Fun facts to start this blog:
-I haven't blogged in over a month so I might be rusty (not that I ever got good at it to start)
-Calgary has a less than 1% vacancy rate in the housing market
-Average rent for a 2 bedroom apartment or house is around $1500 per month - utilities questionable
-Greg and I are getting married it July...that doesn't leave loads of time to find a house
-Waiting lists are generally about a year long.
During exams this year, Greg and I had 2 major methods of procrastination: playing Ticket to Ride online and trying to find a house or apartment in Calgary. We got really good at Ticket to Ride, and really frustrated with the housing market in Calgary. By the time summer break hit, we still were at a loss of what we would do for housing after getting married. We got on a couple waiting lists, but nothing looked the slightest bit promising.
After a while, one of my relatives suggested that I ask my cousin Willow if she still has an apartment in Calgary. I asked, but she said she had good renters and if they moved out, she would seriously consider selling it. Then, at Mr. Beekman's birthday party, Tricia (Greg's sister) said that on of her cousin-in-laws had a house that they were just renovating. We asked her to put in a good word for us, and almost a month later, they got back to her saying that we should contact them.
This news was fantastic to us because it gave us a glimmer of hope in spite of our increasingly desperate situation.
The next day, Willow texted me and said that her renters were moving out at the end of June. That now meant that we had 2 places saying that we had first dibs. We were very happy!
The house has a basement sweet for $900/month (plus 1/2 utilities) or a main level for $1,100/month(plus 1/2 utilities). Willow's house was $1300/month.
Today, we went to view the upstairs of the house (the basement sweet doesn't look like it would be open by July). We got to the house before the landlady and just looked around outside. The windows don't look great, and the yard is a mess, but we could see a lot of potential. There is even space where we could maybe fit a garden in consecutive summers. Once inside, the bedrooms and living room were far bigger then expected. Even the kitchen was quite spacious. The dining room was small, but it could easily extend into the living room if we were to have a lot of company. There is a laundry room that would be shared with whoever may be living in the basement.
The only thing that seemed to be problematic is the sad fact that temperature has to be agreed upon by the people living in the basement and us meaning that our winter utilities will likely be higher than they would be if we had complete control.
With that 1 drawback, we decided to take it! We can gain possession around mid-June (possibly having to pay rent for the whole month, but oh well).
Oh, and fun fact: we might get a puppy! We're allowed to have a dog, just not multiples (sorry, Maggie, Darwin, and Sam might be out of luck when it comes to visiting us).
I am super excited! I can't wait to move in and make it home - a home that I won't have to move in and out of yearly. Greg and my first home. I can't wait!
