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Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

123 Ascot Ave., Toronto

Asking price: $700,000 (May, 2022)

Selling price: $815,000 (May, 2022)

Taxes: $3,428 (2021)

Days on the market: Eight

Listing agents: Nigel Denham, Robert Nelson and Penny Brown, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

The action

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A bid of $815,000 took the house – $115,000 over asking – though it was not the best monetary offer.Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

This roughly 80-year-old house had a long list of necessary repairs. There were 30 or so visitors and there were five offers, primarily from contactors and developers. A bid of $815,000 took the house – $115,000 over asking – though it was not the best monetary offer.

“So many people are looking to trade under $1-million and just over, and the product in all of these areas are trickling in on a limited basis,” said agent Nigel Denham.

“The [offer] that stood out was marginally the lesser price than the next offer, but it was a lightening quick closing and a substantial deposit for that price point – almost three times what we expected – so it provided a great deal of certainty in what’s now an uncertain world.”

What they got

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This roughly 80-year-old house had a long list of necessary repairs.Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

Just a few blocks away from Earlscourt Park, this semi-detached house has a traditional three-bedroom layout with one bathroom, a formal dining room and an open kitchen. The basement is unfinished.

Fireplaces are situated in the first-floor den and a bedroom on the second floor.

The 15- by 120-foot lot has the benefit of a south-facing yard and one-car parking off a laneway.

The agent’s take

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This semi-detached house has a traditional three-bedroom layout with one bathroom, a formal dining room and an open kitchen. The basement is unfinished.Sotheby’s International Realty Canada

“A few end-users were thinking they could do a reno, but it was too overwhelming because the property wasn’t just dated but quite dilapidated,” Mr. Denham said.

“At the price we sold it for, if a developer was doing their own work – and not hiring a general contactor, paying management fees or traditional markups you get as a retail end user – they can crack this off for $300,000 or $350,000 and with resale for the new finished product around the $1.4-million range. It’s a tidy profit for their troubles.”

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