Firstly, I would like to acknowledge how privileged we are to be able to buy in the beautiful city of Vancouver on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

We lived in our one-bedroom 600-square-foot apartment for more than 11 years as we grew from a young couple to a family of four. This allowed us to eventually make the leap to our current 900-square-foot one-bedroom and den condo.

Our commitment to small and intentional city living as a family was made possible thanks in part to the hard work and dedication of our REALTOR®, who worked with us for more than two years to find a unique unit that checked as many boxes as possible on our long list of requirements within our modest budget.

Below is a breakdown of the some of the process and tactics our REALTOR® used that helped us find our new home.

The den that became our bedroom. Photo by Amy Highton

Our renovated galley kitchen which was high on our wishlist.

Listening to our needs

Our REALTOR® noticed that I usually wasn’t happy with others' updates to their condos and he recommended I find a condo that needed some updates so I could make it my own. This advice led us to our current home! He also noticed that we preferred the feeling of a private entrance since we were lucky enough to have that at our old condo and had become accustomed to it. This was a much more limiting requirement and something I thought for sure we would need to give up but our persistence to view every condominium with a somewhat private entrance paid off in the long run.

Flexibility

We opened up our search parameters to include one-bedroom units that were more than 800 square feet. This allowed us to find some generous one bedrooms that I saw potential with that might have been missed by others in the very competitive two-bedroom condo market. Our REALTOR® was open to this somewhat wild idea and it led us to look at some unique properties like lofts that could be potentially extended.

We were also flexible on having one bathroom versus two. While it would be great with a growing family to have two bathrooms you can’t have everything!

This flexibility finally found us our unique large one bedroom condo. I saw immediately that it could function as a two-bedroom for us as we were used to sharing a small space as a family.

I also saw the potential for the bedroom to eventually be split into two small bedrooms as the kids grow and need privacy. Our REALTOR® saw it too and gave me a wink as soon as we walked into the long main bedroom.

As a small-living family we already were accustomed to sharing closets, having fewer things and making creative use of space. What we knew we couldn’t compromise on is good natural light and this unit had that in the main living areas where it mattered most to us!

Open-Minded

About neighborhood as long as it met walkability scores. We expanded our search parameters to include many Vancouver neighborhoods.

Patience

We looked for 2 years! Our REALTOR® was very patient with us as we looked for an apartment to fulfill as many of our wishes as possible. It was no easy task as our previous apartment was a real gem.

Always going to see a potential listing in person. As good light was the absolute top of our list, seeing a space in person was important. OurREALTOR® was responsive and prioritized us even when we had been looking for many months.

Acting fast when the time came

Our REALTOR® really went above and beyond for us.

In the competitive Vancouver market, he had to act quickly to even get us showings. We (our REALTOR® and I) both saw our eventual home listing online in the morning and he set up a showing at 5 p.m. that same day and had an offer on the table at 6:30 p.m. that was accepted by 11 p.m.

Because of the trust we had built up over our time looking together we knew this unit had potential and we didn’t want to risk waiting for a multiple offer situation. It can be hard to switch from patiently waiting for more than two years to making an offer in one evening but I’m so glad we did.

Oh and shout out to my husband Trevor for putting in an offer on a condo he hadn’t even seen! He just trusted me.

Negotiation Tactics

The advice of our REALTOR® in a competitive market was very valuable. Negotiation is not one of my strong suits—I have years of people pleasing to thank for that, so I was more than happy to have our REALTOR® do the negotiating for us.

We’re very privileged to own a home in this beautiful and expensive city and I don’t think we could have gotten this new home we love without the care, attention and negotiation skills of our REALTOR®. If you find yourself in the market I hope you have the experience we had.

The den that is now a bedroom with our wall bed and narrow wardrobes. Photo by Amy Highton

This post is in partnership with CREA #sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Our realtor is Ben McRae under the mentorship of Shaz Karim with Sotheby’s Realty.

How we found our new space with the help of a REALTOR®