By 6 PM, my friend and I were driving from UBC's campus to Port Coquitlam with a tent, a couple sleeping bags, and several bags of hastily-purchased junk food. We arrived to a line of nearly 100 people, sitting in lawn chairs and pitching tents in a parking lot outside of Quantum Properties' offices.

It was around 4 PM on a Friday afternoon when I got the call. A friend told me her landlord, who worked in real estate, was offering $800 for two people to hold her spot in line for 15 hours at a condo presale in Port Coquitlam. As a freelance journalist, this was an offer I couldn't refuse.

If this growth continues at the same rate, speculators could make a fortune reselling these condos when they're built. The Montrose Square condo development at Kelly Ave and Mary Hill Road won't even be move-in ready until late 2019 or early 2020. The new set of multi-use buildings will be connected to a new recreation centre and walking distance from public transit.

Now the scramble to buy up valuable real estate—and the rising housing costs that go with a hot market —seem to be spreading to suburbs like Port Coquitlam. A year ago, the average price for a single bedroom condo in the area was $250,000. Today, that price has accelerated to $327,000—an increase of 31 per cent . The units we were waiting on started at $334,900—a rate that is considered very competitive.

Last year in Vancouver, the provincial government instituted a foreign buyers tax of 15 percent to try and cool speculation in the market—a move that seems to have had little effect. In August, condos and townhouses in Vancouver saw increased competition with sales 19.6 percent higher than the 10-year average.

Vancouver's housing market has been out of control for a long time , but this is a first for Port Coquitlam according to Trevor Street, who works in marketing for Quantum Properties. Street told VICE previous condo presales in the area saw lineups of 15 people max—nothing compared to the well-over 100 people who started showing up as early as Tuesday.

We met the agent and one of her clients, relieving them of the place they'd been for most of the afternoon. She was very concerned about making sure we had everything we needed and regularly called or texted to check in with us.

Line sitting is easy work if you can get it. Photo by the author

Trevor John Boorma sells cars normally, but came out for $300-a-day to stand in for another real estate agent. He estimated nearly half of the people waiting in line were proxies.

I quickly learned many in line weren't buyers, but young people paid to be there. Many worked service industry jobs and were resigned to the fact that although they waited diligently in line, they would likely never own condos like the ones they held spots for.

Another Port Coquitlam local told VICE she called in sick at her low-paying job because camping out for two days paid more. According to the real estate agent paying us, the going rate for line sitting is about $250-300 per day.

It was around 9 PM when we finished pitching our own two-person tent. Street did a roll call, walking through the line, writing everyone's name down, and giving each of us a number. We learned there were 150 units available, and each purchaser could claim two. If the purchaser or proxy was absent for more than 15 minutes, they would lose their spot.

If the first 75 people all bought two units, every space would be sold. We were number 75 and 76—decent odds for our $800 bounty.

My friend and I soon found ourselves drinking and smoking around a campfire with a group of young people. A few were buyers, many were stand-ins, and others were just friends who came to hang out. The locals were baffled Port Coquitlam, a place they grew up and perceived to be far removed from Vancouver's overheated market, was fast becoming the next big place for real estate speculation.