I’m not sure if I believe in any of the following: karma, fate, kismet, destiny, or any other synonyms to describe “meant to be.”

But then sometimes, something happens, and you wonder if perhaps “fate” is real.

One of my long-time blog readers had me into her home recently and told me the story of how she came to live at 65 Sheldrake Avenue, and believe me when I say that this was truly “meant to be”…

Maureen is one of my long-time blog readers, who first reached out to me in January of 2013 to “thank me for my help” finding her a new place to live.

Now upon receiving her email, of course, I wondered, “Who is this, and how did I help here?

Did I sell a condo in my sleep?

No, that’s just silly.  It turns out that Maureen had read a blog I wrote a few years back at 65 Sheldrake Avenue, and decided, “This is where I want to live!”  Fast-forward a couple years, and Maureen had purchased a large unit in this magnificent converted church building, and she was emailing me just to say thanks for writing the blog that put her on the path into the next phase of her life.

Recently, Maureen invited me into her home to take a look at her unit – which on its own, was worth the trip.  But once I heard her story, I started to mentally write this blog in my head…

65 Sheldrake Avenue is a condominium development in Lawrence Park which is exceptionally unique.  It’s a hard-loft condominium, converted from an old church, and while you are seeing more and more “Chuch Lofts,” as they’re called, this was one of the first in Toronto that set the trend for the rest.

The church itself dates back to 1904 when it was the Westley & Methodist Church, and in 1925, three different congregations combined and Westley & Methodist became “The United Church of Canada.”

As small a city as Toronto was back in 1925, it’s amazing to consider that there were 2,000 members of this Lawrence park church at the time.

Speaking of times – they certainly change.

And when the church finally closed its doors in the year 1999, there were only 18 families left attending the United Church of Canada on Sheldrake.  Those families joined the St. Georges congregation (Eglinton St. Georges United Church), and the building on Sheldrake was listed for $4,500,000, and promptly sold to a developer (I don’t have the actual sale figure).

There were thirty-three units built at 65 Sheldrake Avenue – that’s it.  Just thirty-three, and most, if not all of the units, were purchased by residents in the area who were looking to downsize, but wanted to stay in the neighbourhood.

Maureen had been living on Fairlawn Avenue for quite some time, and as luck would have it – she was living directly across from Fairlawn United Church.  The irony of moving from a house across from a church into a condo built inside a church wasn’t realized until much later, of course.

But Maureen wasn’t in the market for a downsize when the condos were first being built in the early 2000’s, and it actually wasn’t until the Fall of 2012 when she wanted to make the move.

As I mentioned – Maureen found 65 Sheldrake Avenue on my blog, and decided “this was the place.”

The problem of course, is that with only 33 units in the building, units rarely come up for sale.  There have only been six units for sale in the past three years.

But sure enough, a unit came onto the market in September of 2013, and Maureen indeed felt “this was it.”

The unit was spectacular – a 2-bed, 3-bath unit of about 1,100 square feet with 12-foot ceilings, original archways and century-old detail, and a sprawling outdoor terrace.

The unit was on the first floor, and thus it had it’s own private entrance from the street, through the terrace, and into the unit.  Coming from a house, this feature made the condo feel a bit more like a home, since you didn’t necessarily have to go through the front of the building, and down a hall.

There was a lot of interest in the unit, and since it was such a rare offering, there was an ever-popular “offer date” set for the property, which ended up receiving multiple bids.

She hadn’t transacted in real estate in a while, and the idea of a “bidding war” for a condo didn’t sit well with her.  The unit sold for $20,000 over asking, and Maureen was crushed.

Maureen was out of the market for a couple months, until one day she was at the dentist, and her dentist asked, “How is your housing search going?”

Well, you know what it’s like when the dentist is trying to have a conversation with you.  You usually respond, “Ugh aaa aiaaa ia kaaa aa” or something like that.  But dentists have this uncanny ability to hear what we’re saying while they have tools in our mouths!  Kind of like a pharmacist reading that chicken-scratch that a doctor calls a prescription!

The dentist was able to decipher the “Well, I lost a bidding war for a condo in a converted church that I really liked,” and the dentist said, “That’s so funny – another patient of mine also lives in one of those converted churches, and he sold his place recently.  Too bad though – the deal fell apart, or something, and now they’re scrambling and trying to find a buyer.”

Could it be?

The same place?

How many converted churches are in Toronto?

And what are the odds that Maureen and the seller had the same dentist?

While the odds are slim, fate seemed to be in the air.  It turns out that the buyer for the condo backed out, and rather than end up in litigation, the sellers, who were both in their 80’s, decided to go back to the open market.

The phone rang on December 16 – just a bit more than one week before Christmas, and Maureen’s agent gave her the great news that the unit was indeed for sale once again.

The best part was: Maureen ended up paying less than she had “bid” on the unit the first time around!

So Maureen got the place she had always wanted, in a market where you rarely get second chances.

That, believe it or not, isn’t the “meant to be” that I alluded to in the opening.

The sellers, a husband and wife, both passed away by the time Maureen closed on the unit in April – within a few months of each other, actually.

Maureen found out a bit more about the sellers, and the coincidences were shocking.  They already had the same dentist – who broke the news about the property being available again, but there was more…

The husband attended Lawrence Park Collegiate, where Maureen attended years later.

The couple was married at St. Leonard’s Church, where Maureen and her late husband were married as well.

And the couple both had the same family physician as Maureen, through their whole lives.

Coincidence?

Or karma?

Maureen went from living across from a church to living inside a church condo, and bought the condo from a couple who went to the same high school, had the same family dentist and doctor, and got married in the same church.  Maureen lost out on the condo at one point, but was given another chance by the real estate Gods.

I’m a cynic by nature, but I have to believe that this was a case of “meant to be.”

Oh and for good measure – Maureen is a terrace-enthusiast, just like me.  Check out her 750 square footer:

I write a lot of stories about the perils of real estate, whether it’s the archaic rules that govern our industry, the crooked pre-construction condominium game, the inexperienced and often unconscionable Realtors I meet every day, or the plight of today’s home-buyer in a never-ending hot market.

So once in a while, it’s refreshing to actually find a “feel-good” story, and speak to somebody that had a fantastic experience buying and selling real estate (Maureen got multiple offers on her house on Fairlawn – and although she knew she could have gouged the buyers well into the night, she said “That wouldn’t be fair,” and took an offer from a family she liked).

If you’re ever driving through Lawrence Park, hopefully now you’ll take notice of this building.  I swear – you’ve probably driven by it a dozen times, and never turned your head.  It just looks like, well, a church…