Today we went to see the Parkdale house. This beautiful, character-filled home is priced right and seems to be flying under the radar. We might actually have a chance! Alex and I are now deciding whether we should make an offer.
But before we get to that, let me tell you about it.
The house itself is quite large (~1500 sq ft) and not bad to look at. I have said all along that I’m fine with anything that can change (like an ugly kitchen or 80s bathroom), but things like the size of the house, ceiling heights, placement of windows and neighbourhood are very important – because these never change.
Here’s a view from the front (again) – it’s the left half:
The house has a lot of character with many of the original architectural features: exposed brick, the original trim, oak floors, and a working FIRE PLACE!
It also has some of those non-forever things, like laminate flooring in the kitchen and burgundy tiles in the bathroom:
The backyard is also cute and has a garage – albeit, it’s really only standing because it’s being held up by the neighbour’s concrete garage. But laneway access is amazing and a garage to store our bikes is a bonus!
I actually think we have a good shot at this little place. It’s not staged, the selling agent didn’t post the open house on the website, the basement isn’t finished (and is just under 6′), the owner is a smoker and there are just enough renovations (including knob and tube wiring) to require the kind of creativity not usually seen in a bidding war. Also, there wasn’t a home inspection done, which tends to scare people away. Not to mention some notorious low-income apartments just up the street (which are just fine by us).
We might actually have a chance!