“We didn’t want to buy someone else’s problems. When you buy new, you get what you want.” New Local Home has chats with the owner of a new single-family home in an Ocean Park subdivision, Brian Martin ›› p.14
Live ‘the sweet life’ at Dolce Vita, new luxury towers in the heart of Vancouver ›› p.9
April 30, 2009
Buying now likely better than waiting until later New houses target lifestyle and livability to suit the needs of every homeowner
Inside Altaire, a highrise atop Burnaby Mountain.
Towering above the rest
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ocation. Lifestyle. Livability. These are just some of the factors potential homebuyers take into consideration when purchasing a new home. Of course, price is always a huge component to consider, but by buying a new residence, homeowners can eliminate some of the problems that can arise when they buy an older home. Older dwellings may be in need of renovations, repairs and upgrades – from “Nothing was the foundation to the appliances inwrong with the side – while newly market here. We built homes offer didn’t have an the security of little oversupply of or no maintenance homes. People on such issues for just stopped years to come. Morningstar buying out of Homes president fear – not fear of what was actually Dale Barron, who has owned happening, but six homes in the fear of what might Lower Mainland happen here.” and has sold more than 2,500 singlefamily homes in Greater Vancouver, says new residences also provide the family with a better way of living. “I think the biggest advantage of buying new compared to older homes is the livability,” Barron says. “Every space is designed for how people live.” In older homes, it is common for the kitchen to be smaller, and separate from a dining area and/or living area. Barron says Morningstar designs homes while taking today’s lifestyles into consider-
Burnaby Mountain highrise Altaire offers views, outdoors
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Morningstar Homes president Dale Barron says the current housing market presents unprecedented opportunity for buyers, due to lower prices and historically low interest rates.
ation. The open kitchen features an island that also functions as an eating area, since many families have less opportunity for full sit-down meals. From the kitchen, families can just as easily make use of an open dining space
that, in some homes, opens onto an outdoor patio. The kitchens also face the open, airy great rooms – some featuring 20-foot ceilings – in each home. CONTINUED ON P.5
ome prefer to enjoy expansive views of the outdoors; others like to physically experience the beauty. Living at Altaire, a new Burnaby Mountain apartment tower by Polygon Homes, homeowners can have the best of both worlds. The concrete highrise features two-bedroom residences featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that offer sweeping views of the North Shore Mountains, Mount Baker, the Gulf Islands and beyond. Homeowners are steps to the campus of Simon Fraser University, and within walking distance of the shops, services and restaurants of the UniverCity Highlands Village. Nature trails are right outside the door, and the opportunities for activity are endless – whether hiking or mountain biking on Burnaby Mountain, or traversing the parkland around Deer Lake and Burnaby Lake, the entire CONTINUED ON P.7