Instead of retirement towns, towns to buy in for a family

[BimmerBob]

Have you considered the Sunshine Coast? Leave your truck/camper at Horseshoe Bay and then walk-on ferry passage from terminal to terminal when you come and go. Should be able to find something in your price range.

[TyTy]

Moved the family out to Hope last fall. Main reason was I felt it would be important to own a home where my kids could stay in the same school/community until they graduate. Wife got a job immeadiately. Brand new home right near a lake. 15 mins out the door and I am hunting. Hope will become much bigger in the near future.

[Sportster]

Didn’t want to hi-jack retirement thread, but I’m seriously looking to buy a home/property away from the city.

A little bit bit about me; I’m 30 years old, engaged , have my daughter who is 7. I work in film building sets in north Vancouver. Hate it here more and more each day. Like most of you on this forum I bet you love your space, freedom and the outdoors plus a little less traffic.

Not looking for for anything fancy or “dream home” done to the tits. Just want a place to call my own with space, friendly town, elementary/secondary school for my daughter. Kinda with in driving range to continue with work down in the city living out of my camper for the week or two then driving back home for the weekend. This might not be for everyone but it’s a choice I’ve excepted for myself if I can have some freedom. My “wife” is a care aid so any place with a hospital would be good too. Doesn’t have to close to good hunting because I’d still drive if I have to for that.

Places that have our interest is Armstrong, Kamloops, caribou, pemberton but pemberton is already out of our price range sadly. My price range is 250-450$ with $500 pushing it. Any input would be great and helpful.

Retirement thread has been helpful but I can’t be completely out in the boonies with my daughter being young and in school

I'm kind of in the same situation as you, I've lived in the n van all my life and want to get the hell out of here. Retiring next year in May at 62 .been looking at a few areas north of kamloops, so many nice places in BC. Would like to be a little outside of a nice town. Not looking for large property, just want a nice 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home with a big enough yard for a vegetable garden and maybe a small chicken koop. Would be nice if I could plink off my back porch to lol.

[Iron Glove]

Moved the family out to Hope last fall. Main reason was I felt it would be important to own a home where my kids could stay in the same school/community until they graduate. Wife got a job immeadiately. Brand new home right near a lake. 15 mins out the door and I am hunting. Hope will become much bigger in the near future.

We retired to Hope 6 years ago after 60 years in Vancouver works great for us.
Wanted to be in a small Town where you could walk to the store, Doctors, Rink / Pool, whatever and be reasonably close to our kids and Grand Kids in Mission and Princeton.
Decent medical care - Hope Hospital for the simple stuff, Chilliwack for scans and more serious stuff, Abby if a big problem. That was an important consideration as we age. Cut our driving time to our Tulameen cabin in half with no fighting the freeway traffic.
Folks are friendly here, the rain and crime isn't nearly as bad as some say.
Rotary Trail and Coq. River right behind us, perfect for our dogs.
Great Town for a retirement or a young family.
So that's about 4 or 5 HBCers here, we should start a Facebook Group.

[tinhorse]

Some good towns on the island. Campbell River and Courtney/Comox just got new hospitals. You can still find a house for under 500, for the time being anyways..... I live in port Alberni and like it. Tons of outdoor activities, just over 100 km to tofino to go surfing, good fishing and blacktail/bear hunting. Definetly sketchy areas and folks around but what town doesn't have those. Some great new neighbourhoods being built and a newer high school. I've always asked myself where I would want to move if I could and kootneys comes to mind but second is the island. One downfall is the ferry.....hate that!

[CHEAM]

I am looking at the area between Salmon Arm and Vernon. Hoping to move out of the LML and dial things back a bit while heading towards retirement. Kids are still in school so I need to consider them. Seems to be some work in the area judging by the job adds. What are some of the things to look out for that a guy might not consider when buying rural property in that area. Things like a good well.

[emerson]

Move to Prince George. Work for both of you, cheap houses, hunting all 4 directions out of town. You want 1.25 acres in town w/house, shop, etc for $440K, pm me.

[Huntingtyler123]

Thanks everyone for all your help and ideas. Me and the misses are pretty stoked on merritt for the time being. It makes sense for us. We both love lakes more then the ocean but the island is very nice for sure. We have friends moving to Prince George and we did look into it and would be wonderful but just tooo far for us ( me) at the time being. Definitely a possibility once the kid or kids have moved out lol.

[Dirty Steve]

We moved to Armstrong 10 years ago, from Victoria for 10 years, and grew up in Kelowna. I can tell you Armstrong is an amazing place to raise a family! Rough little houses start at $325 and up, you can get a sweet house for $450 and your kids will never know what a hypodermic needle is... Anywhere north of Kelowna and into the Shuswap is amazing man!!! Lots of industry, lots of recreation, really stable real estate market as its a destination market. It will always hold its value! Thousands of lakes, fantastic hunting, no gates and lots of work.
I might be a little biased as I am a local realtor
My suggestion is get in and go man!!! Drive until you find somewhere awesome. If it makes you happy spend 4 or five days camping and get to know the area and the town before you get too excited about it.

[David]

If I understand you correctly:
1) You want to keep working in the film industry in Vancouver (e.g. no job change)
2) You are willing to spend weekdays away from your family (living in your camper in Vancouver) and then go "home" for weekends (that's tough on a marriage, but you weren't asking for relationship advice).

If you're willing to drive, my #1 choice would be Princeton. I work in the public sector and word is slow and steady growth for that town.
My #2 choice would be the Sunshine Coast - non-waterfront property is actually still fairly reasonable and if you choose your location right it's a good community for the kid(s). The ferry is an absolute killer though - if you're REALLY relying on it, one stoppage and you're screwed.

i know you said you liked Merrit - but I wouldn't touch that place with a 10 foot pole. Addiction issues, climate, dealing with the Coquihalla, etc. etc. if you're going that way, keep going to the Okanagan - outskirts of Penticton are still reasonable-ish for house prices.