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The Chase: a first-time buyer and two would-be landlords team up to find an income property
| February 7, 2014
The buyers: Michelle Iceruk, a 28-year-old graphic designer, her sister, Leanne Iceruk, a 31-year-old social worker, and Leanne’s husband, Richard Laszlo, a 34-year-old energy analyst.
The story: Michelle and Leanne’s parents are custom-home builders who schooled their daughters on the merits of owning property. But, at almost 30, Michelle was struggling to save enough for a down payment. She turned to Leanne and her husband, Richard, who were already owners and were thinking of buying a second property as an investment. The trio pooled their resources and set a maximum budget of $700,000, including the cost of renovating a house into multiple suites. Then they set their sights on the Bloor and Lansdowne area and started the hunt.
Option 1
Lappin Avenue (near Lansdowne and Dupont). Listed at $429,900, sold for $495,110. Michelle, Leanne and Richard all liked this semi because the main floor and top level could easily be turned into one-bedroom units. Then they got to the basement: low ceilings made it unusable without excavating—a costly and time-consuming undertaking.
Option 2
Dupont Street (at Bathurst). Listed at $599,900, sold for $578,000. This semi was already split into a basement suite, a ground-floor space leased by a massage clinic and a top-floor loft that Michelle loved. Unfortunately, the owners had restructured the roof to create the space and one wall seemed to be slowly buckling. They moved on.
