Sold: a 12-acre island in Georgian Bay for $4.5 million

With all the talk of condo bubbles, over-the-top bidding wars and failed flips, wading into Toronto’s housing market requires equal parts bravery and real estate savvy. To help with the latter, we decided to dish when the properties we profile in our House of the Week, Condomonium and Cottage of the Week features are sold. Here, all the details from the latest sale.

• The full description: Cottage of the Week: $6.8 million for an island, plus six cabins, in Georgian Bay [September 1o, 2012]

• The place: A 12-acre island housing a sprawling family compound designed by Stark Architects. Spread across the property are a main lodge, a master cottage, three self-contained sleeper cottages, a laundry cottage and two boathouses—one with a two-bedroom loft apartment.

• The agent: George Webster, Moffat Dunlap Real Estate Ltd.

• Listed price: $6,800,000

• Sale price: $4,500,000

• Time on the market: 200 days

• The buyers: The sellers, a prominent family famous for having lavish parties on the island, already owned other property in the area and wanted to downsize to something with less upkeep. The buyers have four kids and plenty of extended family, and felt the many cottages scattered across the island would come in handy. (Apparently, there was also a second interested buyer who hopped over on his helicopter for a tour, but once he found out there may be a competing offer, he backed off.)