cxx

Not sure if you are still considering the kennels business, but not sure you would have that many customers in some of the areas you mention (Porters Lake, Seabrights, St Margarets Bay), and houses probably don't sell that quickly in those areas.
As DandNHill said the best place for such a business might be around the airport / between the airport and the city so people could drop off / collect en route.
Hammonds Plains has a lot of new developments and businesses so seems to be growing and could be a good area for a new business, in fact I seem to remember seeing a doggy daycare on that road.

scrubbedexpat091

High cost of housing.

Hanzo

Yes, still considering kennel business and understand the need for easy drop off which leads to a house in Hammond Plains that does have potential for a luxury dog resort as it comes with 14 acres! However, the zoning restrictions mean it may not happen...it allow boarding (children) and old people's homes etc but no mention of animal boarding.

I know location for business is so important but consider I now drive over 30 mins to drop my dogs off to their kennel (for the right ones!) without seeing it as a big deal, but for most people they won't consider that as it is too far!

Stinkypup

I would and still currently certainly travel that far if it was the right place for our dog, I'm sure a lot of people would do likewise- this is Canada, that is no distance-that is equivalent to dropping them off at the house but door. Create a good reputation and people would travel.

DigitalGhost

No worries, I can do that. I was just interested in your opinion as I think you and me may be from a similar age group and I know you live there atm.

DigitalGhost

Yeah I've heard about that. On the plus side for someone like me though, furnished rents seem more common in Vancouver than they are in Toronto.

beckiwoo

Apologies that came across as very sh*tty yesterday - it was not a good day and I probably hadn't had my coffee

Aside from the ever rising house prices and high cost of living vs lower wages then other areas of Canada (apparently), I find the city is becoming very pretentious to meet the needs of the Noveau riche.

After work last night I cut through The Pacific Centre mall and through Holt Renfrew (luxury department store) to stay out of the cold and snow and noticed they now have an entire section dedicated to Canada Goose jackets - these things are upwards of $600 and to be honest although we have snow here, it is only -2 (compared to -30 in other parts of the country) Vancouver doesn't really have the weather whereby you need an overpriced Arctic jacket.

They could be catering for the tourists, who knows but then this is also the crazy ramblings of someone currently on a night shift who hasn't been to sleep in 24 hours because I need a second job for extra money.

There are things I like about Vancouver and the area around such as cheap sushi, the ski hills, the mountains and scenery in general but in hindsight I wish I had done better research into where I wanted to be although i knew the city would have an abundance of opportunities in my field of work.

DandNHill

Going back to the kennel thing... you have to think like a Canadian. I agree some don't consider an issue but many do.
We moved out of town when we were in NS and we had very few friends who would come out to visit. They expected us to come in to town.
Just a thought...

Hanzo

I know what you mean as I've a friend who lives in downtown and he consider places like Fall River or Hammond Plains being way far! Where we live in the U.K., we've to drive 30mins-45mins to a decent town so to us, its nothing! Also, one of the reason for the move is to have more space but still relatively close to shops so this will be ideal.

I think getting a place in the correct zones will be tricky! I can see the point with noises upsetting neighbours etc and if it's too remote, no one will come either!

cxx

Agree. When I have told Canadians how far I used to take our dog to a good kennels they are totally horrified.

Hanzo

I agree, I've visited so many kennels before deciding which one to go for and to me if it's a place I feel they're being looked after relatively well, I'll go the distance and money! So, I need a right place that gives me plenty of land for them to run around in!

Hanzo

Yes, our realtor also saying same thing, that market picks up in Spring. This is also the reason of returning in March, hopefully be able to find something at a good price before the increase of interest. The thing is of all the properties we researched, almost all reduced prices several times now and still not shifting..so we worry prices may not be the lowest and that we should wait a bit longer to try and get best prices?

I know this is all a gamble and no one knows! Just worrying about resell value if prices keep dropping. If rent isn't so high, we'll consider renting for a while before buying but silly to pay almost twice the mortgage to rent?!

DandNHill

True but if you buy in the wrong place it could cost you 5% of the sale price in fees. Even if you paid as low as $200,000 for your property that's still $10,000 to shift it again. Not taking in to consideration how long you might have to wait to get a buyer!

DigitalGhost

No apologies necessary, if I had to regularly work two jobs to pay the bills then I think I would be a lot more angsty than you.

Realistically I don't know if Vancouver would be for us just for that reason tbh. If I work then I expect a decent quality of life and level of disposable income in return and Vancouver sounds similar to London in that you are mostly expected to grind yourself into the ground just to make ends meet.

beckiwoo

I would say based on what you said that Vancouver probably isn't the best fit.

Maybe look at Calgary or Toronto where it's slightly cheaper to live lol