It’s all about timing, really.
Had my wife and I waited six or seven months more, we would not have had enough money to buy the townhome we now own in Squamish. That was way back before the 2010 Olympic Games, and our original idea was to buy the place, cash in right before the Games when the market would be hot, and move someplace where real estate was more reasonable.
The best laid plans of mice and men, eh?
Here we are years later, and we’ve settled in nicely to the Squamish community, made some real roots and couldn’t think of any other place we would like to call home.
When we received our property assessment recently, though, I nearly choked on my own tongue. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I like mind-boggling increases in my personal net worth like the next goggle-eyed fellow, but it had my wife and I wondering just how on earth new families coming to the community could afford to buy homes.
Seriously. Even now, after working hard, and slaving away to eek out a reputation, slowly clawing my way to some sort of reasonable salary where I don’t have to eat my own children to survive, there is still no way I could afford to buy a place in Squamish today.
I could barely afford to rent something here if that was the only choice my family had.
Heck, we would probably not even be able to find a rental if we wanted one!
That’s equal parts scary and slap-you-up-the-side-of-the-head ridiculous.
So, what must it be like to be a young family just starting out and trying to find a home – rental or otherwise – in Squamish? And, what does this mean for the community’s future growth?
Squamish is quickly becoming like Whistler, with regards to housing, so the powers that be should put some serious thought into things like employee or subsidized housing.
Like most people, I don’t want to devalue my own real estate investment, and would like to see my assessment go insanely up every year.
However, for those who want to make Squamish home, but – thanks to bad timing and soaring prices – can’t, some strategy needs to be put in place – and fast – before we lose the close-knit and family-style character of the community in favour of absentee homeowners and investors.
It’s all about timing, and the time is now.
