Agreed partially Lemon 925,
This what I tell people from Middle east/
If you come with $ 50,000 and have 2 or 3 children, first get a house by paying 20 % down.
You will get max. benefits as the same person who comes to Canada with $ 50,000 but puts his money in the bank, looking for a job/ paying for essentials / renting with that money.

You can rent some portions of the building to pay for mortgage.

You will not get social benefits (read welfare) as they need your total liquidated belongings to be $ 2500 max. but you will get max. HST benefits, Child care, Trillium benefits etc..

You need not settle in Toronto even but can go where housing costs are comparitively lower like KW/ Guelph / Oshawa / Thunder bay etc.. and you will get the same HST / Child care credits.

Plus you can do jobs which can earn you around $ 25,000 to $ 35,000 a year where in, none of your benefits will be curtailed except for may be Trillum.

These are things which hard wage earning people donot want immigrants to know but most middle east people know it. The only people who donot know it are the professional skilled immigrants who come from India. IT people need not know it as they will get very good jobs in Canada and hence need not depend much on govt. cash.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

50,000 is 20 % of 250,000 . Where can I buy a house for 250 K other than Jane and finch area .

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Originally posted by tamilkuravan

Agreed partially Lemon 925,
This what I tell people from Middle east/
If you come with $ 50,000 and have 2 or 3 children, first get a house by paying 20 % down.


Murali

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Growing Old Is Mandatory ..Growing UP is Optional

I believe buying house shouldn't be the first thing to do when you arrive, unless you have huge financial and family backing.

You just don't go and buy any house, you need to know about the neighbourhood. Which you get to know with your experience and that takes time. And if you spend that time in looking for a job you ll earn more money then you would loose by house appreciation.

What if you don't like the country or the climate or neighbourhood doesn't suit you.

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Originally posted by tamilkuravan

FP,
There was a supreme court chief justice in India by the name Markandey Katju. He retired at 65 and had a 3 year stint at the Press trust of India. He is on holiday in USA to visit his daughter and is currently in Vancouver to visit his relatives.
I am a friend in his facebook webpage. He makes a lot of controversial statements (like calling MK Ghadhi a british agent etc..).

This is take of the Vancouver real estate market :

The Chinese chors
Apart from becoming very aggressive in capturing foreign markets, like European imperialists in colonial days ( see my blog ' Getting kicked out of China ' on justicekatju.blogspot.in ), the Chinese have in recent years become some of the biggest chors in the world. With their huge amount of corruption money from China, many of them have bought valuable real estate in the Bay Area in California, New York, Vancouver and indeed all over North America.
For a property worth 2 million dollars they will offer 3 million. Moreover they will pay the entire sale price immediately in down payment, instead of taking a mortgage, as most North Americans do. Naturally the sellers prefer their bids.
A relative of mine in Vancouver where I stayed recently for a few weeks told me that a house in front of his was bought by a Chinese for 12 million dollars an year back, but the Chinese has not lived in it for a single day. Obviously the Chinese are using such real estate for parking their ill gotten wealth. They usually buy these properties not in their real name, say Li Ti Chang, but under some assumed name e.g. Thomas Liu, to avoid detection.
Moreover the tax laws in North America are such that while one has to disclose his other assets in his tax returns, e.g. bank accounts, fixed deposits, shares, etc one does not have to disclose his real estate assets.
The result of all this is that real estate prices have shot up in many cities in North America, and the local people are facing difficulty in buying houses, as they have become too expensive.

Do you agree , FP and others in Vancouver?

Murali

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To sum up, as I think I said enough on this. Other than the housing market, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Metro Vancouver or BC as a whole. Opportunities are aplenty, it's darn beautiful with a great healthy quality of life (lowest Cancer and obesity rates in North America) with one of the top ranked Public University (UBC).

Only, if you could afford to buy a decent detached house within the city limit.

I am still trying!

Ciao!

I agree with you, mcg7,

If you're not looking to buy a property and can be quite happy with a rental place or a small townhouse then quite good for you.

I know I am a bit biased in my approach to paint Vancouver with a housing brush, but it's something that prevails and prevails big time here, along with my personal situation - as you quoted rightly.

For sure, no one is stopping you to be happy with a rental space and still enjoy a heavenly beauty that BC has to offer with a snow/wind chill free winters.

CD's,
As you are aware, I am advising many people (who are looking for comfortable living, warm weather and not necessarily high tech jobs or a bustling tension life) to Vancouver.
I am researching facts to back this up to who whoever is asking me for ideas on relocation to a Canadian city.
Some of the points researched today :

West Vancouver
The richest city on this list, West Vancouver is a suburb of - you guessed it - Vancouver! It is surprisingly affordable for the renter: the average rent price in the city puts it right in the middle of the pack; it's actually cheaper to rent in West Van than in Milton! The unemployment is relatively low, well over a third of the population are immigrants, and it of course features the warmer temperatures that the Vancouver area is known for. So what could possibly be wrong? Well, on average it takes about 8 years to save up enough money to buy a house. So if you're thinking of starting out in West Vancouver, be sure to check out the rest of the list to find out where to move once you've made some money in Canada.

Richmond, BC
Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver and only a 30 minute drive from downtown, is probably the best city in the country to settle: nearly 60% of the city has immigrated to Canada. The rent isn't as high as some other areas of Vancouver - one of Canada's most expensive cities - and the average salaries are higher than the city itself. You can take transit to work to save money and the Greater Vancouver Area is notorious for the warmest weather of any major city in Canada. What's not to like?

Again, I never go by Media news and Govt. sponser news.

Requesting FP and other Vancouverites to tell me how legitimate this info is. It will also help other CD's who are coming to get PR cards and escape to land in Vancouver, enjoy the city and leave.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.