Realtor calls dilapidated Leslieville home a ‘rare opportunity’ at $700K

A Leslieville home that can’t even be entered due to its dangerously derelict condition is on the market for $699,000, and at least one realtor thinks the dilapidated digs could be a steal.

The boarded-up eyesore at 28 Woodfield Rd., near Queen Street East and Coxwell Avenue, has been vacant for years, but a recent price drop of $100,000 has drawn a sudden surge of interest, with a handful of offers already on the table.

The listing doesn’t attempt to dress up the visual disaster. It states: “**Do Not Enter The Home** It May Not Be Safe. It Has Been Vacant For Some Time. There Is No Key.”

There may not be a key, but realtors are hoping to unlock the property’s profit potential by tearing it down and rebuilding on the 20-by-117-foot lot.

Trevor Bond of Bosley Real Estate said the property became intriguing after the price was recently lowered from $799,000.

“If you have the tenacity and the know-how to build a house, this is almost a rare opportunity in the city,” he emphasized. “You are going to resell a house for over $1 million on this lot, well over $1 million.”

The home was last sold in March 2013 for $490,000. In July of the same year it went back on the market for a hefty $1.1 million with a photo of the home’s future design (below). That development never happened, much to the chagrin of neighbour Greg Lehman.

Lehman has lived next door for the last four years and admits that he even considered putting in an offer when the home recently went back up for sale.

Instead, he’s patiently awaiting the day when the family of raccoons that currently calls the structure home is replaced by amicable human beings.

“You get used to it, but of course it’s an eyesore,” he said. “You don’t have a neighbour. It’s just this dodgy, old house. Well, we do have neighbours — they’re just raccoons and other vermin.

“It would of course be better if it was gone and it was a nice family or couple. That’d be nice to clean it up.”

For now it’s real estate agents who are looking to clean up and cash in. Despite reports of a cooling housing market, Bond said it all depends on location.

“There are areas that are on fire and areas that are not,” he said.

“Any vacant land is an opportunity in Leslieville.”