Last Sunday I went to three open houses, and drove past a few more places.
On Tuesday I went to a place I liked, and tried to contact the agent on Wednesday… but it turns out not everyone likes email. He finally got back to me Thursday and said an offer/counteroffer had been made, but I could still see the joint. So I did, and realized I did like it as much as previously, but that I’d have to redo the kitchen, and at some point would like to put balconies outside the upper rear sliding doors, which at the moment were just really small french-balcony style.
So I went to the next place on my list, which really I was just seeing on a whim to get more experience looking at houses, since I’d only been doing this for a week.
WOW! I was blown away. I was looking at detached or semi-detached homes, and this place is a lower duplex, doesn’t have a garage or a driveway, but the place is so gorgeous I don’t care. The vendor is a contractor, and he’s spent the past decade renovating the entire joint. The roof is new, bricks are repointed, new copper pipes, including those to the city mains. Wherever something needed to be built in, it was – like a floor to ceiling, wall to wall pantry/wine rack/cupboard in the kitchen. The upstairs kitchen with the restaurant-grade range that is… there’s another full kitchen downstairs (although I’ll probably take out the second oven). It’s also got a murphy bed. And a shaft in one bathroom that goes all the way to the roof - can you say skylight?
It is, in short, a place I really hope I get to call home. I’ve got to arrange an inspection in the next few days, finalize a mortgage (the amount’s not a problem, but I want the best rate I can get). If it all works, I move my family into our own place this June.
