Sale of the Week: The $1.35-million Parkdale semi that proves living by train tracks isn’t always a deal breaker

Address: 22 Strickland Avenue
Neighbourhood: Parkdale Agent: Andrew Ipekian, Keller Williams Referred Urban Realty, Brokerage Previously sold for: $880,000, in 2015

The property

A three-bedroom semi next to the UP Express tracks in Parkdale.

The history

The sellers are a young couple who plan to move outside the city. They bought the home in late 2015 and made more than $250,000 worth of renovations the next year. Their additions included a new kitchen, a finished basement, new flooring and new windows.

There’s some exposed brick in the entry:

Here’s the dining room:

And the living room:

The newly refinished kitchen:

And here’s a bedroom:

And another bedroom:

And a bathroom big enough to be a bedroom:

There’s a loft space on the third floor that could be used as an additional bedroom:

And here’s the view from the rear:

The fate

The buyers are another young couple who were already living in the neighbourhood and weren’t phased by the proximity to the tracks. (For what it’s worth, the selling agent says the trains are pretty quiet.)

The sale

The sellers were wary of listing below $1,000,000 at first, but their agent convinced them it would be worth it for the exposure. There was an open house and several showings in the first 48 hours, with an offer date set for the following week. The buyers came to see the property twice and made a bully bid. The selling agent got them to increase their offer by making it known that he was notifying other buyers’ agents that a bid was on the table. The house ended up selling for $351,000 over asking.

By the numbers

• $1,350,000 • $3,950 in taxes • 2,200 square feet (including the basement) • 3 bedrooms • 2 days on MLS • 2 bathrooms • 0 parking spaces