New investor seeking advice on first purchase

[Austin Sager]

Hello!

I’m a first time real estate buyer looking for to make my first purchase and I need your help!

I’m conflicted about where to purchase my first property, I live in an expensive market of Kelowna BC Canada where average house prices are 850,000. The market is appreciating at a rate of roughly 1.8% per month over the past 9 months and will likely continue to appreciate strong through any downturn as demand has continues to surge for the last several years. Kelowna was recently rated #2 nicest places to live in Canada which makes it a highly desirable, more affordable place to live relative to Vancouver which is 4 hours away. Kelowna has a population of 200,000 people roughly.

My home town a few hours south is a much more affordable area, a population of roughly 15,000 people which is mainly financed and sustained through jobs at a mining and metal processing company which supplies jobs for around 25% of the town. Houses are half as expensive, however the rents are almost the same.

I worry that by although real estate is more expensive in Kelowna, it may appreciate at a much higher pace in coming years and i may miss out on that appreciation (FOMO). But if I was to buy in my home town a few hours away I would need a 20% down payment and would also have a harder time BRRRRing the property as I live a few hours away. Alternatively I have considered purchasing an apartment in the expensive market and BRRRRing it so that I could borrow against it to buy a house in the future.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance!