As first-time buyers, the real estate market was a near-complete unknown to myself and to my young family. We knew very little about the house-buying process and by full admission we found it overwhelming and intimidating. With my own family of predominantly working-class background and my wife being a New Canadian, we had very little means of obtaining personable advice from someone whom we could trust. . .we were wary of possibly being preyed upon by an unscrupulous professional who only cared about the bottom line. To our great fortune, we soon encountered Pat Durant . . she went to considerable lengths to educate us on all matters concerning our first-time purchase---including evenings and weekends---and answered all of our questions and concerns. She showed commendable patience and resolve, yet did not aggressively push us into purchasing any homes that did not address our needs or were simply not to our liking. She was mindful of our tight budget and tried hard to negotiate a better price in our favour when we coveted a house that was just right for us but was just out of our financial reach. After much work and perseverance from Ms. Durant’s end, we found our first home at long last. . .and we’ll be moving in just two short months from now! We can’t thank her enough for her hard work and dedication to her clients. I cannot recommend her enough to anyone looking to buy a home in Ottawa , and especially so for first-time buyers.