Ever since we got married, we’ve been looking for the opportunity to upgrade from our 2-bedroom, 810 sq. ft. condo to something a little bigger. We enlisted our friend, and Sutton real-estate agent, Jean Claude Bertrand, to help us find the perfect place.
Both Dave and I really wanted to stay on the Island of Montreal, but there was no denying that the same amount of money would buy us a much bigger property in the burbs (the South Shore to be exact). So we scouted for homes in those areas. After months of searching on the South Shore, Dave and I both decided that we were willing to forego square footage for the ease of downtown living, and narrowed our search to the Sud Ouest area. We unfortunately weren’t aware of the crazy downtown real estate market. We were outbid on two cute townhouses in the Little Burgundy area, by thousands of dollars! Our agent, JC, took matters into his own hands and sent letters to every homeowner in the area, saying that if they were interested in selling, he had a potential buyer. It worked! Within a month, we visited and arranged a private sale with a lovely couple for a cute 1987 townhouse. Purchasing a home this way turned out really well for us, we didn’t have to compete with other buyers on the price, and were able to negotiate a deal that was very favourable to us.
The house is in immaculate condition but it isn’t prefect (hello, oppressively small kitchen!). With a bit of renovations we’ll be able to make it outstanding.
It’ll be hard to say goodbye to our neighbours and friends… The only consolation? We’re just moving 3 blocks away! Oh, and more than double our current square footage. And a garage. And a kick-ass, brand-spanking-new kitchen.
We take possession of our new home on July 22nd. Before we can comfortably settle into the place, we need to:
- Rip out and replace the parquet floor
- Rip out the second powder room
- Rip out the current kitchen
- Build a gorgeous new kitchen in place of the current kitchen and powder room
- Oh, and we have to sell our condo.
Let the fun begin!
