House Purchased - Moving to Arnprior (pending inspection)

Well, it's nearly certain... Going to be moving to the dirty 'prior. This is our first owned home and it's a massive beast... But the price is pennies per dollar compared to Ottawa homes.

The move allows me to do better in regards to the Beekeeping, and with the hwy and OC Transpo improvements the work commute back to Ottawa for my bride is only 45 mins + 5 min walk. Currently she's on the bus & train for 40 mins.

A few more years and maybe we can manage the $600k mortgage for a farm property - that market isn't so affordable yet.

So, anyone in Arnprior got hot tips for hidden gem shops and eats in this small town of 8000? Lol

Well, it has all the hot spots that our little town doesn't have... Tims, Burger King, MacDonalds, CTC etc.

Nice little hunting and fishing store called Al's Corner Store 5 minutes east of town on old hwy 17

good food at the truck stop.

If you're into weekly shopping at Walmart, head up the highway to Renfrew, it's one of the best laid out Wally worlds I have been in

lots of good fishing locally as well

Congrats on the new home! Any maple trees for tapping?

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Originally Posted by B Wilson

Nice little hunting and fishing store called Al's Corner Store 5 minutes east of town on old hwy 17

good food at the truck stop.

If you're into weekly shopping at Walmart, head up the highway to Renfrew, it's one of the best laid out Wally worlds I have been in

lots of good fishing locally as well

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Al's is an awesome, they just don't have anything used in there.

Way to go Mott, it is still in town but a lot less insane of a town.

For fishing you can have a lot of fun on the Mississippi with lots of spots to shore fish.

For hunting you are 40 min closer to where my family is from. Just head out past Renfrew to the ground land and there are lots of grouse to be had. Some of the best deer hunting is out that way too, along the river you can rifle hunt farm land, huge bucks out there.

Congrats

I once took a Disaster Management Course at the old barracks in Arnprior. The one thing I remember about that place is the four feet of snow !!!! Nice country up that way though.

Been to Al's corner store many times over the years ! I really like the Prior and the people are wonderful. Good luck with your new venture !

Congratulations on getting out of South Keys! My daughter wishes she could make that move.

There's a great public beach just past the hospital. Where the Madawaska runs in to the Ottawa. I can't remember the name of the street but there's an old cannon on the corner.

The bakery in the truck stop is always one of my stops in the prior. We had many breakfasts there before heading out to white lake.,I would defenitly recommend it. The chip truck in front of ctc is my favourite in the area.

I know the river there has some great fishing for Muskie and first and only place I've ever caught sauger

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

Well, it's nearly certain... Going to be moving to the dirty 'prior. This is our first owned home and it's a massive beast... But the price is pennies per dollar compared to Ottawa homes.

The move allows me to do better in regards to the Beekeeping, and with the hwy and OC Transpo improvements the work commute back to Ottawa for my bride is only 45 mins + 5 min walk. Currently she's on the bus & train for 40 mins.

A few more years and maybe we can manage the $600k mortgage for a farm property - that market isn't so affordable yet.

So, anyone in Arnprior got hot tips for hidden gem shops and eats in this small town of 8000? Lol

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I was in a large field of clover this morning doing some dog training and couldn't believe how many bee's were buzzing around. I haven't seen that many bee's in a long time !

Thanks all! Inspection is tomorrow, renegotiating if issues are found to take place over Wed & Thurs.

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Originally Posted by B Wilson

Nice little hunting and fishing store called Al's Corner Store 5 minutes east of town on old hwy 17

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I know Al's well and will become a weekly visitor and gabber.

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Originally Posted by Bushmoose

Congrats on the new home! Any maple trees for tapping?

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The lot is large for a city, but the current owners cleared every tree off of it about 8 years ago. All the neighbours have maples though. Not that it matters, this move brings us 45 mins closer to our family maple bush so enjoying that pastime each spring just got a whole lot easier!

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Originally Posted by Fox

Way to go Mott, it is still in town but a lot less insane of a town.

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Amen!

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

I once took a Disaster Management Course at the old barracks in Arnprior. The one thing I remember about that place is the four feet of snow !!!! Nice country up that way though.

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lol 4ft of snow?! I call that a perfect winter! Great for tiring out the new mutt pup AND the kids.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

Been to Al's corner store many times over the years ! I really like the Prior and the people are wonderful. Good luck with your new venture !

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Thanks! Our next door neighbour is a long serving, generally well-liked city Councillor and down the street we have a retired army Colonel as well as a retired LEO. They all seem like good folk when we knocked on doors to ask about the neighbourhood & city and the house we bid on.

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Originally Posted by GoldenLakePete

Congratulations on getting out of South Keys! My daughter wishes she could make that move.

There's a great public beach just past the hospital. Where the Madawaska runs in to the Ottawa. I can't remember the name of the street but there's an old cannon on the corner.

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I hope your daughter can get out soon. That whole part of Ottawa is heading for the crapper.
As for that beach, yeah we went to it 2 weeks ago when we first viewed the house. There was life music, a great park, a real deal cantina (can't remember the last time i saw one of those anywhere).

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Originally Posted by burns

The bakery in the truck stop is always one of my stops in the prior. We had many breakfasts there before heading out to white lake.,I would defenitly recommend it. The chip truck in front of ctc is my favourite in the area.

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Love Antrim breakfasts! And had some great fish & chips from that chip truck at the CTC. Good prices at both too.

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Originally Posted by cantcatchacold

I know the river there has some great fishing for Muskie and first and only place I've ever caught sauger

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Never been one for fishing... but i've also never spent much time close to water, nor had a boat before. Now that I've got the sportspal maybe i'll give it more attention. Not muskie though... i doubt muskie and canoes mix well.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

I was in a large field of clover this morning doing some dog training and couldn't believe how many bee's were buzzing around. I haven't seen that many bee's in a long time !

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You were likely close to someone's beeyard then. That's the only way you'd be able to notice a population density like that.

Congrats Mott, Sounds like a good move for you and the family.

Well, the home inspection turned up a few issues - 2 could be deal breakers - that we didn't expect.
May have to walk away from this one, sellers are out to lunch with their asking price.

Anyone know a Renfrew County/Ottawa contractor willing to come in and quote on a roof issue (rolled roof possibly not graded enough, water pooling likely from snow load damage)

and

replacing main support beam in the basement.... Knowing we'd likely only end up hiring them to fix ONE issue, as I can tackle the other?

If so, kindly pm me their business name.

If you find their price too high and you aren't set on the house... Make them a really low ball offer, that will more than pay for the renos. If you don't really have to have that house, you're in the drivers seat. You never know they could need a quick close and take it or you've lost something you weren't that set on anyhow.

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

Well, the home inspection turned up a few issues - 2 could be deal breakers - that we didn't expect.
May have to walk away from this one, sellers are out to lunch with their asking price.

Anyone know a Renfrew County/Ottawa contractor willing to come in and quote on a roof issue (rolled roof possibly not graded enough, water pooling likely from snow load damage)

and

replacing main support beam in the basement.... Knowing we'd likely only end up hiring them to fix ONE issue, as I can tackle the other?

If so, kindly pm me their business name.

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When you find your dream house you will know it.

We looked at one that had rain in the basement, it was a 2 story house.

Good luck in the search but don't settle, there are lots of places out there.

There are a lot of places on the market to be sure.

Unfortunately, none of them seem to be actually worth anything close to the ridiculous prices owners are asking.

The property we checked out was as close to move-in ready as you can get and still had issues.

The others are in worse shape all-round. Even the brand new homes we've looked at are garbage - poorly installed fixtures, doors, windows & cabinetry, badly insulated or insulation missing entirely, shoddy craftsmanship in general, and cheap building materials.

May have to keep saving and wait for the next market crash. Lol

If you can find something that has good bones you can always work on the rest, but a roof, foundation, electrical and structure problems are huge red flags on a property.

It will come.

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you but as mentioned it's nice to not be under pressure to buy, last thing you want is to be saddled with a money pit.

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Originally Posted by Fox

If you can find something that has good bones you can always work on the rest, but a roof, foundation, electrical and structure problems are huge red flags on a property.

It will come.

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Well, that's the problem. I am generally informed & experienced enough to spot all such problems myself. Whenever I'm in doubt, i have my 35 yr construction vet father and my 10+ yr architectural technician brother to fall back on. So i've got a VERY good idea of the work and costs involved in dealing with any of the issues sellers are trying to hide, or hoping buyers will miss.

So far, every house we've looked at - even 2 built within the last 15 years - has had at least ONE major issue. Some of them have had several. And yet all the homes are being listed at easily 20%-30% above true market value.

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Originally Posted by Rugger

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you but as mentioned it's nice to not be under pressure to buy, last thing you want is to be saddled with a money pit.

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Yeah, we've now walked away from 3. Although, technically, we haven't walked away from this last one... yet. Last night the selling agent contacted us directly to say that the owners wouldn't budge on price, despite our inspection proving there's a solid $20K in IMMEDIATE repairs needed.

This morning she went around our agent again and called us to encourage us to get a contractor in to work up some quotes on all the issues. Perhaps she can convince the owners to be sensible.

Well took possession of our raised ranch style home yesterday. It's 27 yrs old and has seen 10 years of rough tenant abuse. :-(

They busted some windows after our 48hr-out walkthrough. And left a pile of garbage/junk laying around.

We were assured that the smoking damage in the downstairs bathroom could be cleaned, sealed and repaired easily. But after 2 professional cleanings, and removal of all soft fixtures... The air is still so thick that I have trouble breathing. So it's going to require a full bathroom Reno that we didn't budget for.

Oh... The joys of home ownership, I guess. Lol

Anyone have a square shower stall they're getting rid of? ;-)

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

Well took possession of our raised ranch style home yesterday. It's 27 yrs old and has seen 10 years of rough tenant abuse. :-(

They busted some windows after our 48hr-out walkthrough. And left a pile of garbage/junk laying around.

We were assured that the smoking damage in the downstairs bathroom could be cleaned, sealed and repaired easily. But after 2 professional cleanings, and removal of all soft fixtures... The air is still so thick that I have trouble breathing. So it's going to require a full bathroom Reno that we didn't budget for.

Oh... The joys of home ownership, I guess. Lol

Anyone have a square shower stall they're getting rid of? ;-)

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2 months too late, a guy I work with just got rid of one.

You sure you cannot get the money for new windows?

If you have another shower to use, a DIY tile shower is not a hard project with the new materials on the market. Did my first one ten years ago with NO prior tile experience and just finishing my third , all in our own home...

Still in Arnprior or elsewhere?

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

Well took possession of our raised ranch style home yesterday. It's 27 yrs old and has seen 10 years of rough tenant abuse. :-(

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Originally Posted by Fox

2 months too late, a guy I work with just got rid of one.

You sure you cannot get the money for new windows?

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Oh, we're repairing the worst of the windows and the patio door. The other 13 windows will have to wait though. Doing a steel roof in the spring too.

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Originally Posted by patvetzal

If you have another shower to use, a DIY tile shower is not a hard project with the new materials on the market. Did my first one ten years ago with NO prior tile experience and just finishing my third , all in our own home...

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Excellent idea.

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Originally Posted by rf2

Still in Arnprior or elsewhere?

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Yup, not far from Home Hardware and Canadian Tire. As close to paradise as one can get when forced to live in the city. Although, living 2 mins away from Princess Auto in Ottawa was kinda fun too.

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Originally Posted by Fox

2 months too late, a guy I work with just got rid of one.

You sure you cannot get the money for new windows?

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Oh, we're repairing the worst of the windows and the patio door. The other 13 windows will have to wait though. Doing a steel roof in the spring too.

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Originally Posted by patvetzal

If you have another shower to use, a DIY tile shower is not a hard project with the new materials on the market. Did my first one ten years ago with NO prior tile experience and just finishing my third , all in our own home...

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Excellent idea.

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Originally Posted by rf2

Still in Arnprior or elsewhere?

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Yup, not far from Home Hardware and Canadian Tire. As close to paradise as one can get when forced to live in the city. Although, living 2 mins away from Princess Auto in Ottawa was kinda fun too.

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

Oh, we're repairing the worst of the windows and the patio door. The other 13 windows will have to wait though. Doing a steel roof in the spring too.

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I meant that they should be repairing anything that was broken after your 48 hour site visit.

My lawyer last year told me to contact them if anything is not as it was when the deal with signed, anything obvious like this should be covered as it was done before you took possession.

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Originally Posted by Fox

I meant that they should be repairing anything that was broken after your 48 hour site visit.

My lawyer last year told me to contact them if anything is not as it was when the deal with signed, anything obvious like this should be covered as it was done before you took possession.

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My thoughts exactly

I'm in that area often I'll have to stop in and check out the new digs. After you clean it :p

Congratulations on your new home. Hope your renos go well!

Congratulations on your first owned home. An exciting and nerve racking time. All the best in the new place.

Good Luck mott! Congrats. I was a regular at the Habitat for Humanity RE-STORE when I was renovating my first house after the divorce. Saved a lot of money.

So we've been in the new house for a little over 2.5 months now. And we've really been loving the town and the area. My wife isn't a huge fan of her 45 min commuter bus ride to Ottawa, and then another 15 mins getting to her work at Carleton Uni, but she's still able to get home before 5:30pm each evening so it's not the worst situation in the world.

The people throughout the town are awesome. It's so easy to take simple banter for granted, until you live in an area like Ottawa South where store employees know nothing and want to speak to you as little as possible, where you'll never see a store owner, where nobody makes eye contact or says hello when walking on the street.

We're out walking constantly, several trips to the hardware stores daily during our neverending renos & repairs and it's been great actually having conversations, or getting honest and earnest help from not just store employees, but store owners as often as not.

Not to mention the Halloween & Christmas decorations everywhere. My kids filled their treat bags after a couple blocks of walking, not KILOMETERS. And we can take our ageing family members for a quick 10 minute walk around the blocks for them to see dozens of well decorated houses for the holidays, rather than ours being the only home decorated.

It's been so great so far, that it won't even be the end of the world if we can never afford the dream 500 acres we're hoping to get prior to retirement. lol

Merry Christmas to y'all. Hope you're all enjoying life as much as i am. And if not, I hope you're able to soon.

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

So we've been in the new house for a little over 2.5 months now. And we've really been loving the town and the area. My wife isn't a huge fan of her 45 min commuter bus ride to Ottawa, and then another 15 mins getting to her work at Carleton Uni, but she's still able to get home before 5:30pm each evening so it's not the worst situation in the world.

The people throughout the town are awesome. It's so easy to take simple banter for granted, until you live in an area like Ottawa South where store employees know nothing and want to speak to you as little as possible, where you'll never see a store owner, where nobody makes eye contact or says hello when walking on the street.

We're out walking constantly, several trips to the hardware stores daily during our neverending renos & repairs and it's been great actually having conversations, or getting honest and earnest help from not just store employees, but store owners as often as not.

Not to mention the Halloween & Christmas decorations everywhere. My kids filled their treat bags after a couple blocks of walking, not KILOMETERS. And we can take our ageing family members for a quick 10 minute walk around the blocks for them to see dozens of well decorated houses for the holidays, rather than ours being the only home decorated.

It's been so great so far, that it won't even be the end of the world if we can never afford the dream 500 acres we're hoping to get prior to retirement. lol

Merry Christmas to y'all. Hope you're all enjoying life as much as i am. And if not, I hope you're able to soon.

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Good to hear,Oddmot. Merry Christmas to you and yours,too.

Merry Christmas. Smaller towns have more family atmosphere than large cities. Lived in Petawawa for couple of years, I know the sentiment.

Have you checked out Gillies Grove yet? Nice place for a walk through the forest and also see Ontario's tallest tree. Not today though. Way too windy.

Cheers

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Originally Posted by smitty55

Have you checked out Gillies Grove yet? Nice place for a walk through the forest and also see Ontario's tallest tree. Not today though. Way too windy.

Cheers

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Ha-ha we were actually there yesterday, despite the wind. And the mud. Always a fun walk with the kids & dog.

Wife has a distant relative who manages the Bibles for Mission thrift store over there someplace. We frequent the one in Kingston and find it better than the others in price, quality and cleanliness.
Enjoy your new digs and Merry Christmas.