Attainable/Affordable Housing

They should upload this survey online so we can print it off Ourfernie.com! Just a thought.

If anyone has a copy of this survey, could they send it to info@ourfernie.com.

While attainable housing is a concern for the aging population I have to admit that I am disappointed that the questionnaire is directed solely towards housing for seniors. There is also a growing demand for attainable housing for young people, families, single income households and in general, young entrepreneurs moving to Fernie, wanting to start families and contribute to the community. Why not a research project on this demographic too, please?

I have to agree with V. I tried to fill in the questionnaire and found I just didn't have the answers yet - it did say on the form that it was applicable to everyone, but a lot of the answers I would have given would have been theoretical, which doesn't really paint a fair picture. While I'm sure the housing issue for seniors is just as big as for anyone else, at least they have something - Rocky Mountain Village, Trinity House and the newly remodelled Tom Uphill, plus other facilities up the valley. For the rest of us there is about 20 houses in the New Horizons subdivision - and I'm sure the qualifications to get one of those are fairly stringent, and competition fierce. Am I right in saying there is nothing else?
STUDIO Apartments at Ridgemont, built over 30 years ago, are now selling for $120K. Comparable ONE BED apartments in the same block were selling for $82K last year. Cockato Two Bed Apartments are going for $144K, last year they were around $100K. Is this just out of control?

I am noticing new realtor offices/condo sale offices popping up over town. At a guess, I'd say we have more realtors/real estate offices per capita than any other business sector. I know a few of the realtors, and I know them to be generous, community minded charitable people, but I have yet to see any of them address this issue, or offer any kind of solution to the problem. When this is such a huge issue for our community, is there a realtor or group of realtors who could invest some time and money in this area?
To those realtors - next time someone fixes your car, serves your coffee, plows the highway, packs your groceries or greets you at the doctors/accountants/chiro/ etc, and you say "Thank you" and call them by name and ask after their kids/mother/dog because you've known them for years - please take the time to think about that, because very soon those people won't be here any more because they can't afford to own property. Just like every resort town, those people will soon all be seasonal staff and pretty soon Fernie will be a town of rich realtors and retirees locked inside their mansions, hundreds of seasonal staff packed into uncared-for apartment blocks, and all the miners, construction workers and service staff will have moved to Sparwood. I've seen it happen in resorts all over the world (I've lived in four of them), and we are in the extremely fortunate position to do something about it before it happens, but I'd say we've got maybe two years at the most or it will be too late.

I too found that questionnaire lacking. I don't know how any useful data can be gleaned from it.
On providing an affordable housing supply. If you complain and do nothing, you are part of the problem. Get in tough with city council. Have them draw up an action plan, bylaw, or mechanism. Including having every rezoning application provide a certain percentage, or number of units, or land, for affordable housing. Complaining and expecting someone else to solve the problem just won't cut it.

This has been a major source of frustration for me. I am "a case study" waiting to happen. And believe me, I say that in a very positive, good-natured way, 'cause that's just the kind of person I am.

But, I am really concerned. I have a young family, I have a business, I work very hard at both, yet I am totally screwed because I can't afford to live here given the current housing situation in Fernie.

So what do we do? I'm no politician and I certainly don't have much of a voice, at least not a loud one (insert smiley face here).

There is nothing to be done. It's too late now anyways and it's just an unfortunate reality that if you can't afford to buy a house here now, you NEVER will. If you think the $250,000 to $350,000 range is outrageous, wait for a year or two when there will be nothing available for less than $600,000 or $700,000. And if you think that Randal Macnair and the clowns at city council are going to do anything about it, you're dreaming. They're too busy arguing over what color of sign someone wants to hang outside their business. The fact is, there is just too much money out there amongst this generation. People in their late 30's to late 50's are inheriting their parents wealth and assets and as such, there are new millionaires being created every day. Think about it, just about anybody's parents, if they own a house and have some savings, are worth at least a few hundred thousand. Many are worth much more. This elder generation is now passing on, and their children suddenly have a huge chunk of cash to play with. So they come to a place like Fernie and buy second homes for cash that are nothing more than weekend crash pads to them, meanwhile it puts somebody who really needs to live here, to work here, out of a home. You ever wonder how on earth people can afford a mortgage on a $400,000 house? That's why. They're not mortgaging folks. Now add to this all the wealth coming out of Alberta, where almost anybody can make $100,000/yr plus if they want to. So they can buy a place here and still have $100,000 a year in play money to buy their Dodge Quad Cabs and Lincoln Navigators. Fernie may as well be in Alberta, because whenever I drive around here all I see are Alberta vehicles. Another big problem is foreign/overseas buyers. People from urban centers in the USA are selling their places for millions and scooping up everything in BC for what they see as bargain basement prices. Same thing in Europe. A house like what you would find in Ridgemont or the Airport subdivision would cost 2 or 3 million dollars in the UK. I know one Brit that owns 5 houses here in Fernie himself! There is just no way to compete if you are a working class schlub. Unless the government steps in and does something drastic like not allowing people to own more than one home, or prohibiting all out of province or out of country purchase of BC real estate, then this situation is going to get only more dire and desperate. And it's not only Fernie. Already, Sparwood, Cranbrook, Kimberley, Elkford are slipping out of reach. It will get much worse once the international airport is running in Cranbrook. The rest of Canada and in fact, the world knows that British Columbia is the best place to live, and very soon, within the decade, it will ALL be bought up by the rich. What will happen then is anybody's guess, but it will become a crisis and it will be too late for the government to do anything then. So affordable housing in Fernie? Dream on. First of all, where would they put it?
Fernie is wedged in a valley, the land around it is privately owned. There is not much physical space left that isn't privately owned (ie: no crown land). If they do come up with some kind of affordable housing project, it will have to be high density, glorified apartment buildings. There will be no yards, no lots to call your own. Who wants that? And how do they decide who gets them? If you make decent mine/forestry wages,(which by the way are no longer sufficient for living here)are you going to be deemed ineligible? There are going to be hundreds if not thousands wanting in, who gets in, who doesn't? No developer is going to offer affordable housing unless forced to by law. It's a good time to be a realtor in Fernie, but it's not a good time to be anybody else here. I'm getting super frustrated and annoyed by all this as you can tell. This town is falling apart quickly, as longtime residents are selling out (who can blame them) and moving on. Schools are closing because families are leaving. Who the hell could afford to raise a young family here? Fernie is fast becoming a weekend crash pad for rich yuppies who could care less about the impact they are having on the actual community and infrastructure. And this is only the beginning. So, I guess if you want to own a house here, you better win the lottery or hope your parents die soon, so you can inherit their money, otherwise, you're SOL as they say. Have a nice day! :)

You said it all really. Its a horrible, tragic, painful situation but it seems that anyone with the power to do something about it is far from interested. The city has taken an interest and has put together action groups and research forums, but by the time anything concrete actually happens, it will be far too late - we all know how government works.

I love this town, but I came here without a big chunk of money and hoped to work towards a home. I have owned my own business, worked for and managed other businesses, volunteered hundreds of hours for local and national charities and I hoped one day to raise a family here but I have to face facts, it's not going to happen. In a couple of years I will have to face reality, say goodbye to my friends and head off to somewhere I can earn enough to buy my own place, just like dozens of other young people trying to live here, I just don't want to still be renting when I'm 45. The locals who are complaining so bitterly about the loss of community will continue to sell their houses to people from out of town, because those people from out of town have decided that the houses here are worth $650K+, even though those homeowners would have been happy with $450K three years ago, and $250K 6 years ago. (That's a helluva jump in 6 years). I guess finally someone has something to thank RCR for.

I'm not blaming anyone for my situation, or for the housing market. But there are people out there who could be doing something, and they just don't care. The town will suffer, and they still don't care. The community is struggling to survive, and still nothing. The same people who are complaining that the community is dying are the same ones that are cashing in.

The one thing I don't agree with in megadude's post, is that I would be completely happy with an apartment. I have the most beautiful backyard in the world - it's called the rocky mountains - I don't need 10 square feet to call my own, I'm happy to share.

I know housing is out of reach for many in Fernie now and the short term future looks bleak. But times are good, people got lots of jack to play with right now. The thing about economic booms is they never last forever. When the Alberta oil patch crashes, (I'm not saying 'if' because history always repeats itself) Your gonna see a shitload of yuppies who have over extended themselves start dumping their assets. When this happens the housing market is gonna drop. The old supply and demand thing.

It might happen when the next US president gets elected. Maybe the US will kiss and make up with all the middle east countries? Who knows? If this happens rest assured the Alberta oil patch will take a huge hit. Hell, Murray Edwards might dump the resort too!!

Most of the Euro and UK types buying here have dollar signs in there eyes as well. If the housing market starts falling, they will get out of it while they still stand to make money on their investment.

I've lived here my whole life and seen all the cycles. Anyone who was around here in the early 90's knows what the housing market can do. Weststar mining went bankrupt. If you had 60k you could have bought almost any house down in the Airport subdivision.

If we get a couple of really terrible snow years in a row, which we all know can happen, the housing market will take a hit. Everything comes in cycles and what does up must eventually come down.