Oak Ave, Kaleden and the current market

My Local Real Estate hometown Penticton (and the Perfect Dream Home)

I’m so incredibly grateful to live in the Okanagan. But having been in real estate in my hometown for 15 years, I admit that sometimes I can get a little stuck in my own head.

Some days, I deal with a constant stream of out-of-towners who have ‘discovered’ our little piece of paradise. They want to buy their vacation/secondary/retirement/income properties here. Right now.

We have less than a 1 percent vacancy rate in Penticton. The newest rental building (200 units at $1800/month) has a 500 person waitlist and is fully occupied. (Yes, those numbers make even the real estate ‘veterans’ stop for a moment!)

Housing here is hard, and it’s becoming increasingly unaffordable for locals. I’m so fortunate that I have a single-family home and I’m a private land-based individual. Yes, there’s a lot of upkeep. But the advantages of privacy, views, a potential mortgage helper, parking, and access to my own private retreat are a big part of my life that I never take for granted.

So, when someone I’ve known for 2 to 3 decades (yikes!) asks me to come and take a look at their home, I get a very personal view into what home means to them. I recently met with Linds at Apex. She talked about how fortunate she was to have gotten into this market a few years ago, and now she was reaching out to sell her home.

I knew her home would be one of those true gems in my real estate world. 

I can’t tell you how many times my phone rings and I hear the order. Here’s how it goes:

 

“Hi… I’m calling from the lower mainland… our home just sold for five trillion dollars and we bought it for 10 cents eight years ago. We’ve always wanted to retire in the Okanagan, and even though that’s a few years away, we want something before it’s too late or unaffordable. I want a view, privacy, a garage, and if it had a suite or room for a pool, that would be perfect. We want to spend about a million dollars.”

 

These are tall orders for dream homes that rarely exist. The killer is development, with which I have a love/hate relationship. The developers have taken our mountainsides (I’m guilty too), and chopped up the parcels into tiny lots with maximum yields and profits. So, when someone calls in their order, my response is similar to this:

 

“Cool, there’s a line-up and a fight for that house soooooo… you’ll need an agent, and when they find that perfect house you’ll probably have to buy it sight unseen, with no conditions. Oh, you’ll also need a time machine and probably another half-million dollars—in cash.”

 

Back to that phone call from Lindsay about selling her property—a property that fits the ‘dream home’ description perfectly. When I’m relaxing with the music cranked and the sun shining, driving along the blue Skaha lake, I’m thinking about her. About the girl I knew playing soccer at 15 years old, who later went on to find her perfectly private, lakeview, vacation-ready, home with a perfect backyard. And her gorgeous large dog and the smile that comes from being surrounded and grounded by nature. 

I’m not thinking about that mystery buyer. I’m thinking about how important it is to really make sure that selling is what Lindsay really wants.

Perfect vacation, retirement and any stage of life living at the Riverside Townhomes.

35 Luxury townhomes!

Features

Read all about this Lakeview suited home on its own Blog

  • Oak Ave Blog
  • Oak Ave Video Walk Thru
  • Oak Ave Location
  • Beach 5 minute walk
  • KVR trail outside your door
  • Float the famous River channel
  • Go for lunch at Linden Gardens
  • Walk over to Dougs Homestead for some pepperoni sticks or beef jerky
  • 10-minute walk to elementary school
  • Penticton Golf and Country club 15 minute drive away
  • SOEC 15 mins
  • Racetrack