So after expanding our search area, we’ve found an interesting property in the West Shore neighbourhood. The house itself isn’t much to look at. In fact it probably hasn’t been updated much since it was built in 1962. Now in saying that we don’t mean the cool ‘retro chic 60s’, we mean circa 1962 textured plaster walls, parquet & vinyl floors, avocado tub in the bathroom – we’re talking full on time machine the second you walk through the door. Not exactly what you might envision us looking for in our dream house.

So what, pray tell is so ‘interesting’ about this property?? Four words: Lot size and location.

The property has a lot size of 60′ x 160′ – which is virtually unheard of in a typical ‘builder’ neighbourhood. One of the great things about choosing an older neighbourhood in Pickering is that they almost always come with smaller, less expensive homes and larger lot sizes. Smaller is fine since we’re looking to expand with the renovation anyway. Lower price is always a plus since it just means more room in the reno budget. And the large lot size – well that just works well when you hope to one day own a property where you can ride around on your mower in a tank top & a cowboy hat. (No, seriously. Lol.) 

Location, location, location. Did we mention location? The house is literally steps from the lake, parks & Waterfront trails. Need we say more? I’m so happy with our decision. Might make for some slightly colder winters, but I can already envision taking strolls along the waterfront on summer evenings or BBQs in the huge backyard accompanied by a nice lakefront breeze.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet though….first we need to buy. The house is priced pretty high given the condition its in and in comparison to what other houses in the area have sold for recently. The up side, is that it’s been on the market for quite a while, so we should be dealing with a motivated seller. Hopefully that means there will be room for negotiation because as much as we see the potential in this one, we don’t want to overpay.

Our agent, Mike, is presenting our offer tomorrow so I guess we’ll see what happens. Here’s hoping!