House Buying Updates

Just to try to keep all ya’ll in the loop as to what is going on, and document it for the future. The other day I was at the bank, convincing them to release my RRSPs for the first time homebuyer plan. This took a bit, but managed to get enough for 10% down, which saves me a couple of thousand on the CMHC thing (the folks who insure your house mortage) and I can get the lower interest rate (3% vs 5%). Both good things.


After that I met the house inspector, who didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. Mostly cosmetic, some extra moisture in the basement due to a missing downspout, gutters clogged, that sort of thing. Some mold downstairs due to the pot that was grown there, but nothing that ripping out the old gyprock and ceiling tiles from the unfinished basement won’t fix. Of course, the anti-smell bomb thing is going to cost something like $400 🙁 Yay, more money stuff.


After the house inspection we looked at appliances, which was fun to look at the neat stuff they have, but depressing/stressful to see the costs of things. $800 for a fridge, $1000 for a washer/dryer set, $700 for a stove…. ugh! Probably will go with the old ones that FireflyMom’s been collecting in her backyard for us from their demolitions.


After that it was getting the check for the lawyers to keep in trust, which is a PITA because the bank is open at such convenient times. Note the dripping sarcasm. But managed to get that, and a bit of faxing back and forth with the realtor and all that is left now is to get together with the lawyer/notary to do the final signing. In theory that’ll be next Friday.


It’s definately surprising how many people are needing money though… lawyers, house inspection, appliances, cost of the smell bomb, cost of flooring ($700 at least, and that’s the super discount cost), and that’s not even getting into the cost of the renovations that need to be done to make things livable. I won’t even get into the fact that rent is coming up in a few days as well as my CC bill (which will no doubt get a bit fatter soon 🙂


But it’s all pretty exciting and I’m happy that things are getting moving along nicely. Some pics are up here, look for a new gallery to be set up RSN.