Am I Dreaming? Pinch Me!

This is the post that I have been wanting to write for a very long time, but simply have not had the opportunity to. On Wednesday this week, we decided to go out to the west end with our realtor Andrew, and spend the day looking at listings. We really loved the first house we saw and although it was a slightly older home (20 years) it had a ton of space, and so much potential to make it our own. We saw 4 other houses after that, and J and I agreed that we wanted to put an offer in on the first house we saw in Oakville.

It looked great in person and on paper, 3 large bedrooms upstairs, an open concept living/dining space, large kitchen and finished basement. Some extra things that we got were an entrance into the house from the garage, a main floor laundry room, and a large deck in the backyard. The major things have been done in the house - new windows, roof and furnace in the last 3 years. In addition, the sellers had decided to add granite counters, a new under-mount sink and faucet in the kitchen before we moved in - for free!!!! Gotta love that price!

Given that this market is so swift, we decided to put in an offer that same day, and after one sign back from the seller, our second offer was accepted, conditional on financing and a home inspection. J and I were happy, but we didn't want to get too excited because we had been burned by the inspection before.

We made the appointment for the inspection within 36 hours after the deal was accepted because J and I just wanted to get this finalized as soon as possible. This morning, I went to the inspection with our realtor and it went well - ridiculously well. There were only 2 minor problems that the home inspector found and would cost less than $500 to fix. I left the inspection beaming because I knew this was the home for us - our new home that we would spend many years and eventually start a family in.

It took us 45 houses, 3 bidding wars, 5 offers, and 2 inspections to get where we are now. I knew this house was out there for us and we couldn't be happier with it. The journey was exciting, frustrating, and very emotional but now that we are here, it was all worth it. Here are some pictures of our new home:

What's next? Selling our condo! This will be a very eye-opening process for me, as it's our first sale. Looking forward to selling, but not to all the work that comes with it! Stay tuned.

Third Time is the Charm...Or not?

Sorry for the delay in this post, but I think I needed to give myself some time to deal with everything that just happened. I guess I will start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) - sorry I love The Sound of Music.

We decided to spend an entire day looking at houses - 7 to be exact. It was a grueling day, but we managed to find 2 houses that we liked, that both had pros and cons. We decided to go for a slightly older home because we loved the space and it had a finished basement with and extra full bath. We knew that it still needed some work in order to take it up to the standard that we wanted, but it was far under our budget so there was room to do that. The house had been on the market for about 30 days, and our realtor suggested that we offer $20K below asking as a starting point, with financing and home inspection conditions.

The owners of the house signed back at $5K below the list price. We in turn offered $10K below the list price and the deal was accepted. I guess we were a bit naive to think that was the hardest part of the process because it wasn't.  Given this was the farthest we had gotten in an offer process - we were 90% of the way to getting our new home.

The Home Inspection


I couldn't make it to the inspection, so J and our realtor Andrew went along with a fantastic home inspector - Mourad from The Professional Home Inspections. He was incredibly thorough and extremely professional. I know that we would not hesitate in recommending him.

Going through the property again but at a slower pace allowed us to see everything in a better light and spend the time looking for issues. We were not anticipating however, the amount of issues that would arise. The place looked really amazing - and the renovations looked like they had been done by someone who knew what they were doing.

Our home inspector revealed however, that this was not the case. The electrical is the house was a mess and revealed live wires all over the place, the furnace was older than we had initially thought and needed to be replaced, the windows needed to be replaced, and there were a few cosmetic things that we were aware we needed to fix.

The major issue was the foundation - there were settlement cracks along one side of the house and water was getting in - which means moisture was getting into the basement - a very expensive fix. We were prepared to pay $20K for renovations that needed to be done, but this would involve almost $50-60K to get everything done - a cost that simply didn't make sense. Not only that but that only included things that the home inspector could see - who knows what was lurking behind the walls.

After a lengthy discussion, J and I decided that it was best to walk away and find another house. It was a pretty emotional day after making that decision, but we know that it was the best one for us and that our house is still out there somewhere. Stay tuned for my next post which will involve talking about compromise - an essential part of the home buying process.I guess I should get back on MLS and start searching!

The Highs and Lows of House Buying

Even though J and I aren't technically property virgins, we have never really experienced these emotions that we are having because the property that we own now was bought pre-construction - which works on a first come, first served system. Sadly, the resale market doesn't work like that! I think this particular search has been more emotional because of what this house symbolizes for J and I. This will be the house that we move into for the long haul, and to start and raise a family - some emotionally charged ideals for sure!

Last week we made another offer on a property in South Mississauga, and lost another bidding war. The housing market outside of the city isn't quite as competitive as Toronto proper, but areas that are in high demand will still result in multiple offers. This property was a bungalow, completely renovated on a great lot with a large yard and finished basement in a great residential area - pretty much what a lot of other buyers are looking for. Our realtor called us before presenting the offer and had some good news for us - there were only 3 offers including ours and we had a good shot at getting the house.

One of the other buyers did not have an agent representing them so the listing agent was representing both the buyer and seller - meaning the listing agent would be getting double commission. Typically, agents get a 5% commission - which is divided to give 2.5% to the listing agent and 2.5% to the buyer agent. I know that this is legal and a situation that does happen- but I really think this is a conflict of interest. Supposedly the agent cannot tell the buyers what the other offers are, but from what I have read and heard, the successful bid always seems to be the double agent's. We lost the property - and it was tougher than the last one because we got emotionally invested and thinking we had a shot got really excited. It was pretty deflating - but the home search is still on!

Andrew, our agent has been amazing and making sure we don't lose hope. In an effort to broaden our horizons (and listings) we are moving a little farther west and including listings from Oakville. Yes, it's farther away from the city but if this is our house for the long term, space is really the most important thing. We will definitely get more space in the suburbs than the city. I am trying to come to terms with not living in the city anymore, and I know that I will miss it terribly but excited for everything the future has in store.