For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for August 10, 2018

oh, they’re sure going to sleep well tonight

Whatever it’s like, it’s where you have to live now. Take care of it.

Don’t be surprised if it needs some work!

I don’t understand this. You make an offer on condition of a home inspection! Or do Canadians not inspect their homes before purchase? Hard to believe.

Geo, you were the one who insisted that you buy it then and there. Phil, you were the one who immediately caved. It’s all yours.

Yellow, Georgia. Bilious yellow.

Here in the States realtors do not charge the buyer anything; they make their commissions from the seller. Maybe it is/was different in Canada but I couldn’t help wondering why they were searching themselves.

We were able to use online services to narrow our search down to five houses. Our first choice got pulled off the market the evening after we toured it. #2 was a mess, but a real bargain. Took us a year to make it habitable and seven to complete the rebuild. It’s worth five times what we have put into it.

Now they are up to speed with their parents and John and Elly on one part: owning a house. Next up on the checklist: kids.

In Canada one does not get something for nothing when it comes to healthcare and education. You pay for these through your taxes.

So what if the color is wrong. Easy, cheap fix. Do the other things to make it look like yours, one at a time, when you have the money.

Remember, we aren’t 100% sure that they needed a mortgage. They did say “cash” a few days back, and we don’t know exactly what they meant by that. A home inspector will go over it with a fine tooth comb, charge a high fee, will find a gazillion things wrong with the house (so you know that they earned their fee), and you’ll never buy any house. All that said, it is still a good idea to hire one, but ask them if there is anything RIGHT about the house, because they focus on the negatives.

In Canada, don’t know if buying a house is like buying anything else where you have 3 days to rescind as it is in the US.

Remember a house usually has Neigbor there in can be problems

We flew across the country, spent a week looking at over a hundred houses, found what was absolutely THE house and got an offer accepted on it, flew back across the country to sell the old place—and tried to remember, was our house the one that had the bathroom just off the family room? No, no, that was the one on… Was it the one that…? No I think that was the… We had to wait till we came back to be sure what we’d bought. Thirty-one years later, we look around at our good fortune and are so glad we got this house with this yard.

I hate how they always call her “Geo”. I read that as “Gee-Oh” and it is beyond annoying.