Sale of the Week: The $2.7-million house that proves asking prices are meaningless in Summerhill

Address: 72 Farnham Avenue
Neighbourhood: Summerhill Agents: Catherine Russell and Peter Russell, Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage      

The property

A hundred-year-old house in Summerhill that sold for quite a bit more than the listing agents say they were expecting.

The history

The sellers bought the property about forty years ago. The last major renovation was in the 1970s, when they added a new kitchen and turned the third floor into a master retreat. Now, they’ve decided it’s time to downsize to a low-maintenance condo.

Here’s the foyer:

The living room, with a wood-burning fireplace:

There’s some built-in shelving (and some serious carpeting) in the dining room:

The kitchen was completely updated... in the 1970s:

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

And another:

This one is set up as an office:

All of those bedrooms share this bathroom, with nostalgic floral wallpaper:

There’s a den in the third-floor loft:

And also the master bedroom:

And here’s the very-‘70s master ensuite:

And the backyard:

The fate

The buyers are moving into the city from the suburbs, and have wanted to be in the Yonge and St. Clair area for a long time. They’ll likely do a bit of cosmetic work on the house while they’re replacing the knob-and-tube wiring and the tired floorboards.

The sale

The listing agents say they priced the house at what they thought was market value. Eight offers came in, after which the agents gave everyone the chance to improve. Seven did, and the sellers accepted the offer with the fewest conditions and best price, for more than $750,000 over asking. This may not have been a complete fluke: two other houses on Farnham Avenue have sold in the $2.5-million price range in the past year.

By the numbers

• $2,658,000 • $9,872.41 in taxes (2016) • 1,907 square feet • 8 days on MLS • 4 bedrooms • 2 bathrooms