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cost of living in kelowna

15241 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Christiane, 
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hi im really hoping someone can help. we are a family from england with a 2 year old daughter, my partner has been offered a job with ATI telecommunications and we have the option of moving to Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria or Kelowna. After doing some research on all of them we have found that the climates and way of life is more suited to us in kelowna, i dont think i am up for -25 in Calgary just yet! Kelowna seems a more reasonable climate which will make adapting easier, and then we may look around at other areas as we become familiar with the way of life over there.

What i am struggling with and i hope someone can shed some light is what the prices are like in kelwona in relation to living costs. What the average monthly rent on a 3 bedroom house? Whats an average annual tax?How is food, fuel and transport priced? i have been looking everywhere to find this info and im struggling. I have read a few people say that its expensiveto live in kelowna, but yet Calgary, Victoria and Vancouver in surveys are said to be more expensive to live in.

Also if anyone could shed some light on the nicer residential areas of kelowna that are suitable for our needs which is good schooling and good access to shops etc. We are unsure if there are any areas 'to avoid' as such. Please Please help!!
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felicity82 said:
hi im really hoping someone can help. we are a family from england with a 2 year old daughter, my partner has been offered a job with ATI telecommunications and we have the option of moving to Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria or Kelowna. After doing some research on all of them we have found that the climates and way of life is more suited to us in kelowna, i dont think i am up for -25 in Calgary just yet! Kelowna seems a more reasonable climate which will make adapting easier, and then we may look around at other areas as we become familiar with the way of life over there.

What i am struggling with and i hope someone can shed some light is what the prices are like in kelwona in relation to living costs. What the average monthly rent on a 3 bedroom house? Whats an average annual tax?How is food, fuel and transport priced? i have been looking everywhere to find this info and im struggling. I have read a few people say that its expensiveto live in kelowna, but yet Calgary, Victoria and Vancouver in surveys are said to be more expensive to live in.

Also if anyone could shed some light on the nicer residential areas of kelowna that are suitable for our needs which is good schooling and good access to shops etc. We are unsure if there are any areas 'to avoid' as such. Please Please help!!
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Well, you've certainly received a feast of opportunities. You've already decided that Kelowna fits your needs and that's not surprising as it's a very attractive area in so many ways. When asking about the prices of houses, food etc., you're going to receive a number of subjective opinions thst will end up confusing you even more. If possible you should attempt to do a reccie of the area but if that's not possible allow yourselves at least two weeks in temporary accomodation to get the lay of the land.
You're correct insofar as the other cities being more expensive. Go to:- classifieds - craigslist This will give you some idea of houses to rent.
Hopefully someone from the Kelowna area will be along to provide you with more in depth knowledge.
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Hi there, why don't you have a look at www.kelownaforums.com I've been cha...ooks like a lovely place to live. Good luck!
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Hi,
Kelowna is a really stunning area to live in,we have been here 9 years now and have enjoyed every second of our time here.
Housing is not cheap in comparison to smaller towns in BC, you should be able to rent a 3 bedroom house for about $1600 a month.
Condo,s are a little less.
The food here is excellent,portions are huge and the quality is very good.
Eating out is good value with every type of food you could ever want,from japanise,indian,chinese,italian ,you name it,its here,.
Petrol is half the price of the UK.it is 98 cents a litre today.
When we got here 9 years ago ,we looked all over BC and Alberta for the best place to live for my wife and my 4 year old at the time,once we drove into Kelowna we new that this was the only place we live in.
We did visit here in 98 and thought how stunning the place was,
There are a load of brits living here and more seem to arrive each year.
The schools here are good so i have been told,are children go to the christian school as that was what we wanted for them,although you pay towards there schooling fees,they are very low compaired to the Uk,and the school is awsome,the kids get to go sking in the winter and they have lots of oppotunities that they would never get in the Uk unless you are loaded.
Kelowna has a very large hospital,and the local services are very good,
Area,s around Kelowna that are popular to live include, dilworth,glenmore,se Kelowna (we live in se Kelowna ) the mission ( lower and upper ) also kettle valley is very popular with young familys,Check out kettle valley,it is a very family focused area and the homes are well priced.
Good look with your move,you will love Kelowna

regards Mike
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Sunny Kelowna...

Hi Felicity and Family, We have been in Kelowna for just over 2 years now and visited here twice before to find out as many details as possible but it did cost us a fortune !, we were worried as we had 2 young children and yes `where do you live`. Our 1st holiday / visit was to Vancouver and an old expat Scottish couple we stayed next to said to me `Ray you are a carpenter you can go anywhere` dont live near Vancouver go to the Okanagan, so here we are in beautiful Kelowna. A realtor drove us around for 2 days saying what areas were good and not so good, even the not so good areas have nice roads ! and it depends alot on how much you can afford. As mentioned in another reply SE Kelowna is very nice as are some other expensive neighbourhoods ie Dilworth / Kettle Valley / mission areas. We settled on an area called Black Mountain where we built our own house, it is an area which is having a lot of money spent ie new highway / cycle and footpaths / new shopping mall. It has a great school one of the best in the area from ages 5 to 12. You are 5 minutes from wilderness but 10 minutes down to a vast 100+ shopping mall so out of town but not far from the things you will miss when you leave the uk oh and the local Chinese restaurant deliver here !!!. Having my own Renovation business i work in most areas around here some of which we considered living but now see how far they are from shops etc. Electrical goods / tools / petrol / clothing are cheaper than in the uk but food is comparable to the uk but the worst is the costs of beer & wine !!. We had a 3 bed rental near where we built and it cost $1100 a month but nothing special !. When we 1st arrived we moved straight into a previously booked FURNISHED 2 bed condo as it will take approx 4-6 weeks for your furniture etc to arrive that cost us $1650 all inclusive per month at `Quail Ridge` and that probably was the best thing we did. Next think about vehicles ! a truck it was for me and a car for Becky again new cars seem cheaper than the uk but older ones seem to quite expensive. I hope this helps. Ray and Family
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thank you Ray and Mike, thats really helpful advice for us! we too are thinking of renting furnished for a couple of months, whilst our furniture is being shipped. Or we are perhaps thinking to sell everything here and to buy all again new once we are over whilst we rent furnished. Decisions! But thanks again, you have been really helpful.

Felicity
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Oggy
Hi Felicity

You've already received some great information - thumbs up guys! :) There are so many nice locations in the city to live and it really depends on what you're looking for. I agree that both Black Mountain & SE Kelowna are great areas to purchase a home. My suggestion is to have a real estate agent that will show you all areas, not just the more elite sections of town. For instance, not all agents will take you to Black Mountain, or even areas of Rutland because they aren't considered in the posh areas, but there are locations to be found with nice homes on large lots, well tended neighbourhoods, fantastic views and good schools.

Self-contained rentals are harder to come by, but there are some out there. I believe there are owners in the Dolphins condos that will rent out short term.

Here are some links that may help you out with your research:

2 of Kelowna's local newspapers so you can check out the rentals, etc....

Kelowna Capital News - Kelowna Capital News

Kelowna Daily Courier - Front Page -


Here are links for a few of the larger grocery stores:

Save-On-Foods, so much more in store.

http://eflyerwest.superstore.ca/cached_banner_pages/publication.aspx

http://safeway.ca/default.asp?mainurl=/storelocator.asp&navurl=/leftbar/lft_save.asp

Store Locator :: Cooper's Foods


All the best with your research & feel free to drop a note my way any time!
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Moving to kelowna

Hi Felicity,

I am moving out to Kelowna with my husband and two girls (20 months and 3 years) in a couple of months. We also had a chocie of location and decided on Kelowna after having a couple of visits there as it seemed the best fit.

We took some time out to view the main areas of town looking for suitable places for us and our favourites were certainly the Mission area (kettle valley is great for families and has a brand new school) and Glenmore area. Both are close enough (20 mins max to main centre). Renting for a three - four bed seems to range from about $1600-$2000 per month depending on location, which is cheaper than the UK, and you get more space for your money (and even a pool on some at the top end of the range). The rental term in a lot of cases is 1 year (as opposed to 6 months in the uk, but this is probably negotiable. I have mentioned some comapnies worth checking out at the end.

House prices in kelowna seem to be at the higher end for Canada but compared to the UK you get a lot more for your money, so its still good value. A good three bed in one of the nicer areas goes from about $450,000 upwards.

Short term furnished rentals are a little more difficult and expensive and generally these are known as vacation rentals - there seem to be only a few longer term furnished places available. We are planning to rent one of these for a couple of months until all our furniture arrives and then move to an unfurnished property for a year until we want to buy.

Furniture costs seem about the same as the uk, electronics are a little cheaper and you will need to buy most of these over there anyway as most UK appliances will not work in any case.

From our visit we found food costs similar to the UK but eating out was more reasonable and you get much better portions! There are some great restaurants in the area covering all cuisines. Cars are also cheaper- probably about 25% over the UK depending on models (german cars are only a bit less), but insurance is more expensive so it is imporatant to take as many detailed referneces from the uk as you can to help with this. My husband is taking a company car initially so this will be a big help.

The other issue you may have looked in to is transfering your money over -typically the exchange rate is rubbish at the moment so it would be better to leave as much money here as you can before transfering it. Moneycorp gives better rates than the bank so is well worth using.

Other sites for rentals are:
APMkelowna
rentalsinkelowna
okanaganvacationrentals

(sorry I cant give you the full link but the site will not let me do this at present as I have not made enough posts, but if you put these in and do a search you will find them)

When are you moving over? Let me know!. If you have any other questions, I may be able to help so drop me a line.
Best Regards

Fran Nutley
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RayBeck said:
Hi Felicity and Family, We have been in Kelowna for just over 2 years now and visited here twice before to find out as many details as possible but it did cost us a fortune !, we were worried as we had 2 young children and yes `where do you live`. Our 1st holiday / visit was to Vancouver and an old expat Scottish couple we stayed next to said to me `Ray you are a carpenter you can go anywhere` dont live near Vancouver go to the Okanagan, so here we are in beautiful Kelowna. A realtor drove us around for 2 days saying what areas were good and not so good, even the not so good areas have nice roads ! and it depends alot on how much you can afford. As mentioned in another reply SE Kelowna is very nice as are some other expensive neighbourhoods ie Dilworth / Kettle Valley / mission areas. We settled on an area called Black Mountain where we built our own house, it is an area which is having a lot of money spent ie new highway / cycle and footpaths / new shopping mall. It has a great school one of the best in the area from ages 5 to 12. You are 5 minutes from wilderness but 10 minutes down to a vast 100+ shopping mall so out of town but not far from the things you will miss when you leave the uk oh and the local Chinese restaurant deliver here !!!. Having my own Renovation business i work in most areas around here some of which we considered living but now see how far they are from shops etc. Electrical goods / tools / petrol / clothing are cheaper than in the uk but food is comparable to the uk but the worst is the costs of beer & wine !!. We had a 3 bed rental near where we built and it cost $1100 a month but nothing special !. When we 1st arrived we moved straight into a previously booked FURNISHED 2 bed condo as it will take approx 4-6 weeks for your furniture etc to arrive that cost us $1650 all inclusive per month at `Quail Ridge` and that probably was the best thing we did. Next think about vehicles ! a truck it was for me and a car for Becky again new cars seem cheaper than the uk but older ones seem to quite expensive. I hope this helps. Ray and Family
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Hi Ray and Becky
My family are going through the immigration process at the moment and our plan - should we be accepted - is to move to Kelowna. My husband thinks it's too small but I feel it would be brilliant for us as a family (we have a 6 yr old). Your last post was from 2009. Are you still happy you chose Kelowna and Black Mountain? Originally I thought that would be too out of town but sounds like you wouldn't agree! We visited in 2011 as we have friends in downtown Kelowna.
If we get the go-ahead, it would be very useful to liaise with you about how to go about our move and get your advice - would you be happy if we could do that? We would also love to build our own home (well, get someone else to do the build but be involved in the process!) and I would like about half an acre to an acre of land with a view...maybe I am asking too much?
Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you both and I'll keep you posted on our progress!
Many thanks
Christiane
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Oggy
Hi Christiane

Hopefully Ray will see notification of your post & return to give you some feedback. :)

Depending upon where you live in the Black Mountain neighbourhood, you can drive to the downtown waterfront within 20 minutes (Highway 33, straight down Springfield Road into town). Belgo is included in the Black Mountain area and has a rural feel, with a number of orchards, vineyards or hobby farms. The Kirschner Mountain development might be of interest to you - the views over the city and lake are a definite attraction.

Good luck with your quest to come to the Okanagan!
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Kelowna

Thank you Oggy!
We're not there yet and I'm not sure how close to a conclusion we are but I'm wanting to do some research in prep.
Christiane
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