Owen Reynolds Personal blog

Odd as it sounds, as of May 2022, I’d never been a property owner (house/condo). A trip to Arizona inspired me to become a home owner. Why? Long-term, I’d like to do as my parents do, and become a snowbird. They travel to Florida each winter from Winnipeg, MB, Canada where I grow up. Montreal, Quebec, where I reside is not as cold as Winnipeg, but really, everywhere in Canada has the “winter tax”, and I’d like to stop paying it ❄️🌨️

My criteria for the house was simple, but was at odds with the condo type dwelling common for most folks from Montreal. However, as I grew up in Winnipeg, MB, I’m used to BUNGALOWS. So, I wanted an un-attached house, small, close to 1200 square feet, front and back yard w patio, and room for one car (which as of this posting, I still don’t own, but soon will)

On my return from Arizona, I mentioned my snow-bird plan to my then landlord in Verdun, Montreal, Quebec. She got me in contact with her BF’s friend who’s a realtor, thank you Emilie!

I chatted with my new realtor Mathieu on the phone, gave my criteria, and away we went! To contradict myself, I did entertain the idea of a condo for one a single day of visits, just to keep my mind open to calling an apartment a home (aka, condo), after 3 visits, I backed out of the remaining visit, and advised Mathieu we should focus only on small houses going forward. I visited 2 houses on my own, and one final house with Mathieu, and the 3rd one was the winner! Here were the original realtor pix that sold me on the modern updated interior

I bid / won in mid May , completed my home inspection, and moved in Sat May 27, 2022

I’m a huge fan of Microsoft OneNote, and I’ve used it to organized previous moves. For this move, the list of to-do items became expansive very fast. I set tasks into “week 1” “month 1” , “first six months”. This included minor fixes for electrical issues, getting gutters installed, painting scratches made during moving, etc

Some highlights:

• I got a chance to consolidate my home lab gear into a single server rack, finally! This is something I wanted to do for years
• I’m KINDA color-blind, so, complex shades of blue/green/etc I don’t see so well. The house is mostly black/white/dark brown, so buying items for it have been EZ! I mostly stick to black/white items
• I’ve enjoyed simple fix-er-up tasks: replacing a tub spout, caulking my tub, adding a missing step to my patio, leveling out my washer / dryer with anti-vibration feet. Like anything, if you don’t know how to do it, someone has posted it to YouTube! Review & measure twice, and you’ll be good to go
• I’m really enjoying the gardening / landscaping / lawncare side of things. I’ve bought a bunch of ‘exotic’ plants that inspired the idea to buy the house when I was in Arizona in April, and keep adding more! I started with 3 provided by my landlord, and now 7 new plants: ZZ, Palm, Yucca
• OMG, it’s SO quiet. the interior of the house has all new windows, with excellent sound-proofing. For whatever reason, my hearing appears to be improving with AGE!? I can’t explain it, it’s a bit of a burden, and certainly explains why I’ve moved into a house from an apartment rental where you get sounds from above/below. As well, I can now crank my SONOS wireless system up beyond 15%