Sale of the Week: the $1.14-million home that suggests a pricier future for Port Union

16 thoughts on “Sale of the Week: the $1.14-million home that suggests a pricier future for Port Union”

1. I’m sorry but the photography is terrible

2. Either the writer or the selling agent doesn’t know the area. The article says that this is the first home of this size in the area, and that it was risky putting a home this large among the bungalows and split-levels. There are several such houses (tear-down-and-rebuilds and add-on renovations, some of which are even larger) on the very same street (Rouge Hills), and other streets in the neighbourhood (such as Ridgewood Road).

3. There are also some amazing renovations on east avenue that have been done by young professionals.

4. I bid on this for my client but it’s way too much when nothing around for that price!!

5. The problem is that as the neighborhood appreciates your home depreciates, You won’t get your money out of it.

6. 1.5 garage on a 3100 sq ft custom built home? I would expect a triple garage–minimum double garage. Thus, only 4 offers with over 250 visitors. And for the record, there are several HUGE, beautiful homes in the area…many which back onto the ravine and/or waterfront…not the highway.

7. I went to the open house and loved this house, but could not afford it. The experience however was phenomenal. The agents were very knowlegeable about the house and knew the area and market trends very well. I live in the area, so I am not sure where these other grand homes are that are being mentioned. Only heard of another huge house nearby that is up for sale. May pay it a visit for fun.

   Sad to see that people always focus on the negative. I commend the builder, the new home owners and the listing agents. I will definately use these sincere agents when I am ready to purchase.

   It is great to have your neighbourhood featured and for change to finally spark.

   Thank you Toronto Life for sharing this article. Kudos to the author and the photos rock!

   Review from Climbing up the Ladder.

8. Who is the builder? I am interested in changing my bungalow to a back split

9. I would contact Joanna from our office Ruby. She’ll be able to put you in touch. Call our office at 416 497 9794 and have Joanna paged.

10. I totally agree with you K. We actually called the Virtual Tour company to complain at the time, but to no avail. Deadlines were upon us (think… print shop, canada post, target listing date) and we decided to proceed as scheduled. I still get worked up thinking about how I felt at the time.

    One problem we continuously face as agents is that photographers don’t seem to want to stop and understand the home before applying their skill-set. They have no concept of where the images will be used beyond the mls listing itself. Its almost like they have a check list and as long as they capture a shot of each space that’s all that matters. I can attest that the TheRougeTrio continually strives to improve on the service we provide. On a personal note, I have been taking Henry’s classes and hope to invest in a Canon 5D Mark 3 by the end of the year so that we haver a contingency plan in place. Maybe that was too much information to share.

11. Some interesting comments, thank you all for taking the time to partake. As the agents who sold the subject home described in this article, and on behalf of the TheRougeTrio, namely Joanna*, Judith*, and myself, I would like to share some of the teams experiences during this resale.

    We are proud to have represented the seller who had the foresight over two years ago to see where West Rouge was heading. It does not matter who you are, or how confident you feel in your ability, you have to believe in your project seeing it through from inception through completion, and RISK is always factor. So with that in mind its hats off to the builder/ developer.

    Homes with a price tag north of a million dollars typically attract seasoned purchasers who have been around the block a couple of times so to speak. To the best of our knowledge, million dollar homes do not attract excessive numbers of offers, such as 18+ offers in one of our most recent resales, and certainly very few sell on a scheduled day anticipated in advance.

    The article fails to mention that each of the Open Houses performed was scheduled to run from noon to 2.00pm but in fact continued until past 5.00pm on each of the 4 days. As agents we were certainly overwhelmed and at times unable to greet visitors or converse with them. A percentage of the numbers mentioned can be attributed to curiosity in the neighbourhood, many took ideas away and asked if it would be possible to meet with the builder. Did we mention that the virtual tour had been viewed 472 times by 3.30pm on the day of offers. Again, this was an abnormal number for us when compared to other listings that performed well in a similar situation.

    Regardless of how we as agents or interested parties felt about the features or limitations of this home, it is a definite fact that a multiple offer presentation pursued as scheduled, that based on the as-built condition/ features of the home buyers were willing to compete having compared to other homes in this price bracket, and that the neighbourhood as a whole is on the up and up. It is no small feat to want to pay a significant figure above asking unless you have the confidence. Qualifying this confidence is a conversation for another day. The Rouge (in this case West Rouge) is one of 4 communities encompassing the Toronto Real Estate Board E10 district. We are of the opinion that the Rouge is a high demand location in transition for the last few years, that this is a normal occurrence based on similar observations in other parts of the city, that West Rouge values are finally taking their course, and it will be a while before values peak.

    Valuing a home like the one described is no easy task, even for an agent (did we mention that our team holds numerous globally recognised MBA grade valuation designations including those known locally.) Most of the agents operating in the area were invited to provide an opinion as were we. The Direct Sales Comparison Approach yielded limited results (less than a hand full of homes have sold over $1,000,000) and the Construction Cost Approach (seldom used in this situation) still resulted in a value north of $1,000,000 when applying land value + the developers internal unit cost.

    So What is the take away from all this: The bottom line is that the home sold, its great for the neighbourhood, neighbours need not worry about values of smaller homes, and its about hay time that areas like the West Rouge started to perform, and those that reside in them start to believe in the values of their homes. At the end of the the day, West Rouge is a part of Scarborough, two of the three agents on this listing reside in E10 and West Rouge, all three reside in Scarborough, and Scarborough as a location needs to start performing for obvious reasons. A million dollars is no longer what it used to be unless you want to relive 80’s soaps like ‘Dynasty’ and ‘Dallas.’

    All of you who commented about larger homes in the area are ABSOLUTELY right. The writer of the article churned out an acceptable submission over the long weekend considering his deadline. The only suggestion would be that someone proof read the typo’s (‘sport’ should be support, ‘razed’ should be raised – I’m sure there are others).

    We apologies for the rant. We tried to cover a lot of ground… Maybe we should meet in a coffee shop or other neutral setting. Thank you all again for your input. This was very informative.

    TheRougeTrio | Proud to be representing Scarborough!

12. You can purchase the mark III but it’s completely unnecessary unless you are going to be shooting movement (I.e. Events in action).

    Real estate photography like any photography is an art; people tend to be ignorant of this, thinking if they but equipment an understanding of composition and space just comes with it

13. A D series or even rebel are enough of an investment, I’d recommend starting here until you are certain in your talent.

    I am an experienced architectural photographer for the real estate market.

14. I’ve been using a rebel for the last 6 years leaving the professional photography to someone more qualified as I build on my personal ability. As a past engineering report writer for many landmark assets throughout North America I have architectural images of buildings and their components from angles not typically seen. Visualise being suspended down a concrete chute above a subway line, or maybe 32 storey’s up against the outside of a cladding or curtain wall system. You’re right, it is an art, and only gets better once you understand what you are looking at and how your audience my interpret the same. It seems like we have mutual passion. Would you like to share some of your work for future reference?

15. By the way, how do you feel about these AR Drone Parrot type crafts. Have you considered using them yet?

16. Why not buy a lot or bungalow in this neighbourhood? It is actually cheaper than you think to build the home of your dreams. This area has very large and spacious lots at great prices.
    Search For Your Next Home Online, Anytime: http://www.ChooseRemax.ca

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