Personal Finance

Impossible to own a house, start a family, and save for retirement in Vancouver. What should we do? 30 yo, 100K combined

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  • Dec 2nd, 2017 9:03 am
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Dec 27, 2009
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ttrevor wrote: Thanks for the replies.

Just to clarify, we are happy to own an apartment or condo rather than a house. Sorry for any confusion.

I understand that moving away from the city is our best option.
However, the problem remains that even a 2 bedroom condo or apartment 30 minutes outside Vancouver will cost $500K with a $100K down payment and $3K+ mortgage. This, combined with child costs will eat up all of our current and future savings.

It just feels like it's impossible to own, start a family AND save for retirement ANYWHERE in the lower mainland.
People are telling you to move far away from Vancouver, not just move 30 minutes out of the city. It is overpriced and overrated IMO (I'm from Victoria which is also overpriced, but not as bad). I moved to Ottawa and couldn't be happier.
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Apr 2, 2017
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ttrevor wrote: My wife and I are 30 years old with a combined income of $100K. We rent a 1 bedroom apartment in Kitsilano for $2000 per month and save approximately $1500 each month. Our combined savings is approximately $100K.

We want to buy a place and start a family. Since a two bedroom in Vancouver starts at 1 million we would need to double our income so that's out of the question.

With our income we can afford a $500K place, which would mean moving 30 minutes outside of the city for two bedrooms.
Also, a 20% down payment would eat up our entire savings ($100K) and the $1500 per month that we are currently saving would have to go towards the extra cost of mortgage and of raising the kid(s).

Sacrificing our entire retirement fund in order to start a family seems risky and we enjoy living in Vancouver but we also want to be property owners and have children.

What would you do in our situation?
Rent for now. The price to rent ratios in the lower mainland are still outrageous. Lots of HAM still out there, albeit flowing in at a slower rates as China tries to control capital outflows. And banks have advised their vip customers to come in with less then 10k at a time.
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I moved from Greater Vancouver to Edmonton 2 years ago, and did not enjoy it at first. Things were ugly, winter was sad, spring was even uglier. But then I met nice people, made some friends, started working out, and more and more started to like the city. Summers here are absolutely amazing with lots of things going on. People are generally more friendly and polite. Commutes are more reasonable, and you don't get gouged at every opportunity. There are a lot of young people here. It took me a good year and a half, and now I can say it: I actually love it here. Vancouver is beautiful. But people living there are stuck up and think the rest of country is an unlivable hell. At least over here, you can buy a decent house for the same price you can buy a parking stall in downtown Vancouver.
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Oct 26, 2003
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ilove wrote: I moved from Greater Vancouver to Edmonton 2 years ago, and did not enjoy it at first. Things were ugly, winter was sad, spring was even uglier. But then I met nice people, made some friends, started working out, and more and more started to like the city. Summers here are absolutely amazing with lots of things going on. People are generally more friendly and polite. Commutes are more reasonable, and you don't get gouged at every opportunity. There are a lot of young people here. It took me a good year and a half, and now I can say it: I actually love it here. Vancouver is beautiful. But people living there are stuck up and think the rest of country is an unlivable hell. At least over here, you can buy a decent house for the same price you can buy a parking stall in downtown Vancouver.
every new place takes time to get used to, people need to give it a chance. there is nothing wrong with living in gta/gva but the complains is getting old. the pay will never match the cost of living when people refusing to leave. the smart ones take action for themselves.
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ilove wrote: I moved from Greater Vancouver to Edmonton 2 years ago, and did not enjoy it at first. Things were ugly, winter was sad, spring was even uglier. But then I met nice people, made some friends, started working out, and more and more started to like the city. Summers here are absolutely amazing with lots of things going on. People are generally more friendly and polite. Commutes are more reasonable, and you don't get gouged at every opportunity. There are a lot of young people here. It took me a good year and a half, and now I can say it: I actually love it here. Vancouver is beautiful. But people living there are stuck up and think the rest of country is an unlivable hell. At least over here, you can buy a decent house for the same price you can buy a parking stall in downtown Vancouver.
I lived in Vancouver for about 2 years and echo the same. Grew up in Maple Ridge (1.5 hours east). what are you doing here now?
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FirstGear wrote: I lived in Vancouver for about 2 years and echo the same. Grew up in Maple Ridge (1.5 hours east). what are you doing here now?
Working in the government.
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Aug 18, 2017
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people have a right to live in vancouver. not everyone wants to live in artic canada.
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It's kinda sad that society has become like this........ poeple give options relocate to a different province lol. I don't think people understand a lot of jobs now a days you won't find it in small towns. Sucks you can't even buy a 2 bedroom condo for less than $500,000 in downtown TO. And if you do, the maintenance fees will be another mortage! F.....
One blind human - a tragedy
Ten blind humans - a disaster
One million blind humans - a statistic
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aquariaguy wrote: It's kinda sad that society has become like this........ poeple give options relocate to a different province lol. I don't think people understand a lot of jobs now a days you won't find it in small towns. Sucks you can't even buy a 2 bedroom condo for less than $500,000 in downtown TO. And if you do, the maintenance fees will be another mortage! F.....
The problem with society existed before.
The problem is everyone feels ENTITLED to be a home owner.
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mech9t5 wrote: The problem with society existed before.
The problem is everyone feels ENTITLED to be a home owner.
Even condo owner is beyond people's reaches now.
One blind human - a tragedy
Ten blind humans - a disaster
One million blind humans - a statistic
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aquariaguy wrote: Even condo owner is beyond people's reaches now.
You are exactly the problem. I said home which includes condos.

Not everyone should own. Renting is not always a dead end or bad financial choice
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starbucksguy wrote: people have a right to live in vancouver. not everyone wants to live in artic canada.
You can make it work if you really want to live there. Just maybe not be a homeowner of a tiny $500,000 - 1M+ condo. lol
Rent a room in a basement with 3 other dudes, and another 3 upstairs, for 800/month. When I was a student at UBC I lived on one tiny floor with 4 other dudes... never again. That place became a dump quickly with flies and old moldy, yeasty beer.
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The City of Vancouver is pushing for a 4% property tax increase. It sounds like this is going towards wages among other things. Not sure if the average Vancouver resident is aware of how well paid CoV employees are but it seems that we as residents (peasants) of Vancouver work for the City and not the other way around. This 4% increase on a tax bill that is already extremely high to begin with is going to push a few more people into a situation where they can no longer afford to own their places. Not sure who else is getting a raise this year but the strongest sense of entitlement I have noticed is amongst those who work for the CoV. And if they want a raise, they will just push it through.
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Mar 1, 2005
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The global market has put a value on our real estate that many locals seem to think they cannot afford. But quite frankly when you see the bigger picture you can either get in on the game or sit there and complain to the government or on the internet. I know it's silly to have to do this to live in a city you grew up with but those are the facts.

I grew up in East Vancouver. I'm a bit over 30 and bought my first place with no help in 2012 near burquitlam. It's almost doubled by now and in the process of selling it to buy a bigger place close to Vancouver. Back then I made about 50k a year working for the city of vancouver. It's entirely doable.

Choclover please tell us how well the city of vancouver employee gets paid....for me I don't think it's enough. I work at a job where I know in the private field would make more than what the cov pays. Sadly I do think there are a lot of unskilled jobs that pay a lot in the city.
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Aug 18, 2017
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Vancouver is still a bargain. If you compare vancouver to other major global cities like nyc, sf, london, shanghai, then vancouver is a bargain. Try buying a house in Manhattan. You get all the benefits of living in a major global city but at bargain prices in Vancouver.
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starbucksguy wrote: people have a right to live in vancouver. not everyone wants to live in artic canada.
don't have the right to own a property though
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aquariaguy wrote: It's kinda sad that society has become like this........ poeple give options relocate to a different province lol. I don't think people understand a lot of jobs now a days you won't find it in small towns. Sucks you can't even buy a 2 bedroom condo for less than $500,000 in downtown TO. And if you do, the maintenance fees will be another mortage! F.....
RE is only an issue in gta/gva, get out of those centers if you insist on owning.
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FirstGear wrote: You can make it work if you really want to live there. Just maybe not be a homeowner of a tiny $500,000 - 1M+ condo. lol
Rent a room in a basement with 3 other dudes, and another 3 upstairs, for 800/month. When I was a student at UBC I lived on one tiny floor with 4 other dudes... never again. That place became a dump quickly with flies and old moldy, yeasty beer.
same, never get used to not having an entire detached house with yard for myself. i'm not willing to take a pay cut and move to vancouver or toronto to share space with someone else. running mining rigs in my garage can be more profitable than working in toronto lol.
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choclover wrote: The City of Vancouver is pushing for a 4% property tax increase. […] This 4% increase on a tax bill that is already extremely high to begin with is going to push a few more people into a situation where they can no longer afford to own their places.
Oh, spare me. The median value for a detached house in Vancouver is $1.8 million, and the tax burden for that house will go up by $7.50 per month. I'm sorry, but Vancouver property owners are not hard done by.
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starbucksguy wrote: Vancouver is still a bargain. If you compare vancouver to other major global cities like nyc, sf, london, shanghai, then vancouver is a bargain. Try buying a house in Manhattan. You get all the benefits of living in a major global city but at bargain prices in Vancouver.
People like to compare Vancouver to those cities, and many Vancouver boosters like to think it belongs there, but it's not nearly in the same league. Vancouver belongs in a list that might include Boston, Lima, Prague, Cape Town, Brisbane, Osaka. It's really a third tier city in terms of regional, national, and international economic importance. It takes much more than a massive run-up in property values due to foreign money laundering, to elevate a city up to the top tiers.

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