The last year and a half have been an emotional roller coaster for engaged couple Joe Jennison and Alicia Murrell.

Looking to buy their first home, the couple sought a new build in Guelph, Ont. but were unsuccessful in two lotteries by developer Fusion Homes.

“We tried when they released a detached and we didn’t get, then we tried to do their semi-detached, we didn’t get that,” Murrell said. “We finally got their townhome and we were like pretty excited about that.”

The couple says closing on their first home, in the “Sora at The Glade” development, was a major life moment.

“So we went: ‘That’s it, we made it. We got our house.’ We were super excited,” Jennison said.

The couple says their relationship with Fusion Homes quickly started to sour not long after closing.

“It was probably a few months later they started releasing incentives because they weren’t selling their homes,” Murrell said.

“Nothing like earth shattering but still very nice,” Jennison continued. “So we reached out to our sales lady and said: ‘Can we get in on any of this incentive?’ And she said: ‘No, sorry, we don’t backdate anything, this is for new customers.’ So it sucked, but not the end of the world.”

According to the couple, by the time they were ready to move in, the incentives had reached $100,000 off the sale price and there were offers for around $100,000 in free upgrades.

They say these programs devalued their home by $200,000.

Keep reading on ctvnews.ca