The Chase: With the birth of their daughter months away, this couple raced to find a new home
“Two of the most stressful things in life are to have a child and to buy a house. We did both at the same time.”
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The buyers: Erica Lemieux, 39, a geomatics engineer, and her partner, Julien Murphy, 37, a customer sales and service agent, with their daughter, Isabel, and their French bulldog, Frankie.
The story: Erica and Julien met while bartending in the Distillery District in 2013. In 2014, they moved to Calgary for new career opportunities: she earned her degree in geomatics, and he landed a gig as an agent with Air Canada. In May of 2020, they returned to Toronto to be close to family. They rented a two-bedroom townhouse in Queen West, but Erica longed for a yard. In the summer of 2022, after discovering that Erica was pregnant, they set a budget of $850,000 and fast-tracked their search.
Option 1: Perth Avenue, near Dupont and Symington
Listed at: $899,000 Sold for: $1,010,000
This 2,600-square-foot semi-detached in the Junction was an early favourite. The place had a backyard and was within walking distance of the UP Express. It was also divided into three two-bedroom units. In the short term, Erica and Julien envisioned living on the ground floor and renting out the basement and upstairs apartments. The problem: the basement tenants had stopped paying rent and refused to leave. The couple didn’t want the fuss. “The house had money-making potential,” Erica says, “but everyone was telling us to dodge this bullet.”
Option 2: Pelham Avenue, near Davenport and Symington
Listed at: $849,000 Sold for: $825,000
Next, they saw this three-bedroom semi a few blocks north in Carleton Village. It was newly renovated and in better condition than the first property, plus it came with a sunroom, quartz counters and a backyard with a shed. But Erica and Julien had reservations. The house had no driveway, and it faced an elementary school—meaning that, during the day, the street would routinely flood with school buses and parents picking up kids, making on-street parking impossible. They moved on, hoping to score a property on a quieter stretch.
The buy: Royal Street, near Runnymede and St. Clair
Listed at: $825,000 Sold for: $760,000
Erica and Julien hit a months-long dry spell, visiting dozens of houses without finding a fit. Some had mould and mildew in the basement; others had crumbling foundations. Then, in January of 2023, about six weeks from their baby’s due date, they saw this three-bedroom semi with a backyard and a driveway for sale in Rockcliffe-Smythe. It was the one. In May, they moved in with their daughter, Isabel. “Two of the most stressful things in life are to have a child and to buy a house,” Julien says. “We did both at the same time.”
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