Great way to start my weekend and just in time to -hopefully- buy a new house.

So the house hunt went well and we have an accepted offer. Just waiting on the paperwork and an inspection on a 7 year old house - which shouldn't be a problem.Sadly if we get this place I won't have a dedicated theatre room. I always knew that was a bit of a pipe dream and we still have a fantastic living room where my audio setup will go. However, we do have a double garage that we're considering using as a workout room, storage room, and my VR room. If that happens, I get to coin the new term "Garage-scale VR". It also means I could leave my racing chair set up all the time instead of having to move it every time I want to race, something that has kept me from using it as often as I'd like. Good thing I got a third sensor!

Awesome news! Congratulations. I too would love to own some property, but here in San Francisco they will charge you $1M for a cardboard box on the side of the road. LOL!

Trust me, Vancouver Island has jumped significantly in the past year or two. Prices in Vancouver were ABOVE San Fran prices. There was an article showing Celebrity homes looking like deals compared to similar properties in Vancouver and even Victoria. We will be paying more than we initially planned on spending, but we can still comfortably manage the payments without being house poor and the house and property is exactly what and where we wanted. My spouse will always want more land, but it's a decent size (quarter acre) considering we're still a 5 min drive to everything.We couldn't afford property even half this size in Vancouver or Victoria, but luckily I'm a bit up-island where we can afford a great place. To be honest I wouldn't want to live in Victoria or Van anyhow. They're nice cities but we like being a bit out of the major centres.

I'm originally from Ontario and I never wanted to admit how amazing BC was. Then I moved there for 7 years and had to be dragged away. Four years later I'm heading back and I'm digging in like a tick.

Yeah, houses aren't going to be cheap out there. It used to be just in the big cities, but now prices are going crazy all over. Every bit of extra income will help--good luck with it!I'm glad I got my fixer-upper when I did. What was meant to be a starter home has become the place I've lived longer than any other. As prices keep skyrocketing, I just keep fixing it up. It's finally looking pretty good, but with a kid on the way, I'm probably going to want to tackle finishing the basement soon for some extra living space.

Guess who has two thumbs and just got a 6% pay raise?

20 Replies

Calmfixup
Heroic Explorer
9 years ago
Lucky :'(
Techy111
MVP
9 years ago
I haven't had a pay rise for over 7 years in the NHS :( but well done mate ;)
nalex66
MVP
9 years ago
What are house prices like in your area? I bought my house in Toronto for $150K back in '99, and it's getting close to $1 million now (my semi-detached neighbour sold his for $950K last year).

Are you in Western Canada, or am I thinking of someone else?
Zoomie
Expert Trustee
9 years ago
Looking at buying out on Vancouver Island - where prices have gone up about 30% in the past year. My folks are west of Toronto and prices there have gone up even more. The whole housing market has gone stupid in the past two years. We haven't had a raise in the past 4 years so this is 6% over a four year period. It doesn't even keep up with inflation, but at least it's something.
nalex66
MVP
9 years ago
Yeah, houses aren't going to be cheap out there. It used to be just in the big cities, but now prices are going crazy all over. Every bit of extra income will help--good luck with it!

I'm glad I got my fixer-upper when I did. What was meant to be a starter home has become the place I've lived longer than any other. As prices keep skyrocketing, I just keep fixing it up. It's finally looking pretty good, but with a kid on the way, I'm probably going to want to tackle finishing the basement soon for some extra living space.
Zoomie
Expert Trustee
9 years ago
GF keeps asking for my 'must haves' and I keep thinking THEATRE/VR ROOM! But realistically there are a lot of things that come before that on our list.
Thane_
Heroic Explorer
9 years ago
Trying to find a home right now, having to move 100s of miles away from my birthplace and family unless I want to give every cent i work for to some fuck who is probably already well off, didn't lift one finger to build the place or use his own money and leaves the place looking like crap and drives a super high end black brand new BMW. So the American system for many people is, I go to work, work hard, get a whatever money they're willing to give me ...in an economic climate where business for many owners has come to mean the art of getting others to do the work for you and pay as little as legally possible.... and then hand it over to some wealthy guy who might have never worked a hard day in his life, going right into a decent job straight from college. What an awesome system we have, using our children coming into this world to make us rich, being paracites on them when they grow up a little bit and ...of course start looking for their own home. We ask them to not only be compensated fairly for building a home and selling it, but to insist on being made rich to provide our children shelter. My own president is a billionaire, making money off of people's need for a home.....(realestate we call it) and in this pay as little as possible. Just makes me sick to my stomach and makes me hate those around me for being apart of this process that leverages against people's basic needs. Nothing against anyone who actually busts their butt at work, just those who's jobs it is to suck as much money away from the pockets of others, we have to change this shit, get these people the fuck out of our countries.
Calmfixup
Heroic Explorer
9 years ago

Thane_ said:

Trying to find a home right now, having to move 100s of miles away from my birthplace and family unless I want to give every cent i work for to some fuck who is probably already well off, didn't lift one finger to build the place or use his own money and leaves the place looking like crap and drives a super high end black brand new BMW. So the American system for many people is, I go to work, work hard, get a whatever money they're willing to give me ...in an economic climate where business for many owners has come to mean the art of getting others to do the work for you and pay as little as legally possible.... and then hand it over to some wealthy guy who might have never worked a hard day in his life, going right into a decent job straight from college. What an awesome system we have, using our children coming into this world to make us rich, being paracites on them when they grow up a little bit and ...of course start looking for their own home. We ask them to not only be compensated fairly for building a home and selling it, but to insist on being made rich to provide our children shelter. My own president is a billionaire, making money off of people's need for a home.....(realestate we call it) and in this pay as little as possible. Just makes me sick to my stomach and makes me hate those around me for being apart of this process that leverages against people's basic needs. Nothing against anyone who actually busts their butt at work, just those who's jobs it is to suck as much money away from the pockets of others, we have to change this shit, get these people the fuck out of our countries.

I don't know man, I have this debate a lot. Everyone likes to say that the problem is capitalism and that our economic system is all wrong, but economic imbalances have been a problem throughout history. Human nature is pretty much the problem.

We're just animals at the end of the day, and many of us under certain circumstances would screw over even people that we care about. I'm putting myself in this group because despite my altruistic values, and how big of a game I may talk, you just never really know.

Completely agree that we need to do something, but I've never heard anyone suggest something that feasibly will succeed countrywide or even worldwide.
Zenbane
MVP
9 years ago
Happy house hunting @Zoomie

I am currently closing on a home ($300k-ish) and it is stressing me da fuq out.
nalex66
MVP
9 years ago

Zoomie said:

GF keeps asking for my 'must haves' and I keep thinking THEATRE/VR ROOM! But realistically there are a lot of things that come before that on our list.

I'd love to have a bigger space for VR. I have an office/man cave, but it's too small a room to move around much. The basement could be okay, except the ceiling is low (6 and a half feet), so I'd be smacking the ceiling with my Touch controllers regularly. The joys of a small house!