Each year Toronto Life, the magazine of choice for our city’s upwardly mobile and cultural elite, publishes their top ten list of ‘up and coming’ neighbourhoods deemed to be the ‘next hot areas’
By and large, their assessment typically identifies how gentrification – the movement of middle class households into former working class neighbourhoods – or, in the case of their choice of ‘Upper Yorkville’ this year, the movement of the wealthy into former middle class neighbourhoods – signals the rejuvenation of a neighbourhood and its upcycle into a more highly coveted real estate bastion.
This year, 8 of Toronto Life’s 10 neighbourhood picks are located in the Old City of Toronto, which is where urbaneer serves its clientele. Old Toronto, which spans The Beach west to Bloor West Village, and from Lake Ontario up the Yonge Street Corridor to Highway 401, comprise 42 ‘village’ neighbourhoods which are constantly in their own state of flux and life cycles. We’d estimate roughly 1million people live in this geography.
Each month urbaneer posts a ‘Home of the Month’ feature which showcases what our clients have recently bought.
Lo and behold, here are 7 examples in 8 of Toronto Life’s city neighbourhood picks which reflect how urbaneer too, is strategizing to ensure our clients realize the highest return on the real estate investment in these locations.
Following the order of Toronto Life’s Top 10 are some real examples of what our Purchasers are buying:
Seaton Village
List $899,000 Sold $880,000 June 2013
We love Seaton Village for its mix of 2 and 3 storey Victorian and Edwardian brick residences nestled on tree-lined streets, its stellar French immersion school (Palmerston), and the fact it’s steps to the Bathurst and Christie subway stations, the Christie Pits Park and Recreation Centre, and reputable organic grocer Fiesta Farms. Our buyer chose this property, our June 2013 Home Of The Month Feature, for its location and functionality. Recently renovated in all manners of big box blandness, what it lacked in charm provided the perfect blank canvas for a fine tuning and personal re-styling. (Read the whole story by clicking HERE). For those considering this location be forewarned the price of entry is not cheap. However, once you’re bought property here, be confident you’ve secured an escalating investment which you’ll truly appreciate and enjoy living in.
Woodbine Lumsden
List $501,000 Sold $508,800 May 2012
Although this house is just west of the Woodbine-Lumsden map featured on Toronto Life, the magazine’s description of the Woodbine-Lumsden housing stock and residents reflects a larger area encompassing much of East York from Danforth Avenue north to O’Connor Drive from Main Street west to Coxwell. Which is where our May 2012 Home of the Month feature is located. While Toronto Life touts you can pick up a house here for $400,000, what goes for that sum will likely be a candidate for being topped-up or expanded, torn down for land value, or so itty bitty small it’s constantly being resold by each first time buyer who builds enough equity to climb the property ladder into the more-coveted three bedroom family homes located just west of Woodbine. If your budget is in the 500-650k range and you’re seeking a city home on the subway line, steps to green space, with a strong 30 to 40-something demographic and loads of young kids, then buy here. It’s the perfect combination of solid investment and community spirit. Click HERE to read the details behind this intelligent purchase.
Moss Park
List $549,000 Sold $601,000 February 2012
Where do two 40-something just-married professional urbanites buy that provides all the requirements of a matrimonial home, while providing two additional spaces to accommodate their former independent selves? The answer is Moss Park. In the shadow of the projects, prostitution and the drug trade, are streets of urban infill townhomes constructed through the 1970s to 2000s. Perched on small city lots, these four level townes frequently have a garage, a lower level man cave, an open concept entertainment zone, a master suite, a sanctuary of her own, plus a space for the occasional guest or rotating step-child. Plus the location is a cyclists paradise. Which is what made this the perfect purchase for our newlyweds featured in our February 2012 Home Of The Month. When they’re not cycling to work, they’re peddling to the St. Lawrence Market for groceries, or hitting the Don Valley Trails or green connections to Lake Ontario. Yes, it’s urban. But as most downtown dwellers know, despite whatever the form of urban grit, camaraderie with your neighbours can still happen. Click HERE to read how perfect a fit this was for our Buyers.
Want to know more? Click HERE for our September 2011 Home Of The Month Feature showcasing a 1200 square foot Century Coach House which sold for $495,000, plus an overview on the massive redevelopment and rejuvenation of Regent Park.
Are you single? Love to shop at the St. Lawrence Market? Our December 2010 Home Of The Month shares what a single female buys. Click HERE for the skinny.
Davisville
List $879,000 Sold $895,000 April 2013
Right now there are multiple generations of Torontonians in their early 30s to mid-50s who have, or will soon have, children. This triple cohort of highly-educated high-earning professional Buyers are climbing the property ladder out of their first or second condominium purchase, or their first too-small-for-a-family-of-4 starter house, into dwellings which will be Home for the next 10 to 25 years. These Buyers seek premium properties located in family-friendly neighbourhoods with quality schools in convenient locations offering shopping, green space and easily-accessed public transportation. Which is why Davisville Village is a destination of choice, especially for Torontonians career-pathing in the central business district. In this April 2013 Home Of The Month Feature, our recently-married Buyers sold their Davisville condo to secure their long term family home. You can read why this was a both a prudent and intelligent ‘quality of life’ housing choice by clicking HERE.
Curious to read about what our Zoomer clients bought in Davisville Village? Click HERE for a stunning house-in-the-sky condo with lush treescape vista which was our January 2012 Home Of The Month Feature.
Greenwood Coxwell
List $469,900 Sold $466,000 August 2011
Some residential pockets revitalize when neighbouring areas have gentrified sufficiently to have out-paced the affordability of price-point sensitive buyers. In the case of the central east side, the increase in housing values of Prime Riverdale and The Beach during the 1990s channeled first time buyers into Leslieville. Now that Leslieville has become scorching hot and prohibitively expensive, those looking to spend under $550,000 are flocking to Greenwood-Coxwell. Here you can buy a well-maintained or reasonably upgraded semi or detached post WWI brick front house that offers a reasonable commute to the downtown, proximity to Little India or Gerrard Square with its liquor store, Home Depot (for all your d-i-y projects), not to mention a Starbucks (which portends soon-to-be-skyrocketing values). In our August 2011 Home Of The Month Feature, we share how our stylin’ bachelor found some digs which by-passed the need for a total gut renovation yet enough opportunity to upside his investment.
Curious to know more about this neighbourhood? Click HERE for our May 2013 sale of a detached two bedroom mini-house at Pape and Gerrard featured in BlogTO
Upper Yorkville
List $679,000 Sold $675,000 September 2012
We initially chuckled seeing ‘Upper Yorkville’ on the list, having long lived with realtors calling property at Main and Danforth ‘the Upper Beaches’. But kudos to Toronto Life for identifying this ‘poor sister’ to Prime Yorkville as an intelligent area to invest in. Abutting Yonge Street and the Rosedale Subway, lush Ramsden Park with its tennis courts and leash-free dog zone, and Yorkville and Bloor Street’s Millionaire Mile, this area, which predominantly contains a collection of 1980s and 1990s condos and a smattering of vintage houses, offers great value per square foot. We love 15 McMurrich Street, which is the closest we have to the non-descript but tony New York co-op. Built in the early 1980s in a monolithic – almost brutalistic – style, these 1300 to 2000 square foot condominiums can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of Prime Yorkville. Despite the abundance of parquet floors in most suites which beg to be ripped out, the building’s recent addition of a luxe lobby gives an understated chic to the building. Click HERE for to view a three bedroom two bath 1700sf suite which garnered $675,000 in September 2012.
Dovercourt Village
List $730,000 Sold $601,100 June 2012
We adore this enclave of Edwardian housing which, over the past 100 years, has been home to generations of Italian, Portuguese and, more recently, Brazilian immigrants and first generation Canadians. Anchored by Bloor Street and the Ossington and Dufferin subway stops, the neighbourhood vibe is a mix of pretense-free families and alternative lifestyles. With tony Dufferin Grove to the south, this pocket is well-established with more room for growth. As prices climb, the next generation of hipsters are buying one subway stop west into the neighbourhoods of Wallace Emerson and Brockton Village, thereby setting the pace for more renewal and rejuvenation. In our June 2012 Home Of The Month Feature, we share the story of how our Buyer struggled through the offering process with a Seller who had an over-inflated sense of value for their original-condition Edwardian semi. Click HERE for the dynamic tale on how to truly establish the market value of a downtown property.
Are you an investor? Read about this April 2011 Home Of The Month Feature that shares the strategy on buying an income property on a busy street as an affordable long term ‘Buy And Hold’. Looking to spend around 500k? Click HERE for our April 2012 Home Of The Month which tells the tale of our clients building their investment portfolio and equity by tackling a renovation.
At urbaneer.com, we’re in the business of making your dream of Home a reality across the Old City Of Toronto, all without pressure or hassle. We simply love what we do. With a multi-disciplinary education in housing, sound knowledge of the mechanics of real estate and superior negotiating skills, we’re here to help! If you need assistance, insights, or guidance maneuvering the market realities of any city neighbourhood, just pick up the phone and call us at 416-322-8000.
As one of Bosley’s TOP TEN associates, we are your friendly, effective real estate team with a twenty-two year track record of Happy Ever Afters.
~ Steven and the urbaneer team
we’re here to earn your trust, then your business
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