Now married for 20 years — several of which were spent living at opposite ends of the globe while working to save money to raise a family in Canada — and literally years of comparing builders and neighbourhoods, the happy couple is finally together. And in the home they have dreamed of and planned out for years.

“You name it, we saw it — we went to every show home in the city,” says Belinda.

The search for their 2,180-square-foot Jayman-built abode in Lake Chaparral was lengthy, admit Allan, 44, and Belinda, 45, who first entertained the idea of upsizing from their 980-square-foot Abbeydale bungalow a couple of years ago, before the birth of their second daughter, Aveline. A sour experience with another builder then put the purchase on a back burner until last spring.

“We knew what we wanted in a home and we found we weren’t getting what we needed for the price they were asking, and the price kept going up and up,” says Belinda.

“It is such a big decision, we didn’t want to feel pressured,” says Allan, adding the couple and their eldest daughter, Abigail, now seven, went back to visit family in the Philippines, and the buy was again relegated to the backburner.

Until they walked into their current builder’s show home — which they first thought was out of their price range. They were delighted to learn it wasn’t and settled on their current plan — a two-storey with three bedrooms, an upstairs loft the girls have claimed and an ensuite for Belinda, as well as main floor with an open kitchen, great room and nook.

“We really needed the space. Our other home was getting too small for us and even if we put an extension on it would have been too small — we really chose this one for its openness,” says Allan. “We have two kids so we don’t want a lot of separation.”

While renovations at the former, 1972 house included ripping up carpet and replacing appliances, that home would never be new, which was what they wanted, says Belinda. And after putting off their first home buy for 13 years, and their move-up purchase another eight, some might say they’d earned it.

Since planning for the future is always in mind, the grandeur of the home was determined by the possibility of Allan’s parents, who are now in their 60s, moving in at some point.

“Our house sold so quick, we lived with them for four months. That’s just our culture — family has very close-knit ties,” says Allan.

The couple muses about how much more space they now have to entertain extended family and friends in — a group which can easily reach upwards of 50 — in their new abode that conveniently includes an expansive, two-storey foyer for greeting visitors.

“We couldn’t all enter (the old house) at the same time because the foyer was too small, and the living room was about ten by fourteen,” laughs Belinda.

Now she welcomes the space for the girls to run around, and for her to cook up savoury feasts at the central island. “When I get home, I head straight to the kitchen,” she says.

While they added a few upgrades, such as nine-foot ceilings and extra hardwood on the main floor, what was included in their new home without extra cost was what sold them on their builder, Allan says. “What you saw was   what you got, we liked that,” he says.

Location was also a huge determining factor. As both Belinda and Allan work in the southeast, she in accounting for a grocery chain and he at a glass manufacturer, a commute from other areas of the city such as the northwest was out of the question. And moving into a community with a lake was no stroke of coincidence.

“We like the lake for the kids and that the area is pretty established, with the roads already done,” says Belinda.

Perhaps the result of years of deliberating, buyers’ remorse was the last thing on Belinda and Allan’s minds. In the midst of their home’s construction, they headed for California.

“We decided we needed a vacation if we were spending that much money, and we trusted the builder knew what they were doing,” says Allan. “When we came back the home was almost ready to move into.”

The pair has since referred other friends and colleagues to their builder, as the experience was such a positive one for the Santillas. Most of all, they are happy to spend time together when they can (Allan works nights, Belinda days, so they can raise their girls without childcare), in their new digs that are really starting to feel like home after three months.

While they see it as an investment, and may build again in the future, Belinda and Allan are happy to stay put for a while. “This is our home now,” says Allan.