Toronto studio loft for sale downtown for 465K

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Price: $465,000

Neighborhoods: North St. Jamestown

X-factor: This bachelor pad at Jarvis St. and Wellesley St. E. is selling for $465,000 and could be a great spot for a young person looking to live downtown, or an investor looking for a rental unit with an industrial vibe, concrete ceilings and exposed pipes.

10 Wellesley Place is close to transit, parks and grocery stores, and, if you’re keen, some nightlife, and so far has been on the market for nearly three weeks.

Described as a “unique studio loft” in the listing, the 430-square-foot unit comes with three closets and a 70-square-foot storage locker in the basement. A treed rooftop terrace is also available for use.

If you’re a first-time buyer or potential investor, you might be wondering, is this a good deal? We brought in our expert, real estate agent Othneil Litchmore, to gain a better understanding of this property’s cost.

Why is it priced this way?

This bachelor pad sits on the ground floor of a converted steam plant with 10-foot-high ceilings, a spacious kitchen for the size of the unit, new dishwasher and new floors along with an updated bathroom vanity and tap set.

“The staging looks awesome,” said Litchmore. “It looks very practical — if you’re comfortable living in a bachelor. It’s not for everybody.”

According to Litchmore, the unit can fetch between $1,800 and $2,200 per month if an investor is looking to lease it out, while also noting it may be the perfect spot for a single adult looking for a permanent place downtown. Even with two people in the unit, it may feel a little crowded.

Its listing price is consistent with other bachelor units in Toronto, Litchmore said, noting similar units have sold for $415,000 and $460,000 in recent months.

A unit available nearby is going for $419,000, with a TikTok video tour of the unit posted recently. While cheaper, Litchmore said it looks like an older building which might factor in the price.

While the layout of the studio at 10 Wellesley Place is described as more “square,” space is still limited, Litchmore noted. In the photos of the unit, the bed is a few feet away from the fridge in the kitchen with no dividing walls — or floor divider — separating the area.

“It’s a bachelor so there’s no need for privacy, right?” Litchmore said. “There’s only so far you could move (the bed) away from the kitchen.”

You may be able to renovate the unit to separate the space, but that depends on the condo board’s rules, Litchmore said.

The buyer of this unit should expect to incur around $1,400 per year in property taxes.

Also notable is the monthly maintenance fee of $451.50, a cost Litchmore said is on the lower end for a unit built more than 10 years ago. Still, there doesn’t appear to be many amenities in the building to sweeten the deal.

“You’re not getting a lot of extra stuff, but it’s located well downtown,” Litchmore said.

Tips for finding a place like this?

Litchmore says bachelor units are common in Toronto, but become rarer the further you go out of the downtown core.

Outside of the city you can get even more space for the same price, he added.

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