Property Critique

If you are worried about real estate values, there are a few neighbourhoods and buildings where you are best protected. The Candy Factory Lofts are one of these such buildings. It’s a unique factory conversion with a great reputation that caters to a discerning demographic.

Here is a beautiful historic home that has been set up for family living with modern comforts. The house has upgraded insulation and Geothermal heating/cooling.

Here is a rare opportunity for a project on a prime stretch of Euclid Ave that has strong fundamentals. It’s a large 2.5 story brick semi with a wide mutual drive AND laneway access.

There are some properties that you know from the moment you step into them that they are special, that they are ‘home’. In this market, with the amount of competition, you had better know!

An item I find often overlooked or not mentioned in laneway living is: living in a laneway isn’t typically very convenient or picturesque. It’s like owning a cool car that isn’t all that practical.

The transformation of the property is obviously stunning, but I wanted to note some of the fundamentals that helped it happen. The width of the lot at 25 ft with a mutual drive AND laneway access is key here.

Two hours from downtown Toronto is this post & beam log home on 25 acres built in 1996. The wooded lot features a spring-fed pond, detached garage w/guest suite, and a sugar shack! In addition, there is a solar panel array that generates approx $4000/Year.

Before the city’s laneway suites bylaws, which made it easier to build a laneway home in Toronto, the laneway homes of Croft Street were a rare breed. It some ways they still are, because of how many of them there are in one area, and because they are 3-storeys high (the new laneway suites bylaws only allow 2-storys).

This is an ‘insulated and sealed Scandinavian-inspired round log home’ built around 34 years ago with a steel roof. Inside, the walls are wrapped in 2″ pine tongue and groove 2 x 6’s. The concern with log homes, especially one with a ‘Scandinavian-inspired’ vaulted ceiling, is keeping it warm in winter.

This home was showcased in a 16-page spread in Cottages & Bungalows Magazine. Shiplap walls and wood slat ceilings throughout impart a cabin-like coziness. The primary bedroom is secluded on the main floor overlooking a wooded area that surrounds the property.