Sale of the Week: The $2.4-million Dufferin Grove home that shows the value of a second suite

Address: 216 Rusholme Road
Neighbourhood: Dufferin Grove
Agents: Ian Busher, Sage-Fox Marin Associates Ltd., Brokerage and Scott Ingram, Century 21 Regal Realty Inc., Brokerage
Previously sold for: $338,500, in 1995

Listed at: $1,899,900
Sold for: $2,401,000

The property

A 3,200-square-foot detached home with a separate basement apartment.

The history

The seller bought the home in 1995. Over the years, he and his late wife renovated bit by bit. Most recently, they upgraded the two existing bathrooms and added a new one on the third floor. Despite the continual changes, the house still has some original features, including an antique front door and doorbell.

Here’s the entry:

The living room:

The dining room has doors to the backyard:

And here’s the kitchen:

The kitchen has a little breakfast area, surrounded by windows:

There are three bedrooms on the second floor. Here’s one of them:

And another:

And the master bedroom:

All three second-floor bedrooms share this bathroom:

There’s another bedroom on the third floor:

And the seller recently added a new bathroom on the third floor:

There’s a separate apartment in the basement:

Here’s the basement bedroom:

And the backyard:

The fate

The buyers are a pair of sisters who were attracted to the basement apartment, because it would allow them to share the house. Anyone looking to combine the house’s two units would have had a major renovation ahead of them, because there’s currently no staircase connecting them.

The sale

The seller’s agents had difficulty finding comparable home sales in the neighbourhood, so they decided to price the home below $2 million to generate interest and leave it up to the buyer to determine the value. They received eight offers and the seller accepted the highest, with no conditions, for more than half a million over asking.

By the numbers

• $2,401,000
• $7,591 in taxes (approximately)
• 3,174 square feet (including the basement)
• 8 days on MLS
• 4 bedrooms
• 3 bathrooms
• 1 parking space