@st333333 Also getting a shitty neighbour to the left, right, above, below, behind, etc can completely ruin your enjoyment. Our previous apartment we rented had a person above us who would go out partying and come home at 4am and proceed to blast music and get in shouting arguments for hours.
@anonymoushchan You can also end up with terrible neighbours in a townhouse or even a free standing house, sharing backyard fences with problematic people etc.
This is purely anecdotal from me, but I was hesitating for years despite really wanting to live in a condo with my friends in Toronto because of the stories of people hearing their neighbours, and now I have lived in three (one old, two built in the last 5 years) and rarerly do I ever hear any sounds from neighbours. Those walls are so damn thick, you would need to blast music. And if you did that, security would be at your door in 5 seconds
@anonymoushchan Last condo I lived in, I swear the asshole above me was bowling at 3 am. Booms, bangs, furniture scraping. Gave my notice because 14 months of no sleep made me beyond cranky.
@redtalon Second this, check the condo board! Things would comes up if you want to repair your condos and what's the rules.
Condo is generally economically towrads sources, such garbage fees, water and etc. depends on what your condo would cover. Living in a house the bills might be a bit higher than it, at the same time you don't need to pay condo fees.
@romanticcode Do not move to Abbotsford or especially Chilliwack with any illusion that you are still part of the Vancouver area and will have a social circle there. It’s just too far. Imo you really want to aim for Surrey/tricities or closer to truly reap the benefits of Vancouver.
@llucasl We have most friends in Surrey so living in Abbotsford/Chilliwack isn't bad for us. We just would like a nice, safe neighborhood. We are looking at East abbotsford and Sardis/Garrison/Promonotory area in Chilliwack.
@romanticcode I’d highly recommend these areas. And I also agree with others - buy what you can. A condo is fine. You can buy something else in a few years. I also noticed condos are kinda still not that popular in Chilliwack, so you can buy an affordable one while you still can. I personally expect a fast(er) appreciation for condos in the coming years.
Commuting for work from Abbotsford and Chilliwack is not ideal. But otherwise it’s a part of the same region and people drive back and forth all the time. It’s just 1h drive from Chilliwack to Vancouver if you find a right moment to avoid traffic. Also Chilliwack is booming last few years and looks and feels increasingly like Vancouver nowadays.
@llucasl We have transit options. The 66 goes from the end of my street to Lougheed Skytrain. I can drive from my house to my doctor’s office on in North Van in 1:08 on a good day. The Lower Mainland is very accessible to us here. I’ve been out here for 31 years, and getting anywhere in the city is easy.
@right2smile The 66 gets you from Chilliwack to outer Metro Vancouver in an hour and a half, not including connections. Probably more like 2 and a half hours to downtown Vancouver. If it works for you, great, but 5 hours of commuting in a day is not what I or most people would consider remotely easy.
@llucasl I was countering your assertion there were “no transit options”. The 66 is the transit option. It’s a good option with buses running from 4:40 am to 10:20 pm. It’s incredibly popular and well travelled.
I didn’t say I’d take it or that it was fast or that it was easy or that it was a great option, just that it exists. It’s 1:23 from my house to Lougheed Station, which is Burnaby, not “outer Metro Vancouver”. 42 minutes from there to Waterfront. It’s a big commute, but do-able.
@llucasl Yeah, as I said 1h. If I need to visit some friends or go to some specific store, I give a 1h drive every other week. What’s the big deal? Many people in bigger cities (e.g. Toronto) commute for 1h for work daily.
