[blankall]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Yeah, this one is a slightly funny one.

I have a lot of friends in Vancouver who lived in Calgary. Some of their friends became permanent WFH so they decided to move to Calgary to raise kids and work because they heard the cost of living and standard of living value was better. This based on suggestions by friends and they were totally clueless about general living in Calgary.

Some of the conversations I and my wife had with them were hilarious.

- What can I get for $800K?

Brand new infill in somewhere in the inner city.

- Is inner city less than a 40 minute commute to downtown?

Almost all of Calgary (including suburbs) is less than around a 40 minute commute by car to downtown during rush hour. This excluding Cochrane, Airdrie, Okotoks, Bragg Creek etc. But that's technically not Calgary.

- How about by bus?

Can you drive? Highly recommend driving vs bussing. By bus, I'd assume you double to triple the time via driving.

- How big is that infill in the inner city for $800K? Is it worth it?

I dunno. I'm guessing like 1600-1800 sq ft? Oh by the way, unlike BC we aren't playing the usable space card. 1600-1800 sq ft is more like 2400-2700 usable space because the basement sq ft isn't included. If you're both WFH and occasionally going back to Vancouver for meetings, why do you need to be close to down town?

- Whoa what? Where do you live? What's the commute like and what would be the cost of living where you are?

I live in the NW, 30+ year old reno'd home, 2 car garage, 3000+ sq ft of useable space, back yard, etc. 20-25 minutes commute to downtown, double that on a bad rush hour day, triple that perhaps in bad weather and rush hour.

Two communities over, $650K probably gets you into a house that's built within the last 10 years with at least 2 car garage, 2000 sq ft/3000 sq ft usable space. 30 ish minutes drive to downtown.

- WTF. That'd cost like 2-3 million here.

Yeah, but the weather sucks here in comparison. Weather I guess doesn't matter if you don't go outside and just stay at home though.

- Is it true you have to buy Canada Goose jackets to stay warm in Calgary?

No. But you had a $800K budget and seem to be more than happy with a $550-700K home in Calgary. That difference seems enough for you to buy your entire family jackets and 1-2 pretty nice cars and still have enough left over to go visit family/friends in Vancouver a few times a year...

- Oh ####. That's true!

The biggest advantage to Vancouver's real estate is that once you get in, you make a crap load of money. I bought a tiny condo in Vancouver 10 years ago, and it's already gained more equity than my parent's detached home that they purchased 30 years ago in Calgary.

Obviously, he big ups also make you more susceptible to the big downs. I'm clearly biased, but with inflation the way it is and the supply of detached housing rapidly decreasing in Vancouver, I cannot see houses there going down long term.

When real estate becomes a commodity, the way it has in Vancouver, it really starts to choke the life out of the city. Lots of great businesses closing down. Lots of great people forced to leave.

To nitpick a bit, I disagree with any home being a 40 minute commute from downtown. I can speak from experience that McLeod Trail during rush hour was not 45 minutes door to door. Also a lot of people aren't just going downtown. Also, the supply of large and newish homes at under $650k, even in Calgary, is starting to dwindle quickly.