37 Granby St., Toronto
Asking price: $1,795,000 (September, 2019)
Previous listing price: $1,895,000 (September, 2019)
Selling price: $1.7-million
Previous selling price: $235,000 (1998)
Taxes: $5,181 (2019)
Days on the market: 31
Listing agents: Paul Maranger and Christian Vermast, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
The action
Around Ryerson University most of the activity is from investor buyers looking for high-rise suites that they can then rent out to students, so this luxury-priced 2½-storey row house may have been overlooked. Since no offers materialized during its first two weeks on the market in September, it was relisted for $100,000 less. Two offers emerged after Thanksgiving.
“Because this home was so atypical, it’s typical it took [more than] a good month to sell,” agent Paul Maranger said.
“I expected it would be owner occupied with supplemental income to help pay the mortgage. But the response was greater from pure investors, I think because the vacancy rate in Toronto is so dramatically below the natural rate of vacancy that there’s great demand for executive rentals.”
What they got
The previous owner – an interior designer – expertly fashioned two units within the shell of this more than century-old home on a 14-foot-by 80-foot lot.
A two-bedroom unit offers 1,300 square feet of living space across the main and lower levels, complete with open living and dining areas with exposed brick walls and a kitchen that exits to a private, south-facing yard.
Upstairs, the owner’s unit provides 1,105 square feet with a rooftop terrace off the sole bedroom.
The agent’s take
“This is a duplex and what’s rare about this is the quality of both units were the same,” Mr. Maranger said.
“There was millwork, mouldings and custom built-ins you’d never see anywhere but in a custom-made home in Rosedale or Forest Hill. So for the area, it was extremely high end.”
The setting also feels both urban and suburban. “Because it’s not a through street, it’s crazy quiet, which is unusual,” Mr. Maranger said.
“It didn’t have on site parking, which is not a problem because if you walk out your front door and turn your head left, you can see College Park.”
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