mandymoochops

In all seriousness Rich, what would you guys have done had the gamble not paid off?

LucyLovelock

My biggest piece of advice to give anyone moving over would be to rent for a minimum of 6 mths, maybe even a year.
You get a feel for the area, and be certain thats the town you want to buy in.
And as you say, then theres which part of Okotoks you prefer.
Renting there will give you a real feel for the place, and then you can really start to house hunt with all the local knowledge.

We rented for the first year, and it then meant when we bought, we were certain of the area of town we loved, plus being in rented made it very easy to buy, as we were in a strong position when making that offer.

You will also have earnt a Canadian wage for 6-12 mths, and know what you can truly afford.
I have seen way too many people come over, and they are house rich and cash poor! They have an awesome house that has room for all their relatives to come stay at once, and a minivan to ferry them around (for the 2 weeks a year they come out!) and a lovely mountain view etc......but cant afford to go on vacation, or go skiing for the weekend etc because they overstretched on the house!

Good luck!!
x

wolstie

I'd guess that the majority of people moving on TWPs have the intent to settle permanently. So, if you have the cash for the hefty deposit, and it works out cheaper in the long run to buy rather than to rent, why not buy? Worst case, should your PR not come through, you have to sell it or rent it out. In this case though, that's probably the last of your worries.

iaink

It may be their intent, but its not something they control and it may not be the governments intent. The word "Temporary" in "Temporary Work Permit" is not to be taken lightly these days, more and more TWPs are being refused renewal as the economy changes.

The problem with selling is twofold, depressed markets and serious realtor commissions, and the problem with renting out your property is its a tie to canada which complicates your tax situation when you have to leave. Also if you do sell while in the process of leaving then you are in a world of pain for holdbacks to cover potential capital gains tax, as the property you are selling wont be considered your primary residence.

All in all the safest thing to do is to rent.

R I C H

Well, CIC basically said that unless a physical investment was made to offer proof/evidence of my commitment to starting a business, they wouldn't take the chance of issuing a work permit, in case I never followed through with the investment. So, I was left in the position to have to buy land and property, with the hope that CIC came good with their intimation that once they saw the investment, issuance of a TWP would be 'likely'.

If they'd ultimately refused a TWP, plan b was a PR application that I submitted around the same time - I'd have sat on the land for the 3 years it took for PR to get processed, and filled my time possibly as an international student instead.

mandymoochops

aaaaaah good plan B grasshopper

Sam-in-Okotoks

I would recommend a short term furnished rental for the first few weeks. This will give you the opportunity to find your feet and not rush into making a decision you will later regret. As you do not have jobs i think it would be wise to rent for the first 6 months. This will give you the opportunity find work, build a credit rating and make sure Okotoks is the place you want to settle. Sam

JasonnJane

I agree with Sam, or even rent un-furnished if you have furniture arriving. We rented, and so glad we did as we moved from Lethbridge to Calgary after 13 months here. We are renting again in Calgary as you cannot decide or know what an area is really like until you are actually living in it. Selling fee's are huge and also hardly anything is selling at the moment

Editha

I think it depends on the market. When we arrived in Edmonton in 06, there was raging house price inflation. We were very relieved that we sold our UK house quickly, so that we could buy here. However, I have the insurance of owning another home in the UK, so I know I'm always going to be able to afford to return home, even if house prices here do not keep up with prices in the UK.

At the moment prices seem to be stagnating in Canada (but conditions vary locally, so you need to check that out). So, you'll probably lose nothing by renting for a while until you are certain about your move. There are predictions that prices are going to plummet, so you may even gain by waiting.

robert_masters

Hi

I know just the person for you guys to get hold off.

On this site you need to find 'amardan' send them a message. They are from Northampton and moved to Okotoks. At first they rented for a year or so. And yes it would be cheaper to buy then rent. The armadans should be able to answser all you questions.

Please meet up with us before you go.

We have PR too!

Regards

Angela & Rob

huddm

Aviator
I agree with you rent for least 6-12 months. We moved to Calgary in 1997 and agreed to buy a new build after getting my first job. After 8 months the company I worked for folded after living in a brand new house for 1 month. I ended moving 230km to a new job. I had to sell the house and in the end I ended up $50K less when we first decided to buy a house.

I recommend that you need to be really settled before buying a house.

I also come across expats who spend all their UK money buying a house they can not afford to run. I have had work colleges whose children have to NZ and Aus and ended up house poor as it temping to buy that large house.

hudd

Novocastrian

Eh?

TheThornes

I don't think there's any hard and fast rule of what is right or wrong to do; everyone is different.

Granted, if you don't have a secure job in place or are not absolutely sure on what town or even what part of town is right for you then renting for a period probably would be advisable. On the other hand if, like us, you had a secure job in place before the move over and knew which town and exactly what areas of town you liked then buying straight away shouldn't necessarily be ruled out.

When we came over, we had a secure job in place and, as a result of previous recce trips, had already decided on the town of Cochrane in which to live and had even narrowed things down to about two areas that we knew suited us. We'd already looked around houses whilst over on recce trips so had a good idea of the sort of property we wanted too. Once we arrived, we stayed in temporary accommodation for 6 weeks whilst we found, bought and moved into our own house. We're still in the same house 3 years on and still love it and its location just as much. As I said, it all very much depends on the individual.

markss

Thank for all your replies, you have all been very helpful.

We have decieded to rent for a few months.

robert_masters

WISE IDEA!

Good Luck