House of the Week: $960,000 for this Little Portugal reno
ADDRESS: 7 Marshall St.
NEIGHBOURHOOD: Little Portugal
AGENT: Aniceto Gomes, Remax West Realty Inc.
PRICE: $959,000
THE PLACE: Cue the gentry. This recently renovated house offers a modern alternative to buyers who like the west end but not its characteristic cramped duplexes. With hardwood floors, glass-enclosed showers (complete with rain heads) and recessed lighting, the interior is better suited to a downtown loft than Little Portugal.
BRAGGING RIGHTS: With Dundas West quickly becoming the new Queen West, buying now means you can roll your eyes when people brag about hanging out at Henhouse.
BIG SELLING POINT: The in-law suite—here in the form of a finished basement—has a private entrance and is largely separate from the main house, making it ideal for actual in-laws.
POSSIBLE DEAL BREAKER: For some tastes, the black exterior may seem appropriate for Halloween, but a bit too spooky for the other 364 days of the year.
BY THE NUMBERS:
$2,542.97 in taxes
10-foot ceilings
6 bedrooms
5 bathrooms
2 and a half storeys
2-car garage
2 skylights
1 convenient way to avoid the in-laws
The house looks very nice on the inside. But I agree with the author’s comments about the exterior paint colour. It appears very dark and depressing. Also, this house is very overpriced for the area. Even if it is gentrifying, it has a long way to go to becoming a decent neighbourhood. This street is full of ugly, low-end row housing. Who would pay that much to live there?
I also think the main floor plan is awkward and the kitchen cabinetry not that great.
1M for a house wedged between Dundas and the tracks West of Dufferin?
Beyond that it’s basically the ghetto, it’s an exceptionally long commute to downtown and the schools are beyond horrible.
You can get a nicer house with more space, better schools and a much easier commute on the subway in Moore Park.
Are those taxes quoted for this house correct??!! If so, then how come I am paying close to $3,500 a year for a two bedroom, one bathroom house in the Leslieville area with a market value of less than half this place? You can bet that I am going to ask my city coucillor about this one. I thought we we all supposed to be taxed according to “market value”.
The taxes? My house is valued 1.5 x this place, yet I pay 6x this amount in taxes.
Maybe it’s time CEO Isenburg at MPAC justified his 300k annual salary.
Priced much too high. We’ve seen several expensive renos in the area that can’t sell at the price the owners set in order to make their money back. It’s not that kind of area yet. Schools are terrible. A cool night life does not make a neighborhood great.It has a long long way to go. The rest of the street is very very ugly. The exterior is too dark. The main floor layout is awkward. Kitchen too tight and dark cabinetry feels dated as do all the bathrooms. Curious to see what it goes for in the end. $780-800 would’ve been more appropriate.
The taxes are based on the original value of the house before renovation. When the house sells it will automatically be re-assessed at the new sale value. Which probably means double what they are now.
Who needs a fireplace when you have 1,000 pot lights in the living room?? And what’s with the skylight in the master bedroom? Do these people not sleep in past 5am?
Thank you, Tax man, for your comment. That does explain the very low taxes that were quoted for this property. You have saved my city councillor from an angry phone call from me!
Take a look on Google Street View map and you can see the old house.
Scratching my head why the builder, who obviously built the house to sell, would make it all black.
The owner must be a gothic black clad dressed person. Too dark and who could believe the inside would have those dark colors as well. Nice design overall,nice floors and overall ceilings…but for $1mil in that area….get real people… who knows, could be the realtor trying to get a huge big commission as always
Modern? Great. Black? Fabulous.
But then why the white window frames, white screen door, white six-panel door, and the divided lights?
What’s with that goofy-looking arched window over the front door? And why emphasize it with the chevron trim, which is off-centre to boot?
Halfway-minimalist does not work.
I had the unfortunate experience of seeing this house, and it’s a mess. handyman special, with no attention to detail or any real design sense. complete travesty that someone would have spent the kind of money that was clearly spent, to create a house with nothing approaching good taste or good sense.
yuck.
Seriously? It’s awful. Using the slightly more expensive doors and sinks from Home Depot does not mean that they can price it for that much.
Ugh looks like a house some douche from Millionaire Matchmaker would own and be proud of.
What a disaster….the guy should sell for 700k max.
i think the house is black because that stucco was on sale at Home Depot the weekend he was doing the exterior….
$2,542.97 in taxes????
My house is fully attached, 12 1/2 feet wide and I pay $3600 at College and Bathurst.
F THIS.
But, about the black house of death: what a hideous Home Depot reno. Hideous facade, hideous interior. The unwashed masses will love it. They’ll especially love the thousand pot light ceiling. Barf.
dear brave home owner, no worry.. you just need 1 buyer.
Just a disaster