Real estate in Calgary - another bubble?

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Ah good. You left out the best part of Calgary.

Lake Bonavista?

[Vinny01]

When this thread started I was just in the process of moving out of an inner city duplex infill into a suburban estate home and I have not regretted it at all.

When I was younger I never wanted to leave the inner city but priorities change. The older I have got I have become more of a homebody. Covid sure helps with that but we doubled the size of our house in this move. My garage can now fit both of our vehicles and has room for storage. I have my basement TV setup, home office and home gym with a spare bedroom and that was just not possible in the duplex.

I will say driving downtown is annoying for me as I do it rarely but my wife makes the commute daily and she doesn’t mind it.

I lived in Kensington for many years in my 20’s and I loved it. The duplex in Glenbrook was a great first move from a Condo. Lower maintenance and before a kid felt like plenty of space. Like people earlier in the thread mention. You get older, have kids and priorities change. If I could buy this same house in the inner city I would love it but also wouldn’t be able to afford it.

[tony-soprano]

Low interest rates surely increased demand, potentially increased employment numbers, along with outside buyers from Toronto/Vancouver areas.

Wonder how many people will survive if interest rates hit actual stress test numbers.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

I had a client email me this morning about selling their downtown Vancouver condo and referring them to an agent to buy in Calgary.
I'm hearing about this more and more these days.

I'm seeing lots of people here now who can't even afford Langley or Surrey, so they're thinking what's the point of going out to Abbotsford or Mission next. Might as well go somewhere like Calgary at that point.

Why would somebody sell their Vancouver condo in the first place if their only viable options after was to pick up stakes and move to another province? Unless it’s a divorce sale or something, why would they do that?

[Brewmaster]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Why would somebody sell their Vancouver condo in the first place if their only viable options after was to pick up stakes and move to another province? Unless it’s a divorce sale or something, why would they do that?

Maybe they want to live in a house instead of a condo? This thread is full of examples of people's priorities changing as they grow up and for many that means wanting a suburban house to raise a family.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Brewmaster

Maybe they want to live in a house instead of a condo? This thread is full of examples of people's priorities changing as they grow up and for many that means wanting a suburban house to raise a family.

I mean, that’s normal, but if your realtor is recommending moving to a whole other province after you sold your place then it sounds like you made a mistake planning that next stage of your life out, unless totally uprooting your life was part of it.

[Geraldsh]

You move to where the work is, or to be closer to family, or for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vote UCP

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I mean, that’s normal, but if your realtor is recommending moving to a whole other province after you sold your place then it sounds like you made a mistake planning that next stage of your life out, unless totally uprooting your life was part of it.

I don't think that's what Windsor was implying... It sounds to me like a seller, already with the intention of moving here, contacted them to sell their Vancouver condo and asked for a referral to a Calgary agent.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I mean, that’s normal, but if your realtor is recommending moving to a whole other province after you sold your place then it sounds like you made a mistake planning that next stage of your life out, unless totally uprooting your life was part of it.

I didn't recommend they move to Calgary, they emailed me and told me that's their plan.
Could be job related, could be to get a detached house for more space. I'm not sure yet, meeting them next week to discuss.

But people have different situations and reasons for things, there's plenty of reasons why someone's plans can change.
For example, covid has really changed how people use their homes and no one could have planned for that.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Why would somebody sell their Vancouver condo in the first place if their only viable options after was to pick up stakes and move to another province? Unless it’s a divorce sale or something, why would they do that?

Pulling 200-500k of equity out of a small condo and buying a house that costs $600k looks pretty appealing. Living almost mortgage free in a 2500 square foot place combined with higher Alberta wages is a pretty stress free life.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Why would somebody sell their Vancouver condo in the first place if their only viable options after was to pick up stakes and move to another province? Unless it’s a divorce sale or something, why would they do that?

Originally Posted by Geraldsh

You move to where the work is, or to be closer to family, or for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vote UCP

Maybe they are some of the chosen ones who are permanently WFH and therefore doesn’t matter where they live.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Maybe they are some of the chosen ones who are permanently WFH and therefore doesn’t matter where they live.

I’d move to a little villa in Mexico.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Maybe they are some of the chosen ones who are permanently WFH and therefore doesn’t matter where they live.

I'm definitely jealous of some of these wfh people. There's a massive shortage of programers/software engineers right now and American companies are paying insane salaries for them. I know at least 4 that are getting paid around $200k USD and get to work from wherever they want.....

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I mean, that’s normal, but if your realtor is recommending moving to a whole other province after you sold your place then it sounds like you made a mistake planning that next stage of your life out, unless totally uprooting your life was part of it.

What a ridiculous post.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by you&me

I don't think that's what Windsor was implying... It sounds to me like a seller, already with the intention of moving here, contacted them to sell their Vancouver condo and asked for a referral to a Calgary agent.

Okay, I think I misread that then. It sounded like the person sold their condo and then realized they couldn't afford to get another place close by.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I mean, that’s normal, but if your realtor is recommending moving to a whole other province after you sold your place then it sounds like you made a mistake planning that next stage of your life out, unless totally uprooting your life was part of it.

Another point, I don't think most people could have predicted that the cost of living and real estate would spiral increase as quickly and as much as it has. It's 2005, people are already stating that BC property is overpriced, are most people properly predicting that real estate will now triple in price in 15 years? The economy of western nations, generally, has changed to shut young people out. Not really an issue of poor planning, but poor economic structures that have left young and less affluent people behind.

[jwslam]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I’d move to a little villa in Mexico.

I doubt there are very many Canadians that want to raise their kids with little Mexican kids...

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by jwslam

I doubt there are very many Canadians that want to raise their kids with little Mexican kids...

Wow

[tony-soprano]

Originally Posted by jwslam

I doubt there are very many Canadians that want to raise their kids with little Mexican kids...

What’s wrong with Mexican kids?

[chummer]

Originally Posted by jwslam

I doubt there are very many Canadians that want to raise their kids with little Mexican kids...