Now it might seem like buying ice cream and buying real estate have nothing in common, but you would be wrong. You see first, there's a line where you wait thinking about all those amazing flavors. You might get to try kind of like when you're browsing a website. Looking at all the real estate available, then, as a line starts to move, you get more excited as you inch closer and closer to that amazing end goal.

But then you see it that dreaded sign sold out.

All your hopes and dreams set to melt away and you crumble into a pit of despair. Ash look what I meant to say was whether you're buying a scoop or a condo patience, and a sense of humor are probably going to be your best friend. And hey, at least we're gonna scream, you can always try a different flavor.

Doesn't open till 12.

That's presale, baby. I mean, it does explain why no one else is here though.

Stephen, I got this one. Okay.

Aye Medina, dragged us a new and I'm going to be taking you on a real tours of one of my favorite neighborhoods in Vancouver Mount Pleasant.

We're going to start off in the false Creek Flats. We'll work our way up Main Street Into the Heart of Mount Pleasant and then we'll explore the neighborhood around Mount Pleasant Park. And you know what? As much as I'd love to drive. Maybe I will let Steven take this one.

It is so lovely to see you again. Adina, it feels so good to be back Stephen. Thank you for taking that intro off my hands. I feel like you did a much better job than I've done it. You know, the first question, I'm asking everyone who sits here in the passenger seat. How would you break down this community? That's a great question Stephen because Mount Pleasant actually straddles both the east side and west side of Vancouver. So we have the west side of Mount Pleasant which starts off from Ontario Street which is two blocks from Main Street. All the way over to can be from about 16th Avenue to about 50.

Now, and on the East Side, Mount Pleasant goes from Ontario Street. All the way out to Clark Street. And again, from 16th Avenue down to terminal quite a large area. How do we see different personalities in these communities than? Well, there's a lot going on in Mount Pleasant. The reason I wanted to talk about it is a lot of people know about it. A lot of people know about the shops and the restaurants and the neighborhood appeal, we have a center that's very focused on technology and jobs in movies and biotech, it's very developed. You have

some cool little breweries where we're going to start off in the false Creek, Flats it formerly an industrial area, and the city's looking to preserve that as industrial jobs, but also add a lot of tech digital media jobs, and healthcare jobs. So, there's a lot happening there and a lot of the Cool vibe, but that people come down to Mount Pleasant for. Why did you get into real estate in the first place? So I got into real estate fresh out of University. I had a bit of an inkling while I was studying here at University, I went to UBC, I was studying marketing and had a bit of an inkling. I wanted

Go into real estate because I loved working with people, my parents weren't so Keen about the idea, right? They put a lot of effort into getting into University and getting through and I had some big internships working in marketing roles, but what I found when I was working marketing is that it really I wasn't as connected to the people, I was working with as I wanted to be and really real estate really offer that opportunity. And it just it's so interesting to me because real estate is how we live our lives, right? Whether we're dealing with residential, real estate of where people are coming home to after work or commercial real estate,

Eight of you know where people are working and living and thriving. It's all about how we live our lives and how we prioritize our time Adina. I have 30 enjoy catching up with you again, but I would love to see these false Creek flats that we've been talking about. So let's pack up and take a look. Let's go.

So where the flats? What Flats make the apartments? Condos oh no. So the false Creek Flats is actually the name for the area here. Stephen, there's only a few condos in the area is actually mostly industrial and economic job. Land here. I'm what are we seeing happen? Then on this job lines. So this is a major area that the city's focusing on, in terms of job growth, and it's been mostly industrial and there's about 600 businesses and about 8,000 jobs in the region and

City is looking to increase that from 8,000 jobs to over 30,000 jobs in the next 20 years. 30,000 jobs. Yeah, 30,000 jobs and what's happening? That's really interesting is they're bringing a lot of diversity of jobs into the area so where we are right here behind us is Emily Carr university. This recently moved down from Granville Island you have a lot of high-tech headquarters coming into the area and when we're looking at buying real estate especially as a first-time buyer or someone trying to build their wealth through real estate, you want to look at an area where you have a lot of

Structure growth, you have job growth and population growth and that's certainly what Mount Pleasant has more than any other area in Vancouver, so we're getting those amenities coming in. Yes. Are we also getting the Residential Properties to accommodate for this massive demand? That's about to hit us, not nearly enough and that's one of the reasons I think it's so important to look at this area. If it's an area you want to live in, in the long term, the sooner you can get in the better because while the city is focusing on bringing about 20,000 jobs to the area. Guess how many housing units? They're planning to build

Are 20,000 jobs. I mean, you'd hope it's somewhere around the 15,000, it's about 2,400. Wow, some of those will be non Market rental so they are trying to focus on affordable housing. But again, how can you keep prices affordable? When you have that much demand, coming to the area and such little Supply as a first-time. Homebuyer, what are you actually getting here? So one of the most popular choices for first-time homebuyers in this neighborhood is the entry-level condos. Like I said, you know they are smaller and they've gotten smaller and smaller as dude.

Elements come in, you're getting about 500 square feet for a one-bedroom unit. This is also where we see in a lot of these Junior one-bedrooms come in, which is, instead of a traditional layout where you have a defined bedroom, you kind of have this open, almost loft-style area with glass, sliding doors, so kind of innovative space multi-purpose space in the home. But starting around 500 square feet. Certainly some even a little bit smaller than the 450 square foot range, but that's kind of the entry point for a lot of first-time buyers coming here. It's going to be really interesting to see how this community develops with the introduction of

All these new jobs coming down to this developments, I do. However, want to check out some other communities Mount Pleasant. So, where you taking me to next? We're gonna head up Main Street to the heart of Mount Pleasant right around Main and Broadway, the heart of Mount Pleasant else. Okay, usually, when I say hurt people, always make fun of my Irish accent. So I man

So cultural colloquialisms. Aside it was fascinating to hear all about the influx of jobs and growth to false Creek flats. And while the number of housing being built is far below, the number that seems to be needed for this area. It's still exciting scene, Community, Revitalize itself. Like we're seeing happen here.

What is it about Mount Pleasant that you love so much? You know, I think I love the neighborhood. I was a resident of Mount Pleasant for many years now, I'm just on the edge of it but what I really love about it from a real estate perspective. I think it's one of the most strategic areas in the city. If you're looking to get into the market and work your way up the market. I think it's one of the best places to start. Okay so realistically speaking I am an aging Millennial. Yes. I feel like it's a joke. I've been saying now for too many years. Yeah what is the likelihood of me being able to afford some property in?

I'm glad. Well it really depends I think on what your priorities are and linear income. How much savings you have what acts but you know, most of our clients who buy their first properties in Mount Pleasant are just like you they're Millennials. They, you know, saved up a little bit of cash. They have good jobs and they want to get a foothold in the market. Most of our clients who started off exactly where you are, they start with the little condo, then their work their way up the property ladder. Build some Equity moved to a town house or a duplex, and then eventually moved to a detached property.

What you're saying is there is hope there's absolutely hopes even leaving the flat behind. I was so curious to see what the epicenter of Mount Pleasant. Had to offer a newcomer to the area like me, someone who loves their Creature Comforts. But once a bit more character than the cold concrete of downtown,

So this is the heart of Mount Pleasant. We're right in it. Yeah. And what are we seeing around us then. So here on the West side of Mount Pleasant where we are specifically right now is actually more of a commercial area. This is where we have a lot of the biotech and the high-tech jobs coming in. So if this is the commercial then where is the residential? So the residential areas all around here, when we look at the Broadway and Main Street area, that's where you have a lot of the newer condo developments when we talked about the entry-level condos, a lot of them are going in around there, and then, as you go south down Main Street.

Street. That's when we start seeing more variety and mix of older condos, which again, a lot of parts of the city, but you have newer condos that are more efficient layouts with a lot of amenities. You also have Townhomes older homes that have been stratified detached properties. You have it all here, who are we seeing drawn to these different types of properties, then the primary market for the condos here tends to be first-time buyers. Also investors who are looking to rent for some buyers and a lot of people like you young professionals just wanting to be in a really up-and-coming neighborhood and we see a lot of the people who live around

I really value that lifestyle aspect. They want to stay Central to where their Community is be able to walk and bike everywhere and live here Adina. I'd love to get your insight into Mount Pleasant recently. Been ranked one of the coolest neighborhoods in all of North America. I think it's pretty accurate. Like, you can't deny it. You have some of the hottest restaurants, some of the coolest local shops around. Here, you have tons of breweries. All scattered through the neighborhood super walkable. We've got lots of bike Lanes or close to the sea wall. You've got beautiful Parks like this. I can't really.

Argue with it. What impacts do you think the Broadway Corridor is going to have on Mount Pleasant, it's going to have a massive impact and that's actually the biggest infrastructure investment that we see in the area. So the sky Train is going to connect from VCC, Clarke, we're currently ends, it will go out to Emily. Carr university or where we were at the false Creek flats and it'll come and link up to Main and Broadway and then go down Broadway to Arbutus from East Mount Pleasant to West Mount. Pleasant bring a lot of jobs to the mix. Hopefully, a lot of Housing and really make it even more of a walkable and connected community.

The heart of Mount Pleasant. Surely has not disappointed. It is a charm and quaintness that I think has drawn me in. I can't wait to see the next place you're going to take us. Well I'm excited to show it to you. We're heading over to the area of Mount Pleasant Park and there's a lot of charm in that neighborhood more charm. I love him. And pleasant just seemed like this wonderful place of character. Here's the thing about Hearts. They're depicted as cute round hole Mark symbols, but really, they're workhorses

Pumping life into the environment and it was evident as I stood on the crest, the hill that this community had a hell of a LOL. I finish talk to me more about a residential realtor because we talked about breaking in the communities that don't tend to talk about breaking down Realtors and their different Specialties. Hmm. What are these different Specialties and watching something to be aware of if they're looking for that Realtor for themselves? I think the most important thing to look for when you're looking for a realtor, is someone who understands

Your lifestyle. And what you want, who understands the type of property in the neighborhoods that you're looking for, to me a good realtor is someone who really knows the community and can help show you some of the positives and some of the opportunities, but also, some of the pitfalls that you might need to be aware of. You know, if there's a building that has issues, a great realtor, will help you assess your options, understand the trade-offs of the different properties that you see, and really understand which of those options is going to best help you get to where you want to be, not just now, but in

Five ten years from now.

Moving further south, I was curious to see how the community at Mount Pleasant Park was adapting to the rising prices of single-family homes and how they are making it work for them. You're right this place certainly has charm. Am I right in saying that I'm mainly seeing single family homes here? Well, actually, that's what's interesting about this neighborhood. I looks like a lot of single family homes, but most of these are older homes that have character and someone had bought them and stratified them. For example, this house down the street here, you see?

There's two doors I do. Yeah. So from the outside it might look like a single family residential but it's split up into two, possibly even more units. A lot of the homes. In this neighborhood, have been split up into two to five units. One of the benefit of living in a property like this primarily its affordability, right? Being able to live in this amazing neighborhood. A detached property here, you could be three, four, five million dollars. So, being able to live in a stratified unit, that's only two bedrooms. You could be maybe one to one and a half million. So the fact that you're able to live in this neighborhood, get the feel of

Love living in a big house without the big cost of it. What you've been able to do is preserve the character and the residential feel of this neighborhood, while adding more density, in a very sensible way. So I actually think it's one of the most interesting neighborhoods in Vancouver because of that is for. We're looking at, then the kind of end goal of the Mount Pleasant Journey. For some people, it could be, I think this is definitely a stepping stone for young buyers with families. It's also a stepping stone for down sizers, who want to be able to stay in the neighborhood but don't want the maintenance of a big house. So for

It is. And for some, it's a stepping stone, the question. I know you love the most, what are the pros and cons of this neighborhood? I think the pros of this neighborhoods that it truly feels like a residential beautiful Community. I'd say the only cons about this neighborhood is it's challenging to get into because it's not a very big area that has this housing type. But I'd say there aren't many cons other than that around here. So, I get it now and don't let go. That's the motto Here. Mount Pleasant. Truly does have a diversity of options.

As for those looking for homes. I just would love to see the inside of one of these duplexes. Well, let's go. Have a look at a duplex. We had to go inside. Let's go. Yeah. Easy

Okay, so what do you think? I like it. This is a new bill, right? This is a brand-new duplex Here, Mount Pleasant. It is so modern. I love just how clean everything is. Is this a typical type of property for this community? Sort of? So this is a brand-new duplex, right? This is someone who's come in torn down an old house and built this brand new duplex with a front unit and a back unit. And that's something we're seeing more often, very common in this neighborhood. Yeah. What are some of the reasons we are seeing people?

These new duplexes as opposed to some of the older homes that we saw in some of the other communities. And that's a great question because the cost of a new duplex like this is almost on par with an older detached home in the same neighborhood, right? So, why would someone purchased this? It's really about the quality of the home you're getting and the maintenance, right? So you're buying something brand-new with amazing features, you typically get high-end appliances, you know, you'll get nice, gas stoves integrated fridges you get wine, fridges air conditioning, all right, insulated Windows. You don't have to worry about electrical.

And plumbing, which you typically have to worry about with an older home. It's a property that you can enjoy for years without having to worry about big replacement costs. What about sighs? What are the ranges that we're seeing in these kind of duplexes? Well, so that's actually one of the other reasons. People buy these is because of the size and the layout. So this is a larger duplex for the neighborhood, typically, you'll see them about three bedrooms 14, 1500 square feet. This is almost 1,800 square feet with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. You definitely wouldn't get that in an older home in this neighborhood. Give me three tips.

To buying a new builds, a duplex like this. I think the most important thing with brand-new construction like this is really figuring out who the developer is having a reputable developer is critical because you don't always see the flaws in the defects right away. When you're purchasing in number two, is just obviously really assessing the neighborhood and location. You can't pick your house up and move it if you don't like it later on. And number three, is really figuring out the layout that the flow and the function of the layout really works for you and your needs. Sometimes it's easy to

walk into a show home, see the staging and just fall in love without really thinking of where you'd put your belongings and how it fits your lifestyle Adina. Thank you so much for showing us around today. Not only have you been massively educational but also inspirational, I feel like I might actually get a chance to own a home in Vancouver. Now, I'm so happy to hear that. Stephen cause that's my number one goal is educating people on their options and making them feel empowered. To actually take action, you've been so helpful today for us. I wanted to repay the favor. I hear the ice cream shop. It's finally open. Let's go.

As the curtain closes on the last episode of season 1 of Realtors, I couldn't help but think back to adina's First outing on the show in 2022. She was the first realtor to jump into this crazy adventure with me. A then fresh-faced Irish immigrant, who, to be honest, I didn't know squat about real estate back, then, it was just one camera guy and a photographer to document the day. We were a ragtag bunch of Misfits, and the Dina was our champion,

Sure this time around we had some more cameras and better audio but a Dina was as amazing as she was when we first met only this time taking on the community of Mount Pleasant a neighborhood full of culture and life today, really was a lesson and what makes it harder to this amazing City tick and what I've come to learn of my weeks on this show is that these cities and towns can be full of amenities and beautiful Vistas or beaches even. But at the end of the day,

It's the people who live there that make the place at home that really make it a community. As for a Dina, well, let's just say it's not the last receiving of her and I for one am excited to continue the adventure. And my time finally does come to buy in Canada.