What’s In A Name?

Opinion

4 minute read

April 20, 2011

Two of my clients elected not to look at a house this week because they didn’t like the street name.

As crazy as that may sound, it’s not uncommon.

Every buyer is different, right?

I know this is somewhat childish, but I can’t help it.

Somebody sent me a link to an article about the top-ten worst human names of all time, and while the only funny AND clean one is shown in that photo above, I may as well provide you with the link to all of them.  Click HERE.

On the same day that I was looking at Batman Superman’s driver’s licence, I was going to meet a couple of clients on another street that made me laugh.

Again, it’s childish, but I was in a silly mood that day…

My clients wanted to look at a house on Kirk Bradden Road, which I had never heard of before.

So, I immediately began referring to the property as “The house on Kirk Cameron Road.”

Yes, Kirk Cameron.

Maybe it’s just an indication of the generation that I grew up in, or maybe I just can’t take anything seriously.

But having looked at houses on Edgemore, Humbervale, and Grenview, I was a little caught off guard when “Kirk Bradden” came down the pipe.

I immediately sent the following to my clients:

Hey Guys,

Sounds great!  Let’s meet on Monday evening at the property and I’ll send you some comparable sales asap.

The property looks good!

Do you know who else looks good?

I’m pretty sure I had the exact same suspenders in 1991…

As luck would have it, only one of my two clients had watched Growing Pains back in the day, so while she thought I was hilarious, he thought I was nuts…

There’s a lot to be said for a “good” street name.  Much of it depends on the neighbourhood itself and what streets have more prestige and allure, but I think it’s fair to say that nobody wants to live on “Crap Avenue.”

A while back, I took two clients to see a house on “Gooch Avenue,” and they were put off right from the get-go.

Now I’m not going to open a conversation about the two words that “Gooch” sounds like, neither of which are clean, but both my clients knew and they wouldn’t stop talking about it!

I’m all for fun and games when you’re visiting 5-6 properties on a Sunday afternoon, but these guys couldn’t stop laughing.  I actually wondered if they had ingested some magic mushrooms or something before we set out that day, because while “Gooch” sounds funny, I didn’t know if it warranted two hours worth of laughter.  They never took the home seriously, and never for a moment was this house a contender.

It may sound absolutely ridiculous to some of you – to judge a house by the street name, but to others, it’s all that matters.

If different cultures put more or less importance on the street number, for example, then why not the street name?

Nobody wants to live at 666 Jones Street, but how much will the devil’s number impact the value of the home?

There are condos in the downtown core where there are no 4th, 14th, 24th, 34th, or 44th floors, since one particular culture doesn’t like the number “4.”

So if we accept that a number can be bad luck, have a negative stigma, or just be unwanted, then what about a street name?

Riverdale is home to some silly names.

I had clients laugh about Dingwall Avenue, even though it’s a top street!

They said that there was no way in hell they were going to live on “Dingwall” for the next ten years.  They didn’t want to tell their friends and family “Yeah, the housewarming is on Saturday – you can park right on Dingwall!”

I disagree with that one, but I see where their heads were at.

Would buyers really disregard a house that was seemingly perfect because they didn’t like the name of the street?  I suppose so.

Some sellers have gone to great lengths to appease buyers and give them exactly what they want!

Growing up in Leaside, I was made aware that “Bessborough Drive” was the most prestigious street in the area.  Granted – there are better and worse sections of the street, and there are fabulous pockets on other streets, but on the whole, “Bessborough” had the most fame and familiarity.

So I wasn’t at all surprised to see one very shrewd home-owner apply to change the street that his house was on, and change it to Bessborough Drive!

This house was situated on the corner of Sutherland and Bessborough, and had a Sutherland address.

Sutherland is a very well-known Leaside street, but it’s a thoroughfare for cars, and it happens to be the one street where the “Leaside 88” bus route from St. Clair station moves through the area.

So this home-owner successfully changed his address from “Sutherland” to “Bessborough,” and in the process he likely added about $50,000 worth of value to his home.

Is “The Bridle Path” really that much better than High Point Road or Park Lane Circle?

No.  But people pay more for the “name” either because they believe it’s better, or they think the people around them do.

There are also streets that have better/worse areas and can bring to mine both peasant living and prestige, such as Carlaw Avenue.

Carlaw begins down at Eastern Avenue in what can only be described as industrial.

The street runs through Leslieville, although it’s very busy and most of the houses are run down in the area south of Queen.

Then in between Queen and Dundas, you’ve got a host of new trendy loft buildings!

Carlaw in between Dundas and Gerrard is a return to the “lesser” feel of the stretch that runs through Leslieville, and then suddenly as you get to Riverdale Avenue and the street turns one-way going south, Carlaw Avenue becomes home to some of the nicest properties in Riverdale!  Carlaw Avenue runs all the way north to Danforth, and along that stretch you’ll find gorgeous 100-year-old Victorian homes, some fetching upwards of a million dollars.

So if your friend said, “I live on Carlaw,” it could mean any number of things.

He could be renting a basement apartment in a house that is one step from being condemned by the City and torn down, or he could have just paid $950,000 to live directly across from beautiful Riverdale Park.

There are so many streets throughout our city that have both good sections and bad, and the first impression a buyer might make is wholly based on that buyer’s own experiences.

Perhaps this entire conversation is silly and it’s the actual property we should be concerned with, not the name of the street.

But try telling that to an emotional and/or superstitious buyer.

After all, show me one buyer who purchases with absolutely no emotion.

Written By David Fleming

David Fleming is the author of Toronto Realty Blog, founded in 2007. He combined his passion for writing and real estate to create a space for honest information and two-way communication in a complex and dynamic market. David is a licensed Broker and the Broker of Record for Bosley – Toronto Realty Group

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10 Comments

  1. Graham

    at 7:27 am

    I remember when North York Community Council named a street OMB Folly after the OMB approved a development, which the Community Council had shot down. Did the name eventually get overturned at City Council? I can’t remember.

  2. Kyle

    at 7:28 am

    Call me uppity, but there is no way i’m living on Garbutt Cres, Horner Ave, Bastedo Ave, Shank St or Cummings St.

  3. Sam

    at 9:08 am

    I agree Dave -we found the perfect house but almost said ‘no’ because of the street name…however, cooler heads prevailed. We figured we will spend 99.9% of our time NOT discussing our street name with people but rather enjoying the home so -best to just get over it. On the plus, we probably received a bit of a discount vis-a-vis comparable houses on different streets (although that’ll work against us if/when we want to sell). Sure, once in a while someone laughs “you live on Softwang Crescent?!” and people do take pictures of the street signs but immature people will always find something to laugh at -best to laugh with them.

  4. MattO

    at 12:02 pm

    FYI, it’s not just one particular culture that doesn’t like the number 4 (and I assume you’re referring to Chinese) – Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese all have the same belief that the number 4 is unlucky.

  5. Graham

    at 12:05 pm

    @ Kyle,

    What about Mike Myers Drive? Ewww.

  6. BobbyV

    at 11:55 am

    there’s a subdivision somewhere with former blue jay players …..that’s kinda neat.

  7. Richard

    at 6:51 pm

    Although it didn’t figure into my decision to buy the house, I was very pleased with my street name: St Germain Ave. It had an evocative ring to it.

    My new condo will be on Grand Magazine Street, and I rather like it (preferring it over Fleet St). It’s good to have a unique and elegant name!

  8. Krupo

    at 9:40 pm

    Further to the “4” – it’s not just considered unlucky, the word sounds like the Chinese word for “Death”.

    So consider it a case of “Double Death floor” or “Death street” to appreciate the turnoff.

  9. Kevin

    at 4:52 pm

    The park adjacent to the tony section of Carlaw is Withrow Park.

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