The Chase
New House, No Mortgage
A couple sell their home for a small fortune and look for a cheaper one by gr a h a m s l augh t e r The buyers: Tiiu Remmel, a 42-year-old HR consultant, and Tarmo Remmel, a 43-year-old geography professor at York University. The sTory: Tiiu and Tarmo were living happily in a semi-detached home in
Little Italy when they noticed a spate of remarkable sales on their street. In one case, a house’s value jumped $600,000 within three years. They weren’t interested in buying a more extravagant place, but they started to consider doing the opposite: selling their existing house, which they were still paying off, then buying a less expensive one and living mortgage-free. They hoped to find a detached home close to the subway. Ideally, they’d have some cash left over to fund an RESP for their two-year-old daughter, Kalli.
Winona Drive (near Oakwood and St. Clair)
OPTION 2
DunDurn CresCent (near Oakwood and St. Clair)
THE BUY
Mavety street (near Annette and Keele)
Listed at $929,000
Listed at $1,099,000
Listed at $995,000
Sold for $1,142,000
Sold for $1,390,000
Sold for $1,271,000
Scanning the TTC map, Tarmo and Tiiu landed on Humewood as their ideal neighbourhood. This three-bedroom house was two minutes from St. Clair Avenue and within walking distance of Regal Road Junior Public School. The backyard was a little cramped, and the basement was worryingly damp, but the main level’s open floor plan was a big selling point. Although they hadn’t sold their existing home yet, they considered bidding $1,090,000. They got cold feet when they learned that there were a bunch of other bidders.
This four-bedroom house was just around the corner from the last place. It had a massive yard, and the detached garage had been converted into a lounge space, making it a perfect nook for relaxing or entertaining. By this point Tarmo and Tiiu had sold their Little Italy home for $1,665,000—nearly double what they bought it for in 2012—and set a firm budget of $1,300,000. There were 10 other bidders, so they came in strong with a first bid of $1,250,000, and tossed in an extra $30,000. When that wasn’t enough, they let the remaining bidders duke it out.
After the bidding brawls in Humewood, Tarmo and Tiiu started to scope out neighbourhoods along the BloorDanforth line. This six-bedroom near High Park, built in the early 1900s, still had plenty of its original features, including stained-glass windows. But the layout needed work: the kitchen was awkwardly divided. They bid $1,251,000, then threw in another $20,000 to get the place. In the process, they completely nullified their mortgage and, to their surprise, ended up in a bigger house than the one they started in.
82 toronto life July 2018
portrait by erin leydon
OPTION 1
