The Sell: two sisters sell their $64,900 Dufferin Grove home for a whole lot more
The sellers: Maria Neves Da Rocha, a 67-year-old retired cleaning lady, and her twin sister, Maria Emilia Vieira, who still works as a cleaner.
The property: A 2,550-square-foot red-brick near Bloor and Ossington with five bedrooms and two full kitchens.
The story: The two Marias had raised their families in the big Dufferin Grove house, purchased 38 years ago for $64,900. Now they were both widowed and their children were moving out. Da Rocha felt it was time to downsize, but Vieira still had a sentimental attachment to the place. It was only when Da Rocha’s daughter found a bungalow in Pelham Park, close to her own house—as well as to a Catholic church and a Portuguese bakery—that Vieira finally agreed to move.
The prep: The sisters’ realtor, Alfredo DiGenova, suggested they eliminate some of the clutter, so they and their kids spent five 12-hour days carting away paintings, plastic flowers, crystal glassware and other knick-knacks. “We must have thrown out at least 80 shopping carts’ worth of stuff,” says Vieira’s daughter, Sandra Ferreira.
The offers: The twins listed the property for $949,900 in late January. On the set offer date a week later, they had eight bids to choose from. The winners were a couple with two kids, who had tacked on an extra $111—the house’s address—to their offer for luck. Although talking about her former home still makes Vieira tear up, she’s happy it went to a young family.
(Photograph of sisters by Erin Leydon)
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What a sensationalist headline – comparing the nominal price of something 38 years ago to today does nothing but mislead readers.
If you had focused on the fact that the house was purchased nearly 4 decades ago for the equivalent of $265k (after adjusting for inflation), you could have achieved your goal of showing just how much houses in Toronto have risen in value, while still making a logical comparison.
Likewise the CAGR is 7.85% and while stronger than usual, still not crazy appreciation.
On a minimum wage of 2$/hr ???
Any idiot who bought this for a million one is NUTS!!!
A quick calculation shows that in a conservative investment portfolio that amount of money would have returned way more – probably at least 2 million. Now, they may not have been able to leverage a financial investment, or live in it for 38 years, but the return is not quite as amazing as the nominal numbers make it seem. $65k was a lot of money in 1976.
A bargain by Edmonton’s prices!
It’s Toronto, there are many idiots there.
It’s a detached, 3 story, 2,550 sq. ft. home in a desirable, walkable and amenities-rich neighbourhood with shopping, schools, and parks.
The $1,150,11 purchase price is more than reasonable when you consider townhomes, semis and detached homes that are half the size are going for the same price in that area.
An entire block of new townhomes on Roxton just south of Harbord – same neighbourhood – each sold for over $1M, and a 1,500 sq. ft. semi on Roxton is on the market for $1.3M.
You really think so? In ten more years this house will be worth 1.5 million or more.