What Ontario buyer's need to know about new homes in Gatineau

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It is doubtful if any Ottawa builders designed and marketed homes with carports since the 1970s. Carports were commonly featured in order to reduce the price of the house, or they were used when a lot size or shape disallowed a garage. Home owners on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River have therefore become accustomed to driving into their own garage.

But many houses in Gatineau are often priced and sold without a garage or a carport.

The primary reason for this is to keep down the price and make houses available for more home buyers. So Ottawa buyers should be sceptical of low prices; they may simply mean you are not getting what you think you should. If, for example, the house you buy doesn't have a garage, you'll have to park your car outdoors.

Some home designs may offer three different options; without a garage, with a one-car garage, or with a two-car garage.

Ottawa home buyers have become accustomed to finding a minimum of 1.5 bathrooms in a townhouse or a semi-detached home, and 2.5 bathrooms in a detached 2-storey home. That may not apply in Gatineau. So, although Gatineau builder may offer prices that appear lower, it will be up to you to determine whether the reason for this is a lack of bathrooms you thought you had a right to expect. You don't!

One full bathroom is not unusual for a family home in Gatineau. In a somewhat bigger house where you might have expected 2.5 bathrooms, you may find only 1.5 bathrooms.

But in many cases where a family home includes only one bathroom, it is likely to be a bigger luxury bathroom with a Roman Tub, a separate shower stall, and possibly a double sink. That also means you shouldn't expect private en-suite bathrooms in most homes in Aylmer, Hull or Gatineau!

Prices of houses in the Gatineau are still more likely to be cheaper than in Ottawa, because of the lower price of land. But - as with every location - there are disadvantages as well as advantages. That is up to the buyer to determine. All we can point to is that thrift determines different choices on each side of the Ottawa River. What Ottawa home buyers might consider to be ideal trade-offs may not be what Gatineau buyers want - so builders in Gatineau may make different designs available there than in Ottawa.

Of course it is not easy to generalise, because home buyers differ. Nevertheless, we have to, in order to be brief. So the following generalisations may apply.

Whereas some Ottawa builders may offer every feature available in a house, Gatineau builders may pare down the features in order to provide a better house. "Better" may mean it could be smaller, have no garage, and feature only one bathroom. On the other hand it may be detached and on a 50ft wide lot as a preferred trade-off.

Many Gatineau builders insist on "style" in even the smallest bungalow. Style is frequently considered to be more important than some features that many Ottawa builders provide as standard.

Whereas "raised bungalows" went out of style in Ottawa after the 1970s, thrift and rising home prices have made raised bungalows more attractive in the Gatineau. They permit larger windows to introduce more light into the basement level, where additional rooms can be built. The difference is that today's raised bungalows in Aylmer, Hull and Gatineau can be stylish. (The Ottawa trend is to add a loft - but it is more expensive).

Detached houses in Gatineau more closely resemble those in Ottawa when they reach a $300,000 price level. Even so, there is a distinct Quebec style that reflects historic elements or chic.

Energy Saving Systems

Extra insulation and other energy-saving systems or devices are encouraged by CMHC in Ontario and known as Energy Star. Their additional standards for all new homes are particularly important with the rising cost of heating fuel. The target is 40 percent higher efficiency in all newly built homes by 2010. A similar but different system applies to new homes in Quebec.

Quebec's energy-saving system is known as Novoclimat. It is beginning to be installed by such conscientious Gatineau home builders as Chabitat Construction in Aylmer.

Price Disclosure

Whereas leading home builders in Ottawa and much of Ontario are pleased to provide their prices on their websites, most Quebec builders are still reticent to have their prices compared with those of other local builders.

Perhaps there's a good reason for it. Certainly they are not yet accustomed to the total disclosure that today's consumers now expect, and that reliable Ottawa builders now provide.

There are exceptions to this reluctance in Gatineau, however, like Chabetat Construction for example, who have built homes for many years and won awards for their honesty, dependability, and transparency.

Other Differences

If you decide to buy a new home in Gatineau, be sure to ask the builder about other differences, like Quebec's tax rebate system, and the use of a Notary to establish and register your title to the house, instead of a lawyer. Notaries can also explain differences in law which may affect joint ownership with a partner.

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