Sale of the Week: the $910,000 Little Portugal townhouse that shows the appeal of a laneway location
Sale of the Week: the $910,000 Little Portugal townhouse that shows the appeal of a laneway location
Address: 25 Skey Lane
Neighbourhood: Little Portugal
Agent: Jose Nieves, Sutton Group Quantum Realty Inc., Brokerage
The Property: This rare laneway property is one of three townhouse units on Skey Lane. The four-level modern home has a built-in garage, an open-concept dining area and three bedrooms.
The History: The property was renovated recently. It and the two other townhomes were originally built in 1996 by a developer that specializes in small-scale laneway projects.
The Fate: Getting permission to build new homes in trendy laneway locations is much tougher than it was a decade ago, which tends to boost the value of the handful of back-alley houses that already exist. Even so, a few new homes are being built just down the ‘way.
The Sale: The home’s laneway status proved to be both the listing’s main attraction and its biggest challenge. Some viewers loved the unusual location’s private feel, while others hated the idea of living among other peoples’ garages. The laneway’s uncommonly tight-knit community sweetened the deal for the eventual buyers, according to the agent. The property received four offers over its 36 days on the market.
By the Numbers:
• $925,000
• 1,600 square feet, approximately
• 98 per cent of list price
• 36 days on the market
• 18 years old
• 4 offers
• 4 levels
• 3 bedrooms
• 2 washrooms
• 1-car built-in garage
Read More
- 300961
- The house is located on a laneway, where its corrugated exterior isn't out of place.
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- 1200
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- The living room is on the ground floor, next to the garage.
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- 1200
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- The living room has a door to the backyard.
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- 1200
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- The kitchen and dining area are on the second floor.
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- Here's the view from the dining area to the kitchen.
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- 1200
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- A closer look at the kitchen.
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- Next to the kitchen is a cute little balcony, with maybe just enough room for a few pots of herbs.
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- 1200
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- All the bedrooms are on the third floor of the house.
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- 1200
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- This bedroom is being used as an office.
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- 1200
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- Here's another bedroom.
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- 1200
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- 300971
- All the bedrooms share this one washroom.
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- 1200
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- 300972
- The master bedroom isn't particularly masterful.
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- 1200
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- There's another washroom and a little bit of living space in the basement.
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- 1200
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- This basement room is definitely spacious enough for a couple of couches, or a ping pong table or whatever.
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- 1200
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- 300975
- The backyard has lots of nice greenery (in warm weather, at least).
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- https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/toronto-sale-of-the-week-25-skey-lane-15.jpg
- 1200
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- toronto-sale-of-the-week-25-skey-lane-15
- 0
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- 300976
- And here's what the house looks like from the back.
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- 1200
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- 0
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Address: 25 Skey Lane
Neighbourhood: Little Portugal
Agent: Jose Nieves, Sutton Group Quantum Realty Inc., Brokerage
The Property: This rare laneway property is one of three townhouse units on Skey Lane. The four-level modern home has a built-in garage, an open-concept dining area and three bedrooms.
The History: The property was renovated recently. It and the two other townhomes were originally built in 1996 by a developer that specializes in small-scale laneway projects.
The Fate: Getting permission to build new homes in trendy laneway locations is much tougher than it was a decade ago, which tends to boost the value of the handful of back-alley houses that already exist. Even so, a few new homes are being built just down the ‘way.
The Sale: The home’s laneway status proved to be both the listing’s main attraction and its biggest challenge. Some viewers loved the unusual location's private feel, while others hated the idea of living among other peoples' garages. The laneway's uncommonly tight-knit community sweetened the deal for the eventual buyers, according to the agent. The property received four offers over its 36 days on the market.
By the Numbers:
• $925,000
• 1,600 square feet, approximately
• 98 per cent of list price
• 36 days on the market
• 18 years old
• 4 offers
• 4 levels
• 3 bedrooms
• 2 washrooms
• 1-car built-in garage
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Appeal? What appeal? To live in one of three houses among dozens of garages? If you like exhaust fumes from cars warming up in the winter, and loads of noisy through traffic (not to mention garage doors opening and closing), then I suppose you might have a winner. But if you’re looking for privacy, this is not how you attain it.
I mean, look at what surrounds this place on Google Street View. No, seriously. Go on. Do it. Are you seeing much appeal here?
Don’t get me wrong. The interior’s gorgeous. The neighbourhood’s great. But I think you can do considerably better for $900k.
You can do considerably better for $900k? Well, these days in the Toronto market, you can’t. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw a 1,600 sf laneway house selling for over $900k but, well, there were three other offers probably not that far off the selling price, which suggests that the buyers haven’t overpaid by a big margin. But still, ouch!