Condo campout ends as dozens move in to snap up Langley units

More than 100 prospective buyers finally got theirchance to purchasethecondominium they'vebeen waiting for after some camped for weeks outside of the planned Langley development.

The lineup outside of Yorkson Creek sales centre started two weeks ago when one persondecided to set up camp after hearing thecomplex's previous phases also had lineups.

Saturday morning, staff distributed numbers toprospectivebuyers who were shown in five at a timeto pick their units.Luca Patillowas handing out those numbers on site, andsaid today marks theend of a more than two-week-longwait forbetween 50 and 60 buyers.

"It seems pretty happy, people arepretty excited to get their future homes and pick out the unit that they want," said Patillo.

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Whenword of the development got out two weeks ago, others soon flocked to the spot.

"I grabbed my chair, grabbed my jacket, ran out here and sat in the rain. It rained the first night.It was horrible," said Dan Lefebvre, speaking to CBC News while waiting in line on May 5.

Lefebvre, 44, camped outfor the past two weeksfor his mother who islooking to be closer to him and his kids.

Most downsizing

Sales managers and realestate agentAmy Ellis says the average age of buyers is 57andmost are looking to downsize.

"We've looked at places in New Westminster.They are so expensive and so small," said Bonnie Berger, who is downsizing from a Victorian-style home in Queen's Park in New Westminster.

The Walnut Ridge 4 development on 208 Street and82 Avenue is the last phase of the project. The units are1,100 to 1,600 square feet and include a200-square-footretractable solarium. The pricesrange from $389,900 to $569,000.

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The developers have set the prices to discourage bidding wars and have limited each buyer to purchasing one unit though buyers still have 10 days to change their mind after signing the contract.

No bidding wars

The no-biddingpromise is what brought Elizabeth Hodgson, 58, rushing up from South Dakota.

"I'm so sick and tired of the bidding wars," Hodgson said, who is originally from the Lower Mainland and is looking to move back to be closer to herchildrenand grandchildren.

"I was in the car within an hour-and-a-half and was driving down here," she said.

Hiring others to camp out

Since demand is outstrippingsupply, the group of prospective buyers that were in linestarted a list to ensure that those whoarrived earlier gotfirst pick of the 128 units.

That pushed some buyers to hire students to sit in line for them.

Brothers Andrew and EvanBouchardwere paid $10 an hour to stand guard 24hours a day.

"We'vefriends that are sitting for other people tooand we have books and computers, so there is a lot of stuff to do,"said14-year-oldAndrewBouchard.

Sights set, hopes high

Everyone hadtheir sights set on a particular unit. For Barb Moewes, it wasthe ground floor unit that is closest to her mother, who lives in the complex across the street.

"I want to be close to her.She is 83-years-old. Right now, I live about 10 to15 minutes away from her," she said.

When she spoke to CBC News on May 5,Moewes was number seven in line and said she wassure she wouldget her desired unit because the upper floors are more popular.

Bruce Haugen, on the other hand, wasn't so hopeful. He wasnumber 50 in the lineup.

"We've got two choices that we like and I've just actually looked at another one. We might take that too," Haugen said, who is downsizing from his townhouse in Cloverdale.

The units will be ready inFebruary 2018.