In one week exactly, we move into our first home. It has been quite an interesting process to say the least. I had planned to write in detail about how the entire process works but Savannah Wallace from Maiedae captured beautifully and efficiently the process here.
So instead I will just write about our individual process.
Before we were even pregnant with our Eldest Babe, we went looking for the dream home. On a country ride, we believed we found the perfect spot. An old one room schoolhouse on an acreage. We would renovate the inside and convert an outbuilding into an art studio for me. We would keep bees and create our own garden with hopes of eventually living off the land. They were big dreams but nonetheless they were ours. And we held on to them.
We were young, lofty, but never naive. We were always humbled by heritage and the prospect of living with nature.
The years went on and we continued looking and dreaming. Weekends at the cottage were spent doing crosswords and perusing the Homes Section. Some of those weekends took us on short roadtrips to check out land. Our income was minimal so the idea of building our future home entered our minds. Sketch books began to fill with clippings that would make any pinterester jealous.
Somewhere along the way, events happened which shifted our focus from searching or thinking about building. It even became a point of contention. Realizing that financially, owning a home didn't seem viable, I would get upset when I would see the Papa on the mls just searching. I thought he didn't feel satisfied in the "home" we has created and that he was teasing with what could be but wasn't. We agreed to stop looking and torturing ourselves. But we couldn't.
Finally, this year things started to financially come together. We hadn't accrued debt, our credit looked amazing and we had enough savings to put the mandatory 5% down payments required by CMHC. We tried our luck with a lender and we were pre-approved, for more than we were expecting.
It was great to finally have a concrete number to work with. A value was placed on our head, in a way that made us jump for joy. It was a modest amount, but I love modesty!!!
(Going to interject for a moment here on why buying a house was important to me because obviously owning a house doesn't make it a home. And renting is fine too...look at the majority of Europe. But to me a house represents safety. Although I had a childhood home, it was a frightening place. Renting has always made me felt hostage to the demands of others and the possibility of having our residents taken away by a landlord or circumstance always lingered. So for me, buying a house turning it into our home gives me so much comfort.)
It was at the second house we looked at, that was a little underwhelming, thanks to the HD manipulated photos, where we met our amazing agent. She was personable, and definitely working on our behalf. She had lost her husband years before and was concerned about the potential to resell any property we found, as we are a small one income family.
Our agent spent a month and a half taking us to showings, booking viewings, meeting here and there. We thought we were going to be looking endlessly. And then we viewed the house I fell in love with initially again, because it was still on the market and put an offer on it. This time we countered and a deal was met. (This was a whirlwind as you are given time constraints to reach the deal and you and your partner go back and forth trying to figure out numbers.)
Then the fun began, which Savannah described in her post and we will own a house.
There is more to come regarding our move so please stay tuned!
(The image of the house was provided by rebekka seale)
