Lot, layout and the things listings gloss over
A north-end four-bedroom detached house varies more than the photographs suggest. Lots range from a compact frontage with a two-car garage taking most of it to a pie-shaped corner or a ravine lot with a walk-out, and the difference is worth a great deal at resale. Look at the year of the build: houses from the early nineties tend to have separate living and dining rooms and smaller kitchens, while the 2010s plans are open with a great room and often a main-floor office. Ask if the basement finishing was permitted, whether the roof and furnace are original and whether a road fee or a builder's easement is registered on title. In Central East and Central, the eighties houses sit on bigger ground with mature trees and are close to Ajax GO, but expect to budget for windows, kitchens and sometimes the electrical panel. Then have the team check what comparable houses on that street have closed for.