Sale of the Week: The $1.4-million Wychwood house that pulled in two bully offers

Address: 32 Benson Avenue
Neighbourhood: Wychwood
Agents: Catherine Russell and Peter Russell, Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage
Previously sold for: $541,320, in 2008, prior to renovations

Listed at: $1,098,000
Sold for: $1,406,000

The property

A three-bedroom semi across from the Wychwood Barns.

The history

The sellers bought the home in 2008 for just over half a million and gradually upgraded it over the years. They installed a new kitchen and flooring in 2015 and a custom back deck last year. They raised two kids in the home, but now they’re moving for some extra space.

Here’s the living room:

The dining area:

The kitchen has a breakfast bar:

There’s a little mudroom at the back of the house:

There are three bedrooms on the second floor:

Here’s one of them:

And another:

And here’s the master bedroom:

All three bedrooms share this bathroom:

There’s a rec room in the basement:

And here’s the backyard, with its new deck:

The fate

The buyers are a young family who were drawn to the location. And it didn’t hurt that the home was well maintained and had a clean inspection report.

The sale

A nearby home on the other side of Wychwood Barns Park was listed for the same price earlier this month. It attracted a handful of offers and sold for $1,360,000. The sellers’ agent expected to get more for the Benson home, and so he decided to allow bully bids to lure the big spenders. Ultimately, there were two preemptive offers. The sellers accepted the higher of them, for $308,000 over asking.

By the numbers

• $1,406,000
• $4,464 in taxes
• 1,821 square feet (including the basement)
• 3 days on MLS
• 3 bathrooms
• 3 bedrooms
• 2 parking spaces