Housing Update

The fact that we have been homeless from the time we landed has been wearing on us. Even as we were enjoying our summer of travels to see friends and family across Europe and North America in the back of our minds we knew that we needed to work on housing. For better or worse we began looking in earnest in August and our target area has been Kitchener, Ontario.

After our daughters were given the green light to attend Rockway (after a wonderful afternoon visit with admissions person Tom Bileski and principal Betsy Petker) it became clear that Kitchener would be the focus of our attention over the next 6 years. Wanda has a job in the city and I hope to find work here as well. So now it was time to look for houses.

Those who have house hunted before know that it is hard work, physically and emotionally. We went through up to a dozen houses physically and hundreds online before Wanda found one in the classifieds in the local newspaper. It was a house in the Forest Heights area of town on McGarry Drive. We arranged through our realtor to go see it. The previous day had been a fiasco with the girls who were so disappointed with the houses we saw (us too) so Wanda and I went without them. When we arrived at 153 McGarry the thing that set this house apart on the outside was the well kept perennial garden and the arched frame to the door. A good beginning. Then the look inside.

Opening the front door I immediately noticed the staircase right in front. There were rooms on the left and right and a short hallway to the back of the house. Every room (except the kitchen) was carpeted, including the basement rooms. There were mirrors every where. And everything in the house was dated 30 to 40 years back. The house was built in 1971 so no surprise there but it was surprising that nothing had been updated.

However we were struck by the solid character of the house. Old but in good working order seemed to be the phrase we said over and over again. The carpets would need to go but there was solid hardwood under the carpets. The windows would need to be replaced but they still functioned. So did the sliding doors for the closet. I liked the idea of an ensuite bathroom and we knew that our daughters would like the idea of each having a bedroom. The basement was was listed as 'finished', a generous description but there was some liveable space. The bathrooms and kitchen most needed updating but it was all doable, hopefully by amateur home remodelers (like ourselves).

The backyard was also maintained as a garden space, again I was happy to see flowers, plants and trees in the small space. The garage acts as a storage shed which isn't so bad but unfortunately our vehicles will have to brave the cold Ontario winters (as will we).

There were some important upgrades to the house; a new furnace, new chimney, new roof; all good solid upgrades. Some leaks and cracks were fixed but we may have to get back to that.

We took the girls back the next day and as they toured the house they would circle back to say, I really like this house, I really want to live here. Abby has her own way of coping with things she really wishes for; she becomes grumpy and angry. I'm learning this. When I asked why she was so grumpy she said it was because she wanted the house so badly that she would be crushed if we didn't get it and so she was mad that she was caring so much for it! A new way to express desire.

We then told our realtor, Evelyn, that we would like to submit an offer to the seller. So we all went over to the realty office to draw up the papers. It was there we found out, from the realtor listing the property, that another party was planning on coming in that day for a second look. The owner (likely being counselled by her realtor) did not want to accept our offer until the next day. So we waited until Saturday.

We drove first to our realtor's office Saturday morning where several changes were made to the offer. We had initially planned to offer $12,000 less than the listing price because of the history of the neighbourhood (a number of homes had ended up being sold for less than the asking price) as well as the money we would have to put in the house after purchase. But with the other buyer we upped our bid by $10,000. Now we were close to the asking price. We also heard that the seller wanted until the end of September to stay in the house so we said ok. Finally our realtor advised us to drop as many conditions as we could so we dropped all of them but financing. Then we went to the other realtor's office.

To our surprise the seller was in the adjacent room. I got a glimpse of her but we didn't greet each other. We stayed with our realtor, Evelyn, in the room next door making small talk. Ian, the seller's realtor, wasn't there yet. Finally he arrived and invited Evelyn into the other room to meet the seller, then on the spur of the moment, he invited us in too. We were introduced to each other. Evelyn introduced us as returning missionaries with 3 daughters who loved the seller's home, especially the 3 bedrooms that they would each have! We all smiled at the impetuousness of youth. Then we began to review our offer.

After the review, Ian and the seller went upstairs to review the other offer while we waited again. By now we were pretty sure our offer was not going to make it in this hot housing market. Surely the other party would offer more. And when Ian came down again with the answer we found out that indeed the other party did offer $3000 more than us, just above the listing price. But what was significant was that the seller was willing to entertain a counteroffer from us. Perhaps $2000 more and a push back of the closing date to October 4? Also the appliances stay? Surprised and gratified, we quickly reviewed our position and agreed to the counteroffer. Shortly thereafter the seller accepted.

There was much rejoicing in the room with Wanda and Evelyn and myself. Wanda called her sister and our girls found out, more loud rejoicing. Now we need to get that funding squared away, a lawyer to transact our business for us and an insurance company that will insure our house. But for the moment we rejoiced.

The post-game analysis was fun because we won our home. One thing we have learned in bidding on houses is that if one can convey one's story to the selling party, it may help in the sale. Three times we believe it has done exactly that; our first house at 809 Market in Scottdale, our 2^nd house at 1 Woodcroft in St. Catharines and now at 153 McGarry. In each case our situation was conveyed either by letter or verbally by the realtor. I think that people would rather hear about a family coming in and loving the house to live in over some person wanting to simply 'flip' the house after major renovations. We wouldn't be able to prove that this method worked but anecdotally we heard evidence in all three cases that strongly suggested this was the case.

And so now we wait (im)patiently for October 4, making do until then with preparations and details.