Toronto has spent years trying to build more condos for families, but what happens when you take three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and try to and squeeze them into 800-900 square feet? In this week’s Pick 5, David Fleming looks at five downtown Toronto three-bedroom condos listed for under $1 million and asks the bigger question: are these actually livable homes for families, or are we just calling them “three bedrooms”?
With tiny bedrooms and awkward layouts (and some very painful purchase histories), these condos offer a fascinating look at what went wrong with a lot of Toronto’s recent condo development. And with several owners now trying to sell for hundreds of thousands less than they originally paid, David also discusses the risks of buying pre-construction at a significant premium over resale.
This week’s picks:
- 01:23 — 65 Mutual Street: Listed for $685,000, an 861 sq. ft. condo marketed as a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, but debatable whether the third bedroom actually qualifies as a bedroom at all. With bedrooms measuring as small as 8′ x 10′ and a compact “living dining kitchen”, the layout may not work functionally for a real family
- 06:03 — 5 Defries Street: A 900 sq. ft. three-bedroom condo listed for $698,888 where the layout is slightly better than the first example, but still leaves very little room for a family. The owners paid $948,410, and after a series of price changes, they’re now asking roughly $250,000 less: an example of how quickly the economics of a pre-construction purchase can change
- 10:03 — 159 Wellesley Street E: This 872 sq. ft. three-bedroom was listed for $799,000 with an impressive-sounding 211 sq. ft. terrace, but the unit itself is full of awkward angles and compromised bedroom layouts, while the long, L-shaped outdoor space lacks functionality
- 14:33 — 308 Jarvis Street: At 1,046 sq. ft. this unit is listed for $879,888. However, the layout is made up of tiny bedrooms, sliding doors, awkward access to bathrooms and an uncomfortable living/dining/kitchen configuration
- 19:29 — 609 Sherbourne Street: The final condo is the biggest of the group at roughly 1,100 sq. ft., listed for $958,000. It’s now listed nearly $270,000 below that purchase price, and David uses this one to make his broader point about pre-construction premiums and the challenges of trying to sell condos that don’t appeal to today’s buyers
This Pick 5 is a closer look at what developers were required to build, what buyers were promised, and what actually works for a family living in downtown Toronto.