The 15th Tallest Peak: Buying Real Estate in BC

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I figured climbing Mount Everest would offer a more satisfying feeling. Here I was standing on my personal highest peak, having just made my first home purchase here in the beautiful province of British Columbia. In my mind’s eye, I saw this moment as a grand celebration of this life milestone – Champagne pouring and vigorous hand clapping. Instead, I felt like I was at my wit’s end, hunched over and gasping for air at the finish line. 


The reality is I felt like I had just summited the highest peak on planet earth. My mind was oxygen-deprived from the sheer volume of open houses. Attempting to function in a semi-hypoxic state for months as my wife and I repeated the same process over and over with the same result. Getting outbid by someone with deeper pockets and no home inspection. So, as we both stood in the glory of finally finding our home, there was no photo shoot or speeches. It was a quiet, overwhelming sense of relief that the process was complete. And although the journey was far more gruelling than even Frodo Baggins could have imagined, it did feel incredible to have the chapter finished.

There really should be a class about this process in school. In all sincerity, I could have gone without a few social studies classes and taken some “how the hell do you set yourself up to purchase real estate in Canada” classes instead. It was time for us to move on from renting, we just never imagined it would evolve into the process it did. Everyone’s story is different, and our path to purchasing real estate is a long winding story that would be better told over a couple of pitchers of cheap beer (especially now that I have a mortgage!). The story of climbing the mountain of the housing market must start in a place far, far away…

Phase One – Arriving at Base Camp: My path to Vancouver began in the prairies. My wife and I were living in Winnipeg and gutting it out through the pandemic like everyone else when we got some incredible news. We were pregnant! Plans began to take shape now that we were going to be parents. It was time to fulfill our plan all along and move to the west coast. So, we packed up our belongings from our tiny post-war rental home in Winnipeg and started the journey west towards our first stop – base camp at my in-laws’ place.


Phase Two – Trek Towards the Icefall: As the summer months wore on and my wife became increasingly pregnant, we got out to as many showings as we could. We were just getting started, with lots of energy and pep in our step. Nothing was getting in our way at this point. We had a list of ‘wants’ for our first home, and we naively checked them off in our heads as we viewed homes. We went to a lot of showings, but no property spoke to us over this time, as we kept on the hunt through the historic heatwave. A couple of offers were placed to get our feet wet, but spirits were high as we reached the icefall of childbirth.

Phase Three – Camp One (Valley of Silence): The best thing that could have ever happened to us had finally arrived. We have a healthy baby boy who has changed our lives for the better. He is also apparently a nocturnal being, not allowing us to focus on anything other than getting into this new groove as a family. A storm brews in the market during this period of radio silence…

Phase Four – Camp Two: With our sea legs now barely underneath us, it is time to get back on the house hunt trail. The market has continued to gather momentum towards ludicrous speed, and we are feeling the need to find a place to start our family. A blizzard sweeps over the mountain (metaphorically of course as this was September in Vancouver) as more and more offers are placed with increased fatigue. But they all result in the same outcome as the snow and ice lash my face. Belief is starting to wane, but we keep forcing ourselves up the mountain.

Phase Five – Camp Three (Lhotse Wall): The grind is almost unbearable. With a 2-month-old baby coming with us to every showing, the path to finding our home is becoming frustrating. The raffle draws of whether we have a crying child with us are starting to wear thin and the wails pierce our ears after another showing. Offer after offer of being outbid begins to thin the air as the elevation gain is getting to my head. 

“I must reach Lhotse Wall to stop paying rent,” I keep repeating to myself as I pack up my son for the 250th time to go see yet another townhouse. 

Phase Six – Camp Four (Death Zone): It is always the darkest before the dawn. Thoughts of whether we can afford to compete in this market seem very real. We hear rumours of other fallen climbers, who are bowing out before reaching the summit. Months have passed since we started this pursuit to the top. As the sun sets on Camp 4, morale is at an all-time low. A flicker of hope arrives at the possibility of a private sale in our favourite condo complex. There is hope, and I can put on my pack to climb for one more day. 

Phase Eight – Final Summit: At long last, we have come to terms and have purchased our first home. It was a marathon process to get to his peak, as I gazed out over the mess of my belongings in a storage can that has been packed away for months. One thing has become abundantly clear as we settle into our new place and plan for future challenges. The term “home” has nothing to do with where you live, how big or small that place is, or how much money you paid for it. It has everything to do with the people you surround yourself with. What is life without climbing a few mountains with the people you care about? So, I can huff and puff and complain about how challenging it was to get here as much as I want. The bottom line is I would not have done it any other way. 

Home is where the heart is they say. Well, isn’t that the truth? 

 

 

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