First Time Buyer Interview- Alanna and Sam's OEV Century Home

Today I had the opportunity to sit down with recent first time buyers Alanna and Sam- who purchased a yellow brick two story in trendy OEV.

Heather: So when did you guys decide to start looking for a house?

Alanna: Well it started.. I always look on MLS.. and there was a house on Ontario, a Triplex that was listed- and it's still listed. Everything in London is really really cheap, it was about 235.

200 is where we could go but we figured because it's a triplex we could maybe do it. So we got someone to help us look at it- my co-worker gave me a contact for an agent HE used and so we contacted him and I guess it was late/mid October. It turned out be a craphole.

We decided we weren't in a major hurry but we realistically realized in London, for what we were paying in rent we could buy something.

Sam: Well that's ultimately what it came down to, is that it was like looking at rent vs what a mortgage would cost ultimately in the long run, for potentially a little bit more including utilities and property tax you have a house that's yours. And at the end of the day if you want to sell the house that's your prerogative and anything you want to do at the house is up for you. For me the frustration is that the apt we lived in in Hyman was a beautiful brick house that was chopped up into apts and very little upkeep had been done to the house. It was a real shame, as someone who grew up in western Canada who didn't get to experience a lot of house that were more than 50 or 60 years old- being able to see so many houses that are over the 100 mark and the architecture behind them is what really kinda what I fell in love with, first and foremost and that branched off why I wanted to buy something.

Heather: You seem like you're pretty handy too, so I can imagine how frustrating that would be when you're renting looking at your floors thinking- "how much would I love to rip these out" but why would I.

Alanna: Yeah, plus our apartment had no insulation! And after doing minor renos at my dad's place, we found we worked well together and thought, if we wanted to take on a bigger project, we totally could.

Heather: It's probably good you guys had that experience beforehand, to kinda test the waters. It could have gone one of two ways I guess!

Alanna: I'm not the handiest person, but I understand the design aspect. And I always wanted an old brick house- but renovated inside- and open concept. We probably looked at 5 houses- went away and a day or two after we came back our agent sent us this listing. The pictures were terrible. I remember saying "Ok, I guess we can go check it out" because it was in our price range.

We saw one we really liked at Lorne and Adelaide- like absolutely gorgeous but it was right there, across from the beer store- just not the best part of the area.

Sam: That was the thing, if you could pick that house out and move it two or three blocks further into old east- you wouldn't have a problem selling it. It was just the location. Ultimately at the end of the day, two of the biggest factors were the location and the size of the lot itself.

Alanna: And it was ALL redone inside too. Like we felt there was nothing we could have done to increase the value.

Originally we looked for something we could duplex and we thought about someone we could use as income- if we ever go overseas- we could have a property manager or someone to rent it so we could have options.

This area appealed to us- close to Dundas, talks of light rail, seemed like a good area as well.

Walking around this place we saw a lot of what we wanted with some definite room for improvement. It's a lot of cosmetic stuff, not structural fixing we have to do.

Heather: What was on the right away list?

Alanna: Painting, some tile, some flooring. There's hardwood under all the carpets- or we thought so, I guess it's a pine board upstairs but we wanted to tackle some things that weren't too difficult. Nothing crazy off the bat- it's liveable right from the get-go. Pulling up carpets was a big thing- every room upstairs had a different carpet. We knew that changing a few minor things would really improve this place immediately.

Sam: That's the thing: at the end of the day even if we didn't open up things the way we wanted to… Take the kitchen for example, the last time anything was done to the house on a whole was the late 70's- the kitchen looks like your grandmother's kitchen. Even those small aesthetic changes- if we decided that maybe buying a house was too ambitious- there are little things we could do and we could have sold the house.

Does the house have it's quirks? Certainly it does- but I think you get that in any house that's 100 years old.

The most important part and the reason we leaned towards a brick house- the bones are always going to be good. The bricks may weather and the mortar may need to be looked at or repaired but as long as do a little bit of upkeep it goes a long way.

If I'm 116 years old and I look as good as this house does- I'm doing well.

Heather: So what do you guys like best about this hood?

Alanna: I like that Dundas has a lot of smaller independent shops-Old East in general seems to be close knit and have it's own identity- even it's own Facebook group, I feel like I "know" half the neighbours just from that alone.

Heather: You know when someone loses a cat here, that's for sure!

Alanna: Yeah! Exactly, it's like a small town. The neighbourhood is kinda the new I don't wanna call it the "hipster neighbourhood" but it kinda is.

Heather: It totally is, it's ok- OEV is self aware of it's hipster status so it's ok I think.

Alanna: It's got that character that I like.

Heather: People want to be here! People are clamoring to get into this area and people want to rent here, so if you are thinking investment for this property down the road it's a great area for that.

Alanna: It's definitely the potential, the investment potential is big here.

Sam: That's part of the reason why we bought the house- for not a huge upfront investment the opportunity to gain is so big here. And the house itself is not the most expensive part of the property. It's the fact that the property itself is 33 feet by 180 feet in a prime area. It's a nice parcel of land.

Heather: And it's not like they are putting in new lots in these areas.

Sam: We know that there is a break even point, at some point the amount of work and money you are willing to put into property won't garner you anything more.

Heather: It can be hard to know. And what you are willing to do for yourself is different than if you plan on selling in the shorter term. You have to judge if you are over improving.

Alanna: I have expensive taste, and I have to remember it's not a forever home- I need to make the kitchen an improvement on what it IS, but not throw a TON of money into it.

Heather: Have you guys checked out the Farmer's market yet?

Sam: Actually- not yet!

Alanna: It's hard! I work on Saturdays- probably more in the summer we will.

Heather: Make a point of it- it's amazing- you really get the OEV vibe there, taking in all the smells and everything.

Alanna: I really want to explore the whole area- check out all the retro stores and independent shops. It's hard in the winter- to find parking etc- so in the summer it should be easier. At our corner here they are putting in a Fire Roasted Coffee Shop. We walked up to the bakery there on my birthday, there's a cheese place, a meat place, you can literally walk up the street and there's a smorgasbord full of food.

Heather: You really don't get that anywhere else in London. Lots of great little restaurants too!

Alanna: I was sort of sad to leave downtown but I didn't really utilize it when I lived there, the only thing was being able to walk to Winks in 5 minutes.

Heather: Were there any big surprises in your first home purchase?

Alanna: Not really- we were pretty prepared, with costs and things like that, in fact a lot of things came in under estimate like lawyers. Our real estate agent was really good at setting us up with the right contacts.

The whole transition was really pretty simple, almost surprisingly simple. Used Cohen Highly for the lawyer, and we had no major surprises. We had my brother who has already bought a house, his wife and lots of other people to ask little questions throughout the process. I figure that the next house- trying to sell and buy at the same time will be more complicated. We had enough time to give notice and move slowly.

Heather: Do you have any tips for first time buyers- especially those considering OEV?

Alanna: I would say definitely if you are looking at something as an investment property, make sure you have a good home inspector who can point out everything that NEEDS to be done. We almost backed out because someone told us the roof would be super expensive to fix- but we had a different roofer verify what the home inspection had indicated- it was fine.

Sam: The house was POA- there was family drama between the family, the neighbour, who has a vested interest and wanted to buy the house. SO there was this whole family drama going on- and the neighbour (who’s a roofer) was saying the roof was going to cost 10k..

Alanna: So our home inspector was good about that, he hadn't noted anything. The other thing is be sure what you are willing to compromise on- we didn't RUSH into buying a house- but we saw this and it was a great deal, or we probably wouldn't have looked at something with a mutual driveway. That's been a pain in the butt. It depends on your neighbours- but sharing a driveway has it's downsides.

Sam: The time the neighbours have been in the house they have taken for granted that the former owner didn't drive a lot so they kinda monopolized the shared driveway- because it didn't matter. Whereas now that’s the biggest sticking point.

Alanna: In general if you're looking to buy a home and it's a new neighbourhood to you, then talking to the neighbours and spending time in the neighbourhood It's definately worthwhile to make in you're going to fit in and feel comfortable. Even if you love your house if you don't like your neighbourhood it could ruin everything.

We're capable of doing a lot of work ourselves but still knowing what things are going to cost to fix- it's important to have a solid idea and know what you're in for. Assume every time you open a wall assume you're going to find surprises.

Sam: Also, being part of a heritage district- make sure you've done your research prior to purchasing it. The lawyer has an obligation to tell you what it entails but by that point you're signing paperwork so it's very difficult to back out. SO educate yourself a little bit. Understand what you can and can't do. Exterior renovations need to be approved. Additions can only be on certain sides of of the house, and all sorts of other things.

Heather: Did you guys get the plaque for your house yet?

Sam: We did the research but..

Alanna: it's like $100 for the plaque! I haven't done it yet, I wanna write it up on a piece of paper or something. (laughing)

Sam: If you're going to buy a heritage home, make sure you love the heritage of the area- otherwise you'll butt heads with the powers to be. We love the old feeling of the exteriors and the architecture, and the modern interior.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience to Alanna and Sam, and I'm so excited to continue to watch their progress in their new home. -Heather