I really shouldn't have done that

[inulro]

Get bored enough to look online for real estate in Nova Scotia. I found this, which is not only rather cute, it's cheap enough to buy outright with the profit we could get from selling this place.

Now I just have to sort out at least one job in rural Nova Scotia. This place is really in the middle of nowhere.

I could probably get a job in Halifax, but the cost of living is probably sufficiently higher there that we'd need two jobs. However, last time I checked I don't have any rural job skills, not that there are any jobs up there anyway. I don't think Selling Shit on the Internet is going to cut it, even if the house does have home office facilities.

You should see what I could buy in Newfoundland with the money under the cushions of the sofa. But I really do draw the line at Newfoundland. I'm not that desperate to be mortgage-free.

Comments

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

It would be wrong of me to be sad if you two did bugger off, partly because I rarely get to see you anyhow, and partly because I'm considering doing the same. But I would be.

Still, best of luck with it!

One and a half baths eh, and a lamppost! Interesting to see that Estate Agents are the same the world over! =:-)

[hirez.livejournal.com]

[FX: Clicky-pointy]

Wow! Look at the size of that shed...

[redcountess]

Well, there's still the Internet, and you could always visit!

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

If there's one thing I've learned this year it's that useful though the internet is - it is no substitute for real life, and that's particularly true with reference to friends.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

You can't really sell a house in Canada with only one bathroom. Which means when I find one, I can get it dirt cheap. Also lots of other features which Canadians seem to think are important that simply don't matter to me.

The chances of us moving anytime soon are very slim: Immigration to Canada involves a lot more money than we have; plus relies quite a lot on me being well enough to be the only one working for a while.

I just like the idea of property so cheap we could own it outright.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

On reflection, I should have known you'd say that.

[the_axel]

Finding work 100km from Halifax might be difficult, but Halifax is doing pretty well (lots of IT & call centres thanks to big government granst and low costs).

If your partner is of working age and is immigrating as family class then Immigration Canada really won't care what your income is (much beyond you having one) - at least that was my experience - Maya was in school & working part-time at a bar job.

Unless, of course, you need to be in Canada duringthe process 'cos I know from my friends experience that he shouldn't move here until his landed papers arrive.

Also, if you can afford to buy a $90k house outright, bear in mind that you can get a decent house in downtown T.O. (the second most expensive city in Canada) for $250k.
Although getting a mortgage if you've been out of the country for 7 years would be tricky 'cos your credit history would have expired.

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

I feel your temptation.

I went on vacation to Nova Scotia about 4 years ago. In Lunenberg, the tour bus driver pointed out a beautiful Victorian house on a hill overlooking the harbour. It was on a huge plot of land, with turrets, gables, a big porch- the works. He asked me how much I though it cost, and I said "$500,000, easily." Turns out it was under $300,000. I damn near called M and told him I wanted to move to Lunenberg.

Unfortunately, the job market out there really is poor. I know someone who moved there and had to come back to Ontario 8 months later because she couldn't find work, and this was someone who had a couple of decades of experience in university administration.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

We could easily afford a mortgage in Toronto, especially given what we'd be taking with us as a down payment. I just have stupid dreams about living mortgage-free. As for my credit history, I should think that in the Internet age they'd be able to contact someone about my credit history over here.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

As far as I can tell, it's nearly impossible to buy a house in the Maritimes without extensive property. I'm not so keen on this (unless we end up so poor we have to turn to subsistence farming) but Jason thinks it's a Good Thing.

The job situation is the problem. I could move to even the most depressed area of the UK and find work because I'd not be competing with people with equal qualifications, experience and motivation (especially because it's easier to re-locate within the UK, so all the motivated people have already left), but that's just not true in Atlantic Canada, especially the Halifax area.

OTOH, the Maritimes are cheap enough that we would only *need* one job. I wonder how much you can make selling jams and preserves to tourists.

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

Heh. I think selling jams to tourists is one area where you probably _would_ have a lot of competition.

I recall homemade stuff for sale everywhere - damn yummy it all was too.

As Axel said, there are a lot of call centres out there, but you'd have to be OK with doing that kind of work. Considering that I just spent two years in that kind of environment, I can't hear the words "call centre" without shuddering convulsively.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

I recall homemade stuff for sale everywhere - damn yummy it all was too.

That'll be because there's nothing else to do.

I also cannot contemplate call centres without shuddering convulsively. I'm one of the few people who didn't have to work in one on first moving to Bristol, but that was because I was old and had lots of other work experience when I got here.

[the_axel]

Either fortunately or unfortunately, depending on on the individial, credit histories don't cross international boundaries at all well.

I know for a fact that if you move between the UK, Canada and the USA you start as a blank slate. I know a bunch of people who've had to deal with the pain of starting over again.

AFAIK there are privacy and legal issues involved that make it far more trouble than it's worth for banks and credit reporting agencies to set up international links.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

I recall homemade stuff for sale everywhere

Sounds just like the gypsies of eastern europe. I couldn't imagine such a rural existence for myself, much as I'm drawn to the idea. (Says he, currently watching Treats From The Edwardian Country House).

[inulro.livejournal.com]

On the one hand, I'd probably go nuts if we moved to such a rural environment. OTOH, for all that I take advantage of the faciliites the urban world has to offer any more, including seeing friends, maybe I should be out in the woods without the expense of living in the city.

[sheepthief.livejournal.com]

Would there not be a whole load of stuff to keep you busy in that sort of an environment? Not to mention books. I don't know - I'm not sure what I want out of life and I have no real experience so I can't even say if it would drive me mad. Especially as I used to consider myself a fairly solitary and non-social sort, but I now think that's wrong.

At a guess I'd say that I think you'd miss charity shops and coffee houses. =:-)