Ten days into canadian life

Sunday 6 May was the big one. We looked and had looked at, lots and lots of houses. However, over some 6 months searching on internet, plus 3 visits from myself and Tonnetje, we had not found what we were looking for. But then, a house came up on Limerick. The bedrooms were smaller than I liked, and both myself and Tonnetje had said that we would only take a house that was perfectly finished off. This house was in need of lots of repairs, and after ordering an inspection, it seemed that we needed a new roof, a drainage system for the garden, new drainpipes here and there, a new boiler, etc etc. the house wasn’t too bad, but needed some decoration. But the price was low for North Vancouver, and after budgeting in the repairs, it seemed a good idea. Next to the Lynn Canyon forest, private garden, cul-de-sac, 5 minutes to the ferry to downtown, close to schools, shops, 3 minutes to the highway, great views. Yes, we wanted this one, but how much????
However, the market is so strong in the area, that the system had been ‘overthrown’, and the asking price was only a barometer. Offers were invited, but without knowing what anyone lese was bidding. This had led to houses going on the market at 829K$, then selling for 990K$! And this was becoming more and more common. The agent would put in a low price, draw in masses of offers, and hence inflating the price. So what would we bid? After much debate all day we moved from 770K (asking price 749K) to 780K. The agent tabled an idea to let us offer 5K over the highest bid, but the agent didn’t buy it. 5 minutes before the deadline I upped our bid to 790K – utter madness, but we liked the house.
The clock ticked by, past the 7PM deadline when we knew of at least 2 other offers, past 8PM as I walked the dog, and I told Tonnetje that means we didn’t get it, otherwise we would know. At almost 9PM the realtor called; I told him that I had figured we wouldn’t get it as it ha taken so long, but he contraditcted me and confirmed we had the house!

From our backyard, you walk into the woods

No real euphoria from me as I felt we had bid too much. In addition, we now had lots of work to do. By the time Geoff came round some 20 minutes later I had grown more appreciative of the situation, and concluded that we would get a very nice house for 830K-850K$ (£390K/553K€). not cheap, but in North Vancouver this is currently a good deal. We saw houses for more than this that we didn’t like at all, also much smaller. And compared to Pibrac the price per m² was not much difference, and compared to UK it is a bargain!