A couple of years ago, we started thinking that we were ready to look for a house. The house we are renting currently is too small, is in a questionable neighbourhood, and we're tired of throwing money away via rent.

We started figuring our finances to determine what we could afford in a house, and then went looking for houses with a realtor. We found some decent houses, though the ones that fit our needs -- namely, enough bedrooms -- were far and few between. We came close to making an offer on a house, but someone snatched it up literally the day we went to make the offer, and we were too late.

In the midst of looking at houses, both used and new, Tracey looked into building our own home. Kevin had assumed that was more costly. We met with a builder and got a price quote, but by that time, Tracey's employment situation was shaky and the price was still higher than we wanted to pay. We decided to wait, albeit reluctantly.

Fast forward almost a year, and with our savings built up, the hunt began in earnest to find a lot upon which we could build. We found many nice lots, and wanted to make an offer on one, but found it required a septic system. The search continued, and we kept coming back to one particular lot time and time again. The neighbourhood was great, and ameneties were great, and heck, the view really was nice, too. Was this the one?

We talked to the owner of the lot several times, and in the early part of May, we made an offer on the lot for about $1,000 less than the asking price. The lot had been on the market for well over a year by that point, and with it showing no signs of improving, we figured he would accept the offer. He said he would talk to his business partner and get back to us. A week passed, and we hadn't heard anything back from him... and the natives were getting restless.

We both figured he was calling our bluff and waiting to see just how much we wanted the lot, but in the end, we decided to call anyway. And it's a good thing we did, for it turned out he really did have someone else interested in the lot! A builder was offering about the same as us, and the seller was trying to get the builder to pay full price on the lots. We immediately offered full price for the lot and he agreed to sell it to us.

On 9 May 2007, we completed the sale and took ownership of the lot. And now, the 'fun' part begins! Current updates can be found in the blog.