you're able to carry out work yourselves then that problem's alleviated. House price inflation is high, and has been so for the past 3yrs. The forecast is for continued growth into 2008/9 - higher than almost anywhere else in BC. When we first looked around here (early '05) it was rare to see any property fetch much over $500k - now that's commonplace and it's no longer unusual to see listings advertised at $1m +

Buying plots and building new might be tricky to make a living from, unless you're in a position to do several at a time - you'll have major outgoings for best part of a year before any income. Renos might be a better opportunity, and the rental market here is crying out for properties.

R I C H, nice house, in fact stunning house actually!

Thanks Xpat - lots of blood, sweat, tears and trauma went into it. Just waiting for the stucco to be finished this week, then might start some landscaping before winter sets in.

RICH, I like your Interior Work but the exterior seems reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright, and with that flat roof, what about snow load???

Your attention to detail is hard to replicate with many of today's Trades, and the $200 a sq.ft seems to be a constant across the country.

Once the stucco's on it'll gain it's true Adobe/Santa Fe style look. The 'flat' roof is pretty deceiving - it's actually got a 12 inch pitch on it, and rain water/snow melt runs out of the wooden beams that are drilled out. It's engineered to carry a much higher snow load that we experience here, which in reality is pretty small.

A lot of the interior work we designed ourselves and I carried out with a friend - the front doors we built from scratch and all the soffit, base boards, window/door architrave we cut, stained and fitted too. My wife's got a great eye for design and detail - tiles were all sourced from Home Depot, but the finishing touches that make such a difference to the feel of a home (door handles, faucet/shower fittings and the like) we scoured the internet until something caught our eye.

House looks great. Is that $225 per sq ft even when you do some of the work yourself??

Hey rich, I'm moving to Ontario to build my house in 2009 (fingers crossed).
I love the exterior look. Thats brave and I applaud you. The interior is great too.
Do you think I could get in touch and pick your brains a little?

Thank you. Yes it is - I estimate we saved about $25k on interior work we did ourselves. Also I've chosen to create driveways, landscape, spread gravel and clear the site of builders rubbish myself - probably save in the region of an additional $10K. Every bit helps!

Yes, no problem. Feel free to drop me a line.

It's semi-desert landscape and climate here, so an adobe style house suits the geography very well. There are several popping up in and around the area. We looked at log homes, timber framed, etc etc, but fell in love with the flexibility and efficiency of the adobe style. All the interior floors are polished, etched and coloured concrete with radiant floor heating - costs less than $3 p/sq ft to get a finished floor, and central heating. It's combined with an on-demand hot water furnace (somewhat similar to a combi boiler), so heat/water combined in one efficient system.

We had very low water pressure here (under 20psi) as we're so far from the kerb-side mains, so fitted a pump that boosts us to 60+psi. The body jets in the shower went from dribbles to high pressure paint strippers - if anyone's got low pressure, I'd highly recommend the pump as a solution.

We don't watch much TV at all here but there doesn't seem to be many programs ala Sarah Beeny (I loved those few she did on the exterior of a row of terraces and all the bitching between neighbours), home DIY, how to buy a house, how to sell a house etc.

They do show some Location Location Location so we get to see Phil and Kirstie.

In my general travels around and about Vancouver I've seen a few places being done up, but by more developer looking set-ups rather than the DIY renovating approach.

But that is just my lay-mans opinion having been quite a fan of home DIY programs in the UK.

My hubby is a builder by trade, we are heading to Ontario next month: He is hoping to work for another contractor for about 12 months, then set up himself to renovate property, some to sell some to rent.....thats the plan
Fingers crossed.

On bu**er, remind me not to try and brag about my attempts at renovations on this board.

That is a brilliant house R I C H. You've done a great job.

I'm OK with stuff that requires big tools and brawn. Anything needing some skill and patience ends up like a car wreck. The place only looks so great as we were so fussy with our contractors.