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Brandon- cost of living advantage?

Brandon- cost of living advantage?

Terry7
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 44

Terry7
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 44

Brandon- cost of living advantage?
7/7/2021 at 8:51 PM

From Post-Covid discussion reply:
"At the same time, for people with careers whose location doesnt matter I wonder if somewhere like Brandon's cost of living becomes appealing for a relocate. Make $75k per year, pay mortgage on $1.2M Toronto home forever. Make same $75k per year doing same job with same company remotely from Brandon, buy a home in cash for 1/4 the price, live mortgage free with much more disposable income? "

In my opinion the cost of living and housing pricing in Brandon would make it more appealing for people to not consider living here - housing pricing in Brandon is ridiculous, anything decent you are looking at 350-400K range, which is comparable to housing pricing in medium and larger cities in Alberta, plus you pay less income taxes, no PST, and get Rockies within an hour to two hour drive.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

List vs selling
7/7/2021 at 10:00 PM

Terry7 said ""At the same time, for people with careers whose location doesnt matter I wonder if somewhere like Brandon's cost of living becomes appealing for a relocate. Make $75k per year, pay mortgage on $1.2M Toronto home forever. Make same $75k per year doing same job with same company remotely from Brandon, buy a home in cash for 1/4 the price, live mortgage free with much more disposable income? "

In my opinion the cost of living and housing pricing in Brandon would make it more appealing for people to not consider living here - housing pricing in Brandon is ridiculous, anything decent you are looking at 350-400K range, which is comparable to housing pricing in medium and larger cities in Alberta, plus you pay less income taxes, no PST, and get Rockies within an hour to two hour drive. "
Is that the list price in AB or the selling price? Those are very different propositions.

For example, on paper it looks like houses in Brandon and Winnipeg are roughly the same. Both have similar ask prices. But experience has been that you can easily expect a house in Winnipeg to sell anywhere from 15 to 50% over list. One of my brothers sold his house in Winnipeg a few weeks ago for 20% over list. One of SIL has bid on at least 4 properties in recent months, and they all went for 20-30% over list with zero conditions.

As far as I know, houses in Brandon are still selling for roughly list. So if your price point is 300k, you look at 300k instead of looking at 250k and then trying to guess where you should bid against a dozen or more other offers.

Also, I Googled it quick. The average house price in Brandon in currently $298. In Winnipeg, it's $358k. Calgary is $510k. I also find the cost of living here relatively low compared to my family in Winnipeg - we pay less taxes (in part due to lower property values), and generally less for civic services while the cost of consumer goods is more or less similar.
Cjford
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 419

Cjford
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 419

Not sure its the case
7/8/2021 at 9:36 AM

Abbysmum said "Is that the list price in AB or the selling price? Those are very different propositions.

For example, on paper it looks like houses in Brandon and Winnipeg are roughly the same. Both have similar ask prices. But experience has been that you can easily expect a house in Winnipeg to sell anywhere from 15 to 50% over list. One of my brothers sold his house in Winnipeg a few weeks ago for 20% over list. One of SIL has bid on at least 4 properties in recent months, and they all went for 20-30% over list with zero conditions.

As far as I know, houses in Brandon are still selling for roughly list. So if your price point is 300k, you look at 300k instead of looking at 250k and then trying to guess where you should bid against a dozen or more other offers.

Also, I Googled it quick. The average house price in Brandon in currently $298. In Winnipeg, it's $358k. Calgary is $510k. I also find the cost of living here relatively low compared to my family in Winnipeg - we pay less taxes (in part due to lower property values), and generally less for civic services while the cost of consumer goods is more or less similar. "
I know a number of people looking and it is definitely a sellers market here in brandon. Every house they liked has gone well north of 10k over asking. Some realtors aren't accepting offers till a few days after house is available to view one can only assume to start a bidding war. Great time to sell if you dont need an immediate place to live in or looking to move away from brandon.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Wrong
7/8/2021 at 11:01 AM

Abbysmum said "Is that the list price in AB or the selling price? Those are very different propositions.

For example, on paper it looks like houses in Brandon and Winnipeg are roughly the same. Both have similar ask prices. But experience has been that you can easily expect a house in Winnipeg to sell anywhere from 15 to 50% over list. One of my brothers sold his house in Winnipeg a few weeks ago for 20% over list. One of SIL has bid on at least 4 properties in recent months, and they all went for 20-30% over list with zero conditions.

As far as I know, houses in Brandon are still selling for roughly list. So if your price point is 300k, you look at 300k instead of looking at 250k and then trying to guess where you should bid against a dozen or more other offers.

Also, I Googled it quick. The average house price in Brandon in currently $298. In Winnipeg, it's $358k. Calgary is $510k. I also find the cost of living here relatively low compared to my family in Winnipeg - we pay less taxes (in part due to lower property values), and generally less for civic services while the cost of consumer goods is more or less similar. "
Yeah, agree with last poster, you are wrong on the asking price is selling price thing. I know two people who put bids in over 5k more than asking price and both were turned down. One guy was told a bid over 10,000 more than asking price was the only way he'd be considered.

Average house price is not an accurate way to compare. That just means calgary has more houses that are expensive, not that you can't get a house for the same price there if it's hypothetically the same house. My whole family lives in Alberta and they are aghast at Brandon's property taxes, house prices, rent prices and income taxes, not to mention the PST.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Comparison
7/8/2021 at 11:09 AM

I just did a quick comparison for discussion, 6 bedroom 4 bathroom newer house in Calgary over 2100 square feet... $599,000. Brandon? $579,000 and one less bathroom and only 1500 square feet. (see attached pics). And you live in Calgary vs Brandon. Property taxes? 8100 in Brandon. 4400 in CALGARY. Check it out for yourself.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Income taxes
7/8/2021 at 11:13 AM

Albertagirl said "Yeah, agree with last poster, you are wrong on the asking price is selling price thing. I know two people who put bids in over 5k more than asking price and both were turned down. One guy was told a bid over 10,000 more than asking price was the only way he'd be considered.

Average house price is not an accurate way to compare. That just means calgary has more houses that are expensive, not that you can't get a house for the same price there if it's hypothetically the same house. My whole family lives in Alberta and they are aghast at Brandon's property taxes, house prices, rent prices and income taxes, not to mention the PST. "
Not to beat a dead horse, but go plug in your income to an income tax calculator and switch provinces and see the difference. A 50,000 salary in Manitoba is paying 8800 in income taxes. In Alberta they're paying 7100. That is a $1700 difference a year! And they're not paying PST either!! Say you live in brandon because of family, your job, or you just like it here. But don't tell me it's cause it's cheaper. Lol.
Terry7
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 44

Terry7
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 44

Fully agree
7/8/2021 at 11:42 AM

with Albertagirl. Another factor in the equation is a drug crisis in Brandon - this really went downhill in the past years.
Woody94
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 661

Woody94
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 661

-
7/8/2021 at 12:39 PM

Albertagirl is bang on. Plus the income tax spread gets worse as you make more. For a couple making a decent wage each it could easily be 10k less in Alberta. Brandon is expensive for a small city. I can’t imagine anyone moving here unless it’s home for them.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

You might be right
7/8/2021 at 2:15 PM

Cjford said "I know a number of people looking and it is definitely a sellers market here in brandon. Every house they liked has gone well north of 10k over asking. Some realtors aren't accepting offers till a few days after house is available to view one can only assume to start a bidding war. Great time to sell if you dont need an immediate place to live in or looking to move away from brandon. "
I think it's a case where we're both correct. It is definately a seller's market everywhere. A few houses in my immediate area have sold at asking recently, often without conditions.

But if houses are selling 10k over asking... On a 300k house that's only 3% over. On a 500k house, that's 2%. Houses elsewhere are routinely selling at 10-20x that amount over list. My brother literally just sold his house in Winnipeg at 30% over list only 2 weeks ago. My SIL will bid 100k over list on 600k ("only" 16%) and will get outbid by twice that.

Yes, it's a seller's market. No, we are not anything like other places... yet.

We didn't move away from Brandon 2 years ago when we had the opportunity because of how gastly more expensive it was among the places we could have chosen (which i:ncluded a number of cities in Western Canada, including the Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary areas). We would have had to take a considerable cut in lifestyle to afford it on a similar salary to what we make here (it was only about a 5% pay increase). I spent over 6 months researching and crunching numbers knowing that if the opportunity panned out we needed to know what we wanted ASAP as there was a firm offer on the table - in the end, we enjoy a better quality of life here for less money than any of those other places.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

?
7/8/2021 at 2:19 PM

Abbysmum said "I think it's a case where we're both correct. It is definately a seller's market everywhere. A few houses in my immediate area have sold at asking recently, often without conditions.

But if houses are selling 10k over asking... On a 300k house that's only 3% over. On a 500k house, that's 2%. Houses elsewhere are routinely selling at 10-20x that amount over list. My brother literally just sold his house in Winnipeg at 30% over list only 2 weeks ago. My SIL will bid 100k over list on 600k ("only" 16%) and will get outbid by twice that.

Yes, it's a seller's market. No, we are not anything like other places... yet.

We didn't move away from Brandon 2 years ago when we had the opportunity because of how gastly more expensive it was among the places we could have chosen (which i:ncluded a number of cities in Western Canada, including the Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary areas). We would have had to take a considerable cut in lifestyle to afford it on a similar salary to what we make here (it was only about a 5% pay increase). I spent over 6 months researching and crunching numbers knowing that if the opportunity panned out we needed to know what we wanted ASAP as there was a firm offer on the table - in the end, we enjoy a better quality of life here for less money than any of those other places. "
Could you elaborate? What exactly was more expensive in those western cities? I grew up in Edmonton and have lived here ten years and have not found one single thing that was cheaper here. I also make less here than I would there. I like Brandon as a city and enjoy living here (I moved here when I got married) but I am very curious as to what your number crunching found was more expensive in a city like Edmonton.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Important metrics
7/8/2021 at 2:35 PM

Albertagirl said "Yeah, agree with last poster, you are wrong on the asking price is selling price thing. I know two people who put bids in over 5k more than asking price and both were turned down. One guy was told a bid over 10,000 more than asking price was the only way he'd be considered.

Average house price is not an accurate way to compare. That just means calgary has more houses that are expensive, not that you can't get a house for the same price there if it's hypothetically the same house. My whole family lives in Alberta and they are aghast at Brandon's property taxes, house prices, rent prices and income taxes, not to mention the PST. "
While I agree that average house prices are an imperfect metric, they are a useful tool. And while you're correct that Calgary's housing stock has a top end, that doesn't account for the the discrepency.

For that, we would need to look at median house prices. Where an average is calculated by adding up all the selling prices and dividing it by the number of houses sold, the median price is the exact middle of housing prices. So while average price can be skewed by very high or very low prices at either end, the median gives a better representation of what distributing that.

And the result? Median house prices in Calgary and Brandon are pretty much what the average is, with Calgary being considerably higher. But the median price suggests that most purchases are going to be within the realm of that price.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Try 3 bed
7/8/2021 at 2:40 PM

Albertagirl said "I just did a quick comparison for discussion, 6 bedroom 4 bathroom newer house in Calgary over 2100 square feet... $599,000. Brandon? $579,000 and one less bathroom and only 1500 square feet. (see attached pics). And you live in Calgary vs Brandon. Property taxes? 8100 in Brandon. 4400 in CALGARY. Check it out for yourself. "
I would be curious about what a 2 or 3 bed in comparable neighbourhoods would be like. I don't know Calgary very well, so I'd not be the best person to search.

I read recently that Manitoba generally, but Brandon is particular, has a shortage of 5 and 6 bedrooms, with the majority being 2 or 3. That drives the price of that particular segment higher than expected for that size property due to lack of inventory.

A really good comparison would be a cost per square foot for the most common types bof property for each location. I would be curious to know how they compare.
Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Abbysmum
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 5038

Almost everything
7/8/2021 at 2:49 PM

Albertagirl said "Could you elaborate? What exactly was more expensive in those western cities? I grew up in Edmonton and have lived here ten years and have not found one single thing that was cheaper here. I also make less here than I would there. I like Brandon as a city and enjoy living here (I moved here when I got married) but I am very curious as to what your number crunching found was more expensive in a city like Edmonton. "
Almost everything we used for our lifestyle was more expensive. User fees mostly - things we don't pay for here got eaten by fees there. Memberships for things. Also the cost of gas - we would be driving considerably more and spend way more on gas (and spend hours more in our vehicle every week). Even after the differences in property taxes (which really wasn't that significant at the time) and the zero PST (most of what we buy here is exempt anyway), pur monthly expenses would be considerably higher for the same things.

Another SIL lived in Edmonton for many years and could never, ever afford property there. She's a homeowner in Winnipeg on a fraction of the salary (she lost her ex's oil patch income when they divorced and he's never paid support).

I'm also not from here and moved here in 2005 from Winnipeg. I like it here too, but I'm also very pragmatic. It's not perfect here, but we pay less for almost everything compared to family who live elsewhere.
foxtrot11
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2688

foxtrot11
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2688

Brandon Taxes Are out to lunch
7/8/2021 at 3:26 PM

I have a home in Brandon that is over $3000/yr and is worth maybe $250,000. My friends, over near Brookswood - nearly $5000.

Where I live now in Metro Vancouver - a $500,000 property is around $1590/year. We have beautiful bike and walking trails that are well maintained, well kept roads, garbage and recycling, and tons of amenities that are not available in Brandon. Sure, we only have one or two snow clearings necessary per year, but it is done quickly and efficiently.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

...
7/8/2021 at 3:31 PM

Abbysmum said "Almost everything we used for our lifestyle was more expensive. User fees mostly - things we don't pay for here got eaten by fees there. Memberships for things. Also the cost of gas - we would be driving considerably more and spend way more on gas (and spend hours more in our vehicle every week). Even after the differences in property taxes (which really wasn't that significant at the time) and the zero PST (most of what we buy here is exempt anyway), pur monthly expenses would be considerably higher for the same things.

Another SIL lived in Edmonton for many years and could never, ever afford property there. She's a homeowner in Winnipeg on a fraction of the salary (she lost her ex's oil patch income when they divorced and he's never paid support).

I'm also not from here and moved here in 2005 from Winnipeg. I like it here too, but I'm also very pragmatic. It's not perfect here, but we pay less for almost everything compared to family who live elsewhere. "
I'm scratching my head trying to think of what you'd pay for membership wise there that you wouldn't here but that's cool. As for gas, yeah, that's hard to argue against because if i lived and worked in downtown Edmonton vs living in Brandon and working in rivers, I'm going to cost more in gas and time in Brandon, but that's just a personal choice and works both ways. While we're on that subject, gas is cheaper in Alberta too! It's 1.16 right now in Edmonton. If you do have a long commute like I do, that adds up too. I guess that's all I can say because you didn't mention any specific costs just anecdotal evidence. My sister and brother in Edmonton area both younger than me have both purchased houses years ago and make a lot less than us. And we're still saving to buy here, property taxes being one huge reason. So anecdotally I've experienced the opposite of what you're saying.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Just checked
7/8/2021 at 3:35 PM

Abbysmum said "I would be curious about what a 2 or 3 bed in comparable neighbourhoods would be like. I don't know Calgary very well, so I'd not be the best person to search.

I read recently that Manitoba generally, but Brandon is particular, has a shortage of 5 and 6 bedrooms, with the majority being 2 or 3. That drives the price of that particular segment higher than expected for that size property due to lack of inventory.

A really good comparison would be a cost per square foot for the most common types bof property for each location. I would be curious to know how they compare. "
Cost per square foot in Edmonton, $268
Brandon 248
Calgary 296

Very interesting. And it's really not fair to consider cost per square foot in a small rural city like Brandon to a metropolis like Calgary so I'm actually amazed it's that close. When you factor in the other lower costs in Alberta (like you that you'd be saving 10,000 plus on income tax and thousands more on property tax...) wow.
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

PST exempt
7/8/2021 at 3:37 PM

Abbysmum said "Almost everything we used for our lifestyle was more expensive. User fees mostly - things we don't pay for here got eaten by fees there. Memberships for things. Also the cost of gas - we would be driving considerably more and spend way more on gas (and spend hours more in our vehicle every week). Even after the differences in property taxes (which really wasn't that significant at the time) and the zero PST (most of what we buy here is exempt anyway), pur monthly expenses would be considerably higher for the same things.

Another SIL lived in Edmonton for many years and could never, ever afford property there. She's a homeowner in Winnipeg on a fraction of the salary (she lost her ex's oil patch income when they divorced and he's never paid support).

I'm also not from here and moved here in 2005 from Winnipeg. I like it here too, but I'm also very pragmatic. It's not perfect here, but we pay less for almost everything compared to family who live elsewhere. "
Most of what you buy is exempt from PST? Do you buy vehicles? Furniture? Appliances? Clothes? Maybe groceries wise you're correct, but that's not where PST really gets ya.
JosephC
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 135

JosephC
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 135

It does feel that way...
7/8/2021 at 4:34 PM

foxtrot11 said "I have a home in Brandon that is over $3000/yr and is worth maybe $250,000. My friends, over near Brookswood - nearly $5000.

Where I live now in Metro Vancouver - a $500,000 property is around $1590/year. We have beautiful bike and walking trails that are well maintained, well kept roads, garbage and recycling, and tons of amenities that are not available in Brandon. Sure, we only have one or two snow clearings necessary per year, but it is done quickly and efficiently. "
But it's actually pretty common for big cities to have lower property taxes compared to small cities or towns. I lived in a big city in Ontario quite recently and all the neighboring towns had fewer services and higher property taxes.

Cities and towns can't run on a basic formula of a per-property cost to run everything. The simple reality is there are efficiencies in running big cities (and often more funding from higher levels of government). There are also far more residential and commercial properties to spread costs over, which generally results in lower tax rates for each property when compared with small towns or cities.

A better measure of Brandon's property taxes would be to compare it to similarly sized cities or towns elsewhere in Canada.

Edited by JosephC, 2021-07-08 16:43:14
Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Yuzu
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 107

Property taxes
7/8/2021 at 4:47 PM

JosephC said "But it's actually pretty common for big cities to have lower property taxes compared to small cities or towns. I lived in a big city in Ontario quite recently and all the neighboring towns had fewer services and higher property taxes.

Cities and towns can't run on a basic formula of a per-property cost to run everything. The simple reality is there are efficiencies in running big cities (and often more funding from higher levels of government). There are also far more residential and commercial properties to spread costs over, which generally results in lower tax rates for each property when compared with small towns or cities.

A better measure of Brandon's property taxes would be to compare it to similarly sized cities or towns elsewhere in Canada.

Edited by JosephC, 2021-07-08 16:43:14"
Medicine hat has 63,000 people. Property tax on a 600k home is 5800. Just as a reminder, 8100 in Brandon.
PG
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 14

PG
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 14

CGY/Brandon comparison
7/8/2021 at 4:54 PM

Albertagirl said "I just did a quick comparison for discussion, 6 bedroom 4 bathroom newer house in Calgary over 2100 square feet... $599,000. Brandon? $579,000 and one less bathroom and only 1500 square feet. (see attached pics). And you live in Calgary vs Brandon. Property taxes? 8100 in Brandon. 4400 in CALGARY. Check it out for yourself. "
429 CORAL SPRINGS PL NE
Calgary, AB
Current Listing Status:For Sale
Property Details
Assessment:
$482,500 (2021)

They're asking $116500 over the assessed price. I'm not sure if the asking price is current for the CGY market or not.
..Would like to compare apples to apples. The property in AB looks like it's shoe-horned between other homes and kind of run-down when I look at it on google street view. Looks like crap actually.
JosephC
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 135

JosephC
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 135

Sure
7/8/2021 at 5:07 PM

Albertagirl said "Medicine hat has 63,000 people. Property tax on a 600k home is 5800. Just as a reminder, 8100 in Brandon. "
And in Welland, Ontario which has somewhere around 55k people it would be over $9,000 I believe. Or are we just comparing to Alberta?

There will definitely be variation and we'd have to dig into what is different about the similarly sized cities, but I don't think Brandon is necessarily a significant outlier among similarly-sized Canadian cities.
JosephC
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 135

JosephC
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 135

And just a quick comparison...
7/8/2021 at 5:27 PM

Albertagirl said "Medicine hat has 63,000 people. Property tax on a 600k home is 5800. Just as a reminder, 8100 in Brandon. "
Medicine hat appears to pay about $24M for police and fire services, while Brandon appears to be paying around $34M for police/fire/ambulance/e911 based on their respective property tax brochures/inserts.

I don't know Alberta, but does the province cover ambulance services there? Often variations in taxation between provinces have to do with how the various level of governments pay and fund items.

Brandon pays 20% of its total budget on policing and another 18% on "fire/ambulance/e911 & other".
vegimite
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 686

vegimite
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 686

Before
7/8/2021 at 6:04 PM

you compare cost of living in various places you surely have to take into account the variation in wage/salary as it applies to the same job.
Not sure what job here pays 75k, perhaps civil service? Most jobs for folks not journeyman or other uni qualifications are lucky if they reach 30k .
Maybe someone can advise wages for certain occupations here and in Alberta etc. Say nurse, postal clerk, tire fitter, fast food cook, teacher, police/fireman.
From my experience the higher the wages paid then the higher the housing/rental/living costs.
Adam

Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Adam
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15663

Remote work
7/8/2021 at 6:37 PM

vegimite said "you compare cost of living in various places you surely have to take into account the variation in wage/salary as it applies to the same job.
Not sure what job here pays 75k, perhaps civil service? Most jobs for folks not journeyman or other uni qualifications are lucky if they reach 30k .
Maybe someone can advise wages for certain occupations here and in Alberta etc. Say nurse, postal clerk, tire fitter, fast food cook, teacher, police/fireman.
From my experience the higher the wages paid then the higher the housing/rental/living costs. "
Original thesis behind the post was that someone making $75k/year for their remote work job could pick anywhere in the country to live rather than the markets whose real estate has gotten especially silly lately. Worker gets the exact same paycheque whether they have a downtown Toronto condo four blocks from corporate’s hypothetical official office, an above-average $350k house in Brandon or a little house in Nunavut.

Question was whether we would have enough cost of living benefits vs paying for big city housing. Same job, more money in jeans, likely much earlier retirement if that’s a goal.

Another angle to look at from is MacLeans "top cities to live in" feature for 2021 is at https://www.macleans.ca/canadas-best-communities-in-2021-full-ranking/

When you dial all of the priority sliders down and crank affordability to the max, FWIW the Top 22 communities are all in the maritimes or Quebec. Portage la Prairie is the highest ranked West of Quebec. Brandon comes in at 86th. A lot of moving parts with what real estate has done lately. I know the Maritimes have had their share of price increases and even though demand is high here I’m not convinced we’ve seen huge appreciation?

This discussion and the MacLeans list have helped me realize that there’d be a lot of competition elsewhere in Canada for that similar type of relocation. Is our cost of living enough of a differentiator on its own? Does central location factor in depending on travel needs of the job? Maybe an angle for Economic Development Brandon and our builders to explore further?
vegimite
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 686

vegimite
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 686

Adam
7/8/2021 at 7:36 PM

sorry I was just following on from the previous posts.
For the remote working to be viable it will need a really good, reliable, fast internet connection, do we have that in Brandon, sure don't in rural areas.
Another problem is the ransomware that is currently plaguing the IT world, this is going to get worse as more folks work from home, even with a dedicated system.
It also has to be taken into account that not everyone is conscientious enough to put in the required hours when unsupervised.
The lack of good recreation facilities in Brandon as opposed to Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto would also be a major factor. Even Winnipeg, a two hour drive away, does not compete, not even a high speed rail connection so that an evening out does not become a driving chore.
Remote working from Brandon may work for some but many will pass it by.