26 Boswell Ave., Toronto.
26 Boswell Ave., Toronto
Asking price: $1,799,900
Selling price: $2,241,500
Taxes: $9,943 (2017)
Days on the market: Six
Listing agent: Robin McDonald, Keller Williams Referred Urban Realty
The kitchen has been expanded and given sliding doors to the 19-by-119-foot lot.
The action: Compared with some multimillion dollar homes in the Annex, the $1.8-million asking price for this Victorian row home was alluring. One buyer, determined to be the next owner, put forward an offer $441,600 over the asking price to outdo nine other bidders in May.
“There was another home for sale on the street, but it was at $4.3-million, and a couple others in the area. But for the most part, there was not a lot of inventory,” agent Robin McDonald said.
“So we expected there to be good activity and showings, but not that many offers.”
The backyard space at 26 Boswell Ave.
What they got: At the end of a row of 2½-storey homes, this more than century-old structure contains three bedrooms and separate living and dining rooms with 10-foot ceilings and original mouldings.
Although the basement is unfinished, the attic was converted into a loft with a sink and skylights, and the kitchen was expanded and given sliding doors to the 19-by-119-foot lot. Behind the fence is a two-car parking off a laneway.
The agent’s take: “The location is fantastic. It’s on a dead-end street, which is a 30-second walk to Whole Foods and everything in Yorkville,” Ms. McDonald said.
“There are other row houses in the area, but they don’t come up very often, and this was a clean, blank slate, so you didn’t have to rip up someone’s 10-year-old reno and pay for it twice.”
Some buyers did appreciate the finished attic. “[The seller] built that space so she could have all that natural light up there for painting,” Ms. McDonald said. “But it could be a bedroom.”