Real estate is emotional. Why? Because a home is more than walls and a roof, it's a canvas and container for our lives, our families, our communities. As part of an ongoing series, we've asked local writers to share their stories on real estate and housing. Want to write for the Star's Home Truths home-series? Email truths @thestar.ca.
We turned onto the leafy street, ready to lose our third bidding war in eight months. On the sidewalk in front of the "for sale" sign, we spied a crowd of prospective buyers, their desperation shining in the twilight.
"I don't want to stand with them, please pull over," my wife, Dawna, said. We watched agent after agent go inside to present bids. My cellphone was in hand as instructed by our agent who, away for the weekend, had deputized a colleague to submit our offer.
Finally, a woman emerged jumping for joy, arms in the air. Our hearts hit the floorboards. "Let's go - but not past the crowd," Dawna said, tears in her eyes. My phone rang.
I told the agent: "It's OK, I know we lost. We saw somebody celebrating and it's not us." No, she exclaimed: "That was me being happy for you. You won! Get in here to sign some papers."
This was 2002. As I did some yard work shortly after we moved in, a man walking his dog nodded at our cute semi-detached near Queen Street East. "I heard you paid more than $300K for it." Um, yeah, I replied, a little more.
In a pitying tone he shot over his shoulder: "I never thought somebody'd pay more than $300,000 for a house on this street." I ran inside, told my wife and wondered what the hell we had done.
Now, with hindsight, I know we won the lottery without buying a lottery ticket. Not that we didn't pay in different ways. Purchasing a house remains one of the most stressful, emotional events of my life. If we had lost again, I wasn't sure I could continue without a long sanity break.
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Disgraceful behaviour on Parliament Hill
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