beckiwoo

This is correct and the clients I work with cant even get an room in an SRO for $375 a month. SRO rooms go for $400 - $600 a month and they are the pits

Teaandtoday5

I once kept an odd sock for about three years. In my defence they were new socks I'd only worn once, I was sure the other one would turn up... I decided that I couldn't really justify taking the poor lonely sock to Canada with us, and threw it out. When making up beds in our first rental house over here I found the missing sock inside a duvet cover.

scrubbedexpat091

For sure they are, the SRO's in Vancouver are most unpleasant.

It's been an ongoing issues the entire time I have been in BC, but back then you could go to Chilliwack or Abbotsford and find affordable rentals, but those places now have insanity level rents, so there really is no affordable option left anywhere in the LM, but those on disability and social assistance usually have other problems like mental health or addiction and well since the services are Vancouver/LM centric, you cannot expect those folks just to move to small town BC where there is likely be no services for those issues.

Make BC less Vancouver centric, provide services on a more equal footing throughout the province, and people might be able to move.


And while "technically" illegal in BC to deny housing to someone on assistance or disability, landlords still do, so even if one is able to find suitable and safe housing, good chance once the landlord knows your on assistance or disability they will find a way not to rent, usually oh we went with another person. Unless the landlord says that is why they didn't rent to a person, pretty much impossible to prove they denied one based on being on assistance/disability.

and there is no way around not telling the landlord since the province requires the landlord to fill out a shelter form which goes to the ministry.



Sorry, the topic of affordable housing, and low disability amounts, and such get me a bit heated.....

becks_r

Those pesky duvet covers!!! Pillow cases eat socks too

I once lost one sock when traveling to see my OH when we were dating. It turned out that somehow the other one got packed in his suitcase and he actually wore it once because it was just a plain black sock. As he is 6ft 6 tall and I'm 5ft, he stretched it quite a bit!! But I did manage to reunite with its pair!!

I actually keep all my tatty old odd socks and use them to protect shoes when traveling, so if the other one is just missing, they will be reunited eventually

BristolUK

Now there's a website to rival Friends reunited. There's a fortune to be made.


Bugger.

It already exists.

Socks Reunited

becks_r

Well I think exists is the right word for it, that has got to be one of the most basic looking websites I have ever seen, and only one success story back in 2008. All those poor lonely odd socks out their waiting to be reunited

BristolUK

So I had the place cleaned up, decided to have laminate flooring installed downstairs (having added it upstairs previously) and made the bathroom good (better) again.

Met with my Realtor yesterday to have him list it.
Whisper it, but I got an offer today, bit of negotiation to get an acceptable price and all agreed. Even a nice early completion date.

Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong with the technicalities to mess it up.

Gozit

DandNHill

Wow. That's amazing!

We have a rent to own in place on one of our houses. Keeping fingers crossed it all goes according to plan!!

scrubbedexpat091

Hope all the deals for both of you complete to the end.

BristolUK

Big thunderstorm overnight. I'm waiting to discover the place was struck by lightning but not to worry as the torrential rain put the fire out by flooding everywhere with water cascading top to bottom.

DandNHill

Thanks. It's been a very long time coming... (Three years in December!)

BristolUK

From August 31st I'd forgotten about this thread.

At the last minute, it did indeed all go wrong. The buyer had only recently gone self employed and apparently didn't have "enough history" to see the financing through.

Eventually there was a replacement buyer who wanted to complete in five days (today) but he knew he was getting a bargain. My realtor said it was a steal but at this point - having already been in the frame of mind where it was "sold" - As long as I did better than the money having sat in the bank instead that's all that mattered to me.

So, thanks to the collapse in the rental market (9% vacancy rate!!) I've sold for less than paid but the rental income over the years more than makes up for it so I can console myself with that.
(Shades of Philip Green )

Just a shame that first one didn't go through. I'll need to re-examine the plans for the European trip for us all. Or accept a contribution from the others. But it was supposed to me my treat.

BristolUK

Not really punished with this one but pretty irritating, all things considered.

We've bought some things and we're in need of a 'new look' plus a bit of reorganising.

Some things need to go. Some could be sold, some given away and some unlikely to sell. We have a large item garbage collection every 5 weeks but it's 3 weeks away.

At the beginning of the week I had resigned myself to having to let go of a sofa which is still pretty good. Given what's offered on kijiji for free or $50 I didn't have much hope of selling.

I listed at $80 and got some interest. First couple went away to think (usually that means no) and the second couple to look wanted a 3-seater, rather than the 2-seater I listed (with pic) but she wanted it as well. She liked it, he preferred to stick with the 3-seater idea. $60 was agreed and off they went to return with brother and truck. But I think he won and they never returned.

I reduced the ad to $60 and someone asked if he could have it free. Low income family on hard times.

It wasn't a sob story and I was okay in principle given I was resigned to getting nothing just two days ago.

I asked him if he was interested in other free stuff and he was, in our old style TV and recliner. I suggested that if he could arrange to collect those two next day, then it could include the sofa too and he said OK.

I said we'd be available any time and to let me know if this was possible. OK didn't really tell me anything.

Early evening I sent a second email to say it would now include the sofa too (I'd decided to go for the 'known' rather than uncertainty) so could he confirm he'd be able to do this so that we could have the stuff ready. This time he extended his OK to Okay.

I gave it more time and thought, well he might tell me at 9.00 next day that he was on his way - in which I case I might be stuck with having to move them from where they have still been in use, to somewhere convenient for collection. Or we could move them to near the front door and then have him not turn up and then we are stuck with them in the way until more successful attempts to dispose of them.

We did the latter having established a far from ideal space for them but just about manageable in the event of non collection.

No news later so I emailed again to say I understood he might not know yet but could he let me know something as we needed to know whether to make things ready. (The TV really is heavy).

No response last night.

I was thinking how irritating this was but if he did take something it would at least mean we'd got rid of something without waiting 3 weeks. I didn't want to cut off my nose to spite my face by telling him where to go.

I woke to another person expressing interest (ad still listed in view of uncertainty) but had to put them off as it was still early.

No news by 11.00. So pissed off now that I emailed to say forget it.

Free TV, free recliner, free sofa all in good condition and he can't be arsed to be a bit more communicative/helpful. All he had to do was let me know when he could do it or let me know when he expected to find out whether he could do it. I could have waited.

Now we have a recliner, huge old TV and a sofa very much in the way (so that it's near the front door) until some other arrangement can be made.