The Thought and Process of Getting the House

"Author's Notes"
This is my first time writing a blog so bear with me as I fumble my way through writing.  I will try to keep everything easy to read and hopefully for the most part not too "personal".

"Prologue"
Technically I am already a fair ways past where I should have started blogging so I'll go quickly back to the beginning.

Thoughts Of The House - July 2010
My partner and I have been together for awhile by the time we figured we wanted to buy a house.  At first it was only a "buy a house" notion.  We decided to humour ourselves and go to a couple showhomes to see what was out there.  We knew in Edmonton there was really only one area where both of us would want to buy and that was Summerside.  The community with a lake, perfect for triathletes (even poorly training ones).

Showhomes
At first we got lost and found Summerside Fields.  An area where they have lovely houses but have no access to the lake.  So we mosied on over to the destination we were originally trying to get to; which ended up being Daytona.  I personally loved the Concorde...until I thought about it more (big beautiful living room window that gives you a nice view to your....garage wall?  Uh uh!).  Then we stepped next door which was Jayman.  Saw the Jazz and then we saw the Outlook.  I'd like to say it was love at first sight but really it was love at third storey (the house has three storeys and you can look from the very top to the very bottom like a spiral staircase that is square).

The Outlook
When we first stepped into the Outlook we were first introduced to Brett (the Area Sales Manager).  He was the epitomy of what I like in a sales person.  He greeted us as we came in, made it clear that he was there if we needed him, and then left us be to wander around without being bothered.  When we did need help or had any questions he was more than happy to answer them (he did have all the answers and the rare time he didn't he didn't say "I don't know" he'd look into it and was very prompt too).

We spent almost the next year saving for the downpayment (and going back into the showhome to ask Brett more questions and wander through the house talking about it) until we were finally able to start the process of buying the house.

Buying the House

Side Note: By this time Eddy The Sales Associate was also brought onto the sales team (of two) at Summerside.

Step #1: Meeting With Brett
So the first step and meeting was to go over what house we wanted and what we wanted in it.  This meeting was mostly for getting a lot on hold and an fairly close estimate of what the cost of the house would be so we could bring it to Jayman Finance (the mortgage broker).  We went over the layouts of the house, what upgrades we'd want to get (which is put in as the Style Magic Allowance), any extra things to the wiring/pluming/electrical (like a natural gas line), or the basic upgrades that they have on their website.  Nothing was signed at this meeting other than handing over a cheque for $1,000 so they could hold the lot we picked while we got our finances in order.

Step #2: Meeting the Pierre (The Jayman Financial Mortgage Broker).
This is fairly straight forward.  We met with the Mortgage Broker to hand him all the paperwork and go over anything else he needed and to sign off.  It is a very fast meeting if you make sure you have all your paperwork filled out and everything signed.  Whether you go with Jayman, another mortgage broker, or even just through a bank i'm sure they will email you everything you need. 
Note: When you print off three month bank account statements make sure your name and the account numbers are on the papers.  Most times when you print them off it won't print your name.  We had to printscreen it into word and email it after the meeting

The Unofficial Step #3: The Wait
The wait to see if you are approved or not can be exciting/stressful/overwhelming or all of the above at times esp if you are a fairly young buyer who doesn't think you've had enough years of credit to get approved.  Thankfully we were in Vegas so we didn't have much time to think about whether we were or weren't.  Three to four days later we finally got that email saying "congratulations you're approved!!!".

Step #3: Meeting with Brett 
This meeting was to hand over our down payment (which has to be a certified cheque or a bank draft) and sign many many pages of paperwork.  It took me 1.5 hours to complete this meeting.  That seems like a long time but Brett took the time to make sure all the documents were explained to us so we wouldn't later on be like "Hey! I never knew that" or "No one ever informed me of that!".
Side Note: It was storming and hailing on this day and it was crazy to see how much water built up fast but I also learned that Summerside is built very well because the water goes fast and doesn't just pool in one spot.  


Step #4: Style Magic Appointment!
This appointment was very long but very interesting.  This is the appointment where you get to choose what colour cabinets, rug, laminate, counters, handles, lighting, doors, etc that you want.  It is nice because you can personalize your house to be yours.  I think one of the best things for being upgraded for price wise was the triple pane windows and the headers.
Side Note: There are things that you are better off not to get them to do like dimmer switches, garberators, garages (style magic doesn't do that but the builders do), etc so I guess the best thing to do is ask and hope they give an honest answer.  Our sales team were really good at telling us what would be better if we did ourselves to save money.

Step #5: Meeting with Brett (last step in the paperwork process).
After all the official prices are in the final paperwork can be drawn up.  We went over what we were approved for so we had to email the mortgage broker to add on $8,000 to the pre approval.  So we sign the final paperwork and the blueprints and then they all need to be sent in.  Paperwork usually takes about 1.5 months.  We started the process June 30th and our house is officially starting to be built August 22, 2011 (today!).  Our house took a little bit longer because my partner works in Calgary for four days out of the week so we either had to make our appointments on Fri/weekend or I had to email him paperwork to sign.  It was a lot of juggling but it wasn't fault of Jayman so I was fine with it.
Note: the colour on your house will need to be approved because they don't want a similiar colour schemes side by side.


Stalking - Breaking Ground
I call it stalking only because I am going to try to go there everyday to take a picture so at the end when the house is finished (or at least when it's finished on the outside) I can put it together in a video and watch it be built fast!

Today I went to the house and there was stakes in the ground to mark off where the house will need to go (i'm not a construction worker so don't take my word for exactly what the stakes are for....there were flags too).