South Surrey Real Estate: We Bought A Family Home!
South Surrey’s Housing Market is SUPER SCARY
So…we bought a HOUSE! After renting a small apartment for over a year, we were all going a bit loopy from tripping over each other. The real estate climate is SO scary in South Surrey, BC, so how did we do it?
The Living Room
Apartment Life
To begin with, as much as we’ve tried to embrace the whole paired down ‘tiny house’ concept, the little guy has a TON of toys. Mommy wants a work out space. And hubby wants a quiet office to be able to focus in. And we all want a backyard.
Since we moved here from Port Alberni, which is one of the most affordable places in BC to own a home with a population over 10,000 and a full service hospital. (I used to do marketing for the city, so can rattle this all off by rote.)
South Surrey… well… is NOT the most affordable place to live in BC. Far from it. It’s been jaw-dropping to see a run down 70’s house ‘that should be $280,000’ (in my mind) going for a whopping $1.4 million. Say what???
The Master Bedroom
I understand WHY there’s such a gap between the home prices between my hometown and here—namely in the economy and location. But HOW the heck are young families ever supposed to afford a home in South Surrey?
The House Hunt
As a result, we settled on the fact that we couldn’t ever afford a house, and needed to focus on looking at townhouses. We spent every Sunday doing a fun family activity and touring pretty much every new development in the area.
We found a townhouse that we LOVED. It was sparkly and bright. 4 bedrooms. Rooftop patios with gorgeous views. But had NO backyard.
The Master Bathroom
We almost bit the bullet on one of these, but SOMETHING pushed us to keep on looking. One Sunday, we stumbled across a massive house development with prices way out of our range, who then referred us to one of their smaller, hidden new developments.
Master Bathroom Shower
We Found The One
Consequently, we fell in love. It’s a new 4 bedroom HOUSE. It has high-end, neutral finishing and a great layout with a decent sized, pie shaped back yard. And it’s near a brand new elementary school, park, secondary school and aquatic centre.
The WHITE Kitchen! My dream!
Noteworthy, the kicker for us is that it comes with a fully-legal 2 bedroom basement suite to help with its monster mortgage.
The Laundry Room- With Counters!
Our house is a new build, so has required a LOT of imagination about what the home and area will look like when we move in November.
The Foundation is Just The Start
Due to the fact that we’re a ‘bit older’ is hubby and I both entered into our relationships already owning properties. We scrambled to sell my house in Port Alberni, and his townhouse in South Surrey to get our down-payment together.
The Foundation
Our new house is just foundation now, so stay tuned for its progress. We drive by regularly to see the changes!
UPDATE: January 2019: Home tour of our brand new house!
Our New House!
I want to hear from you! How have you navigated South Surrey’s real estate? What are your favorite home decorating stores that we should know about?
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Well, I am happy you’ve found your dream home! It looks very similar to my new home, suite and all. I have to say the suite is what made me realize we could afford the larger, new home. Our new neighbours seem to think the same way. I see multigenerational families living around here. Enjoy visiting the construction at every stage and don’t be disappointed if it runs a little longer than planned. You’ll get there. You are right, I have no idea how young families get into the housing market without a lot of luck, some good financial planning and sometimes a bit of help from their families.
Thank you Catherine! It sure does remind me of your gorgeous new home, except without your amazing view of the pond! The multi-generational thing sure makes sense, especially in this housing market! I’d love to have a built-in babysitter! lol!