The Sell: How this North York couple sold their home for over asking in just one day
Nervous that the slow winter market would make it difficult to find a buyer, Michael and Tanya Kovendi devised a selling strategy with their realtor—and it paid off
Listed at: $1,489,000 on March 9, 2023 Sold for: $1,489,018 on March 9, 2023
The sellers: Michael and Tanya Kovendi, both 39. He’s a consultant at a tech company; she’s a family physician.
The property: A five-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow in North York’s leafy Clanton Park neighbourhood.
The story: In 2016, Michael and Tanya bought this 2,200-square-foot home for $840,000. The area was quiet and close to transit hubs, with good schools—ideal for a young family. A few years later, when a two-storey, 3,500-square-foot house came up for sale down the street, they bought it as an income property, planning to rent it out and move into it someday. By 2022, they had two kids and were feeling pressed for space. Plus, with interest rates soaring, it no longer made sense to carry both properties: the two mortgages were costing them a staggering $16,000 per month. So, this past March, they ramped up their timeline and readied their bungalow for sale.
The prep: Michael was nervous that the slow winter market would make it difficult to find a buyer, so he turned to his realtor, Bobby Pasternak, to devise a selling strategy. Pasternak had an inkling that the limited supply around Clanton Park, along with early signs of a spring rebound, would elicit much interest from buyers—especially if his clients listed just before March break. Pasternak moved quickly: he hired a staging company to primp the main living spaces, spruced up the backyard, did some paint touch-ups and then had the house inspected before listing to eliminate buyer conditions and justify a higher price tag. The Kovendis put the bungalow up for sale on March 9 at $1,489,000, based on nearby comparables. Then they crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.
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The offers: The plan paid off. Interest in the bungalow was greater than the Kovendis could have imagined. They booked 40 showings on the first day and received their first offer only a few hours in: a crisp $18 above the asking price. Michael and Tanya accepted with a two-month closing date and have since moved into their new home. “We are thrilled—even surprised—that it happened so fast,” Michael says. “The house was listed just in time for the market pickup, and we owe it to Bobby for seeing it coming.”
Alex Cyr is a writer based in Liberty Village. He writes about health, fitness, people and culture. He also contributes to the Globe and Mail and Maclean’s and leads a YouTube channel for runners called Marathon Handbook.
