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The cheapest apartment in Vancouver: Is that a typo?

Shocking result in this month's search for Vancouver's most affordable apartment... if the listing can be believed.

No way. Just... no way.
I want to believe.

Dare to hope for proper data entry

Once again, I checked to see if there were any Vancouver apartments available for a buck. Once again, I was disappointed. It's time to check in and see what's out there for those of us on a budget. Let's find the most affordable apartment in Vancouver, and let's hope that a certain realty office's data entry skills are up to par. You'll see what I mean.

A home, not an investment

Let's clarify one thing: we're looking for an actual place to live. Where we can put our stuff, maybe leave a few dishes in the sink. You know, a home. Right away, this eliminates anything in Vancouver West under $185,000. The three cheapest units in the neighbourhood are investment-only, at the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel. You can only stay there for 30 days out of the year. Your mortgage would "only" be around $1,300 per month, but you'd still need to own or rent another place in which to live. Not the most efficient way to invest.

West End pad

Vancouver West's cheapest apartment is a 430-square-foot pad on Harwood Street. For those who don't know, Harwood isn't just the name of a neighbourhood in "Grand Theft Auto III", but a leafy street running from Burrard to Bidwell through the West End.

I need to talk to RE/MAX about how to take a real-estate photo...

Give me an empty room and I'll give you a stage- Peter Brook

... Though the building boasts a rooftop pool for our seven summer days per year. Asking price: $189,000, or about $1350 per year, plus $247 per month in strata fees. According to the handy-dandy affordability calculator, you can swing this place if you make $52,000 per year or more.

I mean you-singular and not "you guys": 430 square feet would be less than ideal for a couple. You could have a West End pad just like Cathy Dennis... but it wouldn't be the cheapest you could find this month.

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