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1365 Ottawa St. 306-790-7771 REG00208315_1_2
B R E A K I N G N E W S A T L E A D E R P O S T.C O M S EC T I O N F
natasha blaisdell
NEW
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above and beyond expectations
306.536.5992
225 Spruce Creek Street
www.natashablaisdell.com
$934,900 MLS# TBA Former Stars Lottery Home! Brand new 4 bedrm walkout with high end finishes, 1/2 acre lot w/ paved roads and municipal water & sewer.
2225 Elphinstone Street
$249,900 MLS# 526594 Adorable 850 sq ft character home with single det. garage! Beautiful original hardwoods, newer shingles & partially finished bsmnt.
4711 Glass Street
80 Hanley Crescent
$549,900 MLS# 522963 Stunning 1552 sq ft former showhome across from a park! Granite counters & new luxury flooring. Professionally built 4 season sunroom!
$998,000 MLS# 523451 Fabulous, custom built 4 bedrm walkout on 6 acres. Quality high end finishes throughout & quadruple attached, heated garage!
4518 GreenWater Road E
$709,900 MLS# 517496 Excellent craftsmanship in this 2292 sqft home on quiet street! Modern finishes include quartz counters, hardwoods & spectacular ensuite!
Small blessings Downsizing takes on new dimension GLEN SCHAEFER VANCOUVER PROVINCE There’s more than one way to swim against the consumerist tide. The latest word from Statistics Canada is that Canadian household debt is at record highs and rising faster than disposable income. In Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, that’s reflected in little houses being bought and levelled to build bigger houses, while those who can’t afford to buy those bigger houses drive their SUVs east to find cheaper big houses. “Driving until they can afford something — that’s the expression we sometimes use,” said architect Michael Geller, also an adjunct
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professor at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Sustainable Community Development. At the end of that drive comes the urge to fill those big houses with stuff — hence the results of that StatsCan quarterly report on debt from December. But a lesser-known group is bucking that trend: people who for various reasons are choosing to live smaller, opting for less living space, less stuff, more walking. They’re raising families in apartments or setting up house in little homes squeezed along lanes. “That is a definite demographic, a real demographic,” said Geller. “You just need to stand outside the childcare facilities in downtown Vancouver to see them, and I think we’re going to see similar things happening in Burnaby and Richmond.” Immigration from countries where it’s not unusual for families to live in apartments is part of the reason,
JASON PAYNE/PNG
Tiny-house resident Kayla Feenstra of Abbotsford, B.C., and her dog Scotch. Feenstra used donated materials, including a door from a barn and leftover decking materials, to build her cosy, wee abode and keep to a budget of $15,000.
MORE INSIDE Four families who are living small and loving it. Page F2 Geller said. Also underway is a shift in municipal zoning rules to allow smaller houses to be
built along lanes in singlefamily neighbourhoods. Jake Fry, a builder and designer of laneway houses through his companies Smallworks Studios and Laneway Housing Inc., has built 100 such homes ranging in size from 380 to 1,000 square feet.
Since Vancouver gave the green light to such houses in 2009, 1,082 have been either built or approved in the city. Fry also co-founded the non-profit SmallHousing B.C., which advocates for such housing in B.C. Then there is extreme small. Tiny houses of less
than 200 square feet — often small enough to be put on wheels — more popular in rural areas have made some inroads closer to the city but, said Fry, “It’s not something that is going to lend itself very well as any sort of building solution within an urban area.”
TOP PRODUCERS FOR FEBRUARY Shayla Fitch 306-539-6369
Peter Fourlas 306-529-0009
Jason Rumpel 306-535-1478
Tanya Kohl 306-539-4557
Peter Woldu 306-527-1941
John T.C. Bell 306-529-1929
Pino Palamara 306-591-5580
Aideen Zareh 306-591-6915
Kyla Dean 306-737-2022
John Chung 306-501-5333
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TOP PRODUCERS FOR FEBRUARY
BEN TAYLOR
CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
TERRY HNATIUK CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
LYNNE BOBYCK CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
STACEY MADUCK-RUTZKI CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
BRENT ACKERMAN
CENTURY 21 Brent Ackerman Realty Ltd.
Baxter II 5306 Campling Ave.
Jackson 4041 Alton Crescent
The
$369,900
The
$391,900
GST & LOT INCL.
1201 sq ft, Bungalow
1386 sq ft, Two Story
Phoenix 5325 McKenna Crescent
Berkeley 4109 Alton Crescent
The
The
$396,900 MARCEL ROSSLER CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
BRIAN BAST
CENTURY 21 Brian Bast Realty Inc.
ELDON LAUTERMILCH CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
DAVID MENG
CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
Peter Fourlas 306-529-0009 Show Home
TM
GST & LOT INCL.
1722 sq ft, Two Storey
CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
306-789-1222 www.century21dome.com Independently Owned and Operated. ®/TM trademarks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC, used under license or authorized sub-license. © 2014 Century 21 Canada Limited Partnership, CENTURY 21 Dome Realty Inc.
$414,900
GST & LOT INCL.
1514 sq ft, Four Level Split
RAY PARK
GST & LOT INCL.
5426 Tutor Way
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