Looking Beyond Face Value

When we found our little gem of a property tucked in a secluded bay of Okanagan Lake everyone we talked to about it advised against the purchase. I found the photo of the view from a cute little green-roofed cabin while scrolling through lakefront listings online. I immediately put it at the top of the list of properties that Todd and I should see when we took a trip to Kelowna one weekend.

First we called the selling realtor who was overtly negative about the state of things relating to setbacks and the road that led to the cabin. We spoke to the people in the neighbourhood who mentioned to watch out for one difficult neighbour. Then the realtor who took us to see the property also deemed the logistics of it so problematic that we should leave it and instead consider other properties, which we did. In fact we looked at almost every waterfront property in the Okanagan. We found ourselves comparing them all to this first one and Todd decided we should head down the path of buying the little cabin with the green roof (at least until something concrete showed up to stop us).

Our first summer at the lake proved without a doubt that we had made the right decision.  We shared our little slice of heaven with 50 overnight guests that summer and had the time of our lives living in an RV, building a bunkhouse and spending every sunny day down on the dock swimming, boating and playing all day. It looked like all of the warnings we’d received were empty threats… until we tried to make plans for a new cabin. Now we know why the people who sold the property to us never made it past their first drawings. Now we know why the neighbours had warned us. They were not wrong, this is a problematic property with difficult hurdles to jump.  But we know something they all didn’t- Todd Talbot will not be stopped!