The Chase: This family scoured Long Branch to upsize without uprooting

The buyers: Emile Studham, 45, a performance coach for executives and athletes, and Andrea Esteves, 38, a teacher, with their 11-month-old daughter, Lola, and five-year-old son, Rio.

The story: In late 2022, Andrea and Emile were living with their kids in a three-bedroom townhouse in Long Branch. They loved the neighbourhood, but their three-storey home wasn’t suited to a young family: it had too many stairs and lacked a backyard. So, in December, they set a $1.3-million budget hoping to score a move-in-ready two-storey detached with a yard and a rentable basement, ideally no more than a few blocks away.

Related: How this ER nurse scored a $750,000 three-bedroom in north Georgetown

Option 1: Alder Crescent, near Kipling and Lake Shore

Listed at: $1,348,000 Sold for: $1,235,000

Right before Christmas, Andrea and Emile saw this three-plus-two-bedroom, three-­bathroom detached. The two-storey home had a red-brick-and-stone exterior plus a backyard. Inside, there was a renovated kitchen and a basement suite. They were impressed but decided to wait until they returned from their winter vacation to make an offer. Since the place had been sitting on the market for two months, they felt it was fair to go roughly $50,000 below asking, which was their budget ceiling. But the sellers rejected the bid after Andrea and Emile included the sale of their townhouse as a condition.

Option 2: Alder Crescent, near Kipling and Lake Shore

Listed at: $1,099,000 Sold for: $1,300,000

Andrea and Emile put their townhouse on the market and, in March, continued their search. They happened upon this three-bedroom, two-bathroom detached. It was a total box ticker. The two-storey home was fully renovated and came with a yard. It also had a finished basement, though the basement lacked its own bathroom. Regardless, they made a bid at $131,000 above asking. Once again, they were forced to make the offer conditional on selling their townhouse. Another buyer offered an extra $70,000 with no conditions and won out, so Andrea and Emile moved on.

The buy: Twenty Second Street, near Kipling and Lake Shore

Listed at: $999,900 Sold for: $1,325,000

By April, the family had sold their townhouse. Soon afterward, they visited this three-bedroom, two-bathroom detached a few streets over. Andrea and Emile loved the front porch and big backyard, and all three bedrooms were on the upper level, which meant less stair-climbing. The only downside: an un­finished basement. But, given the price, they moved ahead with an aggressive bid of $325,000 over asking. The owners accepted their offer that night, and the family moved in this July. “We’re so relieved,” Andrea says. “We don’t have to uproot. It’s like we never left home.”