Interest in a Calgary home that hit the market last month was sky high, with about 2,000 interested buyers making a bid.
But it wasn't the home's 1950s charm that set it apart; rather, it was the price tag.
Jason and Gina Hastie wanted to build a new home on their property, but didn't want to destroy their existing home.
So the couple placed an ad on Kijiji in January offering their home to a family that was affected by the Alberta floods that hit the province last June. The home was free, but the new owners would have to cover the cost of actually moving the structure to another property.
On Wednesday, the home’s new owners – Dave and Verna Roberts of High River, Alta. – picked up the keys.
Jason Hastie said while there was no shortage of interest in the home, the Roberts’ response to the ad particularly stood out.
"We had asked for one personal reference and one work reference from each family, and the Roberts had gotten together 100 reference letters," Hastie told CTV News. "That really showed to us how much they really wanted the house."
Six months before the Roberts lost their home during the flood, their son Kyle was killed in a car accident.
"It's been so emotional with everything that's happened," Dave Roberts said.
While the cost to move the home from Calgary to High River would typically be $20,000 to $30,000, a local moving company offered to do it for free.
Roberts said the free home is "life changing," and he envisions living in it "forever."
"We didn't see ourselves going back into a home for a year or two," he said. "Now we see ourselves moving into a home in a few months."
Verna Roberts said the home represents a new beginning.
"This is where we start all over again," she said.
With a report from CTV's Janet Dirks
