For everyone who lives in or has lived in Van area, whats your best advice...

to someone who may be moving there for an $20-$25 an hour job offer in West Van.
Like where t f should we try to live?
If I don't find a job right away, can 2 people live on that wage in Vancouver? Is it viable to commute everyday from a more affordable suburb all the way to West van?
Also I have a big dog and a cat

 

Jobs are hard to find, rent is expensive you would really struggle on one income, transit is good if you wanna live on the outskirts, also pets will make it extra hard

 

You could easily afford a place in New West and just commute like I did, but Kona is gonna be a problem. Big dogs aren't really a thing unless you own a home.

 

Also if you want a job with or around artists, I can ask some that I know if they can hook you up.

 

Ask this place if Kona is an ok breed to live there, this is close to the train and cheap https://mainst.biz/apartments/new-westminster/cameron-manor-1

Or we could tradesies and you could take our place since it allows big dogs, and the lease is month to month so you can move when you find something better

 

r u planning on moving? If we come its after Michael finish military training in july or something

 

If it gets you here I'd plan on moving

It's be nice if the couple next door moved, their apartment is bigger and I need that south facing window for my plants and then you could have ours. cross your fingers that they suddenly decide to leave

 

Yeah, rent in the lower mainland is insane, but New West and Surrey are more affordable. Make sure you have an updated passport, groceries and gas are way cheaper if you can hop the border to Washington. Utilities are way cheaper there, but if you pay the average rates for rent, anything less than 50k isn’t going to cover rent - you might be able to find a deal on a place in North Van (assuming by west van you actually mean West Vancouver, and not the west end of Vancouver).

You could probably get a decent deal around the east side of Vancouver too, but it makes Forest Lawn/Dover look like a calm, clean paradise - a friend and I rented a 2 bedroom secondary suite type place on Kitchener street a 10 minute walk from the PNE for $1000, but they didn’t allow pets

 

50k?! We spend 9k a year on rent and it includes utilities

 

Average rent in Van is a lot higher than that - new west and Surrey are lower, west van and Vancouver 9k would pay for a month or two most places (which is stupid)

People making 200k were leaving because they couldn’t afford basic expenses on that salary

 

Lmao rents not THAT expensive in van dude. Maybe like a penthouse in a multi billion dollar luxury apartment for rich people.

 

8 years ago when I moved back to calgary $1600-$3000 a month seemed like the low average for 1 bedroom apartments - calgary was $1200-$2000

Since the economy here took a crap it’s dropped, $700-$2000 seems to be where it is now

 

What's the job?

 

Also what's your limit on rent? We could rent out the other house we own for a bit until someone buys it lol.

 

Can I come

 

$975,000

 

@mikeconley11

 

Wat?

 

What?

 

You are going to have a hell of a time finding a place that allows pets in Vancouver.

When I search Craigslist for a 1 bedroom under $1,200 that allows dogs I get maybe 4 shitty results. Search without pets and there's literally hundreds of listings.

It's very discouraging.