One of things we forgot to talk about earlier was the very first decision we made: where to build the house! We had picked Tuscany, a community in NW Calgary because the location seemed perfect: it was close to our church, close to Ashley's family, and considering how much time I spent driving up to the NW for things, it felt like it was time to move. Tuscany seemed like a really nice area - it had a nice feel to it, like it was a tight-knit community without being 30 minutes outside the city limits. They have a nice area in the middle with a wading pool, playground for the kids, community centre, etc. Children are quite a few years off for us, but it can't hurt to plan ahead. :-)

Now, onto the real point of this post: the lot!

Choosing a lot for your house is usually fairly simple: it's a game of numbers. On any given block of lots, there will be lots that are "prime" - these are the corner lots, the lots with a great view, or the lots that are bigger than the others. Sometimes the differences are subtle - for example, one lot we were looking at was quite a big more expensive than the one right next to it, because the first lot was in front of a keyhole (a semi-circle of houses), and thus had no other houses directly in front of it. The one immediately on the other side was looking at the side of a house, but it was $5000+ cheaper. Subtle differences on paper usually equate to big changes in "real life".



We really lucked out on our lot! The photo above shows our backyard - nothing but green! The row of houses we're on will back onto a "green space". This is a nice name for "storm drain" - if the water levels get out of control in the area, this green space area will be a collecting point for the water, because it has massive storm drains to cope with the water. The nice thing about this is that they made it look like a park - grass, trees, etc. When we first start looking at lots early this year, they were in the $57K area. Those were the "cheap" lots, because the more expensive ones were closer to $70K. This new segment of lots didn't have anything under $60K, but the lot we found for a little more than that is perfect. From our main floor deck we'll have a lovely mountain view, and the walk-out basement will give us a nice open view of this green space. So far, it seems like the perfect lot!



See what I mean about the flooding? When it rains, you don't want to be playing in the green space!



This is an image showing the layers of land - the rock on the far left will be built up, and our walkout basement will be further over to the right...



Another thing we liked about this lot was that only a few hundred feet away we have a nice walking path that goes around part of the community. Ashley and I have been walking more lately, so this looks like a good place to get some exercise and fresh air.



A photo of the contract I signed when we first started the whole deal. Pretty exciting!