Big News!

So it starts like this:

This Christmas, when Jason's mom was in Grenada we mentioned that we were considering home ownership when we returned to Canada. We felt like we would rather be putting money into something that will build equity for us instead of paying someone else's mortgage. So, we asked Jason's mom to keep her eyes open for us, thinking that come spring when we returned we would start hunting ourselves. She did as we asked, even going to see a few properties when they looked promising. We had not done any of the other requisites for home ownership like getting a pre-approval for a loan, so we were expecting simply to look and see what was out there, and begin the process in April. I'm sure you can all guess by now that it didn't quite work out as planned.

On Feb 19th or 20th (all the details get fuzzy after a while) we got a call from Jason's mom. She was very excited about a house she had just been to see. She told us that it had everything we were asking for (namely a large yard and kitchen!) She had been to see the house and believed that this was the house for us! The only hitch was that since the house went on display only a few days previous there had already been a number of people to see it. She wanted to know if she should put in an offer. We did a lot of talking that night. And the next. On Thursday, the 22nd we went to a nearby island of Carriacou with my brother and sis-in-law, who were visiting at the time. We had decided that the house was out of our price range, and we didn't feel right putting in an offer on a house we had never seen, regardless how highly it came recommended. On our return from Carriacou on Saturday, we read an email sent by Jason's mom informing us that she had put a preliminary offer on the house, just to buy us some time. So, again, we started thinking. I managed to call up my parents on Sunday night and I asked them if they could possibly go to the house and be another opinion. I was sure that my father would poke around the house and notice if there was anything he felt was wrong with it. There was also another third party verification of the value of the house. Both my parents and Jason's mom believed that if we purchased this house and found it too big for us we could easily sell it for a profit. In addition, the lot was already zoned for subdivision, so we could sell off 2 acres in the back and make back some money right there. Mom and Dad also took a tonne of pictures so we could actually 'see' the house.

With so much positive encouragement, plus our trust in our parent's good judgment, we decided to take the plunge. Again, things moved far more smoothly than anyone could have predicted. We went to the Legal Aid and Councilling Clinic associated with GRENCODA in St. Georges who helped us with transferring power of attorney to Jason's mother. Then we had to go to the registrar for verification (notary public). When we got to the registrar's office we were told he was in a meeting and would be back until 4:00. This was a problem because Jason had to teach an IT class at 5:00. We waited around 5-10 minutes, and all of a sudden there he was! Back early (this isn't a common thing in Grenada by the way). We got our documents signed, brought them back to the Legal Aid clinic, and were on our way back to Gouyave. We were told it could take up to a week for the formal papers to be lodged in the court, but we sent a fax of the preliminary document to Jason's mom so she could begin the process. Amazingly we received a phone call the next day telling us that our papers had been through the courts and were ready!!!! Jason went into St. Georges to pick them up and we sent them by Fed Ex the next day.

And so it happened that on March 9, 2007 on Jason's 30th birthday we became home owners. Happy birthday, here's your mortgage!!! We officially took possession of this house we have not seen on March 15th. Here's a picture of the front, and of the marvelous kitchen (sorry the photo is blurry, it's the only one I have on the computer where I'm working right now). We won't give you details as to its location, because we're selfish and want to see the house with our own two eyes before we let anyone else! Upon our return on April 17th (or shortly thereafter) we will be sure to send out more information for the bash that will follow to celebrate both our newfound house, and my dear husband's birthday! So there you have it. Our Big News.