Your Ottawa House Hunting Trip: How to Make the Most of 5 Days

A House Hunting Trip to Ottawa is 7 days total. One travel day in, five days on the ground, one travel day home. That's it. Five days to find a home in a city you may have never lived in, for a family you need to uproot, on a timeline you didn't choose.

I've been on both sides of this. I've been the CAF member staring at a posting message to a new city, trying to figure out where to even start. And I've been the REALTOR® running CAF families through Ottawa HHTs with five days and a lot riding on it.

Here's what actually works.

Before You Land: The Pre-Trip Work That Makes or Breaks Your HHT

Most CAF families waste the first day of their HHT doing the work they should have done before they left. Don't do that.

Know your base, know your commute. Ottawa has several major DND employment locations and the commute experience is completely different depending on which one you're headed to.

• DND Carling (Moodie & Carling) — Ottawa's largest DND campus. Kanata, Stittsville, Bridlewood, and Morgan's Grant are your primary target neighbourhoods. You want to be west of the city, not fighting crosstown traffic.
• CFS Leitrim — South end of the city. Riverside South, Findley Creek, and Barrhaven are your best options. The Limebank O-Train station is a genuine commute game-changer if your spouse works downtown.
• NDHQ / downtown postings — Orleans, Barrhaven, Kanata, and Nepean all offer reasonable commutes. Test the actual drive time at actual commute hours before you decide.
• Uplands / Airport area — South Keys, Hunt Club, and Blossom Park are convenient options.

Understand your budget — truly. Your IRP funding is divided into Core and Custom envelopes. Your planning session with SIRVA/BGRS will clarify your specific numbers. Know them cold before you start viewing homes.

Day 1: Orientation and Priority Viewings

Your first day on the ground should be an orientation drive, not a full viewing day. Drive the target neighbourhoods before you start walking through houses. This sounds like it wastes time. It saves time.

When you've been looking at listing photos online, every neighbourhood looks similar. When you're driving the actual streets — noticing the distance from the school, the feel of the commute route, the proximity to the grocery store — you immediately narrow down what actually works.

By the end of Day 1 you should have confirmed your two or three priority neighbourhoods and your shortlist of homes to view starting Day 2.

Days 2 and 3: Primary Viewings

These are your core viewing days. Aim for 6 to 8 properties per day — that's the maximum you can meaningfully evaluate without everything blurring together.

What to bring:

• Notebook or phone for notes on each property — don't rely on memory
• Photos and video on your phone for every room of every home you're seriously considering
• Your checklist of must-haves, nice-to-haves, and deal-breakers — agreed in advance with your spouse

What your REALTOR® should be doing:

• Providing comparable sales data on each property as you view it
• Flagging anything that could complicate your IRP file
• Coordinating with their inspector network to have someone available quickly
• Uploading documents to your SIRVA/BGRS portal in real time

Day 4: Second Looks and Decision Narrowing

By Day 4 you should be down to two or three serious contenders. Go back for second looks. What felt right on Day 2 might feel different on Day 4. What felt wrong might reveal itself as a better option than you thought.

This is also the day to confirm your inspection timeline. If you want to move forward with an offer, your inspector needs to be booked. In Ottawa's current market, you typically have room to include an inspection condition — but your REALTOR® will advise you on the specific property and neighbourhood.

Day 5: Offer Day

Day 5 is offer day. Not browsing day. Not "maybe one more look" day. Offer day.

This is the most common mistake I see on HHTs — families spend Day 5 still looking when they should be writing. You've done the work. You know which home works best for your family and your situation. Trust the process.

A few things to know about Ottawa offers:

• Conditional offers (on financing and inspection) are currently common and accepted in this market
• Your REALTOR® needs to upload comparables to the SIRVA/BGRS portal — this is the substantiating document requirement
• Build your closing date around your COS date and moving window

What Happens If You Don't Find a Home on Your HHT

It happens. Ottawa's inventory can be limited in certain neighbourhoods and price ranges, and sometimes the right property just isn't available during your window.

If you leave without a home, you may be eligible for temporary housing while the search continues. Your SIRVA/BGRS advisor will outline your options. The important thing is not to panic-buy a home that doesn't work because you feel the clock running out. A home that doesn't fit your life is a problem that doesn't end on closing day.

One Thing Nobody Tells CAF Families About Ottawa HHTs

Ottawa is big. Really big.

Families coming from Petawawa, Trenton, Gagetown, or a smaller base often underestimate the geographic scale of Ottawa. A home that looks close to DND Carling on a map might be a 45-minute drive depending on where you are in the city and when you're driving.

The first question I ask every CAF family I work with is: "Where are you working and what time do you leave in the morning?"

The answer to that question tells me more about where you should be living than any listing photo ever will.