Frustrations and Jingle Bells

*Please note, any gripins in this post are merely for my venting purposes and obviously do not necessarily reflect on a whole company*

It has been two months now since I have officially moved in. I have been somewhat off kilter during that time as on top of the added stress of moving, I have had to deal with some heartbreaking personal news.

I wish to say that my home experience with Mattamy has gone smoothly and has been an exciting time in my life, but in reality it seems to almost be just continous amounts of stress. Last month I submitted my 30 day report, as required, and thankfully didn't have too many issues to really list down. I listed all major things found by the home inspector and some larger cosmetic things (such as significant floor squeaking and nail pops) to also some minor ones just to get them to touch things up.

Originally it appeared as though this transition had gone smoothly, within 2 weeks, Mattamy and it's trades were at my house to repair a large portion of items, but from there the downhill commenced. Another week passed and some more minor work was done. This time however, no paint could cover up their shoddy work. To this point nothing has been done about it and I'm beyond frustrated.

Long and short - on Friday (the 17th), I had the window company coming in to replace a broken window pane (from ice fall) and in that time I asked Mattamy if they could have someone come in to see the poor work done by the tile company (3rd time they were there, and yet again they broke another tile and never reported it). I also advised of a plumbing back up in my powder room. Mattamy rep scheduled manager and workers to come from 12-4; so my dad left my mom for just what he thought was those 4 hours to wait for them to show. Did they? NO! They didn't even call or email to advise they weren't.

During that time, my powder room toilet also overflowed and leaked onto my carpet. My dad had to call the emergency plumber but that took another 2 hours before anything could be done. So what was supposed to be a simple review of the bad work done by the tile guys and properly unclog my toilet turned into a 7 hour ordeal for my dad.

Needless to say both of us are irritated at this lack of respect on their part and I'm in the current process of trying to send communication to Mattamy but also in contact with Tarion in order to find out what I can do about the tile people always damaging my tiles and never reporting it.

This is suppsoed to be a festive and joyous time for me in my very first home and hosting my first family Christmas but I sometimes find this to be too overwhelming to be thrilled with everything. I wish I could say my home buying experience with Mattamy has gone over smoothly but alas I am left with a bitter taste in my mouth and while I'm not suffering from actual home buyers remorse I am experience home buyers anger from this company.

One week down, 51 one more to go

I've made it to my first week in the house. Though technically I did take possession on the 14th of this month I really didn't move in or have my first sleep there until the next night, which makes today 1 week.

I survived!! I didn't have any serious mental break downs, the house didn't catch on fire, I didn't do any real take out, I managed as an adult.

I of course assumed that by this point I would have the house fully decorated, everything sorted through and be taking billions of pictures and showing everyone around my nicely decorated house. Well, you know what they say about assuming...yeah, I am one.

I basically have the living room set up (though I am just awaiting delivery of my new love seat on Thursday) and my master bedroom. Granted my closet has yet to be organized, but there's a door on it so very easy to not show anyone that. I didn't think it would take this much effort, energy and time to go through all my belongings. The scary thing is I think even once I go through the remaining 10 boxes and 3 big garbage bags of stuff, that my parents will have more at their house once they do the remaining of their purging (their biggest was me moving back out).

So for the time being no photos, hopefully once I have it less looking like a tornado went through and more looking like someone actually lives there, I will be able to share the beauty of my biggest milestone to date.

My biggest purchase to do and soon - barstools. For the life of me I cannot find any that I like or have what I want, I never knew it would be that hard to find good barstools, I'm running out of ideas where to look. Suggestions are much welcomed!!

Today is the day

To quote the Smashing Pumpkins (showing my age)

Today is the greatest
Day I ’ve ever kown
Can’t live for tomorrow
Tomorrow’s much too long

My house officially closes today! I am right on time, no delays, no new moving days, just right on time! Sometime this afternoon I will be picking up my keys and be an official first time home owner.

I have mostly gotten over my fear of it, I admittedly spent most of last night in a funk, crying, moaping, mostly due to realization not only am I growing up, but that I will own the biggest thing in my life, and I did it on my own.

I unfortunately am not able to really move in until tomorrow, but I will try and get some smaller items over if I can, just to ease the amount the movers themselves have to bring. Somehow, I said three bedrooms worth of stuff, but I think I have enough for five bedrooms worth. My parents poor living room is crammed with stuff, the basement is just filled with stuff and even the back sun room has other things, I hope there is enough room in their moving van for all of it.

While I had hoped to try and relax and enjoy my weekend, I have a feeling it will be spent unpacking and organizing. I am making a mandatory stop to Costco on the Saturday to load up on some much needed food, Sunday will probably be spent grocery shopping also, though nothing major as I thankfully do not work until possibly the Wednesday.

I have a home inspector showing up on Tuesday to go over my house, note down things for my 30 day list, be interesting to see what he finds, or thinks of what I've found.

An update to come

Ok,
While I have neglected this a little I have also been having access issues where I could see other people's blogs but never access my own. Of course as a result there have been many updates done to the house.

SO many so I think I actually forget them all. Plenty of pictures have been taken and will all be uploaded (through Facebook account) for all to see the progress. It's really shocking to believe in just over one month I will be living in my own house!

Due to that I need to really bare down and start prepping myself. I have been getting my mortgage ready (I'm sticking with original bank approval but I am fighting tooth and nail to get the lowest rate until my first payment is due!); I've actually managed to currently drop my rate by over 0.44%, which is HUGE. I now have to get packing started because I do admittedly procrastinate so I hate to wait until the week before (which is Turkey Weekend) to pack. Fortunately for me I never fully unpacked when I moved back to my parents, so I really just need to gather the stuff I'm not using as of now and put it away. Things like my computer and my TV can be done the night before I close as I still use them up until then.

Regarding the house, they are just finishing the installation of my cabinets and countertops. I do like all the colours, I think I made good choices, however I need to talk to my CCR about the installation. I do fully admit I know absolutely nothing of installing cabinets but I do know what level is and what appearance is and they all fail on both parts.
The kitchen cabinets aren't level, they all have gaps between the doors so you can even see through into the cabinet (that shouldn't look that way), and even some don't close or open properly. I know Mattamy will tell me that I can just bring that issue up @ my PDI (in Oct) but if the installers are there now (working on mine and other house) why not have them deal with it now instead of later???

And there there were walls

It has been some time since I last posted but it has been worth the wait. I now present to you my house. Words cannot describe how I felt when I saw it on Friday.

Brief mention of what happened. Last week I went out to the house and noticed there were piles of wood behind my house and yes, they were mine (the spray painted number on the side confirmed it)


Yes I'm just a little excited.

Then I went back this week thinking maybe I would have a floor, but it was so much more. I will let these pictures honestly speak for themselves. I was on the verge of some happy tears.

My dad walked in first, thankfully he was wearing his Mattamy hat, so the guys must of thought he was showing me around?


View of my entrance/hallway from Kitchen


This is where my wonderful kitchen will go


This is where my living room will be (or Great Room as they call it)


Back view of my house, nice big window in living and patio door at kitchen


Last but not least, my garage


Overall I am thrilled with the progress. I thought for sure my house would be no where near this stage since it's only the start of May and I'm also the "firebreaker" house which made me thought mine would be last at this stage. Perhaps they have to start mine to then work on everyone else's? As of now it seems far ahead of schedule, but I'm hoping this bad weather will slow them a little (more time for more money)

Here's to next week?

Waterproofed

Apologies for the delay in posting, but I haven't found much yet worth really posting.
I have been obssessive and continously visited my lot every chance I get (whether I should be there or not) but have only managed to twice get pictures. I am really trying to keep to this "every friday" I agreed, so maybe if I do stick to that I should actually have updates every weekend.

As last reported I had footings, well since that visit (I think it was the 23rd visit at this point), I noticed I had foundation walls for my basement! And then again this Friday my dad and I went (after a wonderful dinner at Mucho Burrito) and noticed that I had the membranes up on the sides of my basement exterior walls. How is it that rubber makes me excited (and thankfully not in some S&M way). I fearlously decided to try and climb the tallest dirt pile to try and get a shot of my basement layout (determine where they are putting my plumbing down there in order to think of a future layout).

I went again last night to show my mom what we saw on Friday and when we drove through we actually noticed that the dirt piles were gone in front of my house. Where did they go? Well seems to me they have backfiled a bit, which is really good news! Hoepfully by this Friday they will have done more than just backfiling, but photos will only tell.

Have a peak see below for the progress that has happened. I'm anxious to see how my mom makes her little scrapbook for all this.


The foundation is being revealed to me, it was like a Christmas gift I didn't have to open


Side view of my foundation walls up


View of the difference in window sizes, as I opted for rec-room ready my windows are bigger than my neighbours who didn't upgrade their basement


Overall view of membrane on front and garage, here you can see what looks like maybe some sort of conduit at the back corner of the house, could that be my bathroom?? Or jsut for electricity? (I don't know my conduits)


Side view of the membrane

Fully Furnished

On Sunday there was a special event at The Brick for Mattamy Home Buyers. They called it a VIP event where there would be snacks, chance to chat with Mattamy, and great deals on stuff in the store. I figured I should go because I know there are some furnishings for the house I will need.

There were quite a few people in there as well as many a representative. Someone was always coming up to us (my mom, aunt and I) to try and help us out. We met one sales rep Nathan, who very politely greeted all of us, and explained everything in regards to the sales (28% off individual items and 15% of sets). He asked what I was looking at finding and we started off with bedroom. I admit I'm pretty picky to my tastes of items, or I'm not confident in my design choices so I always looked to my mom or aunt for advise. Nathan however was really good in not only listening but finding things I liked. After 2 hours we had finally gone through the entire store (several times) and I wound up furnishing my entire place. Below are the pictures of everything I got that night.

One great thing to mention is that through the entire night Nathan kept with us but also when we told him go off and find someone else who you can get as a customer, he would always return (perhaps they had a rep or he knew he was going to make a sale). He was extremely patient with my constant flip flopping between items but at the end of the day he did everything he could to get me a better deal which I really appreciated (as did my credit card).

Oh, another great thing was I wasn't obligated. Yes, I had to put a 10% down-payment for the stuff I did get, but I could back out anytime I wanted (before closing) without being penalized and I would get a full refund of my down-payment. Also if I changed my mind about an item, wanting to remove it or change to another one, I also could do so without issue.

So here are my choices, by room, certainly not everyone's taste but somehow I think it fits me and fits my style of house:


My bedroom set - Louis Phillipe Cherrywood Sleigh Bed 6pc (headboard, railings, footboard, night-stand, dresser, mirror). I am going to try and take out the mirror and ask to swap it for another night-stand instead (they are same cost) as I am not a fan of mirrors facing the bed.


TV stand for bedroom - again part of the Louis Phillipe set (only have pic in black though). I was going to put this in my bedroom so I could watch TV but now I have decided to get rid of this as I don't have another TV or cable box as well, best not to watch TV in bed if I can help it.


I opted to get the bedspread ensemble that is originally seen on the bed set, something about it just appealed to me, like it was calling my name.


These are the two couches I got for my living room (or great room as they call it). One is 3 seater the other a love seat. Normally I would have gotten a reclining one (I am partial to those) but it just didn't flow in the room and I thought this was better match overall to my cupboard choices and flooring etc.



I got an area rug to put over my rug in great room. I found this rug to be pretty bold (for me) but I think it will really pick up the colours from my couches, my TV stand (already owned) and my entire house.


For my dinning room I went with a sideboard(hutch), something about this one appealed to me. After purchase though I started to realise not only the cost of it was way too much but also it doesn't match my dinning room table/chair set from Ikea. So it's to be returned now and I will be getting the matching one from Ikea.


This one matches my dinning room table


And last but not least, I got a washer/dryer combo. I really wasn't expecting to, but this was a good price, it's a good brand, and a nice colour. If I see another combo I like instead of this one for the same price I can just swap it too so it's really win/win for me.



So now that all my shopping is done I am basically stress free. My biggest focus will now be to find coordinating items for every room, starting with my bathrooms. In my spare time I will do this along with visiting my lot when I can.

It's Official

On Monday I got the offical word that construction has begun on my house. I of course was already well aware of this as on the weekend we drove by to see if that in fact had happened.



This nice picture though not only makes it real but makes it really ahead of schedule. While earlier closing would be great, I'm actually becoming more happy for a delayed closing as it would give me so much more time to save even more money.

On a down note, I found out that I will not be having a Mattamy U session. According to my CCR K, she told me that since Fairwinds has closed it's doors there are very few new home buyers left, therefore it did not seem beneficial to host a Mattamy U. It is a little disappointing as I was really looking forward to meeting my neighbours before move in. On the BuildingHomes forum we might try and set something up to meet, which is even more beneficial for me as I need to make really nice with my adjoined neighbour (I want to fence in the future and having my neighbours OK makes it easier).

And the construction begins

Yes, you're reading right. If you are as surprised as I am raise your hand *raises hand*

My house isn't supposed to close until October 14, at which time they told me the contruction would commence in June.

I had heard some talk on the BuildingHomes forums that they were progressing on my street and having driven by it several times I thought I had seen homes going up.

So my parents, aunt and I swung out to Kanata to have a peak to see if there was in fact any progress. Approaching my lot I saw a lot of my neighbours homes already built (exterior built) and I wondered when was their closing dates. I can honestly say I didn't expect much if anything, it's only end of March, still 2.5 months away til start of construction.

As we figured out which lots were which (it did seem different from the lot map I remembered) I found my home. And what I found was more than I ever expected.

I will let the pictures speak for what I have

Footings!


Here you can see the spacing that I will have between my lot (end unit) and my neighbours, lot premium!


Me freezing my ass off in front of the lots


So based on all that I see on my lot and based on my calculation, at this point it appears I am about 12 weeks ahead of schedule. Part of me is really happy about that because it means I can get my house sooner rather than later, which means less burden on my parents. Another part of me is trying to be calm about it and think it would be nicer to save longer for my mortgage. The last part of me is skeptical and thinks they will be delayed.

I now plan to visit every weekend that I can, especially to track progress with the camera. I think my parents will be going when they can, but obviously not to obstruct any work that is being done. My biggest thing to watch for is when they build my porch, I have to make sure that they build it per my new agreement with my CCR and not the original specifications.

Overall, I had a really good Saturday!

All's Quiet on the Western Front

Nothing new happening with the house. From what I've heard over on the message boards though, it does look like my lot may have been dug out, so if true, I will try and head over there briefly this weekend with my parents to snap a photo of said dug up lot.

I've been keeping myself busy (and not focusing on house issues, e.g. furniture, mortgages, etc) by doing some family research. I've always been curious as to where my grandparents (maternal and paternal) families derive from. So my mom and I joined Ancestry.ca and have managed to successfully make a family tree for her parents side. I've made a tree for my paternal Nana (I've actually dated it back to 955 France) but it's his dad's side that I can't get anything out of. The investigator in me will find something!

Other than the lack of non content for this blog, I'm 75% everything moved back into my parents. March 31 is the last day to be out of the apartment by, thankfully we have everything major over @ my parents. The only big thing would be my dinning room table and chairs. I'm giving away my two couches to my friend's dad, and the rest is actually just clothes. Bags, and bags and more bags of clothes. My goal while I'm at my parents is to sort through all of it, so that when my move date is around, I will be clothes organized!

Now I'm off to try and relax for the rest of the night, I've hurt my back real bad so I've been very limited in the things I do (and I'm still trying to work...though at this moment, everything is just kind of disorienting to me...note to self, don't mix drugs and work)

Let the packing and moving commence

As mentioned earlier, until my new home is built, my parents have generously allowed me to crash back in my old bedroom. While it might not be the most ideal situation for any adult, it is the most economical and that matters more to me than what anyone might think.

Normally I would have a lot more packed up in my apartment and brought over to my parents, as I have to be out of that apartment by March 31, and being me, I would totally put it all off til March 29-30 (that's how I roll). We have been trying to get my parents rooms all cleaned out and organized for my return, as I might have left with some stuff but seem to be returning with more, that includes a new pet.

Bella (my cat) has actually been staying at my parents since Christmas, this has allowed her plenty of time to adjust to my parents dogs (whom I actually would have believed would have killed and eaten her) so now it's just for me to adjust being back there. My dad has been feverishly working on getting my old room back to how it used to be (e.g. cleaned out and ready for my designing). We upgraded the ceiling to make it more soundproof and solid, one request I had since I would be putting my entertainment unit in my room now.

This weekend, while mom was away my dad and I got my double bed moved over (the Queen will have to wait until end of the month). We were able to get the mattress itself in the van, but the box spring had to go on the top which I got to bungee down. Task one - check.

Sunday was move over my entertainment stand with TV and systems. We were thankfully able to take the stand apart and move it in an easier fashion. Only have one minor injury to claim, when we loaded the base into the elevator it tipped the wrong way towards me and pinned my thumb against the elevator railing - just bruised! So last night I got to sleep over on my comfy bed and watch my nice TV in my old room - felt as if I'd never been gone(even Emma [dog] felt that way when she jumped on the bed with me for a quick snuggle - just like old times)!

Once I have my temporary room set up and decorated as I would like, I will put up some pictures.

Appliances purchased!

I forgot to update this after having selected my appliances for the house. Better late than never!

I had originally decided to stay with the standards that Mattamy provides, since I was updating my hood fan to black I would just advise them at The Brick that I would pick black. We went there early Feb. to have a look see, but I was informed that they had actually loaned out the standards, so I have no idea what they actually looked like. Disappointed I walked around a bit, just pipe dreaming of what I could eventually get for myself. Stumbling into Appliances I saw some big sales, I enquired from Melis what I would be looking at cost wise if I were to upgrade from standard. He gave me a breakdown of the ones I was leaning on possibly upgrading to.

I thought on it til the very last day of the sale, and opted to just go with the upgrade. Yes, shame, I spent more money again. Here are the upgrades I picked, I know they aren't stainless and that's actually easier for me, less smudges, etc, but I think they should still go with my black hood fan (at least more so than a white one).

Frigidaire 18cf Silver Mist, Energy Star


Frigidaire Free-Standing Self-Clean Range w/Ceran Top - Silver Mist


Frigidaire Undercounter Dishwasher - Silver Mist - Energy Star


Overall, I'm happy with my starter upgrade choices, I can always build up from there in my future. I think these appliances will flow nicely with the modern look of my kitchen, to be seen of course!

One nice thing about having bought these, while it did cost me money, I don't actually have to pay until 45 days before my closing, so that gives me plenty of time to save the cost for them, and since I'm already saving all my money, I can save some for both mortgage and appliances.

Update to house

So looks like some good news is coming my way for the house. No not early closing or lower prices, that wouldn't be good news, that would be insane news.

I think like many people who bought the Fernwater Elevation B, we discovered that the porch layout was incorrect to what we all saw on the floor plans and at the model home in HMB.

This is how the porch is to look with my elevation B(this was from Fernwater@HMB blog)


This is what I, like many was expecting:


I felt like the porch layout I was getting is not very practical, very difficult to move items into your house, why are the stairs off set, who would think of that...so I wrote a letter to the Customer Care people enquiring if this could be changed to be accomodate myself (for the move) and my family members (and senior ones).

After almost a month (but continuous emails to follow up to let me know I was not being ignored - which I appreciated), I got the final verdict. They will accomodate me it seems and change me over to the correct porch layour (the one seen @ the model home in HMB).

My only thing to confirm is for sure is that they aren't going to change me to an Elevation A (as it seems all Elevation A's get that layout). If they are, then they would owe me a refund as that elevation is $2,000 cheaper than what I paid. Waiting to hear back but this was some very good news for my crappy week.

Now off to finalze the order of my appliances from The Brick....there's a big sale and this price ends Sunday!

Design Centre complete!

Ok, a slight lapse in between my posts, but this is the first time there has been any progress in my home.

This morning I had my DC appointment with Erin. The days and weeks leading up to this appointment had me going through a huge range of emotions. I was everything from excited, to anxious, to bitchy (sorry mom), to unhappy, to extreme calm last night and this morning.

After my first visit to the DC to get my choices picked, I swore I wouldn't go back and change anything because I was happy with everything I picked. I just had to focus on picking my options from the catalogue. Of course, the very next week I went back to the DC and spent another 3 hours changing almost all my choices again, but this time I did stick to my guns and did not go back and change anything.

Since that time, I used my downtime @ work to go through that catalogue and write out what I wanted and what I wanted for my townhome. I incorporated the $5000 bonus from Mattamy and came out about $200 over budget. THRILLED!!

So now the big day this morning, my parents thankfully accompanied me. Erin did the whole run through of the house, letting me know where the lights and plugs were, and made suggestions when I wavered on where I wanted to put the pendant lights for my island bar. After all the catalogue selections were made we moved on to the design choices. Unfortunately, like a tool, I forgot my book in which I had written all the codes for my choices, so I had to go by memory. Thankfully, we were 98% on with the original choices. Erin was a big help in helping me match the ceramic floors to my cabinets....yes, I opted for ceramic. Not originally part of my plan (I only had the kitchen and foyer) but in the end I'm really glad I did it, as it can consume some time and be messy having it done afterwards.

This is overall of my selection. At the top you have my chocolate pear kitchen cabinet, with the almond faux glaze counter top, the brushed nickel handles for all drawers. The coffee hardwood floor is just the stain that will be done to my railing (for eventual laminate on main floor). Below that is the carpet choice for the floors, followed by the ceramic floor for all wet rooms. The vinyl is for the laundry room, I didn't bother to change that as the door will always be closed. At the bottom is the cabinet choice and counter top choice for both bathrooms. I opted for the bisque look and slate counter top. Then is the ceramic for the bath and shower.




This a closer look at my kitchen choices


And a closer (little blurry) look at my bathroom choices


So at the end of the DC appointment, I got my grand total. Hoping I wasn't too far off, I knew I would be paying a little out of pocket. In the end I was over a little more than I anticipated, but these are things I'm going to be really happy I picked. They will help with the eventual resale in my future as it's all neutral for the next person (of course 5-10yrs from now neutral might be too passé).

Now to find out if I will be affected by Mr. Flaherty's new mortgage requirements, as I don't close til October I hope I wont be affected. I read about the nixing of 35yrs amortization (which is what I have) so here's to no life for the next 8 months so I can save double what I originally planned.

Design Centre 101

I made my first stop in at the Design Centre in Barrhaven yesterday with mom and dad to get an idea of what the standards are and maybe ideas of upgrades (given they fit into my $5k freebie budget).

Took another run through the Fernwater model to see what they had and how it was set up (gives me an idea of how I would decor...ok really how my mom would decorate). Of course the model home is top of the line upgrades for everything, so I had to take that into consideration when I went back to the DC to start picking out items.

I have to say first off I am actually very surprised at the quality level of the Standards. Usually when you think of standards you think of the cheaper quality products and of course to get nicer products you will have to pay too much to upgrade. Not so in this case. Most of the products I went through all appealed to me and I wasn't even considering upgrading anything. The faucets are all Moen's which is very well known and quality products. My mom told me they had to save a long time to get Moen.

After 3 hours of choosing what I liked in the Standards, I felt pretty satisfied, but of course I will be going back next weekend because now I'm starting to rethink. I picked the same cabinets for now because I don't know what the cost would be to upgrade just for the bathrooms. Seeing as how they are only 3 cabinets really for each bathroom, it might not be that expensive to upgrade for each one, just to create a real uniqueness to each room.

Both women in the DC were very friendly and helpful, even at one point looked over some of my choices and agreed or suggested something (I don't know how much to take the agreements, seeing as how they really don't care what I pick or not...it's more about did I drop $ for upgrades).

Here are a few of my choices that I'm going with - sorry about full colour view, didn't find lighting that great..and let's admit my photo taking abilities suck. This is also just my first run through so choices may change as time goes on.

These are the standard faucets that come for all the rooms, Moens. (The only one I don't get is the second one on the left side, it's for an oasis bathroom, which I don't have)


This is my current choice for kitchen counter tops. It's traditional Travertine.


This is my choice for the kitchen cupboards and with the Travertine. I have currently picked the Chocolate coloured ones, I think I will stick with this for the kitchen (probably too $$ to upgrade the entire kitchen anyhow).



This is the draw and cabinet selection for the kitchen, it's a brushed nickel look, again, standard.



This is what my main and ensuite bathroom will be, the flooring is pretty much the only thing to stay the way it is. I chose Palazzo Vinyl. The cabinets are the same as the kitchen and for now I picked the Natural Canvas for the counter tops.

Witha little help from my...online contacts

So thanks to the generosity of many people on Building Homes I was able to get some info about the Design Centre.

While information will certainly have changed over the course of even months, the information gives me a good idea what to expect and boy is it shocking. Makes me wonder if that $5000 bonus signing was really even worth it...then again it's $5000 less that I would have to pay to get extra sockets, or cables, or a pantry. What gets me though is the overall cost of things, you can really tell someone is pocketing a little extra money.

Without even picking things I would "wish" for, I know that basic stuff like crown moulding, chair railing, new floors, etc that can all be stuff I do on my own and I will know it's done right...I might just stick to basic upgrades that will really help resale. Since I focused so much on the upgrade kitchen (before the design centre) I will probably invest my $5k into there, but with what...well who knows...time to read a little to maybe narrow down what I like...and then on the weekend visit the DC to get a feel for their products.

Anxiety??

I gather this to be part of the new homebuyers experience, but since signing for the home on Saturday I cannot seem to get a restful sleep. It's like my brain goes beyond not shutting off. Normally my brain takes a while but eventually just stops, but I just can't seem to calm myself before sleeping.
Funny thing is I'm not even thinking about the house....I don't even know if all the reality of it has set in yet...

Today my papers get dropped off at the lawyer for review, some minor changes to be made, and I have to contact the bank (or they will contact me?) - I'm probably going to stick with RBC as my parents bought two houses through them and they have mentioned they will try and do a better rate because of them (wow, they really care that I haven't been with them since I was a Leo the Lion card holder back in 1995?)

I do have to say, reading through someone elses blog experience has really helped me to understand a bit more and just gives me some ideas decorating wise. I've been reading his blog - great read and some great pics on his design.

Signing off for now (maybe I should be working...maybe...)

Deciding to buy a townhouse

So one might be wondering how did I come to the decision to buy a townhouse and why did I buy that model.

Well, the simple fact was I couldn't live in my apartment anymore my parents were generously offering me the option of taking my old bedroom back and saving more so that in 2-3 years I could buy a home. Why couldn't I live in my apartment you ask? Nothing due to financials (thankfully) but I have been going through multiple infestations in my apartment (I rent a 2bed @ Parkwood Hills West from Minto), and needless to say it was 3 too many....and the way Minto was addressing it just irked me (ok, maybe I expect perfection). So in October I was casually looking at different builders and floorplans just to get an idea of what I might eventually like while I'm saving up at my parents (don't forget this is still 2-3 years away this purchase).

Christmas was fast approaching and the infestation wasn't clearing up (even after treatments) and now I started to feel I was really encroaching on my parents (just staying there few days a week), I thought there had to be a quicker way I could get my own place without having to burden them (they dealt with me long enough, last thing they would need was me back again). I started to do more research and kept coming across Mattamy Homes and then my friends (and neighbours) informed me they had just purchased a Mattamy, so I thought I would look a little more into it. My parents and I started looking at the different layouts and saying which looked best etc...we finally made the trip up to Half Moon Bay to see the model homes.

They have the Fernwater and the Maplefield, both are end units (though you can get the Fernwater as an interior unit). Walking through the Maplefield I thought it was a nice feel but it felt too big just for me, and I personally didn't like the layout that they had. We went into the Fernwater and even just as soon as walking through the Foyer entrance it felt welcoming, and then of course I spotted what I have always wanted in my own home, an island. Needless to say the model homes are completely done up to a standard that only someone incredibly rich (or maybe someone just willing to invest that much) would get.

Over the next two weeks I kept wondering if the Fernwater would be right for me, while had everything I basically wanted and it felt like home, it was a fairly costly investment. So I started to look at the smaller models and try and narrow it down between them (but still keep the Fernwater on the table, just in case). I started to look at the Eastland and the Devonshire, both had things I liked and disliked but somehow I kept always coming back to the Fernwater. I got the price list from both HMB and from Fairwinds in Kanata, both happened to have end units (and FW also had an interior unit).

On Friday after much sit downs and talks with my parents I knew I was going with the Fernwater, but now I didn't know if I was going to Barrhaven or to Kanata. There are decisions in that as well, while Barrhaven has greater resale value, Kanata is cheaper. After spending time discussing the pros and cons, I settled on Kanata, they also happened to offer a $5000 bonus upgrade in designs, so that was extra money in my pocket in the sense that I could put a little bit into the home without spending money up front.

January 16, 2010 I went to Kanata and signed for the Fernwater End Unit (premium lot) and I got lot 30-1. The current closing date (barring any delays) will be October 14, 2010 - only 9 months away (well 8 months and 28 days).

Nothing had actually set in until I was going to sleep (unfortunately not a very restful one) and then some of the anxiety and stress of buying a house kicked in this morning. The normal worries of financing, budgeting for the future, what options to get, furniture, etc....but I have to just take this one day at a time. Perhaps this blog will help me in expressing everything and be able to deal better.

My First Post

As the title would say this is my first blog post (actually this is my first ever blog really).

I have decided to do my best in detailing my experiences with the purchase of my first home. I hope to be dedicated to this and write every little detailed experience. I think it will not only keep a good memory for me (might help me to learn what to do and not do for my next home buying experience) but also might help in sharing with others (or learning).

So I hope you enjoy my blogs (I might not have the dry wit for a perfect blogger, but I will do my best) and please feel free to leave comments or suggestions.