Toronto house listed for under $700K but you'll need a very big 'imagination'

With the Toronto housing market slowly waking up, some homeowners seem a little more optimistic about setting their asking prices.

Take 103 Donside Dr., for example, which has hit the market for $667,000.

At first glance, that sounds like a bargain compared to Toronto's average selling price of $1,058,658.

A view into the sunroom. 

But, in the Clairlea-Birchmount area, where property values have fallen nearly 20 per cent year over year, it could read as a sign the neighbourhood might be on a rebound.

Then there's the house itself.

The detached Scarborough home is clearly in need of a renovation, assuming the new buyer doesn't want to start from scratch.

The living room. 

From the jigsaw puzzle of mismatched siding on the exterior to the suspiciously stained carpeting inside, there's very little here that's likely to survive anyone's renovation plans.

To the listing agent's credit, there's no attempt to pretend otherwise.

The property is marketed as an opportunity for "investors, renovators, contractors, and first-time buyers with vision." The listing even encourages buyers to "bring your imagination and unlock the full potential of this property."

And "imagination" might be doing some heavy lifting, judging by the current state of the house.

This can be read as a land-value listing, plain and simple. Fortunately, the land is one of the property's strongest selling points.

A bedroom. 

The lot measures a generous 40 by 142 feet, giving buyers plenty of room to build something substantially larger than the current two-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow.

Of course, buying the lot is only the beginning.

Building a new detached home in Toronto can easily cost anywhere from roughly $750,000 on the low end to well over $1.5 million, before factoring in demolition, permits, site preparation and the inevitable surprises that seem to accompany every construction project.

The retro kitchen. 

That means anyone paying the asking price and starting from scratch could easily find themselves with well over $1.4 million invested before moving in.

The catch? The neighbourhood may not support that kind of investment just yet.

According to recent sales, even the highest-priced home sold in the area fetched just $1,087,500.

That doesn't necessarily make 103 Donside Dr. overpriced — future buyers may well see enough value in the lot alone to justify the asking price.

But it does make it something of a gamble.

The retro bathroom. 

Whoever buys this property won't just be betting on a house. They'll be betting that the neighbourhood's next chapter is worth paying for today.