The grown up version of the big kid bike

As I mentioned before we have been looking at a lot to build on. We actually put an offer on a house that was up to the drywall stage and cabinets and lighting had already been ordered, they countered and all we had to do was accept it and sign the papers and it would be ours. But I hated the cabinets and really did not like the lighting and figured if we're going to build I should really be able to get what I want, and in the end we didn't sign. So then we looked at another lot in the same area that ground was just being broken on. This meant we would get in early enough to pick everything - siding, cabinets, lighting, flooring, tile, casings...everything. But it did not feel right so we took some time to think about it before making an offer. And in the midst of taking some time to think about it a crazy thing happened. We sold our house. Which was not even listed.

Our realtor (J) has a father who is also a realtor (G). G said that he had a client who was looking to downsize from a 2-storey house and wanted a duplex unit like ours and did J think we would want to show ours and take a look at theirs? He called and we did. So last Tuesday night G showed our place and J showed theirs. They loved ours and we quite liked theirs and in fact thought it would be perfect were it not for it being completely on the other side of town which would mean changing preschools for the kids and I LOVE the preschool they are in. So we thought about it and basically decided it's a great house but too bad it's in Crescent Heights we'll pass. But then they wanted a second showing of our house on Thursday night and did we want to view theirs again at the same time? I actually didn't want to because we had decided against it but figured since we had to be out of the house anyway, why not?

On a second viewing I loved the house even more. Very charming to look at, double detached garage at the back, wide lot, paved back lane, rv parking for our camper, big deck, great layout, 200 extra sq. ft than we currently have (and when we're used to a living space of 18 ft x 19 1/2 ft it feels enormous!), big kitchen, window over the kitchen sink looking into the backyard so I can see the kids while they're playing and not have to leap over a balconey an entire storey above them to get to them if there's a problem (I have a love/hate relationship with our walk-out basement in our duplex), 2nd floor laundry, huge master bedroom, room for a fourth bedroom in the basement and a really good price...So why don't I want it again? We're driving home from the viewing and J gets a call from G. The other people have put an offer on our house and it's an incredible offer in a very saturated market but it's subject to us buying their house. So do we or don't we?

We did! And we're swapping houses May 16th! Isn't that so crazy?! Welcome to our new house and the first time we will be fully detached.