Photo contributed
This is the fifth article in V.I.A’s series looking at how people in the Lower Mainland are dealing with high housing costs.Â
Lynn Gosselin and her family were renting a house in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»when their landlords decided they were moving back home. "It was really unexpected. We didn't see it coming even though they gave us plenty of notice and we were really attached to the house and the neighbourhood that we had been living in."
Gosselin and her husband began looking for places to rent or buy but felt completely overwhelmed by the high costs and lack of availability in the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»housing market. "It's really difficult because the prices of both rentals and property to buy are so astronomical -- it's really hard to wrap your head around putting either that much money into somebody else's pocket or that much money into a property of your own."
As the move out date approached it became clear that they would need more time to find out what would be best for their family. A smaller, temporary rental would have to do but it was already furnished and would not have space for about 90 per cent of their belongings.
They decided to use a storage service called BigSteelBox, which dropped off a shipping container at their address for the family to pack up the things they wouldn't have space for in their new place.
Loading their belongings into a BigSteelBox. Photo contributed.
BigSteelBox director of operations Brian Hawkins says they've they've definitely "experienced a pretty significant uplift" in business from Vancouver, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Island and the Interior.
"The market seems to be cresting, flatlining a little bit and people are weighing their options," Hawkins says. "They're maybe selling their house trying to catch prices at a high point but they're not re-buying right away. They're waiting to see if the market comes down a little bit so they can get a better deal."
He says the average time people use the service ranges from a month to about eight months and they have a secure facility in Abbotsford and Port Coquitlam where the storage containers are kept. When people move into their new place the container is delivered to their new address.
Gosselin's family moved out at the end of June and are continuing to search for a place that better meets their needs.
"The inventory is so sparse and what people are demanding in terms of a rental rate in contrast to the property that they're listing doesn't equate. There are so many properties that are in terrible shape and look horrible listed for an astronomical rental price," she says.
Moving away is not an option they are considering right now because her husband works in Vancouver. "It's a hard market to navigate because there are great properties out there. I think it just takes time in Vancouver. The cost is so high and the inventory, particularly right now, is quite low."
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