Overview:  The Cozy Ranch

Real Estate Copy Highlights

Clarifications:  The house was actually 44 years old.  The garage was only 14 feet wide (not quite 1.5 cars).  And since the house had a full basement, it was not a true bungalow. Other than that, there was nothing misleading in the ad.

This was my first house purchase and represented my evolution from apartment dweller to property owner.  The house was not without its quirks and problems, but nothing major. 

I was single and unattached when I moved in, and married with one child when the house was put up for sale seven years later.

Time line

1996

Attended the open house in late March.  Viewed the house again a few days later with my real estate agent.  After negotiating back and forth, my counter offer to the seller's counter offer to my original offer was accepted.  Closing date was the end of June.  Prior to moving in, I had a new kitchen floor installed (vinyl) and had the entire main floor professionally painted.  My first DIY projects were finishing the hardwood floor in one of the bedrooms (with a palm sander, believe it or not) and installing a carpet in the other bedroom.

1997

Replaced the side entrance door to the garage with a steel pre-hung door.  Painted the exterior of the house and garage.  Ran electrical wiring to garage.

1998

Gutted basement and waterproofed walls.  Details of the basement project can be found here.  Replaced rafters in garage.  Had new garage door and opener installed.  Framed basement.

1999

Widened the closet door in the master bedroom.  Got married.  Built wood fence with neighbour.

2000

Hung and finished drywall in basement.  Updated bathroom.

2001

Spent the better part of the summer working on the pantry.  Took care of most obstructions in the basement and installed all the lighting.   At the end of the year came the big push to finish the basement once and for all (or at least enough to get the carpet installed).  Carpet installed in time for Christmas.

2002

Daughter was born in January.  Rest of the year was spent putting finishing touches on the basement (installing trim, installing the ceiling, etc).  My mother passed away in the summer, which motivated us to find a larger house assuming that my father would eventually move in with us.  We found an old farm house (built in the 1850's) on 7 acres of land and put our house on the market.  Unfortunately, the basement in our house was not yet completely finished which hindered the sale, and we lost out on the other house.

2003

In March, we thought we found our dream house, a 1.5 storey on almost 2/3 of an acre of scenic land.  We put our house on the market again and it sold within a week.  The night we entertained our first offer was the night that I drove the last nail in the basement.