Fernwater in Kanata

So, I found someone on the forums at buildinghomes.ca who moved into a Fernwater end unit in October. Pictures of the house was posted in this thread. I've been communicating and was invited over to see the house firsthand. What nice people there are out there.

It was very exciting to see the house in person. I still love the layout. But I really need to control the excitement as my house won't be ready for another 7 months! And my foundation has not been poured yet so I'm beginning to worry that I may be delayed.

Another step closer

Woohoo! Got an email from Mattamy asking me to schedule my first design centre appointment. I've booked for January 6th, 2009 at 1pm. They also sent the design centre catalogues. I already had managed to get them from my friend but this one is official. :) A quick glance and looks like the prices haven't changed.

One thing I did notice is that Mattamy requires you to pay at least 35% of the total upgrade costs upfront. Apparently they have changed their policy as it used to be that you only had to pay for 10% of the total cost of your upgrades over $20k. Not happy with this but not much I can do.

At the first design appointment, I will be deciding on:

1. Phone & cable outlet locations (3 phone & 2 cable are standard)
2. All selections from the “Design Options” section of the catalogue
3. Kitchen layout options
4. Stairs & Railings
5. “Architect’s Choice” options available after sale

Street is signed!

Woo hoo! My street has its sign!

Foundation this year?

I'm not sure if they can pour foundations in the winter time in freezing temperatures. It seems that it can be done but I must say I'm a bit worried that it wouldn't cure properly. I'm sure it's been done before. Anyway, I emailed my "insider" and she told me that it's likely they will pour my foundation before the winter freeze and they will cap it.

Future Neighbours

I've been reading the forums at buildinghomes.ca. I found a few people on there who will be living very close to me in a townhome. I'm sure that by the time we're all moved in, we will have shared so much information with each other. Gotta love how far technology has advanced allowing people to communicate with each other. So far, I get the sense that there will be some very nice people in my neighbourhood.

First site visit

So I drove out to HMB over the weekend and walked around the site. I could only drive so far in along Cambrian Road so then I just got out and walked. They appear to be servicing the land and I'm pretty sure I figured out where my lot will be. Not much to see but still exciting nonetheless thinking that my home will be built there.

I've set up a site where I am uploading all the pictures that I'm taking. Linky

Facebook

I discovered that there is a Facebook group for Half Moon Bay people. Shocking isn't it? :)

The group is called "Ottawa Half Moon Bay Mattamy (Barrhaven)" and you need to request permission to join.

Catalogues

Well, I'm fortunate enough to know a couple people who work at Mattamy and they were able to get me a copy of the design centre catalogues. These basically list out all of the upgrade options available to you. There are two catalogues: maingeneral and model specific.

The general design catalogue lists upgrades for items such as:

• electrical options such as outlets, switches, lighting and other wiring
  
• security packages
• central vac
• HVAC
• plumbing including upgrades to toilets, sinks, showers, etc
• fireplace options

The model specific catalogue gives pricing on items such as:

• flooring (hardwood, ceramic tiling, carpets)
  
• cabinets and vanities
  
• stairs
• kitchen upgrades

I'm so glad I was able to get my hands on these catalogues as it makes it much easier to budget and see how much the upgrades will cost. The design centre located at the sales office is open on the weekends and you can browse around looking at upgrade options. But they don't have the pricing. You can leave them with a list of questions and then they will have someone email you the information later.

I get a $5k credit that I can use towards upgrades from Mattamy. Off the top of my head, I can envision doing the following upgrades:

• hardwood flooring
• upgrading cabinets in kitchen
• getting the executive kitchen layout option
• potlights
• adding additional cable outlets
• ceramic tiling in foyer, bathrooms. I'm not sure if I'll do the kitchen yet

I quickly added up the upgrade costs and I was at $25k! Hahaha...I'll need to revisit that as that's more than I had budgeted. I'm hoping to keep the upgrades to $12-15k. Don't know how well that will go as things add up real fast. Four potlights run almost $900!

Off to sign the papers

Okay, so on a beautiful Saturday morning on July 26th, 2008, I gather up the troops (my daughter and my folks) to head to the Mattamy sales office to sign the papers. Feeling pretty good and excited, I had a big smile as we headed there.

We enter the sales office and find Alan Doak who was one of the sales agents and had been very helpful. I walked over the the little model that they had of the entire HMB community. I pointed out unit 504-2 to my folks and then they noticed that it was directly in front of Foxhound Way (i.e. cars would be driving directly towards that house). Well, my parents being somewhat traditional and following the whole Feng Shui thing, said it was bad luck. They insisted I choose a different lot. When I told them that I did not like the other lots for the reasons I had mentioned in my last blog entry, they still weren't pleased.

At this point, my cheery mood turned into one of stress. Again, not that I'm superstitious or anything but since my parents were helping me out with a few things on the house, I figured they would have a little bit of say in the whole thing. Plus, I could just picture my mom just going on and on and on about it being bad luck and all. I love my mom, I really do, but I can't believe what was happening here.

So, my only other choice that I would be happy with would be going with 505-4 elev B. Everything was good with that lot from my parent's perspective. I just couldn't bring myself to spending another $4k. My parents offered to pay for the extra cost but I didn't want them spending the money either. I went back to the model of the community and stared at it for a long time thinking it over.

After about an hour of deep thought, I simply picked up my daughter (then 4 years old) and carried her over to the area with the floorplans. I pointed at the pictures of the Fernwater houseplan and said to her "do you like A? Or do you like B?". She being very chipper that morning said in a cheery voice "B!". And that's how I ended up choosing 505-4.

Which lot???

Now that I'm in love with the Fernwater townhome, it's time to choose a lot. The lots available were: 503-2 (int), 504-2 (int), 504-6 (end), 505-4 (int), 512-1 (end), 512-6 (end). In my numerous trips out to the sales office and also from a couple of people that I know who work at Mattamy, I found out following information:

• there will be a sidewalk on the north side of Burritts Rapids Place
• air conditioning included for units on Cambrian Rd. (Block 512)
• end units are guaranteed to have some "street furniture" meaning hydro boxes, cable boxes, etc. Won't know exactly how many until later

So, I was tempted by the units on Cambrian Road with the eyebrow street. Cambrian is the main artery road that goes through HMB. I was told that it would be four lanes. So these eyebrow streets is like a sidestreet off Cambrian so that you don't need to back out onto the main road. The units along Cambrian also did not have a $4k lot premium like the others. But after some thought, I decided that I'd prefer not to live off the main road. I think the traffic and noise would bother me.

I decided not to choose 503-2 because it was on the side where there will be a sidewalk. Also, the house will face south meaning not much sun will come through on the main floor since there aren't any windows at the front of the house except for the one in the door and the one in the powder room.

So, it was down to Block 504-2 and 505-4. I had eliminated 504-6 because it was an end unit which meant another $4k on top of the $4k lot premium. Plus the address was 3144 and in Chinese culture, the number 4 is bad luck. Not that I'm superstitious but I would hear no end of it from my folks. For now, I'll just say it was purely to save money. :)

505-4 was elevation B whereas 504-2 was elevation A. All this really means is that elev B has a slightly different exterior. It has more brick on the front and also has three windows instead of two on the second floor. Elevation B costs $4k more. Again, from a financial standpoint, I was leaning towards going with the cheaper house and use that money towards upgrades instead. Done and done. Time to go sign the papers, right? Oh no...

Decision Made: The Fernwater

So after weeks (now late July) of visiting sales centres, model homes and such, I decided on the Fernwater Widelot Townhome from Mattamy. It certainly was a race to the finish line between the Eastland and Fernwater. I knew the first time I laid my eyes on the floorplan that I liked the design and layout of the house. Starting price was reasonable at $234k. The house is 1517 sq.ft. Small enough that it won't break the bank for upkeep and maintenance but still room to grow a little bit in. About the house:

• 3 bedrooms
• master bedroom includes walk-in closet and ensuite (with shower stall)
• open concept main floor
• unfinished basement
• laundry on second floor
• single car garage

There's not really much that I don't like about this house. I'm not sure if I like or dislike the idea of having the laundry on the second floor. For one, it eats into some of the room sizes on the second floor. As mentioned in my Eastland blog entry, the rooms are a bit smaller in the Fernwater. I'm also worried about noise as I generally do laundry at night. But it seems like having the laundry on the second floor is the "in" thing now as seemingly many houses have it on the second floor. It certainly will be convenient not having to lug the laundry basket up and down the stairs.

The other minor gripe is that the master ensuite comes with a shower stall only. It's not as if I take baths but I figured having a nice soaker tub with shower would give the best of both worlds. But now I'm just nitpicking. Or maybe I'm showing my sensitive side?

Let me tell you about how I made my decision. Mattamy, for whatever reason, did not have a single model home of ANY of their widelot townhomes. So, I was constantly staring at the floorplan and trying to visualize the house. About four weeks into the whole researching process, I decided to ask the sales centre if they had actual photos of what the interior looks like. Sure enough, they did! Why they didn't mention that before in the numerous trips that I made there, I'm not quite sure. But I'm an idiot for not asking sooner. Anyway, I glanced through the photos and it just reaffirmed how much I liked the house. But for various reasons, I still held off for a little bit before signing my life away.

Fast forward a few weeks later and a lot of pondering. One Thursday afternoon, I decided that I'd leave work early and go to the sales centre to sign a conditional offer. I had already gotten mortgage pre-approval and found a real estate lawyer. I asked my parents to come along with me. When we got to the sales centre, I asked to see the photos again. Yep, still looked good. But there was something that didn't feel right. It could have been nerves knowing that it's the biggest purchase of my life. So we left the sales centre and decided to drive out to the Mattamy Fairwinds community in Kanata to take a look at what the exterior of the house looks like in real life.

With brochure in hand, we walked around the neighbourhood and identified which houses were the Fernwater. I stood in front of one house thinking things over when the owners, a very nice young couple, came home. I decided to approach them to ask how they like their house. I think they were a bit freaked out when I asked if they lived in a Fernwater but after seeing the brochure in my hand, they were happy to tell me about their whole buying experience. They were very happy with their home. After some more chatting, they invited me into their house. Wow! I couldn't turn down their offer.

As soon as I walked in, it felt right. I saw immediately the ceramic foyer and hardwood flooring. Both are upgrades that I would be doing. They showed me the main floor and then upstairs to all the bedrooms. Throughout the tour, I had this amazing feeling inside of me. It was incredible. I knew this was the house for me. I wish I could remember the couple's name (yes, I'm terrible at remembering names) but if you're reading this, THANK YOU!!

So there you have it. In another entry, I'll tell you about the day I actually went to sign the papers. It was an interesting day also.

Shopping List: Mattamy Eastland

It was a battle between Mattamy's Eastland and Fernwater widelot townhomes. I flip flopped between these two models a lot. This blog entry will talk my likes and dislikes about the Eastland model.

The Eastland fit in nicely to the criteria I was looking for in a house:

• not too big and not too small at 1411 sq ft;
• master bedroom had its own ensuite;
• walk-in closet in master bedroom;
  
• garage;
• unfinished basement; and
• price (starting at $225k)

This was a great start. I figure even after upgrades, I should be well under the $250k max budget I had given myself. I really like the layout of the second floor. All three bedrooms are quite spacious. In fact, the master bedroom is actually bigger in the Eastland than the Fernwater. I liked how bedroom 3 (the one that would have been for my daughter) had a little window seat.

The main floor is quite open. Overall, the layout wasn't bad at all. The "eat-in" kitchen is a bit on the small side at 8'10" x 12'6". I was trying to figure out where to put a kitchen table. The patio door is located in the kitchen so that sort of limits table placement. In the end, I figured I'd either get a really small breakfast table or just skip the table all together and eat in the dining room at all times. No biggie. Alternatively, Mattamy offers a "Chef's Kitchen" which adds a breakfast bar.

Some other things that I didn't like about the Eastland:

• location of stairs from first floor to second floor. Basically, the stairway is right at the front door entrance. I was thinking how annoying that would be in the winter months if the front entrance is all wet from snow being tracked into the house and having to walk through that just to get upstairs or come downstairs.
  
• no closet at the front foyer. The only closet on the main floor is by the side door. Not very convenient in my opinion. But I would have gotten around it by either installing a wall coat rack or just buying a mini closet from Ikea or something
• garage is on the narrow side. At 9'6" wide, it's about half a foot narrower that most other garages.
  

Despite all of my dislikes, the Eastland was always in the top three on my list (the Claridge Queensby being the third). None of my dislikes was a dealbreaker for me and I could have lived with them. No house is perfect, right? The biggest thing going for the Eastland was its price. At $9k cheaper starting price than the Fernwater, it made it very attractive. In the end, I decided to pony up for the Fernwater. But that story is for another time...

Shopping List: Minto

As mentioned earlier, I had no idea type of house to look for. I originally went to look at the Executive Terrace homes offered by Minto. I have two friends who are buying their Terrace homes. I visited their model homes in Chapman Mills and must say that they were quite nice. I could picture myself living there with my daughter. And the pricing is definitely catered to first time home buyers who don`t need a lot of space. Not that space is even that tiny at approx 1300 sq ft. I liked how each bedroom had their own bathroom. The main floor is also nice and open. I prefer the upper unit but of course it costs a little more. In the end, I decided that I wanted a place with a garage (I like working on cars), a bit of a yard for my daughter and a little extra space to store all my junk.

Now, onto the townhomes. Minto offers two types: Executive Townhomes and Newstyle Townhomes. The Executive Townhomes are slightly bigger sq ft wise but it includes a finished basement. The ensuite also has a nice Roman style tub as well as a separate shower. I visited the models in Chapman Mills which were the Newstyle Townhomes. Keeping to wanting something not too big to keep upkeep costs down (e.g. utilities and property taxes), I focused on the Ellington, Gershwin and Helmsley models.

I actually liked pretty much all of the Minto homes. Some very good friends of mine owned and lived in the Manhattan Executive Townhome up until last year and now have gotten themselves a beautiful Minto single home. I focused on the Gershwin and Helmsley models as their starting price was just within my budget ($250k with upgrades) at mid-230's. The Ellington was sold out at the time but they released another block in early July. However, I found out at the sales centre that the available lots for all models were actually low to mid 240's. I inquired via email so I can only presume that the difference was due to a lot premium.

So, in the end, I had to cross the Minto homes off my list. Minto does not give you any sort of bonus or free upgrades so I would have been way over my budget. Claridge was giving a lot of upgrades included in the price and Mattamy also gives you a $5k credit towards upgrades. Both Claridge and Mattamy also include the base three kitchen appliances. Minto does not give anything. However, if you look at price/sq ft, Minto actually works out to be slightly cheaper. But I didn't want to spend that much on a house total wise. Too bad Minto didn't offer a slightly smaller model at 1400-1500 sq ft. That could have fit the bill.

Shopping List: Claridge Queensby and Bradwell

Claridge was the first builder sales centre I went to in Barrhaven. It wasn’t for any particular reason but rather it just so happened to be the first one I came across as I was driving around. I grabbed a price list and the floorplans and then visited the model homes. Price wise, the Queensby and Bradwell were within my budget. Included in the pricing of the townhomes: finished basement, fireplace, hardwood on main floor, ceramic tiles in front foyer and powder room, two potlights and three kitchen appliances. Claridge also offers 40oz carpeting as their standard. Overall, you probably wouldn’t have to spend as much on upgrades if buying one of their townhomes. The Queensby ended up on my final shopping list but I’ll start my comments with the Bradwell.

Bradwell

The Bradwell at 1745 sq ft is quite nice. I like the layout of the main floor with the winding staircase. Looks very rich. Main floor is open concept and is quite welcoming. I’m not so sure I liked how you have to cut across the living room to get to the staircase to the basement. I have a lot of junk which I imagine will be stored downstairs so it seems a little inconvenient having to navigate through the whole house to get downstairs. The biggest knock against the Bradwell is the second floor. There is only one bathroom so everyone shares it. The master bedroom, while a nice size with a sloped ceiling, did not have a walk-in closet. Just a his and hers closet with sliding doors. The finished basement was nice although I didn’t necessarily want a finished basement. In the end, the lack of a master ensuite and walk-in closet did this model in and I struck it off my list

Queensby

The Queensby at 1620 sq ft is smaller than the Bradwell overall. But this model offers two bathrooms on the second floor AND a walk-in closet. Along with the “freebies” noted above, this seemed like a pretty good buy for the price. So what didn’t I like about it? The main floor seemed a bit tight. There is a wall that separates the kitchen and the living room so there isn’t much of an open concept feeling. The fireplace protrudes from the wall cutting into space even more. The kitchen has a pantry which seems out of place. It’s in the middle of the wall and it’s not very big. The dishwasher opening is right by the sink so you can’t really stand in front of the sink with the dishwasher door open. For me, I usually do a quick rinse of dishes and then transfer them into the dishwasher. Who am I kidding, I usually just pile dishes in the sink and then load them all at once. :)

The second floor layout was fine. Nothing to really fault about it except the vanities in each of the bathrooms were on the small side. I didn’t like the basement layout. The way the walls were laid out and the doors to the furnace room and storage areas didn’t lend itself very well to using it as a home theatre room.

A friend of mine commented that the layout of the main floor didn’t suit me. I like to entertain and it just felt too tight. Something irked her about the layout of the main floor too but she couldn’t put a finger on it. We’ll call it a “je ne sais quoi”.

The last thing that I wasn’t keen on was the location of the next block of townhomes. They were still fairly close to Standherd and given the expansion of Strandherd and Barrhaven in general, I suspect that traffic noise will be a bit high.

So that’s my overview of Claridge. I was really close to buying the Queensby but you’ll find out later why I chose the Mattamy Fernwater.

What to buy?

When I started off looking at model homes and visiting builders’ sites, I had no idea what I wanted to get. Nor did I realize how many different types of homes: terrace homes, urban townhomes, starter homes, village homes, widelot townhomes, etc. I wasn’t even sure of what size I wanted. One day, I felt like a 1100-1200 sq ft house would fit the bill and then on the next day, I wanted a 1800 sq ft house. Regardless, I knew I couldn’t afford a single home.

Then there was location. Well, at least this one was a bit easier. I definitely wanted to stay in the west end. So, either stay in central Nepean near my parents (Citipark, Central Park), Barrhaven where many of my friends are/will be moving or Kanata.

Over the next little while, I’ll be posting the houses I was looking at and what I did and didn’t like about them. Of course, that will include the Fernwater that I did end up buying. The builders that I picked up information for were: Claridge, Richcraft, Mattamy, Minto and Ashcroft

My first blog and some useful links

Alright, I've been reading various posts on buildinghomes.ca which has been a good resource for homebuyers. I've noticed that many people are blogging their house buying experience so I figured that I do the same thing. :)

I'll start off by sharing some of the resources I used and also provide some links for potential homebuyers.

http://www.ottawasnewesthomes.com/ -> I found this to be a fantastic resource. They often post news articles about the latest in the financial world about stuff that may impact the housing market. They also have a pretty good mortgage calculator which factors in CMHC fees. There are several articles including an overview of the Ottawa housing market, house reviews and other interesting articles.

https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/cgi-bin/mortgage/mpc/start.cgi -> I found RBC's mortgage calculator pretty good. You can do a quick compare of different scenarios by changing one or more factors.

www.mortgagesmadeeasy.com -> their site contains some good information about mortgages in general. They also have an FAQ which you can search whcih answers some questions that people have posed.