By Kasandra Bracken

So you want to invest in some starter property? You might want to start small. And currently, in Toronto, there’s an opportunity to invest in something downright miniature. Just like it was when we last wrote about it two and a half years ago, the Little House at 128 Day Avenue is back up for sale. Except, well, it was never really sold.
Even with all kinds of coverage, the house’s possession hasn’t been transferred since current owner David Blois bought the property in the spring of 2007. According to Antonio Nardi, the real estate agent attached to the job (who answered all questions on behalf of Blois), the last buyer’s financing fell through and the house never changed hands. Rather than living in the house himself, Blois decided to rent out the mini-house to a young female tenant for nine hundred dollars a month. Now, Nardi says Blois wants to upsize in the world of property management by selling the house and investing in something bigger.
Since the last time the house was listed, Nardi says the owner has added a furnace and some insulation. With the supplementary value of the renovations, alongside the current strength of the housing market in Toronto (particularly given the upcoming introduction of HST), it makes perfect sense that the three-hundred-square-foot-home should be listed for…$179,000—the same price it was set at nearly three years ago. Nearly three years later, and with all of the factors falling in favour of a seller’s market, the house is still listed at its old price. Hmm… do we smell a bargain?
Nardi says the low price was set intentionally to “create activity,” and Blois plans to save the potential buyer some work by taking care of the inspection himself. And the plan is working—with eighteen showings last week, and a full showing schedule this past weekend, Nardi hopes to have the house signed and sold by the end of this week. “The many benefits of this property are owning private space and not having to share common elements: it’s real property, real space.” A really small space, but one’s own nonetheless.
No one would argue that the house is little. And it is, without a doubt, unique. But when it comes to being quaint, charming, or charismatic—what one might expect as the main draw for a century-old miniature piece of history (and its own flashy website)—this little house’s value might be lower than we thought. Looks like we’ll have to leave this one to the markets.
Photos by Michael Chrisman/Torontoist.