whytelight Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Hello from Manitoba: How do you afford to live in the Lower Mainland? I'm a full time teacher here and 1/4 of my net income goes to put a roof over my head (mortgage, fees, interest, heat/water, insurance). How do people working normal jobs like teachers, nurses, clerks, mechanics, tellers, etc afford to live? I've read that rents are $2000+ a month and shack in Whalley is $750,000...my math says that a mortgage on that would be $3000 a month. If a roof over your head takes up 65% of your net income, how do you eat, drive, save for the future, and live? Does everyone in the Lower Mainland make a minimum of $150,000 a year? What am I missing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurn Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 13 minutes ago, whytelight said: What am I missing? Living in the most beautiful province in Canada? Seriously, though, I have no idea how people in Vancouver survive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 12 minutes ago, whytelight said: Hello from Manitoba: How do you afford to live in the Lower Mainland? I'm a full time teacher here and 1/4 of my net income goes to put a roof over my head (mortgage, fees, interest, heat/water, insurance). How do people working normal jobs like teachers, nurses, clerks, mechanics, tellers, etc afford to live? I've read that rents are $2000+ a month and shack in Whalley is $750,000...my math says that a mortgage on that would be $3000 a month. If a roof over your head takes up 65% of your net income, how do you eat, drive, save for the future, and live? Does everyone in the Lower Mainland make a minimum of $150,000 a year? What am I missing? I can't speak for everyone, but a lot of people who work in Vancouver live further out east where it's far cheaper. I live in Langley and currently work in Vancouver. The commute is brutal, but it's worth reasonable rent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whytelight Posted March 23, 2019 Author Share Posted March 23, 2019 9 minutes ago, -AJ- said: I can't speak for everyone, but a lot of people who work in Vancouver live further out east where it's far cheaper. I live in Langley and currently work in Vancouver. The commute is brutal, but it's worth reasonable rent. So, someone could live in Langley or other burbs and the rents/mortgages are more reasonable? Anything for $150,000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 1 minute ago, whytelight said: So, someone could live in Langley or other burbs and the rents/mortgages are more reasonable? Anything for $150,000? My rent for 800 square feet basement suite is $1100 including everything (utilities, internet, etc.). I make less than a third of $150k a year, but I'm also extremely frugal, so I don't have high monetary requirements. I find that I'm plenty comfortable, but I'm also a single man, which makes a big difference. Supporting a family is a very different story. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Was working class poverty back in the 90's..& said, F*** this!(went to Asia) Vividly remember discussing this stuff with a family member, back in the early 90's. He lamented how good it was back in the 70's.."Had my own apt in White Rock, decent car, & a motorbike. Just working on a farm, could afford to take chicks out for nice meals, etc..." I knew things were trending the wrong way(at the time) so I opted out. To harken back to "the good ol'days", is no tired cliche in this case. It's simply a hard fact. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post redhdlois Posted March 23, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted March 23, 2019 1 6 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRypien37 Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 (edited) TONS of people are leaving the city and have been for a few years. I've been calling it for some time, but I can see downtown Vancouver being a ghost town in the future with a bunch of empty "investment" properties if this continues. But if you want to live in this city (and this is just my humble opinion and mentality)...there is a simple solution. Make more money. Whether it is working harder/smarter, side hustles, starting own businesses. It's not for everyone, but its an option. Edited March 23, 2019 by RRypien37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 1 minute ago, RRypien37 said: TONS of people are leaving the city and have been for a few years. I've been calling it for some time, but I can see downtown Vancouver being a ghost town in the future with a bunch of empty "investment" properties if this continues. Lots of old diehards wanna go scorched earth, so it gets a rebuild? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaku Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Almost all of my friends that live in that area live outside of Vancouver and commute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarcore Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 I live in a similarly priced area.... I bought elsewhere and use the rental income to supplement me here. My 900st ft mtn view loft is quite the deal for Whistler though 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBH1926 Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 8 minutes ago, Gnarcore said: I live in a similarly priced area.... I bought elsewhere and use the rental income to supplement me here. My 900st ft mtn view loft is quite the deal for Whistler though Where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DADDYROCK Posted March 23, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted March 23, 2019 Oh, didn't you know that B.C. stands for BRING CASH! This is what happens when corrupt governments(B.C. Liberals) allow drug dealers and human traffickers to launder their ill gotten gains and put it into real estate here in B.C. Shame on you Christy Clarke and your whole band of criminals running in suits disguised as politicians,as a resident of the province this is my home and you sold us out you evil bunch of crooks. I vote for a total independant investigation into this and the heads roll on the people responsible,the government should build "tons" of low rent housing (500-900 /per month) our tax dollars won't be ruined by outlandish reasons then. The people who live here should use the ill gotten gains to help pay for low rental housing and all the cannabis taxes will help,instead of padding the pockets of the wealthy ALL the time. THERE I SAID IT! 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarcore Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 17 minutes ago, CBH1926 said: Where? Vancouver Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiseupsucker Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Single income guy(have a squeeze but our incomes are separate). Make around 150k a year in trades and found lower mainland was too much for me. 2 years ago bought a nice townhouse in chilliwack for less than a surrey condo and never looked back. Basically living in the mountains but still close(ish) to the city has been a blast. Just bought a quad and stoked for a good summer. So much good stuff so close by 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcakes Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 For starters, people don't just plunge into the market and purchase detached houses in Vancouver. Regular folks could have gotten into the Vancouver market 20 years ago or more. That's what I did. I bought a 1060 square foot 2 br condo in Fairview in 1997 for $200,000. Today, the same condo is assessed at $1,014,000. I checked on BC Assessment recently. People have to get into the market somehow (it that's what they want to do), maybe starting with an older condo in the burbs, building equity, and moving up several times before they get into the sort of property that they would like to live in permanently. This could very well mean having a full 25 year mortgage at age 45 or older. People may expect to never be mortgage free in the lower mainland. Others get gifts from parents or grand parents who are ready to down size. Inheriting real estate or shares of large estates may help others. Demand is getting higher further out because people can actually afford to live here. I'm single now and bought when prices were down in comparison to other areas in Abbotsford 5 years ago. I'm in an older condo that has gone up 2.5 times since I bought. So, as I did in Fairview 22 years ago, I'm in the market early enough. Luck. For people outside of BC, on weekends, it takes me an hour to drive into downtown Vancouver which is a divided highway most of the way. The rush hour commute from downtown to Abby is 1:20-1:30 if traffic is ok. I don't work downtown fwiw but do work in the lower mainland. The price of real estate is a problem for Vancouver because I don't think that companies can afford to pay people enough to live in the city because if they do, they will lose a competitive edge to companies located elsewhere. Businesses are going to have to relocate. I see that many law and accounting firms for example have opened satellite offices in the burbs where their customers live. Other businesses I see are leaving the city because rents have become too high and are locating further out while still being able to tap in to the Vancouver market. In a sense, this is exactly what I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6string Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 Remember the mantra leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, "World Class City". Yup, so to become a world class city. We had to boot many of the hard working locals out of their own beloved city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JM_ Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 1 hour ago, redhdlois said: hey thats my job! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drummer4now Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 (edited) Meh Vancouver is a hell hole anyway.. too much traffic and crappy apartment buildings disguised as high rise buildings.. Then you have the dangerous night life with fights breaking out in every corner.. Travel to any world class city like Sydney or New York and Vancouver pales in comparison. So glad I live on the island. Edited March 23, 2019 by drummer4now 1 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBackup Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 The way I justify it is that you get what you pay for. Just like living in a beautiful loft is more expensive than a studio apartment, living in a city like Vancouver is going to be more expensive than most others. I don't like paying an arm and a leg for rent, but I also wouldn't want to live in Saskatoon or Winnipeg. I love the outdoors. Its still too expensive, but I can't imagine the current housing situation lasting forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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