30-Day Tarion List

I had submitted my 30-day list to Tarion and Mattamy on August 14th. Today I met with Adam from the Mattamy warranty office to review my list. I had a total of 55 items on my list which was comprised of the items noted by my home inspector as well as additional items that I added.

The way the warranty process was described to me was that we would review each item on the list to ensure that all items are warrantable. If something isn't warrantable, they will explain why. All the other items will be transferred to a work order. If a trades needs to be brought in, they will make the arrangements. Otherwise, it will be Adam and his team that will do the work. I would sign off on items that are not going to be fixed. It sounded like Mattamy has reorganized its warranty department and how they operate. I've read/heard of people not being happy with the service that they had received in the past so maybe this is a move to improve customer satisfaction.

Overall, the review went very well. Adam was very pleasant to deal with. I was actually preparing myself for a bunch of excuses as to why they wouldn't fix items on my list. But even for items that were sort of iffy, he said that he would still leave them on the work order. Most of the items, Adam responded with a "no problem, we'll get that fixed". I had noted that touch-ups were needed from the pdi and he said that he'd even fix damage that I caused during my move in. He also added to the list as he noticed that there was a seam in the carpet in office that really stood out.

From my list, there were a few items which were noted as to monitor and revisit at the one year list, namely the deflection in the floor in the master bedroom, floor squeaks in the upper hallway (which weren't squeaking during the appointment). Other stuff like grading, sod, driveway will be done obviously when the other houses get done but I still had noted them on my list. Everything else should hopefully be fixed. The next step is that Mattamy will make arrangements to come in and do the repairs. They will try to schedule everything all together so that they can get it done at one time.

So a good experience today. Hopefully it wasn't just all words and that they will deliver on the repairs in a timely fashion.

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...