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.