Buyers spot value in upsizing from Toronto condo to Vaughan freehold

Theglobeandmail.com
Feb. 3, 2019
Sydnia Yu

20 George Kirby St., Vaughan, Ont.

Asking price: $899,900

Selling price: $880,000

Previous selling prices: $682,580 (2012); $503,381 (2009)

Taxes: $4,772 (2017)

Days on the market: 90

Co-op agent: Vadim Vilensky, Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc.

The action

The townhouse has a modern layout, four bedrooms and an unfinished basement.

Re/Max Realtron Realty Inc.

Toronto clients wished to trade their condominium suite for a house with a rental unit in Vaughan, so agent Vadim Vilensky selected six options in three communities. This three-storey townhouse – marked down several times from $1,076,900 over the latter half of 2018 – had the most potential, so they negotiated an offer of $880,000 mid-November.

“[The buyers] were used to living in a condo with about 550 square feet, so it seemed like a huge house. But after explaining the benefit of buying a 3,100-square-foot home at the price they bought it for, it just made sense,” Mr. Vilensky said.

“If you … rent out the basement, you can bring in an extra $1,500 [monthly], and it can offset the expense.”

What they got

This roughly decade-old townhouse has a modern layout with four bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus an unfinished basement and a built-in garage.

At the back of the 20-by-133-foot lot is a private yard and two decks. One leads directly into a recreation area on the main floor, while the deck above enters into one of two entertaining areas flanking the kitchen on the second floor.

The agent’s take

“The key was finding a house with access to the basement, and it could be finished in such a way to rent it out,” said Mr. Vilensky, who noted that few homes met that criteria.