Stroke of luck uncovered our perfect home

I agreed to buy a house on the same day that it was announced that property prices had risen by 24pc in 12 months in the capital.

My real search began last May but I've been window-shopping for years. As the youngest of four children I've been exposed to tales of gazumping, tragedies of negative equity and myths of 110pc mortgages.

But last autumn when my landlord said he now wanted €1,300 a month in rent for a two-bed apartment in an industrial estate I packed up my Cath Kidston teapot and moved out.

To clarify, I moved home to my parents' house, with the boyfriend in tow.

Dear parents, as you read this, please do not go upstairs. We moved in in the dead of the night and stashed three years of stuff in your attic.

One night on the DART home from work, my 44-minute journey was fully taken up with a trawl of MyHome and Daft.

Prices were creeping up. Yesterday experts worked it out as a €220-a-day climb.

We toyed with the idea of going all-out on a 'forever' home. After viewing a falling-down 1890s seaside shack that notion was promptly shelved.

We then considered buying 'out in the sticks', get lots of square-footage, a nice view and for a good price.

That viewing was particularly jointed – there was a queue out the door. As we stood in our prospective garden and absorbed the sights of the motorway, a stone's throw away, we knocked the 'sticks' house on the head.

Next up was a very decent three-bed home, with a nicely converted attic.

Before we'd even viewed our future home we were at the centre of a vicious bidding war.

As I stood in a shop buying a packet of chewing gum my phone rang – "you have 15 minutes to make your final offer". Later that afternoon, we were informed that we didn't get the house.

Then by a stroke of luck my sister visited her dentist who informs her that her brother is selling his Dublin-suburb home.

It has an extension, an outdoor office, a converted attic, it's semi-detached and even has nice shelving for my beloved teapot.

Timing is everything – both the right time and the right place. As we sign off on the requisite paperwork we aim to be in situ for October 31 – and we've promised to have a Halloween party.