The TRUTH About Living in Halifax, Nova Scotia | PROS & CONS

In this video, local Halifax REALTOR®, Andrew Stephens of Team Stephens and EXIT Realty gives the pros and cons about living in Halfax, Nova Scotia

#livinginhalifax #halifaxprosandcons #halifaxnovascotia

I help people buy and sell real estate in the Halifax / Dartmouth area in Nova Scotia, Canada. I specialize in listing homes, working with investors and helping first time home buyers.

If you’re looking for an open and transparent experience with regards to buying and selling real estate, then I am the perfect fit for you.

Our mandate at Team Stephens:
To provide our clients with the the best real estate service and advice in the industry. To combine our experience with the latest technology, tools and systems to drive client oriented results.

As of January, 1, 2023 - Team Stephens has completed over 743 transactions… And counting!

**The opinions expressed herein are solely that of Andrew Stephens, not EXIT Realty or the NSAR and should not be misconstrued as advice or the basis of an agency relationship whatsoever. Please consult your professional advisor prior to taking action on any decisions relating to the matters discussed in these videos. This communication is not intended to solicit buyers and sellers currently under an agency agreement. This is not financial advice.

[ilTHfeaa]

clicked on this bc i was googling why NS had such a good reputation bc i’m from NS and I moved to ontario a few years ago. People in NS aren’t actually friendly, they’re fake friendly. There is no jobs and tent city is growing. No one can afford their house/apartments. At least in ontario there’s jobs, and honestly i’ve found the people here a lot easier to get along with too. The only thing I like about NS is the weather and the fact that my family is there. that’s about it. I’ll probably never live there again.

[natesnautical]

The more I learn about Canada, it is evidently clear, Canada is not worth all the high cost of living.

[daphneward]

no doctors, busy traffic, groceries higher than New Brunswuck, too many cranes for new buildings. apartments not cheap Love the history

The income to housing price ratio in Halifax is absolutely insane.
If you look at the median income, an average hardworking person behaving in a financially responsible manner can only hope to afford a small, rundown house in some rural area like 90+ minutes outside of Halifax... and those areas have very few jobs available.
Something needs to change.
The city is surrounded by undeveloped woodlands, providing both ample space and ample timber for new home construction.
The government needs to aggressively slash regulations and allow people to build build build quickly, easily, and therefore inexpensively.
Tens of thousands of new, low cost homes must be built in the HRM over the next couple of years, otherwise the only people who will be able to live in Halifax will be people who are moving to the province from other places where higher wages have allowed them to save up enough money to do so.

[sylver]

As someone born and raised in Halifax, to tell you the truth, ever since companies came in repeatedly, buying apartment buildings and jacking up rent, and the condo developers came in, there are really no pros left as to living in Halifax. Too bad it's only worse everywhere else in the country. We had a nice city full of beautiful historic buildings, low prices, decent rent rates, decent house costs. And now, we have high prices, extremely over priced rent, over priced houses and our beautiful historic architecture is being replaced with ugly condo buildings that nobody from this city asked anyone to build. Because of it, we have the highest homeless population we have ever had, and climbing daily. If this keeps going, the only people who will even be able to rent in this city are the rich.

[patrickmoan]

When I walk into the local grocery stories and convenience stores, anywhere between 45 to 60% of the people working there are now Indian. At the Barrington Superstore (South End Halifax) that percentage is probably about 80%. It really needs to be 100% in my opinion because I really love living in a place where overnight the entire feel of the place has changed.

And don't get me started about all the historic properties they the city has incentivized be torn down. It's a super exciting time to live in Halifax! I love the feel of walking down Spring Garden Street at certain times of day and only hearing Punjab or Cantonese. Halifax is what Canadian multiculturalism was meant to be. Canadians are not like those awful Trump loving Americans.

The glorious future in Halifax is to densify, densify, densify. Even as they build homes outside the city with walk-scores ranging from 2-16% (i.e., glorious urban sprawl on steroids). And again it's so cool that that Halifax destroys older buildings rather than incentivize preservation. Before the big change (i.e., prior to 2016) Halifax has 3x the density of Portland, ME, and 2x the density of Burlington, VT. Density levels were 82% of what they had in Philadelphia at the time.

Halifax politicians and developers are doing Haligonians a favor by bringing density levels up even further with ugly, alienating high-rise buildings that are super wonderful to live around because they scream "Canada has no culture! Canada is the 'first post-racial society' (to quote Trudeau).

A few months ago, I bumped in my friend John Lawen and he was walk through my neighborhood with my other friend and developer Steve Tsimiklis (who had recently destroyed 6 historic home a block from where we live) and they were stoked about the future. John had just returned from Dubai and is hoping the city changes the zoning in the area bounded by Robie, Jubilee, Oxford, and Coburg so that he can do what they're doing elsewhere in Halifax neighborhoods - which is to say consolidating lots, knocking down homes and building bigger.

So yea, Halifax is a fantastic place to life. The people here deeply respect their history and you really get a sense that you someplace special. Nova Scotia Premier TIm Houston has a strategic plan to double the population as fast as possible (google is your friend here), so please please come one, come all - especially if you're from India or China, or heck even if you're a cultural refugee from Toronto because the vibe here is so wonderful.

Ignore the fact that Nova Scotia's per capita GDP is lower than Mississippi and that traffic congestion is now the third worst in the country. If you come to Halifax, you'll want to ignore alot of things. But hey, every place has their problems right?

Our firstborn graduated from university and will not return to Halifax. "Dad, why the f*ck would I want to live in a place dedicated to flooding the labor market each year with thousands from South Asia and China. You leave Canada (as he did) and you realize that not every place does this crap. It's bizarre." Our second son is studying engineering in Montreal and will not come back either. Our daughter (at Citadel) plans to follow her brothers. So where does that leave my wife and I? We'll eventually, we'll sell our home to a Chinese buyer flush with cash (Indians are not as cash rich in Canada).

Most talented, ambitious people will not tolerate living in a place so poorly governed when there are so many better places to live in Europe and the United States (despite the US's many problems there are many more places to live that offer a great deal more than Halifax.)

Canada is the only country I know that defines itself by what it's not. (i.e. not American). It's not a country, so much as a mediocre business based on 2 things: Extracting things out of the ground selling it to the Chinese and Americans. And mass immigration. (Google is your friend here my dear woke compatriots).

[FinancialFreedomLifestyle]

Great video with great information. Keep up the good work.

[TalktoOmoye]

Even with all the cons, i still believe living in Halifax novia Scotia has its own benefits, i will love to move there.

[TheBoneduster]

This was a good video. I grew up here too, and its nice to see a realtor who actually points out the real cons to living in Haliwood. I've seen so many realtors lately market this city to people from other provinces as a way to get "Cheap" real estate without considering the people who actually live here and are trying to survive, so, people move here and pay out the nose for a house, realize that living here doesn't have the same perks as somewhere like T.O. or Vancouver, then get stuck trying to sell their houses and recoup some profit, except that means trying to sell a 2 bedroom/1 bath bungalow for $860, 000 which continues to inflate the prices.

Just to throw in there, Ocean Towers (Its not called that anymore, but if you know, you know) is now renting a 3 bedroom apartment for straight up lunacy.

[yoriehimony]

Simple but accurate and detailed. Top job, Andrew!

[kathleenoneill]

My neighbors in Georgia were born & raised near Halifax. Despite his position in tech consulting in the U.S.with a very good six-figure U.S. dollar income, they would never return except for visits. That goes for their adult children also. My adult son, there the last 18 months on a diplomatic passport with USCBP, has already applied for a transfer due to the cost of living despite the strength of the U.S. dollar.

[zwelithinihlabathe]

such a great video, detailed and not biased :)

[peterblack]

There is only just over 1 million citizens in the entire Province to pay for all the services an amazing beautiful Province with lots of stunning beaches and places to

[benjaminproperties]

Good video. Been following you for awhile now. I moved back here last August. And I must say it's extremely difficult in this province, when it shouldn't be.

[MacBookProa]

Excellent video, very well explained, 100% agreed with everything he said.

[Cirathos]

Don't move to Halifax. Ever. It is not developers who cannot keep up, it's the lack of trained trades that do good work, and the lack of health care and child care. Also, the prices of rent and groceries are crazy. It is NOT easy to get around Halifax since driving is horrible, for reference, driver experience and the "gap" when people stop behind cars is horrific. To add to the driving, people in the city "think" they can drive, but they are the worst at obeying traffic laws, and add old people timid driving into the fray, coupled with office worker lack of experience driving at lunch time, (worse in the winter, because office workers cannot drive in the snow), and you have a shit storm of traffic. The waterfront still has sewage that pours into the harbor, and, cruise ships still dump their sewage into the "acceptable zone" just outside the limit of Halifax Harbor. The local scene is at best University student living the city life, but there is absolutely NO good restaurants to visit if you wish to have a a nice fine dining experience with your significant other. Do not be fooled by the menus, and do not be told that downtown is safe. Parking is horrible. The transit system is shoddy at best. You will not find parking close to hospitals, and the hospitals in Halifax are where the "specialists" practice, so people from all over the province will come for parking. Specialist appointments are 1.5 years now for an appointment, and, 2 years wait time for a family doctor, and, good luck finding a dentist. Your review should be based on real truth. Shame on you.

[Madhosters]

I have to move to Halifax like yesterday

[michaelpoczynek]

Well done! Hello from Prince Edward Island! 😀

[dlj]

Didn't mention the worst provincial income tax in the country next to Quebec.

[Steve-mznp]

We use to barter the cover charge while out bar hopping, the bars are so close together, give us a deal or we’re going next door, good old summer of 84.