9 Things You Must Know BEFORE Moving to Vancouver

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

Thank you for watching! :) Call/Text Direct - 604-831-4837 email: [e-mail] Book a call: www.calendly.com/albrechtgroup

[@destructivefiles]

Moving soon as a student from another country, the rent sounds like a nightmare that i would have to deal with. Thanks for the great infromations tho!❤

[@Sweetsdy]

Hi!! We just moved to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago and finally got to explore downtown Mount Pleasant. Such a cool area! I wanted to check out Welk's since you mentioned it in a previous video - it did not disappoint!

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@Sweetsdy Welcome to Vancouver! Hope you are enjoying your new home! ...and glad that you had a chance to check out Welk's! That place is always a bit of an adventure. :)

[@TinaWavelet]

Very very useful video. Thank you very very much

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

My pleasure, @TinaWavelet! Glad you found it helpful! Love to hear it if you have any other burning questions about Vancouver you haven't found a video on yet!

[@OrdinaryFilmmaker]

I've shot for two videos, I've got my Vancouver ball-cap on and I'm sitting down to get my weekly Vancouver news. Last week's video still haunts me. I realize I need to create budget to get a grasp of all the different fees. Maybe during Christmas break. I still have to finish two videos ;) I'm pushing to get rid of the car when we move to Vancouver. The fees associated to owning a car is something I'd like to cut: parking fees, plate fees, insurance, gasoline, and maintenance. We can rent when we need, use Uber and transit if we stick to Kits and West Point Grey. Just having trouble getting my wife to give up on the car. Any suggestions? Thanks for the video Sebastian.

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@OrdinaryFilmmaker Not sure that i really have a hot tip on how to get your wife on-board with not having a car...other than perhaps giving it a try. I think once you are here you'll realize just how little you really need a vehicle. And if she finds otherwise after a few months, you can always buy one once you're here. Good luck with those videos today!

[@OrdinaryFilmmaker]

@@LivingInVancouver-BC All I can do is bring the car out there. Let her see how much it costs to run and how little it gets used and go from there. I don't think she realizes how much income it can swallow up yet offer very little value. One video almost done ;) You're new editor really punches things up a notch!

[@WoodstockG54]

Do yourself a favour. Just avoid the place altogether. Lived there for 55 years. Best thing that happened for me was leaving in the end. It was a great place in the early days, not anymore.

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@WoodstockG54 Thanks for watching and for sharing your experience. Sounds like leaving was the right decision for you...but that doesn't mean Vancouver doesn't still offer a lot for other people. We are all different and looking for different things, after all. Where did you move to and find your utopia?

[@WoodstockG54]

@ If you’re a millionaire. Who is going to look after you when all the working class have left? Where did I move to? That’s a secret .

[@templar1111]

Living in Washington, I'm not far away but the whole process of applying for work visa and finding a place to rent is in fact a massive headache. Also, I doubt I'd be able to replicate the income I get from correctional work here there with nothing but service industry experience. Still though, the place calls to me. I will own a home in Vancouver one day or at least that area, maybe north by the forest parks.

[@BobSmith-nb7sb]

When you talk about being able to live in many different places, it's important to think about your rush hour commute. Generally speaking, I find that traveling East to West or west to east takes much much longer than traveling north to south because of the lack of highways. Also being able to avoid Bridges is always advisable. You taught in something amazing though that there's certain areas of West Vancouver and a little part of North Vancouver that does not have a lot of precipitation.

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@BobSmith-nb7sb I'm fully on board with trying to avoid bridges if possible. :) Appreciate you watching and continuing to support the channel!

[@williammys]

lovely cat lol ~

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@williammys lol Scared the bejeezus out of me!

[@marjolainejane1506]

Property taxes in the city are ridiculous. 1938 Bungalow $13,000 a year despite Vancouver being a small area, roads full of potholes & construction, few swimming pools & most leaking, people coming thru your yards & patios at night stealing propane, bicycles, anything not chained down. Crazy people chasing you offering to beat you up. Downtown all boarded up, people in parks, doorways, staircases. Continuous sirens. Sad, sad, sad so pick somewhere else especially if you have children.

[@OrdinaryFilmmaker]

Thant's a lot, but what is the value of the place? Knowing the taxes without the property value isn't very helpful for context.

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@marjolainejane1506 Wow. That sounds intense. Not my experience at all (my neighborhood is very low crime, super quite and about 15 minutes to downtown...and I'm more than happy raising my four children in this city), but I'd move out of your neighborhood if it's that insane. For those reading, with $13,000 in property taxes I'd estimate the house is assessed around $3.4M give or take $100K or so.

[@scott201]

you suggested Kijiji or Facebook, why not Zillow or similar for rentals?

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

Most rentals aren't actually on the MLS in Vancouver. The vast majority are handled by small mom + pop landlords and the websites I mentioned tend to be the ones most commonly used for advertising. If you haven't watched it yet, check out my video on renting in Vancouver...that'll give you a better idea of how things work here too. :)

[@cronusradonsystems2036]

I'm having trouble finding basic info on immigration to Canada. Specifically in the case in which I would bring my own company with me from the US. Do you know where I would find that info?

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@cronusradonsystems2036 I'd suggest a complex situation like that might require the skills and advice of a lawyer that specialises in immigration.

[@liliromero4910]

Mmmm… property taxes are more expensive in some parts of metro Vancouver, like Maple Ridge, $6,000/year for a house 😉

[@OrdinaryFilmmaker]

In Ontario, we pay $6600 for a house only worth $1.8M. Not saying that is cheap, but Vancouver rates are pretty good.

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

Yeah...the property tax rate in Toronto is more than double what it is in Vancouver. I mean, I don't like paying taxes either, but it's important to put it in context. :)

[@LarryNg-mx8qz]

No professional to help tenants because the rules are too biased towards tenants

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

I don't disagree that BC laws tend to lean in favor of the tenant. However, I'm not sure how you are connecting that no one professionally helps tenants to this. If anything, this situation favors the owners/landlords.

[@BobSmith-nb7sb]

Important to mention that the West end is very lgbtq friendly. I really enjoy your videos! Thank you for talking about the West LOL. That's one of the first lessons. I always give visitors to this beautiful area. Thanks for your amazing videos!

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@BobSmith-nb7sb Thank you! Glad to hear that you are enjoying the videos! :)

[@huskavarnapunkband]

Its raining right now, and im being robbed

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@huskavarnapunkband Some days it's just better to stay in bed.

[@rickywinthrop]

Avoid mandarin, learn Cantonese.

[@Anvanho]

Oh no! I studied Mandarin, and speak a little.

[@rickywinthrop]

@Anvanho I was trying to be racist and you ruined it 😞. The joke is that neither of those languages should matter whatsoever as we're an English/French speaking country but they have imported so much Chinese "investment" that it sure doesn't feel like it most of the time, particularly in Hongcouver.

[@Anvanho]

@@rickywinthrop Haha! No, but I meant something factual, because while I did study Mandarin, (reading, speaking, writing) the great majority of Chinese immigrants on the U.S. west coast speak Cantonese, (totally different). I am assuming (?) the Chinese populations in western coastal Canada are mostly Cantonese speaking(?) A very unattractive sounding dialect/language to me anyhow, compared to Mandarin, which is beautiful sounding. . "Ni hao ma, dude?"

[@OrdinaryFilmmaker]

@@Anvanho Cantonese is spoken in the south, Mandarin is the state language and spoken in the central and north. Both are handy.

[@LivingInVancouver-BC]

@Anvanho I won't pretend to be an expert on this...but I think it depends. We have both Cantonese and Mandarin speakers in Vancouver. My understanding is that the earlier wave of Hong Kong immigration we had (motivated by the handover) meant that Cantonese was much more common amongst that era of immigrants. More recently, the mainland Chinese wave of immigrants we've had over the last 20 years or so tend to be Mandarin speakers. About a decade ago I took some Mandarin lessons...but it proved far too complicated for me. Saying hello or understanding a word or two here or there is about all that I can remember at this point. :)