The BEST neighbourhoods in Chilliwack!

Chilliwack is a great city with a wide variety of wonderful neighborhoods! Here are my top 5 picks for the best neighborhoods in Chilliwack:

1. Sardis Park: Located near the Vedder River, this neighborhood offers plenty of outdoor activities, such as fishing, kayaking, and biking, as well as plenty of parks and green spaces.

2. Fairfield Island: This neighborhood is located in the heart of Chilliwack and is known for its historic homes, beautiful gardens, and quaint streets.

3. Yarrow: This small village is located in the rural outskirts of Chilliwack and offers a peaceful atmosphere with stunning views of the mountains and countryside.

4. Promontory: This neighborhood offers some of the best views in the city and is home to a variety of parks, schools, and trails.

5. Greendale: This rural community is known for its small-town charm and offers plenty of activities, such as hiking, swimming, and horseback riding.

My favourite fall things to do in Chilliwack

In honour of the first day of fall tomorrow, I thought I would make a list of some of my favourite fall activities.

1. Visit Greendale farms! They have a corn maze, pumpkins and tons of family friendly activities. I personally like to take my dogs and fill my phone with cute dog photos! On Thursday nights, they also have live music for their family nights.

2. Take a fall hike! The fall is my favourite time to hike because it is the perfect temperature. We are lucky to have a mild climate in the Fraser Valley which means we can hike usually until the end of October without any snow. One of my favourite hikes is the community forrest. It’s not super challenging and is a great one for people of all ages and hiking ability. You could try: Mt Thom, Teapot, Elk or Vedder River trail

3. If you’re brave you could visit Reapers Haunted House. It’s know as the scariest haunted house around Vancouver…

4. Try to catch a salmon! Chilliwack has some world class fishing! Hit up Freds Custom tackle to get all the gear you need to catch your dinner! Or maybe you want to try your hand out with sturgeon on the Fraser River. You could try one of the many amazing guided sturgeon fishing boat trips to catch one of the iconic sturgeons.

5. You could also check out the Chilliwack Tourism website for updated list of all the amazing fall events that Chilliwack has going on.

Is now a good time for me to buy real estate?

This question really depends on what your goals are! Contrary to what the media will tell you, there really isn’t a “bad” market. We have a buyers market, a sellers market and a balanced market. We have just come from sellers market in February and quickly transitioned through a balanced market to a buyers market. This means that the real estate market has a lot more inventory than we have had in the last couple years.

As experienced investors will tell you, there have been many points where we thought the sky was falling and then it turned out to be okay. During the last recession in 2008, the average home price in Chilliwack was $331, 224 (according to CADREB). People were definitely saying not to buy then but people still did.. do you think the person who bought a home in Chilliwack for $350,000 in 2008 would regret that purchase today? I would say it’s very unlikely.

The saying what goes up must come down definitely applies to the real estate market but people always forget the opposite is true too. What goes down must come back up too.

Now I am not saying this is the best time for EVERYONE. If you were looking to cash out on your home or downsize it might be worth looking into some alternative options to hold on to your investment a little longer. Alternatively, this can be a really good time for people who are looking to upgrade their homes! Say you bought a townhome and it was valued at $500,000 but it sold for $400,000. BUT when you bought your new home it was valued at $1,200,000 but you got it for $1,000,000. You may have “lost” $100,000 but you were able to get your new home for $200,000 less. Now when the market very likely goes up, as it always has historically, you will be sitting pretty. This is all hypothetical but it gives you an idea of how this market could be beneficial for you.

This is why we say there is no such thing as a bad market. Different markets can help different people with different goals.

My thoughts of the week..

For many young adults the idea of buying a home seems like this mythical goal that they will never be able to accomplish. The idea of saving up for a down payment, securing an excellent income, maintaining good credit all while maintaining some resemblance of a life seems impossible. But is it? We all still know people who are doing it! What are they doing differently?

Let’s look at the stats! A Zillow report done in 2021 found that the average home buyer is 45 years old but about 25% of buyers are between the ages of 30-39. In July the average cost of buying an apartment was $408,611, Townhome was $605,339 and a detached was $906,719.

In some scenarios a first time home buyer only needs to put down 5% which for an apartment would mean roughly a downpayment of $20,430.55. In order to buy that home by 25, if you started working at 18, you would only need to save $2,918.65 per year. This could be saved by just working an extra 4 hours per week if you work a minimum wage job in BC without changing any of your spending habits.

So why isn’t everyone buying apartments? For some people it might be an inability to acquire a loan. For others they may asked their bank for a loan and they said no. Getting a no from the bank can feel embarrassing and for some so much so that they don’t want to ask someone else.

The truth is all banks have their own lending policies and guidelines and what might be a NO from one could be a YES from another. This is why I always recommend my clients talk to a mortgage broker. A mortgage broker works for you and shops around with different banks to find you that YES or that best rate.

My advice to young buyers is always to make a plan, set goals and talk to a mortgage broker early. Even if you don’t think you will be able to buy a house for years they can help get you on track to make that dream of owning a house into a reality!

If you want some advice on some great ones in the Fraser Valley, let’s chat!