Swap houses in Fernie for a year & make some $

[ferniecreek]

*CROSS-POSTED ON OURFERNIE.COM*

Hi there,

My wife, daughter (soon to be two more) and I are Fernie home owners currently living in Calgary. We come to the valley on weekends but we’ve considered for a long time the possibility of making Fernie our year round home. To explore whether we would be happy in Fernie as our long term home and a place to raise our family, we are planning to spend a full year here as soon as our twins are born. We are planning for an Oct 1st, 2009 move into Fernie.

Our property is on the outskirts of town (9 acres on highway Рwith river access) and in the longer term we’re excited at the opportunity of living out of town. However for our first year (with 2 newborns and a 3 year old) we believe we’ll be much better able to experience the community if we live somewhere more central. i.e. avoid loading three children in a car every time we want to do anything.

With the lack of longer term rentals (we’re willing to sign a 1 year lease) we are trying something a bit more creative to try and find a nice house in town. Perhaps we can find someone willing to spend the year in our house while we stay in theirs. We are willing to not only ‘swap’ but for the right house for our circumstance we’re also willing to pay a reasonable amount per month ($1000 Р$2000) in additional rent.

Our house is a reasonably new modular (about 6 or 7 years old) that was freshly painted in November and has new laminate and tile floors throughout. It’s 1450 sq feet and has 3 bedrooms & 2 baths. The layout is basic but very functional: open concept and large kitchen/dining/living, very large Master bedroom with ensuite, etc. There’s 1 acre landscaped immediately around the house and another 8 acres in back fields leading down to the Elk river.

We’re looking for a 3+ (preferably 4+) bedroom house with a functional layout for a family. Our preferred areas in the city are:

– Coal Creek rd (near aquatic centre)
– Downtown
– Ridgemont
– Mountainview/Airport
– Annex

If you’re a Fernie home owner and in a situation where you wouldn’t mind living a little ways out of town (we’re a bit more than half way to Hosmer) and might actually enjoy spending the year on a larger acreage with river access, please email us or call us.

Or if you have a nicer house in town for rent, we’re always open to doing a straight rental and we’ll rent out our house.

Thanks.

Dennis, Nicole, Ruby (and two more coming)
ferniecreek@gmail.com
Calgary home: 403-873-2220

[liberal]

There are many nice FAMILY towns in Canada, Fernie unfortunately has become a tourist town and in my opinion no longer qualifies. The facts are:

The populaltion has decreased by 25% in the past 8 years 4800 – 3800

40 % of the homes are empty (second homes)

It has become a party town, drugs are everywhere

schools are closing, services are decreasing

These social trends will only continue as second home owners buy up entry level homes and locals leave to buy where they can afford.

If your looking to ski, bike, fish & party with self centered boys, Fernie is the place.

Renting for a year is a good option to make your own conclusions

[tinan]

Wow, you make Fernie sound like a horrible dis-functional place. I have to admit I like it here, it’s been over a year and everything is great. Scenic views, decent people, and I have yet to see ONE person use any form of hard drugs.(No, I’m not naive and think it’s perfect. There probably are some.. ) There may be the occasional pot smoker, but they are harmless. I have 3 children ages 2-6 and I want them to live here. Because we moved from a place where there was drugs and insane people in most places. (Toronto)

40% of the homes are empty… because the winter crowd is dispersing. Summer is a great time to move to Fernie. There are lots of stores and shops still open, and Cranbrook is less than an hour away where there is even more.(Winners, Walmart, Superstore,Safeway; and most banks that are not here in town) The elementary school here (IDES) is going great. There is a new Daycare opening up…come to the soccer field and you’ll see over 50 3-4year olds playing timbits soccer. There is a great amount of families that live here.

I imagine you and your three kids would fit right in.

Cheers,

Tina

[rudy-admin]

I think ‘Liberal’ sounds more dissfunctional than he makes Fernie out to be. The two most important social pillars, education and health care, are outstanding and the social norm remains friendly and supportive.

The positive effect of Tourism and second home ownership help sustain this beautiful community and the negatives are being positively addressed by local government.

Fernie welcomes young families to join this ever-changing and dynamic community.

[cs86]

I was born here and have lived here for my whole life. Liberal, I wonder how long you’ve lived here? maybe you hang around with those crowds and that is therefore your only impression of Fernie? Drugs are in any town, if you choose to find them. Ferne is a great town and I do admit that it has become very much a tourist attraction, maybe a bit more than some of us would have wanted. I also agree that it is unfortunate that there are so many empty houses that people can afford to own and use 1-2x/year. Fernie is a great place, however, and I wouldn’t leave it for anything.

[czar from afar]

Though this discussion really has nothing to do with the original post, I will chip in with my 2-cents:

My family also moved to Fernie for a season as a trial period. We thought that the IDES school was excellent – very effective Principal and good teachers. Low-level drug use is prevelent in town, though I too didn’t witness much of the harder variety. We found it exceptionally easy to strike up friendships in this town – typically with the newer residents, but also with some of the old guard.

Two good and one troubling observation: there was a bit more tolerance of violence than I expected – this is a place where you really can find yourself in a bar fight for no good reason (just observations, never happened to me). I bet that some residents would take pride in this fact, which is the unsettling part. On the flip-side, the elementary school was distinctly bully-free. If you love the outdoors, you will find yourself surrounded by like-minded people.

Enjoy the move.

[Author]

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