Trading Up

With tight inventory and rising prices, especially for detached houses, demand in the Toronto real estate market continues to outstrip supply. But for so many families, the past few years have made it abundantly clear that it’s time to move. Whether it’s needing more space, a growing family, or the opportunity to relocate to a new community – your next step up is still within reach.

Cera Dann, agent with The Richards Group, helped these three clients level up, leveraging her expert knowledge of the East Toronto market. “I’ve worked in real estate for over 20 years now, and my connections help me tune in to what is most important to my clients at a particular time.”

Trading

Kelsey Mortson & Paul Sobocinski

Upper Beaches Semi-detached, 3+1 bedroom, 4-bathroom, 1 parking

Up

Kelsey & Paul:

From condo to semi-detached

After a new baby, Paul Sobocinski, a software engineer, and Kelsey Mortson, a process manager, were ready to swap their hip downtown condo on Portland Street for a house in a more family-friendly neighbourhood. The East End beckoned when close friends and fellow new parents moved to the Beaches and recommended Cera as their agent. “Even though we weren’t sure exactly where we wanted to be, we felt a great connection with Cera,” says Kelsey. What sealed the deal was discovering the market value of their condo. “When we learned our selling price would be a few hundred thousand more than we had guessed, that really motivated us to upgrade,” she says. “We weren’t sure whether we should sell or buy first, but we felt confident in Cera’s advice and experience, and decided to pursue buying first to get the house we really wanted.”

They offered on two older detached houses but lost out amid multiple bidders who pushed the prices into the stratosphere. “To be honest, we ended up feeling relieved,” says Paul. It just so happened that Cera had just bought a house in the Upper Beach Estates, a newer single-family development near Gerrard and Victoria Park. “This pocket was one of the few remaining places that still had an up-and-coming feel, and I knew prices were about to skyrocket,” says Cera. After checking out a property nearby, the couple decided to pop into an open house for a three-bedroom, three-bath semi with a garage. “We fell in love with it immediately,” says Kelsey. “It had everything we needed, and we didn’t realize it until that moment.” With Cera at the reins, they put in a firm offer that same day. “I had a good relationship with the listing agent and a lot of confidence in this neighbourhood,” Cera says. The rest was history—three months later, the world locked down, and the family was safely cocooned in their new home. “We were very thankful we got the house when we did,” Kelsey says.

Upper Beaches Detached, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 5 parking

Alexandra & Joel:

From semi-detached to detached

When they moved to their four-bedroom detached house on Lyall Avenue, Alexandra Scott, a lawyer, and her husband Joel, a mortgage broker, were on the edge of a big life change: the birth of their second child. By the end of 2020, their Kenilworth Avenue semi in the Beaches was already feeling crowded, with the couple both working from home with their three-year-old son underfoot. The clincher: they discovered the market value of their home was roughly twice what they paid for it in 2014, with a recently finished basement to boot. “Getting into the market at that time was really what allowed us to make the move,” Alexandra says. But with Alexandra eight months pregnant, they hadn’t planned on moving right away. “We knew we had to be patient,” she says. “Before we bought our semi, we lost out in six or seven bidding wars and didn’t want to go through all that again.”

The couple asked Cera to find them an offmarket detached house with four bedrooms and a bigger yard. “They wanted to stay within the Beaches, and I warned them that it could take some time,” Cera says. “But because we sell so many homes in the area I had inside knowledge about properties coming up before they went to market.” The Lyall house crossed her radar, but the owner wouldn’t allow showings until the night before listing, so Cera managed to squeeze in an appointment that evening just after the photographer left. “I instructed Alexandra and Joel to bring a bank draft for 5 percent of the home’s value, just in case,” Cera says. With the deposit in hand and no conditions on their bully offer, the house was theirs—with a final purchase price that was only 33 percent more than what they sold their semi for. “It all happened very fast, but we’re glad we did it,” says Alexandra. “I don’t recommend selling your house and moving at nine months pregnant, but we’re super happy where we are.”

Farnaz Shahed

The Beaches Detached, 4 + 2 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and 2 parking

Farnaz & her family:

From detached to dream home

For Farnaz Shahed, being part of a close-knit family has always meant that home is a place where multiple generations live together. Farnaz, a banker, her sister, a doctor, and their retired parents shared a three-bedroom house near the Toronto Hunt Club when lockdown hit, and long walks were the only thing to do. Farnaz noticed a “Coming Soon” sign on a house on Fallingbrook Road and called Cera to arrange a tour. “We weren’t seriously looking to move at that point, but with the pandemic, we all felt a little more space would be nice,” Farnaz says.

Soon enough, the whole family wanted a peek. “We’re very close, but we have our own opinions, and once we’d all seen the house, we noted how odd it was that all four of us liked it,” says Farnaz. “That was when we realized we should think seriously about buying.” The main draw was the four large bedrooms and the two distinct spaces for entertaining on the main floor. “We liked that we could have guests over without encroaching on the family room,” she says. A second kitchen in the basement also appealed to the family, who are all avid cooks.

With Toronto rents climbing, the family decided to keep their old house as an income property to help finance the new home. With two competing offers on the Fallingbrook house, Cera and Mark worked to finesse the Shaheds’ bid, and it was accepted. “We see this as our forever home,” Farnaz says. “It really worked out well for all of us as a multi-generational house.”