Happy happy days. After just over a month of searching in what has turned out to be a sizzling-hot real estate market in Toronto, we bought a house. (And, just to be clear, the picture above is NOT a picture of the house.) Because buying real estate is never simple, it was touch and go right down to the very last minute, but it's final. We got most of what we were looking for (two bathrooms, four bedrooms), lost some things we thought were imperative (instead of a third floor we have an unfinished attic space), and something that was never a priority became the main reason for buying the house (a stunning backyard).

When we lost the first house we wanted in a bidding war, the selling agent told us it just wasn't meant to be. At that point, I didn't want to hear any of her platitudes, but it really seems to have been the case. This is a much better, bigger house for us, for only $35k more. With this house, there was no bidding war; we offered the asking price and they accepted. It really is an amazing house but with enough "issues" that other buyers weren't prepared to "pull the trigger".

First, there were restricted viewings, requiring 24 hours notice. The house was filled with animals (eight cats inside, two large dogs in the backyard, which meant no access to see it), and a falcon and barn owl. The kitchen was very, very tiny, which was probably off-putting to nine out of ten people who saw this house. And it was summer and a lot of people who might have been interested were out of the city. All of which created a perfect storm for us to swoop in and get a fantastic property that's a great value.

Here's what I learned from the whole tiresome process:

1. Get a good real estate agent. Having a great agent reduced the stress we felt by half.

2. Get a good mortgage broker. She did a lot of leg work getting our pre-approval as well as on our offer day(s). Again, reduced our stress by half.

3. While there are traditionally good and bad times of year to shop for real estate, if you're patient and flexible, you'll find something.

4. Know what you want in a house, but be ready to shift gears and jump if the bones are there.

Now that the house hunting is over, we still have a lot of work to do, not the least of which is figuring out who gets which bedroom... 

Last Week: 5 Tips for Sellers (Or How Not to Scare Off Buyers)

Reni Walker (AKA Scotch Mommy on slice.ca) shares her moving mayhem on Wednesdays.