After Nearly a Year in an Airbnb, We Finally Found Home.
It’s been a busy month, and we took a break from our blog. We are excited to report that after almost a year of living in an Airbnb, we finally unpacked our last box. Our first evening in our new home happened to be Canada Day.
As luck would have it, the fireworks—absent for the past few years—returned that very night. We didn’t have to fight crowds. We didn’t have to search for parking.
We simply sat in our living room overlooking Victoria’s Inner Harbour and watched the celebration unfold from what suddenly felt like home.
It was one of those moments that quietly says, “Yes…you made the right decision.
The Canadian Difference
Like many people relocating from California, we assumed we’d purchase another home. After all, that’s what we’d always done. Then reality arrived.
Victoria’s real estate market has its own personality. So does Canada’s tax system. So does British Columbia’s rental market.
We quickly discovered this wasn’t California wearing a maple leaf.
Three Things We Didn't Expect
Surprise #1: Renting Isn't Considered "Throwing Money Away"
Back in California, people often spoke about renting as though it were a temporary failure. Here, I found something different. Many Canadians intentionally rent. Not because they can’t buy. Because it fits the life they want.
Surprise #2: Buying Comes With Remarkable Advantages
One thing Canadians often don’t realize is just how valuable the Principal Residence Exemption is. If you sell your principal residence, every dollar of appreciation is tax-free.
No ceiling. No $250,000 or $500,000 cap, as in the United States. If your home increases in value by one million dollars...you keep the million.
It’s one of the most generous tax provisions anywhere.
Surprise #3: Renting Isn't Quite What I Expected Either
British Columbia offers rent protections that impressed us. But I also learned another side of the story.
If you leave a rental—or have to move because an owner is selling or moving back in—the next rent can jump dramatically to current market rates. In a rapidly appreciating market, that can be an expensive surprise. Buying removes much of that uncertainty.
So What Did We Decide?
Because this was never really about finding a house. It was about finding our life.
After almost a year of exploring neighbourhoods, discovering local cafés, walking waterfronts, meeting new friends, and learning Victoria one street at a time, something quietly changed. We stopped comparing every experience to where we had come from. We stopped asking ourselves whether we had made the right decision.
Instead, we began talking about what we wanted to do next weekend. That’s when it dawned on us. We weren’t just visiting anymore. We belonged.
The home that found us checked all the practical boxes, of course. But the things that mattered most couldn’t be measured in square footage or market value.
An extraordinary view that reminds us every morning why we chose Vancouver Island, and Victoria specifically. Neighbours who smile, wave, and stop for a chat. Enough room for the dogs to settle in as comfortably as we have. A neighbourhood that has become familiar enough to feel comforting, yet still offers something new to discover around the next corner.
Most of all, a place that feels peaceful. I’ve come to realize that “home” isn’t something you purchase. It isn’t defined by a deed, a mortgage, or a lease agreement.
Home is the place where you begin making plans instead of comparisons. Where tomorrow feels more exciting than yesterday. Where the coffee tastes a little better because you’re looking forward to the day ahead. Somewhere along the way, Victoria quietly became that place for us.