[Eug]

In the spirit of this thread here is another stupidly expensive house buy:

CAD$2,712,000 ~ US$2,637,626

On a street running north of St. Clair Avenue, just east of Spadina Avenue, this two-storey house was priced especially low to attract as many potential buyers as possible, agent Elli Davis says.

The tactic worked: A handful of bids were submitted, including one offering a $917,000 premium.



While some interested parties thought the four-bedroom house — which dates back to the 1920s — should be renovated, most thought it should be torn down, the agent says. The buyer was among the latter group, and plans to build a new home on the maturely treed, 65- by 140-foot lot.

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Well, it isn't that fugly, but really...

[Railroader]

Agreed, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

Is there an ocean in the backyard? Nope.

To quote Mr. Hank Hill, "What in the hell".

[Mastrap]

People are weird.

[ghporter]

Not a bad looking house for its time period. The interior design sucks like deep space, but the outside isn't bad. I hate the idea of tearing down an Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau house that's structurally sound; it's a lot like all the California tech folks that moved to Austin and tore down bungalows that dated back to the 1910s and 20s and built single-family equivalents of Comfort Inns on the lots. Dumb, ugly and wasteful. Their houses weren't great either.

[villalobos]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

Not a bad looking house for its time period. The interior design sucks like deep space, but the outside isn't bad. I hate the idea of tearing down an Arts and Crafts or Art Nouveau house that's structurally sound; it's a lot like all the California tech folks that moved to Austin and tore down bungalows that dated back to the 1910s and 20s and built single-family equivalents of Comfort Inns on the lots. Dumb, ugly and wasteful. Their houses weren't great either.

This house needs a remodeling inside, but looks good outside IMHO. I bet the McMansion that will replace it will be butt ugly, with some fake columns mixed with the nouveau countryside look. That's what happens around here in NJ : it is retarded.

[MacosNerd]

It looks nice. I cannot comment on housing values in canada, but like the US, home values include the location, municipal services, schools crime. Perhaps this location has them all.

Unfortunately my house value is going down I had a neighbor who bought his house 2 years ago at 350k and now the bank is telling him its only worth $315. While his house is smaller then mine, I suspect I've lost 40 or 50k of value. I'm not looking to sell so I can ride it out and I'm blessed to have a house in the first place.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

You have to know the area. It's Forest Hill, one of the "places to be" in Toronto. And somewhat unlike Rosedale, another "place to be" which has an "older money" feel, Forest Hill has seen a ton of development over the last decade. Lots of new, modern, massive houses along older, tree-lined streets. As they said, the lot is gorgeous; the house, quite nice but not modern at all (and probably no way to give the interior that spacey, sparse modern feel) and construction costs would certainly be quite high.

So maybe tearing it down makes sense. If you've got millions to burn, of course.

greg

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

You have to know the area. It's Forest Hill, one of the "places to be" in Toronto.

Ya if you are Jewish.

Anyway... I think it is a nice house on the outside.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Hahaha.....lots of Jewish, but lots of everyone else too.

greg

[analogue SPRINKLES]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

Hahaha.....lots of Jewish, but lots of everyone else too.

greg

Ya well my friend who was Jewish lived there and it wasn't terribly friendly to anyone who wasn't as all the schools in the area are mostly all rich Jewish kids also.

[Railroader]

Oh, those horrible rich Jewish kids. [SARCASM!!!]

[ghporter]

Cliquish neighborhoods are nothing new. It's the ones where you somehow never can manage to get the sales contract done because you're not part of the clique that bother me.

And I still think it's a shame to tear down that house and spend bazillions of dollars building a huge, soulless McMansion instead of renovating a really attractive and charming historical house.

[k squared]

Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton 

You have to know the area. It's Forest Hill, one of the "places to be" in Toronto. And somewhat unlike Rosedale, another "place to be" which has an "older money" feel, Forest Hill has seen a ton of development over the last decade. Lots of new, modern, massive houses along older, tree-lined streets...

It become a "place to be" for a reason...probably because of the tree-lined streets and older architecture, right. Tearing down all the old houses to build contemporary production spec housing will kill the "place to be" image very fast. Trees only cover up some much.