At This Stage… The One That Got Away

This conversation is for anyone who’s ever looked around at their home and wondered if it still fits the life they’re living now. Whether you’re just starting to ask the question — or you’ve been sitting with it for a while.

A little while ago I walked into a bungalow.

I wasn’t even there for myself. But the moment I stepped inside — something happened.

I could see myself there. Immediately. Completely.

2200 square feet. Fully renovated. A finished two bedroom basement apartment. Everything done. Nothing major left to do.

And the income potential was right there too. Rent the lower level. Live upstairs. Passive income built right into the property. Everything I had been designing for — already done.

That bungalow was the exception. Almost an even trade with what I’d get for my house. Cosmetic updates only — some paint, new flooring in one room, a little work outside. Nothing major.

I went back. More than once. I kept going back.

And then the night before we were ready to make an offer — it sold.

Just like that.

I don’t want to talk too much about the hesitation that happened. Every couple knows that dynamic. One person ready. One person not quite there. And a window that doesn’t stay open forever.

But here’s what that experience did to me.

It made everything real.

Because up until that moment, moving wasn’t even a thought.

The renovation was the plan. Redesign the space. Create income. Stay put. I was committed to it.

And then I walked into that bungalow.

And something shifted.

Not because I want more. Not a bigger house. Not a more expensive neighbourhood. Not higher taxes.

I want different.

A different way of waking up in the morning. A different relationship with my space. Less maintaining. Less managing. More living.

That’s what that bungalow cracked open for me.

And now I can’t un-see it.

Since then I haven’t found anything like it.

Everything I look at now is somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000 more than what I’d net from selling. And suddenly the renovation I had been planning all along starts looking like the more practical option financially.

I didn’t wake up one day wanting to move.

I saw that bungalow. And I wanted it. It made sense on every level — the space, the income potential, the price. It felt like the right next move.

But if I’m being completely honest with myself — my real dream is a condo downtown. Walkable. Amenity rich. No maintenance. No snow to shovel. A completely different way of living.

That’s just not a conversation that’s quite that simple when it’s not only your decision to make.

So here I am. Somewhere between a bungalow I can’t find again, a condo I can’t stop thinking about, and a renovation that’s starting to look like the path of least resistance.

And I know what you’re thinking.

Well then — isn’t it just cheaper to renovate?

Stay put. Update the space. Make it work.

And maybe that’s true.

But renovating isn’t free either. And at the end of it — you’re still in the same house. Just a newer version of it.

So the real question isn’t renovate or move.

It’s — what do I actually want the next chapter to look like. And which decision actually gets me there.

I don’t want to wait until I’m 70 to move into a bungalow.

I want to make this decision while I still have the equity to make it well. While the options are still there. While I have the energy and the intention to do it right.

Julian moving into his own home. The bungalow that got away. A market that isn’t waiting for any of us to get comfortable.

It’s got me rethinking everything.

Anyone else having this conversation?

I’d love to talk about it. Reach out, reply, send me a message.

And if this sounds like someone you know — forward this along.