Housing m(ar/rac)ket

I was reading yesterday's Ottawa Citizen Homes section at my local Starbucks this morning. They featured three types of recent buyers in their spread: an investor, downsizers, and first-time buyers. Their intro anticpated that March would be a busy time for homebuyers in Ottawa with mortgage rates still low and demand still high because of the relatively stable economy.

As I sit in my new home, enjoying the view of my yard (must plant something), the quiet of my space (no centretown truck traffic), I hope that I have made the right choice to buy. Bills have started pouring in (water, hydro, property taxes) and I do feel somewhat overwhelmed. Meanwhile, my hoped-for upgrades are also costly (floors, electrical, roof). Can I afford this? I'm trying to keep expenses down. I'm leaving the thermostat at 20. I've decided not to buy new furniture. I haven't gone out in I don't know how long (moving week pizza and coffee excepted). I suppose my challenge will be how to transition to a more modest budget after living a year of post-thesis material therapy. I've never been extravagant, you can't afford to be as a grad student, but I've also never had to spend any large amount of money. Can I just coast along in this little cottage and not upgrade it? Will its property value rise without necessary changes? Not sure. I planned to do a lot, prior to moving in. I guess things change once you realize how much it all costs.

Still, just having privacy, the yard, the basement, the laundry, the walk-in tub (which, as it turns out, doesn't leak if shut properly, so I keep it shut and A and I climb in and out of it with the help of a stool), the extra bedroom, and faux fireplace - all these extras feel like they are worth how much more we are paying. Now, I don't have the granite counters and molding and dishwasher and who-knows-what of Barrhaven buyers, but I'm walking distance to downtown (it took me a mere 40 minutes to get from my old apartment to here on Monday morning, and it was a pleasant walk).

So, here I am, trying to decide . . . have I just responded to cues from the media and launched myself into something risky, or am I making a sound personal investment?