Lawrence Park is one of central Toronto’s most affluent, exclusive, picturesque residential neighbourhoods. Toronto Life does an excellent job of summing it up: “It’s the perfect neighbourhood for people (increasingly young families, according to the latest census) who like the quietude and big-lawned openness of suburban life, with all the amenities and excitement of the big city within a five-minute drive”.

Located within the City of Toronto’s neighbourhoods known as Lawrence Park South, this north Toronto community is bordered by Yonge Street to the west and Bayview Avenue to the east, and from Blythwood Ravine Park, Sherwood Park & Sunnydene Park to the south and Lawrence Avenue to the north.  Lawrence Park is known for its quiet, tree-lined streets. It emerged in the early part of the 1900’s, but did not fully develop until after the Second World War.

Centred on Mount Pleasant Road, the neighbourhood grew slowly with medium-sized houses on narrow but deep lots. Homes that are typically found in Lawrence Park include Tudor, Edwardian, and Georgian designs.  Newly constructed homes tend to range from those staying true to existing older homes surrounding them to the ultra modern.

Since Spring 2013, the list prices of detached homes in Lawrence Park ranged from a low of $899,800 to a high of $7,295,000 with an average list price of $2,713,580.  Sold prices ranged from a low of $845,000 to a high of $5,500,000 with an average sold price of $2,478,496.  Average time on market was 35 days.

One of the various attractions of Lawrence Park is the caliber of both public and private schools that surround it.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

• Bedford Park – Ranking
• Blythwood Jr PS – Ranking
• Glenview Sr PS
• Lawrence Park CI – Ranking
• Northern SS – Ranking
• York Mills CI

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

• Toronto French School
• Havergal College
• St. Clement’s School
• Crescent School
• Crestwood School
• Crestwood College

Parks in the area abound.  Alex Muir Memorial Park is located at the south-east corner of Yonge & Lawrence along the Northern Ravines and Gardens Discovery Walk Route. The Memorial Gardens are a beautiful spot to spend a quite summer afternoon and are also the western gateway to a long trail that eventually leads to Sunnybrook Park. Walking trails open all year.  Other parks in the vicinity include Blythwood Ravine Park, Sherwood Park, and Cheltenham Park.

Residents of Lawrence Park are minutes to some of Canada’s most prestigious institutions, including the Granite Club, the Rosedale Golf Club, and the Cricket Club.

One of the many draws to the area is the extremely strong and vibrant Lawrence Park Athletic Association, which is a neighbourhood recreational organization designed for children and teens from the ages of 4 – 16 who want to belong to a sports team in their community.  The LPAA promotes fun, camaraderie, teamwork and skills development through its baseball, hockey, soccer and swimming programs.  The LPAA also organizes the much anticipated Family Fun Day held annually in Cheltenham Park.

The George Locke Public Library – located at the south-east corner of Yonge and Lawrence – offers the community a rich array of programs, classes, and exhibits. From story time for toddlers, to crafts, hobbies, book clubs, and computer training for adults, this library is one of the city’s best.

Restaurants, pubs, cafes and retail shops abound – there is a strong sense of community in this area also known as Yonge Lawrence Village.  For a comprehensive listing of all the amenities the area has to offer, please visit the Yonge Lawrence Village BIA. Neighbourhoods that surround Lawrence Park include Lytton Park to the west, Bridle Path to the east, Bedford Park to the north and Sherwood Park to the south.

Living and working in your area has its benefits
If you’d like to be informed of recent sales in Lawrence Park and to be kept in the know, feel free to contact me by filling out the form below.

If you are thinking of selling
Call me to arrange a complimentary SELLER’S PACKAGE that includes tips & tricks on how to get your home sale-ready and a current home evaluation.

The Market Edge Package™ helps you build equity from the sale or purchase of your property, whether it be a house, condo, or loft, while investing in your future. Created by Chestnut Park’s Marian Keriakos, a Toronto real estate broker with an education finance and marketing, The Market Edge Package™ is for individuals who are looking for real professional business and market expertise in making one of life’s biggest purchases and investments.

“I work primarily with successful business professionals who want a lot more from their Toronto real estate agent” says Keriakos. “My clients are time-stretched and have a hectic lifestyle. They are looking for exceptional market and investment knowledge, along with that element of professionalism and being catered to that comes from paying attention to every detail. They may be concerned about securing accurate and trustworthy information. They haven’t quite determined what strategy to take, and they want to be really well taken care of during every step of the process. They also want to avoid making a bad investment decision.”

“That’s why we created The Market Edge Package™, a step‐by‐step process for listing or purchasing your Toronto property,” says Keriakos. “We provide you with a checklist of all of the services that you can expect to receive, as well as a lot of extras – complimentary value that we have added in order to make your experience enjoyable and stress‐free.”

“Working through our process, you will understand all the steps that you need to take. You will be getting accurate and responsive information. You will feel confident about the Toronto real estate market. You will receive the most professional market and investment advice. You will have a strategy that makes good business sense. You will be able to follow the steps in a logical and simple manner. In fact, we look forward to pampering you as we help you make that next big investment in your future.”

If you are thinking of listing or purchasing
Contact me today. I approach things differently with my clients – we can sit down and go through my complimentary Market Edge Package™ that will help assess your current situation and clarify your overall objectives/goals.

Bedford Park is one of central Toronto’s most vibrant, self-contained residential neighbourhoods. Toronto Life does an excellent job of summing it up: “With Avenue and Yonge providing commercial activity, a library, a subway stop and a community centre [Bedford Park] is the sort of neighbourhood you only have to leave to go to work, see a movie, or visit friends who live in other parts of the city”.

Located within the City of Toronto’s neighbourhoods known as Lawrence Park North, this north Toronto community is bordered by Avenue Road to the west and Yonge Street to the east, and from Lawrence Avenue to the south and Brooke Avenue to the north.  It also extends further east of Yonge: from Lawrence Avenue to the south and Snowdon Avenue to the north, and from Yonge to the west and Ronan Avenue to the east.  Bedford Park is known for its quiet, tree-lined streets. It emerged in the early part of the 1900’s, but did not fully develop until after the Second World War.

Centred on Yonge Street, the neighbourhood grew slowly with medium-sized houses on narrow but deep lots. Homes that are typically found in Bedford Park include Tudor, Edwardian, and Georgian designs.  Newly constructed homes tend to range from those staying true to existing older homes surrounding them to the ultra modern.

Since Spring 2013, the list prices of detached homes in Bedford Park ranged from a low of $599,900 to a high of $2,525,000 with an average list price of $1,222,112.  Sold prices ranged from a low of $584,000 to a high of $2,025,000 with an average sold price of $1,183,066.  Average time on market was 17 days.

One of the various attractions of Bedford Park is the caliber of both public and private schools that surround it.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

• Bedford Park – Ranking
• John Wanless – Ranking
• Lawrence Park CI – Ranking
• Northern SS – Ranking

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

• Toronto French School
• Havergal College
• Crescent School
• Crestwood School
• Crestwood College

Parks in the area abound.  Wanless Park – the largest park in the area – is located at the end of Wanless Ave just east of Mount Pleasant.  It includes a wading pool and children’s playground, in addition to a baseball diamond, a basketball court, and five tennis courts.  Woburn Park – west of Yonge at the corner of Jedburgh and Woburn Ave – also has a wading pool and children’s playground.

One of the many draws to the area is the extremely strong and vibrant Fairlawn Neighbourhood Centre, which is a truly unique place that works hard to blend wellness and education under one roof.  Children’s programs offered include music, fitness and arts & play.  Also offered are after-school and teen programs, in addition to a myriad of energy-filled adult fitness classes.

The George Locke Public Library – located at the south-east corner of Yonge and Lawrence – offers the community a rich array of programs, classes, and exhibits. From story time for toddlers, to crafts, hobbies, book clubs, and computer training for adults, this library is one of the city’s best.

Restaurants, pubs, cafes and retail shops abound – there is a strong sense of community in this area also known as Yonge Lawrence Village.  For a comprehensive listing of all the amenities the area has to offer, please visit the Yonge Lawrence Village BIA. Neighbourhoods that surround Bedford Park include Lytton Park to the south, Wanless Park to the east and Lawrence Park to the south & east.

Living and working in your area has its benefits
If you’d like to be informed of recent sales in Bedford Park and to be kept in the know, feel free to contact me by filling out the form below.

If you are thinking of selling
Call me to arrange a complimentary SELLER’S PACKAGE that includes tips & tricks on how to get your home sale-ready and a current home evaluation.

In Toronto, a second suite is a self-contained rental unit in a single-detached or semi-detached house. Most second suites are basement apartments. They have also been called “granny flats”, “in-law suites” and “accessory” apartments. The new by-law permits second suites in all single-detached and semi-detached homes throughout the City of Toronto with certain conditions. Toronto has prepared an information kit that provides easy-to-read information on how to create a legal second suite.

Although second suites often take the form of basement apartments, they can be located on an upper floor, or the back part of a house. In order for a second suite to be considered legal, the following must be met:

– residential zoning requirements
– property standards
– occupancy standards
– health and safety requirements
– fire and electric codes

If you’ve ever put in an offer on a property containing a second suite, you may have noticed that real estate agents frequently insert a clause stating that the “seller does not warrant the retrofit status of the basement apartment” to signify whether the basement unit is or is not fully “legal”. But in this context, the term “retrofit” only refers to fire code — one of the five requirements.

According to an article written by Toronto real estate lawyer Bob Aaron in March 2012, the provincial fire code is a subset of the Ontario building code. The building code applies only to the day the unit was constructed. Only the fire code is retroactive — and this gives rise to the term “retrofit”.

In 1994, the provincial government set new fire code rules with which all basement apartments, new and existing, must comply. A unit upgraded to comply with the fire code is called a “basement retrofit”. Compliance with the fire code involves four requirements: fire containment, means of escape, fire detection and alarms, and electrical safety. Once a unit has been inspected and any deficiencies corrected, the fire department will issue a retrofit certificate to verify compliance.

But a unit that has been fully retrofitted may still not comply with zoning, building code and other requirements.

Identifying whether a municipality’s bylaws permit basement apartments is also important when buying a house with a basement unit.

The building code, which prescribes minimum requirements for the construction of buildings, for the most part, applies only to the day the house was built, and not retroactively.

Electrical safety refers to the required inspection by the Electrical Safety Authority.

Buyers of houses with basement rental apartments should do their due diligence to investigate whether the unit does or does not comply with the fire code, building code, electrical safety requirements and municipal zoning by-laws.

If you’d like to speak with me about Toronto basement rental apartments, or second suites, please fill out the form below and I will connect with you shortly.