Serendipity.

I could have played off that theme for today’s blog post and I wouldn’t have been off base.

My client, who will be the subject of today’s blog, used the term “meant to be” several times over the last few days, as we both questioned whether or not there was such a thing.

Kismet, karma, fate, luck, chance……….coincidence?

Some of these words have meaning to you, and some don’t.

For one individual, these may simply be synonyms.  But for others, they can see the differences in the meanings, and one or two of the words might be held near and dear while others are meaningless.

Serendipity is defined as, “The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”

So what is serendipitous?

An old friend who used to work the front desk at Bosley Real Estate sent me a text message the other day and said, “Polly and I are walking through your ‘hood to her Dad’s house and we happen to be on your street!  Which house is yours?  I don’t see your car in any of the driveways!”

I told him that my car wasn’t there because I was at the office and thus I couldn’t come out to say hello.

Then, about three hours after we exchanged text messages, I was driving home along Bayview Avenue and there were Ben and Polly, standing on the sidewalk.  I honked and waved.  He texted me, “That sure was serendipitous.”

That word made multiple appearances over the weekend after another chance encounter on Sunday, which I might find coincidental or some version of that theme with more meaning, if not for the fact that I’m the most unspiritual person you’ll ever meet, and I don’t believe in anything but chance, coincidence, circumstance, and reason.

Back in 2019, I received an email from a woman who was living in Calgary at the time.  I looked through my archives just now, and although I have emails dating back about six years, I can’t find our first correspondence.  Then again, maybe it was a phone call?

In any event, she told me something to the effect of, “You don’t know me, and this is going to sound weird, but I found you online and I, well, I just, I feel a connection to you!”

Go on…

She said that the name “Fleming” is Irish, and she’s Scottish, but her late husband was Irish.

She asked if I knew where my family bloodline originated, and I said “Fethard.”

She told me that this wasn’t far from where her husband’s family originated, and then she went on to say that she read my blog – several of them, in fact, and she just felt like we were connected.

This could have been conceived as an odd call, I’ll be honest.

I’ve had a lot of odd calls over the years.  I’ve had a few people get in touch and invite me into their home, or ask to see condos or houses, when they really just want to hang out or, in one really strange case, get married.  But that’s a story for another day…

But at the risk of sounding cheezy, this woman’s voice was just so sincere.  She said she felt this connection.  And then she used the word “trust.”  She felt like she could “trust me,” as she was looking to get into the real estate market and didn’t quite know what to do.

More to the point, she just sounded a little scared.  She was in her early-70’s and was making the move from out west to Toronto, but knew nothing about the Toronto condo market.  She had clearly been searching online, probably exchanged emails with a few folks, and pearhps didn’t like what she found.

Eventually, she found me, via my blog.  And she “connected” with what I wrote, the personal touch I put into each blog, and the person that I portrayed in the stories and writings.

She asked me, “Can you help me?”  It was a question that is inherently asked by all buyers and sellers with whom we work, but the question itself is never spoken; it’s just inferred.

I’ve worked with buyers and sellers from all different walks of life, but have I ever moved a person in his or her early-70’s across the country into what she described (and she does see the pun) as her “final resting place?”

We discussed the location that she wanted to be in, and I knew it very well.  Inside and out, you might say.  While there were probably twenty condos in this area that she could consider, only six or eight would even be worth looking at.  From there, I knew in my heart that there’s a good chance only three or four would make our final cut, but that we’d have to go through the motions.

At her age, she was looking more at the location and building than the unit itself.  I mean, she did have a requirement for size: at least a one-bed-plus-den, at least 700 square feet.  She didn’t “need” a second bedroom, but wouldn’t turn it down.  She didn’t “need” a second bathroom, but would really like one.  She figured that she didn’t own a car, and didn’t intend to get one, that she could do without parking.

Further down here list, she would love something south-facing, would love something with a view, and she made outdoor space a semi-firm requirement.

Her price point was up to $900,000 but would love to get away with spending $650,000, give or take.

This was in 2019, mind you.  Back then, $650,000 went a lot further than it does today.

I sent her a list of every condominium in the area, divided into three categories: 1) Top Consideration, 2) Maybe, 3) No.

Why bother listing “No” buildings?

Well, because everybody talks real estate in this city!  Sooner or later, you’re going to be told to consider this building or that building, and it would be nice to have a reference list when a friend or a colleague throws a building name or address at you.

I met “Judy” downtown a couple of weeks later, and to save her anonymity we’ll just keep the location vague as well as the buildings.

I remember being confused as to where I was meeting her, and after waiting for twenty minutes and not finding her, I went to call her, but I didn’t have her number.  Imagine that?  I scrolled through my emails but realized she had called me one day, and I didn’t save her number.

I walked through the coffee shop in the adjacent lobby and was heading outside when a woman turned to me and said, “David?”

That was Judy.  What were the odds that I’d go to leave and that’s how I’d find her?

Not only that, she told me she wasn’t carrying her phone, so if I did have her number, it would have rung at home.

We looked at a couple of units that day, but it was more of a walk-and-talk.

I learned all about Judy’s life, what she had back in Calgary, her real estate goals and objectives here, and what she truly valued in a piece of real estate.

I explained that she needed a condo with a concierge, full-stop.  She agreed.

I told her that something newer would come with higher prices, amenities she didn’t need, and it would be full of renters.  She didn’t want that.

We concluded, together, that an older building, but not too old, would be ideal.  Something with a mature demographic and lots of grey hair coming in and out of the lobby!

That night, I sent her a list of five condominiums that we should target.  I knew these buildings very well and had clients in all of them.  But I further explained that the top three on the list were “likely” where we’d end up.

The year 2019 progressed and Judy was back in Calgary living life and getting ready for her eventual move.  When we met, she told me that she didn’t have a timeline, but would like to sell before she buys.  Very, very good idea for somebody in her position!

We flipped the calendar on 2020 and had emailed a few properties back and forth, but nothing that we really loved.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic came along and that sure made life interesting for both of us!  She had her Calgary condo on the market but terminated the listing, and we watched as condo values here in the downtown core plummeted in the fall of 2020.

In early 2021, Judy was here in Toronto full-time.  She was living in a rental, month-to-month, and had her condo listed soon thereafter.

We got more diligent in our search, but it was quite apparent that, despite having a short-list of four buildings, we both knew that it was going to come down to one.

One building?  In the entire city?

That sure makes a housing search tough.  Also easy.  But tough.

This building only has 140 units, and by the time you eliminate the smaller 1-bedroom units and larger 2-bedroom units, there’s probably only 50-60 units in there that might work for her.

But if you get even more particular from there and throw in another one or two criteria, plus avoid anything over-renovated that would be out of budget, then we might only have, say, twenty options in the entire building, thus, the entire city!

Every two months, give or take, we’d go see another unit in the building.  We saw one that was listed low with an offer date, and they re-listed up toward $1.1M, which clearly wasn’t in her budget, but even then, it looked over the alleyway and the dumpsters and she just couldn’t pull the trigger on her “forever home” with that view.

We saw another in the same building that we liked, but it just wasn’t the right size.

When we walked outside after that viewing, Judy turned to me and said, “Now, David, I assume you’re a man in your late-30’s, is that correct?”  I told her that it was.  She then said, “Now, I assume you have a mother that is around my age, is that correct?”  I confirmed that was true.

She looked at me like she was staring into my soul and asked, “David, would you put your mother in this building?”

Wow, Judy!  Going right for the heart!

I get asked this sort of thing quite a lot by clients, but the answer always comes with a qualifier.

“If I were a 25-year-old single male, working on my music career, currently pulling part-time shifts at the LCBO on Front Street, with a $350,000 gift from Dad to buy a ‘crash pad’ downtown, then, yes I would consider buying this condo.”

I mean, that’s part of my job, right?  To put myself in the client’s shoes?  Because being asked, as a 40-year-old with two kids, whether I’d spend $575,000 on that 490 square foot condo on King West doesn’t quite make sense.  There’s always a qualifier.

Now, Judy was asking me if I would put my MOTHER in this condo?

I stood outside on the sidewalk and thought about it.

“My mother lives in a house in Scarborough,” I told Judy.  “I had contemplated, for a while now, trying to find her a condo in Leaside closer to my family so she could downsize, ease her lifestyle, and be walking distance to us, but through the pandemic, we realized she needs a house!” I told Judy.

“If my mother were to want to live downtown, would I put her in this building?” I asked myself aloud, but also in conversation with Judy.

“Yeah, I would,” I told her.

And it’s true.  I would.  But it’s probably only one of two buildings that I’d consider though!  And maybe, just maybe, it’s the only one.  Just as I knew this building would be suitable for my mother, in that universe where this is where she wanted to be, I knew this would be the right spot for Judy.

We had narrowed the entire search down to one building, but that conversation out on the street solidified that we were doing the right thing.

Toward the late-spring, she told me that she was having surgery soon and that she might have to put the search on hold.  I mean, of course!  Look after yourself and your health, right?

Summer came along and we might have seen one place together, but maybe we just emailed about it?  Who can remember; it’s like 55-degrees outside and the summer is a fog and a blur…

Fast-forward to last week when a unit came out in our target building and it was as perfect as you can get in this market.  By that, I mean like a 9/10.

It was a one-bedroom with a “real” den, measuring over 800 square feet, second bathroom, and south facing.  There was no parking space to waste money on, and although there was no balcony, there were two Juliette’s.  Priced at only $754,900, I figured there was an offer date, and my gut on this was that it would go closer to $800,000.

The building hasn’t felt as much love as of late, and while I can’t fathom how units at Mariner Terrace and Dan Leckie Way can often command multiple offers, I knew there was a chance that this unit could slip to us.

Low-and-behold, there was no offer date.  The listing specified “48 hours for offers,” so it was what we call a “soft” offer date.

I sent Judy the listing and she emailed me right away.

She was quite keen and wanted to see it asap!

Two small problems, however.

For one, I was up north at my brother’s cottage.  No matter, I could have my colleague Tara step in.

But two, and far more importantly, Judy was scheduled for surgery the very next day!

“Didn’t you have this surgery already?” I asked her.  But it seems it was pushed back a couple of months, and just our luck, it was the day after this listing came out.

This timing couldn’t possibly be any worse.  I mean, I guess Judy could literally be in the operating room when I emailed her, but even then she’d be out in time to see the damn place!

What if we saw this place and liked it and wanted to make an offer?  What then?

We’d been waiting two damn years for a condo to come out in this building!  What the hell were we supposed to do now?

(TO BE CONTINUED…)