{"id":527438,"date":"2026-03-10T19:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527438\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T19:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T19:24:08","slug":"this-couple-had-a-600000-budget-for-a-townhouse-in-the-ottawa-suburbs-what-did-they-find","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/527438\/","title":{"rendered":"This couple had a $600,000 budget for a townhouse in the Ottawa suburbs. What did they find?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Emma Campbell and Tyrone Ajani with their cat Tequila. The couple were searching for a starter home with three bedrooms.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Tyrone Ajani, a 25-year-old return-to-work specialist for Ontario\u2019s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, grew up in the east Ottawa suburb of Orleans. In July, 2023, he moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Gloucester, east of downtown Ottawa, paying $2,200 a month. A year later, he moved back in with his parents in Orleans. \u201cI realized that renting was a waste of time and money,\u201d Mr. Ajani says. \u201cThe goal was to save a little bit on rent and then eventually have a down payment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September, 2024, Mr. Ajani started dating Ella Campbell, a 22-year-old nurse. She was living in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Ottawa at the time, which she was renting for $1,874 a month. Mr. Ajani shared his home ownership dreams with Ms. Campbell and the idea of stability resonated with her. \u201cI\u2019ve moved around a lot \u2013 eight times in four years,\u201d she explains. \u201cI was definitely ready to just be in one place.\u201d<\/p>\n

A year later, in November, 2025, the couple was browsing real estate listings online when they crunched the numbers and realized they were in a good financial position to buy a home. \u201cThere was a favourable market,\u201d Mr. Ajani explains. \u201cInterest rates were lower and prices were a little bit lower in the wintertime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Campbell wanted the couple’s new home to have large windows so her rescue cats, Tequila and Hennessy, could enjoy looking outside.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The couple knew who to call for help with their home search. Ms. Campbell\u2019s mother, Erin Campbell, is a realtor based in Northumberland County, where she raised her daughter. \u201cI usually won\u2019t go out of my area,\u201d Mrs. Campbell says. \u201cBut Tyrone grew up in Ottawa and he knew the area extremely well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms. Campbell and Mr. Ajani set themselves a budget of $600,000. They were looking for a townhouse or a semi-detached home with at least three bedrooms, so they could have a spare bedroom for guests and an office for Mr. Ajani, who works from home. They also wanted a big backyard for barbecuing and a future dog, plus a garage where an electric vehicle charger could be installed for Mr. Ajani\u2019s EV. As for Ms. Campbell, a bright, open layout was a priority, as were large windows where her rescue cats would enjoy looking outside. <\/p>\n

They focused their search in Orleans, the suburb where Mr. Ajani grew up and a region that offered good value while keeping Ms. Campbell\u2019s drive to work, at Ottawa Hospital, at under 30 minutes. With Mrs. Campbell\u2019s help, the couple compiled a list of six homes to view in one December weekend. Here were their top three choices. <\/p>\n

Three-bedroom end unit with a big backyard in Springridge Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A home at 2087 Breezewood St. in Ottawa.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

This end-unit townhouse was located along the western edge of Orleans. It sat on an oversized lot with a big backyard that had plenty of space for barbecuing and a dog to play. The bright, open-concept main floor had a living room with a gas fireplace and a large kitchen with a floating island. A sauna in the finished basement\u2019s bathroom was an unexpected bonus. <\/p>\n

However, the stairs and basement were carpeted, which was a drawback. \u201cAnimals are unpredictable,\u201d Ms. Campbell explains. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to clean a mess out of a carpet.\u201d The property\u2019s fence was also in poor condition and would need to be replaced soon. The home was listed at $599,999, at the top of their budget.<\/p>\n

Quirky two-bedroom semi in SpringridgeOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A home at 2341 Glandriel Cres. in Ottawa.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Ms. Campbell liked the modern decor in this semi-detached home, also in west Orleans, like patterned wallpaper, wainscotting and bright accent colours. While it only had two bedrooms, there was a loft space that could be converted to a third bedroom. \u201cThe lady that was living there did a really good job utilizing the space that she had, making the area appear bigger than it is,\u201d Ms. Campbell explains. <\/p>\n

It had a dining room at the front of the house and a living room open to the kitchen at the back, but the couple thought the layout felt cramped. The basement was only partly finished, and there was carpeting on the stairs, upper floor and basement that would need to be replaced. The backyard was small and had an unusual upward slope at the back. On the plus side, this property was priced lower, at $569,000, giving them some budget left over to renovate the home to their liking. <\/p>\n

Modern three-bedroom middle unit in Avalon WestOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A home at 347 Willow Aster Cir. in Ottawa.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The contemporary decor of this three-bedroom townhouse in the southern part of Orleans appealed to the couple. The house was owned by an electrician who had installed plenty of light fixtures, including some modern LED lighting strips in the basement that the couple admired. \u201cHe also promised to install a charger for me if we bought the house,\u201d Mr. Ajani says, to accommodate his EV in the garage. The home had a gas fireplace on the main floor, three bedrooms and a primary ensuite bathroom with a soaker tub and a separate shower. <\/p>\n

However, the backyard was very small. They also found out that there were plans to build a school on a lot just behind the house, which would mean living through a major construction project for at least two years. This home was priced at $599,999.<\/p>\n

Their home: Three-bedroom end unit with a big backyard in SpringridgeOpen this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Mr. Ajani and Ms. Campbell in front of their new home.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

While the quirky two-bedroom was well under their budget, the couple weren\u2019t keen on renovating to get the three bedrooms they needed. And while the bright and modern three-bedroom in Avalon West was appealing, the higher price point didn\u2019t seem worthwhile for the couple, especially for a middle unit with a small backyard and the potential for construction nearby.<\/p>\n

That left the three-bedroom end unit in Springridge as their top choice. \u201cIt was a nice, bigger house compared to the other ones we\u2019d seen,\u201d Mr. Ajani explains. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The home in Springridge was bigger than the others the couple had looked at.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The couple were keen for a fast closing. They completed the sale on Dec. 16 and moved in by mid-January. \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel real at first,\u201d Ms. Campbell says of their purchase. \u201cIt felt like I was living in an Airbnb. It hadn\u2019t really sunk in yet that this was our place.\u201d <\/p>\n

After moving in, the couple tackled a few light repairs, such as installing a new thermostat, fixing the garage door and upgrading the doorknobs to a cat-proof design. \u201cMy nosy little cat has learned how to open doors that don\u2019t fully latch,\u201d Ms. Campbell explains. \u201cWe found him in the laundry room, up in the furnace.\u201d <\/p>\n

They\u2019ll work on fixing the fence next and will upgrade their flooring to remove the carpet at some point. \u201cBeing able to do construction and renovations without asking for permission is pretty nice,\u201d says Mr. Ajani.<\/p>\n

Ms. Campbell and Mr. Ajani see this house as a starter property as opposed to a forever home. They envision themselves moving to a more rural property in the country some time in the future. \u201cWe\u2019re brand new to this,\u201d Ms. Campbell explains. \u201cBut this is a good place to get our feet on the ground.\u201d <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

The finished basement even has a sauna, an unexpected bonus.Keito Newman\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Emma Campbell and Tyrone Ajani with their cat Tequila. The couple were searching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,20739,2741],"class_list":["post-527438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-ottawa","tag-pf-ca"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}