love_it_here

Depends what you are looking for. We lived in Chilliwack for 9 months when we first moved to canada and it was some of the longest months of my life! The problem with Chilliwack is that it is too near to vancouver to have its decent shops (the mall is so awful), concerts etc but to be honest too far from Vancouver to enjoy its amenities. You think its not far when you visit but it is - the Portman Bridge is a huge issue. You can be stuck in traffic on highway 1 for hours (and I mean hours) trying to get in and out of Vancouver. There is no train service between Chilliwack and Vancouver so you have to drive if you want to go out in Vancouver which means no drinking. The other problem it has is that it smells like manure for many months of the year.

There are no parks in Chilliwack either and when we tried hiking in the nearby mountains we kept coming across the same problem - unleashed vicious dogs. I am told it is because of all the grow ops.

I guess if you are a homebody and never want to go out that's fine but for me me no-way (that said, my clubbing days are way behind me!)!

It was so bad we moved to Port Moody and my husband commuted back and forth to Chilliwack very day until he could get a job transfer. The road between vancouver and Chilliwack is dullsville and sometimes it took him three hours one way!

We have now moved to Kelowna which we love very much. We get to go to the odd concert, it has a very decent cultural district, movie theatres, a decent mall, a beautiful lake, vinyards, mountains, ski resorts nearby - what more could you ask for? Well an Ikea but apart from that...

Yes we could have bought a bigger house in a cheaper area (we live in a townhome) but what would be the point in that? We moved to Canada for a better lifestyle, not more square footage!

Hope this insight helps.

georgina

Hudman

Yes we could have bought a bigger house in a cheaper area (we live in a townhome) but what would be the point in that? We moved to Canada for a better lifestyle, not more square footage!

Hope this insight helps.

Real good sensible post. I'd find it hard to recommend anywhere east of Coquitlam going into Fraser Valley if you intend to commute into Van by Car. You may be living in 3000 sq ft but you will find you probably don't end up using half the space and living in somewhere like Chilliwack would spin you into deep depression (IMHO),
They have been touting twinning the Port Man bridge which may help Highway 1 corridor, if this ever happens it would be back to square one if the Golden Ears bridge is ever built linking Pitt Meadows area with H1.
The road link over Pitt Rivers is abysmal, again a new bridge is planned, which may impact house prices again East of Pitt Meadows.
The only saving grace for weekday commuters is the West Coast Express which is first rate.
What I am trying to say that it is tempting to look at a map and equate housing costs/ size with these areas, but anyone wishing to avoid any sort of daily commute hell as seen in UK would be very disappointed.
Draw a line East of Maple Ridge/ Langley and forget it as apart from commute the Towns are GRIM.

jeannie

Hi.....
I live in Armstrong B.c what about Enderby or GrindRod....they are between Armstrong and Salmon Arm..........what about Nelson Cranbrook ...... the Kootenays...........or more Northern........... Williams Lake thats closer to Prince George but a nice place............
There are a lot of smaller towns but what about work ?............

Jeannie......

Tiaribbon

I know you have written about moving to Prince George for the property prices, land, jobs etc. Have you thought about what sort of job you will be hoping to get? I would have thought that jobs are fairly slim on the ground up there? Don't forget, unless you have a personal income, you will need to work to live, regardless of whether you have your house bought outright.

Chilliwack is the smelliest place I have ever been to, and I am a farmer! Even I couldn't live there LOL!! As some other people suggested; take a look at Salmon Arm, prices are cheaper there although employment may be an issue as it is a quiet rural economy there. If you consider living in Enderby or Grinderod then do be careful where you chose to buy; there are a number of Indian Reserves around that area, and although pretty, crime is high in relation to other areas. Armstrong is cute, but it is chicken-farm heaven there so make sure you don't live near one!! If you look at the areas around, you may see a huge price dip around a town called Lumby - don't be sucked in by the cheap property prices on view!!

If I was in your situation I think with the budget you have, Kamloops is probably where I would be heading to if you are absolutely sure BC is where you want to live. It is a decent sized city with not bad weather and an economy of sorts. Property prices vary a lot, in and around the city.

Personally, I think BC is out of your budget. Sorry to be so blunt, but in the 2 and a half years we visited BC, prices shot up and if you are only just putting in your application, then you are looking at a 3 year wait and in this time prices could continue to escalate out of your reach.

Ontario is definitely within your grasp of buying a house outright and still being in a Province with good job prospects and a good economy. You may have to commute to a better paying job but then I think that will be the case with most places that you look at in Canada as property is not so cheap around business areas.

I can't personally comment on any other Provinces as I have never been to any other Provinces except Quebec which would be of no use to you. Take a close look at Alberta, it seems like a lovely Province, albeit extremely cold in the winter. But the job market seems like it is thriving right now.

By the way, it doesn't matter where you state your intended destination on your application - you are allowed to change your mind to any other Province except Quebec.

Grendel

We've got plenty to think about. www.mls.ca is one of our most-visited websites, but now we're a little more informed about exactly what towns we're looking at.

This forum has proved invaluable, and we're grateful for everyone who takes the time and trouble to share their wisdom.

steve of 5-0

Property prices the world over are driven by an areas popularity.

The EU in the 80`s and 90`s shot up because the people of the UK started buying into the "Euroscene!"
The advent of the easyjet culture shrunk Europe, so the Brits` big money economy washing over the Med` for example, inflated their prices.

Brits mass migration to BC and ON is the same, whole industries who sell a product feed of this, thus fanning the flames for the possible inflation of Provincial Economies.

At present Alberta feeds of this situation, being next door to BC, those that can`t afford BC are choosing AB.

In 25 yrs it will be SK over BC and AB.

At present from the east, it`s MB over ON.

For those of you in SK, your children will enjoy a boom in around 25 to 50 years time.

Here in the Atlantic Provinces, we are on a downward economic cycle, so Canadians who can, migrate westward to ON and beyond.
Consequently house prices here in the east will be the one of the lowest for 10 more years, in around 5 years time Brits arriving here will drive up the prices as the "BC syndrome" kicks in!!!!!!!

dbd

I think this idea is generally right but I doubt that there are enough Brits with enough money to influence the Canadian property market one way or the other. I think it's Asian money that drives up prices in Toronto and Vancouver and that people moving out from those cities push up prices in their hinterlands.

Rich_007

Absolutely - Okanagan (Kelowna) real estate prices are expected to rise 10% next year, and that's conservative. Assuming that interest rate rises don't hammer the market too badly, you can forecast that for three years, one reason being that Kelowna is a lifestyle choice - people relocating here as business owners, execs, second-homes, retirees, all with moolah and not needing immediate employment.

An average decent 4/5 bed detatched home here is something like $340 - $500k (in an area that people would actually want to live- the cheaper homes are cheap for a reason) so add on the cumulative and that makes it a bracket of $410k to $665k within three years. Pretty scary, eh ? The local issue of real estate prices is already hurting - go to dine out and see the struggle to recruit enough minimum wage workers to serve the moneyed masses, it's a real indicator of a problem looming large.

Rich.

Cowtown

Depends where you are - there are lots of Brits with cash still arriving in Calgary.

There isn't a "Canadian property market" as such - outside ON, the urban areas are too spread out to affect each other.

I was in Mississauga last week ... I'm very happy that I didn't stay in the GTA.

steve of 5-0

Accepted - So substitute British for British Passport holders instead !!!!!

Mike1967

Hi Grendel,

I've sent you a private message...........

Mike

finallygotout

To the OP, you talked about bring £100,000 over, that will give you about $200,000, and getting an acre with that in BC, are you sure that is possible?

sev

Exactly, I live in Sardis and it takes me 50 min to Vancouver itself, Coquitlam -45min. you can afford either a house (older) with big yard for $220-260k or brand new townhome with fully fenced yard (not bad size) for $195-220k 3 bedroom and 3 washroom plus basement about 1800 sq. ft plus basement.
So, you are still very close to were the action is. And our summers are excellent- 30-35 degrees and virtually no rain at all for 3 months. Last summer it only rained once for 1 hour entire july and august.
So, think again.

sev

I completely disagree. Alberta is not feeding place on BC situation since BC situation is very unique and Alberta with its gas/oil (and knowing the gas prices trend I give no dought AB economy will boom until the need in oil will exist) plus low business and personal tax is a magnet for many people which drives all sectors of economy up.

About BC - 275,000 of Hong Kong people with money in billions of dollars moved to Lower Mainland in late 90's together with people from Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and etc. who still continue to dump dollars in the amounts you could only have by hitting a jackpot at 6/49. Vancouver was always orienting towards Asia and Pacific USA. Largest port in Canada and being closest port to China (major goods manufacturer today in the whole world) so no surprise prices here are so high. on top of this BC has the only agreeble climat in Canada where you chance to freez your bum is virtually zero.

The last and only boom in SK (give me a brake) and MB was 60-70 years ago, even then you can hardly call it a boom, however, these provinces are very stable economically being self efficient and famous to develop at a very slow but steady rate: they always had enough employment and good prices (but very high taxes plus lots of federal money in subsidies). they have never had any major "economical waves" compaired to BC, Ab, or ON, and never will (there is simply nothing there to boom on!). Sorry guys who live there !? (I actually spend 8 years in Winnipeg, so I know a bit what I am talking about).

Rich_007

Rich