The transfer of keys is the very last step in buying a house. Aside from all the steps involved in actually purchasing one, to get a set of keys means the completion of many things. A consolidation of one’s funds (deposited in trust, posted on file, verified by accountants). The payment of all parties involved (lawyer for legal fees, government for land transfer tax, insurance company for title insurance, as well as the seller for the full amount of the house). A record in the municipal ministry of the transfer ownership (once the lawyers of both parties involved have paid for an execution clearance certificate).

The keys signify that the deal has been closed, and nothing has gone wrong between the time of purchase and the day of transfer. Usually, I worry about things going wrong, even when there’s only a marginal chance, and I have a complete understanding of this fact. When someone shakes my hand after an interview to congratulate me on getting the job, I’ll worry for days, right up until I get my name on the contract. This was no exception. Anything could go wrong — seller changing his mind, hidden lawsuits or liens, or even a failing of the final inspection — from the day I made the bid to the last minutes of the closing date.

Yesterday, I walked into my lawyers office. I carried with me a certified cheque that was mostly my downpayment, but also included his fees and taxes (I’m fortunate enough to not have go into my line of credit to pay for the latter two). I signed several documents, received my status certificate and condo papers, as well as other letters of confirmation.

Today I picked up my keys, and now I own a house.

I switched from day-old crème brûlée to calorie and sugar-free sparkling summer peach beverage. The weekend usually has me drinking various combinations of liquids, including honey water and coffee with half and half. It’s difficult to understand how normal it becomes to alternate between drinks while under the right influences, like only being able to take a swig from a bottle of vodka during a hangover. Sobriety makes the senses aware.

This place has become sick and uninspired. I miss living at Lees, with the edge of the downtown core, as well as my university, out my 8th floor window. I do have a nicer view here, especially since I’m living on the 16th floor now, but it’s not on my side of the apartment. What I see is mostly construction, aggravating colours, and unmatching wood grains. I put on different movies to absorb their moods.The raw, open-air feeling of 12 Monkeys. The emotional, effusive settings of the everyday in Bleu. The psychedelic adventures of Army Captain Benjamin Willard through the humid jungles of Vietnam in Apocalypse Now. Nothing ever works.

I can’t wait to move. I can’t wait to give my room the perfect mood. I can’t wait to get a nice, sleek desk. I can’t wait to create three perfect levels of lighting. I can’t wait to have a place where I can completely relax, surrounded by the comfortable feeling of a well furnished room.

Trolley and I went to get some paint chips. It wasn’t too long since my last session before we left. In the store I was surrounded by colour, a pedestal of floating gradients.

We move in a little over a month. I think I’ll do my room in a dark blue, and two walls of the living room in light beige. Trolley’s thinking either light grey or deep red for his.

A condominium townhouse, more specifically. Two weeks ago I went to the bank, got my credit rating checked, and was pre-approved for a mortgage at one percent below prime (having no student loans, no balance on my credit card, no line of credit, no outstanding bills, no debt whatsoever, comes in handy). I also have a sizeable sum of money, left to me by my grandparents through an inherinance, which I’m putting towards a down payment. The good thing is that the down payment is more than 25% of the mortgage, so I won’t have to spend a couple of grand on mortgage insurance alone. Within a few days, I had a real estate agent keeping an eye out for properties for me. One morning, she sent me the profile of a place a little east of downtown, complete with a series of eight pictures or so. The place looked great, so I got a viewing booked that same day.

The house has two floors. The main floor has an eat-in kitchen, powder room, dining area, and living room. The lower floor has the master and second bedrooms, a full bathroom, and a storage closet. Out back is a little patio with enough room for a barbecue, and a lawn that can fit enough patio furniture for a small gathering. The profile listed six appliances included with the house; stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave, washer, and dryer. There was only one previous owner, and he was a non-smoker. Everything was clean, solid, new, and, most importantly, comfortable. It was a place I could see myself living at for the next few years, and I had a feeling that this was the right one. Even though it was the first place I actually went to go see, I made a bid that evening. At the end of the night, after a bit of negotiation on the purchase price, my bid was accepted, and a closing date was set for the middle of March.

In order to protect me, my agent drew up the offer with four conditions; finance, insurance, inspection, and approval of status certificate. I waived the first three conditions within four days. My finances were already approved with the bank, although I did a little bit of extra negotiating on the rates and saved myself a considerable amount of money (based on a 20 year period of todays rates). I also already had a blanket insurance policy through the condo management, and I was satisfied with the house inspection, which found no major problems.

The approval of status certificate took a little longer, because I had to review the status certificate with my lawyer, and there were a few complications. The main complication was an on going lawsuit between the building company and the government. It turns out that the patios and balconies need to be rebuilt because of a mistake in the materials used. If the building company is found at fault, they will be footing the bill for the repairs. If they are not at fault, all condo owners in the area will have to pay a considerable sum, most likely as an increase in monthly condo fees. I got my lawyer to do a holdback in trust, for an amount slightly higher than the estimated repair cost, with the seller getting the residual. My agent got the seller to agree to this (as an amendment to the offer of purchase), so I won’t have to pay for these repairs no matter what the outcome of the lawsuit. The beauty of this is that property values in the area are expected to increase more than three times the cost of repairs, once the repairs are all done. I waived the final condition, two days ago, which made the deal firm and binding.

It’s a buyers market right now (no one wants to move in the middle of all this snow), so I got the house at an amazing price. While all of this was happening, my bank did an appraisal, and estimated the value to be considerably higher than what I paid for it. On paper, I’ve already covered the cost of land transfer tax, lawyers fees, and made enough money to buy car.

I will be able to walk to work. Across the street is a series of plazas, including a Timmies, a 24-hour Loeb, an M&M Meat Shop, a Wendy’s, a McDonalds, and a Pizza Hut. Right outside my door, not more than a ten second walk, is the bus stop for the #2, which can be taken downtown all the way to the west end where I am now. I’ll also have a parking spot, which I’ll try to rent out to someone in the area with two cars. My monthly condo fees cover maintenance, so I’ll never have to shovel snow or mow the grass.

Trolley will be renting a room from me to help cover my mortgage. I decided to amortize over 20 years, although it actually comes out to 18 years and 11 months because I’ll be making bi-weekly payments. I chose 20 years to be a little conservative (even though I’m on a fixed rate), because there are a few things I can do to pay down my mortgage quicker once I’m more comfortable with all the bills. My goal is to pay it off by the time I’m 40, and only move to a larger place when I can afford it or when this condo appreciates enough to keep my mortgage payable within the next 15 years.

Can’t wait to move in.

The second set of my house pictures. I’d lived in that house for so long, I grew accustomed to it’s beauty. It’s only after living in student housing, residence, town houses, that I understand how well off I had it at home. My favourite picture is the one with the koala statue, which I bought while vacationing in Sydney. The colours are just perfect, and I like how the candlesticks stretch out in subtle arches, as if they were bending outwards.