So what's the deal?

In early 2009 I began looking to purchase my first new place. What began as a search of one bedroom condos in downtown Edmonton eventually became a decision to build a detached two bedroom house on the outskirts of the city. Naturally, this meant looking at plenty of real estate agents, salespeople and showhomes (don't get me wrong, I love looking at showhomes). It also means I was collecting a lot of information: dozens of floorplans, different neighbourhoods, each builder's construction specs and building schedules.

Quick aside
I should explain - when it comes to making significant purchases (iPods, laptops, vehicles, houses, etc.) I'm anything but impulsive. I get a kick out of looking at all the options, comparables, prices, etc. And if you're going to be a responsible consumer, it usually means expert and customer reviews. Sure, not every online review is of equal value, but if you look at enough of them you start to get a idea of what to expect. It's like one of those 3D puzzles from the 90s - you stare at it long enough and a picture begins to emerge.

Ok, so it took me a few months of shopping around to work my way up from a condo, to a townhouse, to a duplex, to detached homes with detached garages to finally landing on a two bedroom, attached garage home. In the end I found a neighbourhood and floorplan I liked. I signed a contract mid-June 2009 and looked forward to a 6-8 month build - after all, the city's building market was still recovering from a sharp downturn at that point. Long story short, I'm looking at a 12 month build at the earliest, which is cutting it awfully close to my wedding later that summer.

Looking back, there are probably a few things I would have done differently. But this website isn't meant to document the story of my building process.  It certainly isn't going to be a venue for me to bellyache about my frustrations (after all, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be happy with how the house turns out. It's just taking an obscenely long time and I have a hard time getting answers from people. Ok, that's it for the bellyaching).

Instead, the one tool I wish I'd had as I was considering builders and houses was more information from people who have gone through the process.  I couldn't find a website where people could share stories about their experiences building a new house in Edmonton. Sure, this could mean what went wrong, but also what went right, what came out of left field, some questions to ask if you could do it again, and what seemed like a big deal at the time but turned out to small potatoes in the long run (or vice versa!).

So my vision, if that's not too grand a term, is for a place where people can share stories and lessons learned, and potential home buyers can get access to both a greater quantity and quality of information.

So if you've gone through the process and have some nuggets of wisdom, please share.  If you're about to embark on the process and have questions, please ask. I'll post whatever comes my way and with any luck this could turn into something of value.

Mike