The Welcome Matt

05/27/2026

What do Chilliwack real estate, the 2009 market crash, and a fortune cookie have in common?

Link below to find out.

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | May 2026Est. reading time: 5-6 minutesI get asked some version of this question roughly four times a week right now. On the football field. In the grocery store. In my DMs. From people who read last week's blog and want the one sentence answer I deliberately did....

05/20/2026

Spring market update. And no, it's not the one you keep hearing about.

Everyone loves the multiple offer story. Homes selling in days, buyers fighting over listings, sellers laughing all the way to the bank. Those stories are real. I have one in this week's blog.

But so is the home two streets over that has been sitting for weeks with zero action. And the sellers who bought in 2021 and 2022 who are now listing for 10 to 20 percent less than they paid. And the people who were planning to sell this year and quietly changed their minds because the number the market will give them is not the number they think they deserve.

Those stories are just as real. They just don't get shared as much.

I am not here to tell you the market is great or the market is terrible. I am here to tell you what it actually looks like from the ground in Chilliwack right now. The good, the uncomfortable, and the parts that don't make for a great dinner party story.

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | May 2026Est. reading time: 5-6 minutesEvery spring the same conversation starts up. Multiple offers. Quick sales. The market is heating up. Someone's cousin got ten offers on a bungalow in three days and now everyone assumes that is the whole story.It is not the....

05/06/2026

The Bank of Canada held rates again last week.

I know. Try to contain your excitement.

While everyone else posted "no change" and called it a day, I did what I always do. I sat down, listened to every single word of the announcement, read the press release twice, and then wrote 1,500 words about it.

My wife thinks I need a hobby.

She is not wrong. But here is the thing, the BOC Governor did not just say "no change." He said rates could go either direction from here depending on two things happening right now on the world stage. One of them could actually push rates UP.

If you have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to drop, that sentence matters.

I also built a calculator (of course I did) that shows what waiting has actually cost you in real dollars. Most people are surprised by the number.

Link in bio. And yes, I am aware this is not everyone's idea of a fun read. But if you are buying or selling in Chilliwack, it might be the most useful thing you read this week. 🏠

https://www.thewelcomematt.ca/post/waiting-to-buy-a-home-in-chilliwack-2026-the-bank-of-canada-just-complicated-that-plan

04/29/2026

Timing is everything. I didn’t think I’d be revisiting my basement suite renovation this soon but the federal government went and announced a major infrastructure project that makes last weeks blog extremely relevant. This one’s got a little something something for everyone. And if you’re a renter or know one you’re going to want to read this blog carefully.

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | April 2026Est. reading time: 7-8 minutesLast week I wrote about turning an unused basement into a revenue suite. I did not plan a follow-up this soon, but the timing of a federal announcement made it unavoidable.This past week the federal government approved Enbr...

04/22/2026

https://www.thewelcomematt.ca/post/empty-nester-basement-suite-chilliwack-2026-why-i-am-not-downsizing-and-what-i-am-doing-instead

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | April 2026Est. reading time: 7-8 minutesBoth kids moved out recently.I am not going to sugarcoat the emotional side of that. It is a lot. The house feels different. The fridge stays full longer than it used to. The dog has nobody to beg scraps from except two adu...

04/15/2026

Two days ago the Liberals flipped to a majority government. I went down a rabbit hole.

A minority government needs other parties to vote yes on everything. The Liberals had a full housing plan stuck in Parliament for over a year because of it.
A majority changes that. The housing platform can actually move now.

I wrote up what that means if you are buying or selling in Chilliwack. Not politics. Just the mechanics.

Link below

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | April 2026Est. reading time: 7-8 minutesEvery election cycle, housing gets big promises on the campaign trail. Then Parliament gets involved, other parties pump the brakes, and what started as bold policy turns into something smaller, slower, and watered down by....

04/01/2026

https://www.thewelcomematt.ca/post/move-up-buyer-chilliwack-2026

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | April 1st 2026Est. reading time: 7-8 minutesDisclaimer: This post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or mortgage advice. Please consult a licensed mortgage professional for guidance specific to your situation.I have had s...

03/25/2026

https://www.thewelcomematt.ca/post/bond-yields-fixed-mortgage-rates

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | March 2026Est. reading time: 7-8 minutesDisclaimer: This post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. For guidance specific to your mortgage situation, please speak with a licensed mortgage professional.Every time the Bank of Ca...

03/18/2026

https://www.thewelcomematt.ca/post/the-mortgage-default-wave-everyone-keeps-predicting-has-been-coming-since-2017-here-s-why-it-keep

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | March 2026Est. reading time: 7-8 minutesIf you've spent any time on social media, YouTube finance channels, Reddit housing threads or chatting in the driveway ith crazy uncle Dave in the last few years, you've seen or heard some version of this headline: "Canada'...

03/11/2026

https://www.thewelcomematt.ca/post/what-the-trade-war-100-oil-and-global-uncertainty-actually-mean-for-chilliwack-real-estate

By Matt Paisley | The Welcome Matt | March 11th 2026Est. reading time: 7 minutesIf you've opened a news app in the last week, you've been hit from multiple directions. Tariffs. A war in Iran. Oil surging past $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022. Stock markets selling off. The kind of headlin...